Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1198/2014 of 1 August 2014 supplementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union⁽¹⁾, and in particular Articles 5(1), 5a(1), 5b(2) and (3) and 8(3) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, Regulation (EU) No 1318/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁾ has amended Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 to align it to Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In order to ensure the functioning of the new legal framework resulting from that alignment, certain rules should be adopted by means of delegated and implementing acts. The new rules should replace the existing rules established by the Commission to implement Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009. It is therefore appropriate to repeal Commission Regulations (EC) No 1242/2008⁽³⁾, (EU) No 1291/2009⁽⁴⁾, and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 385/2012⁽⁵⁾.

2. Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated Regulations laying down the rules related to the data for the determination of incomes and the business analysis of agricultural holdings. The delegated act should notably establish rules for fixing the threshold values delimiting the field of survey, for establishing plans for the selection of holdings, for fixing the reference period for the standard outputs, for determining the general and principle types of farming and for determining the main groups of data on farm returns to be collected as well as the general rules to be followed in this respect.

3. The threshold values delimiting the field of survey should allow representative results for the field of survey to be obtained. The threshold values should maximise the benefit/cost ratio and be determined with the aim of including in the field of survey holdings that represent the largest possible share of agricultural output, agricultural area and farm labour, of those holdings which are run with a market orientation.

4. The selection plan should include a minimum number of elements which demonstrate how a representative sample is selected, thereby allowing the survey to meet the objectives of the farm accountancy data network.

5. The standard outputs are based on average data over a certain reference period. Their values should regularly be updated to take account of economic trends so that the typology may continue to be meaningfully applied. The frequency of the update should be linked to the years in which Union farm structure surveys are carried out.

6. The general and principal types of farming need to be arranged so as to enable homogeneous groups of holdings to be assembled in a greater or lesser degree of aggregation and that comparisons of the situation of groups of holdings can be made.

7. The data reported in the farm returns should make it possible to obtain a view of the returning holdings as regards the factors of production, to assess the level of farming income, and to reflect technical, economic and social conditions on the holdings involved. The main groups of accountancy data to be collected and the general rules for data collection should be determined for that purpose.

8. The rules provided for in this Regulation should apply as from the accounting year 2015 for the Farm Accountancy Data Network and for the Union farm structure surveys as of the 2016 survey,

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