Legal provisions of COM(2022)296 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 as regards conversion of the Farm Accountancy Data Network into a Farm Sustainability Data Network

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dossier COM(2022)296 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 as regards conversion of the Farm Accountancy Data Network into a Farm ...
document COM(2022)296 EN
date November 22, 2023

Contents

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 is amended as follows:

(1) the title of the Regulation is replaced by the following:

‘Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of sustainability data of agricultural holdings in the Union’;

(2) the title of Chapter I is replaced by the following:

‘CREATION OF A UNION FARM SUSTAINABILITY DATA NETWORK’;

(3) Article 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

1. A Union farm sustainability data network (‘FSDN’ or ‘data network’) is set up to collect farm level economic, environmental and social data.

2. The data obtained pursuant to this Regulation shall contribute to the assessment of EU agriculture’s sustainability.

3. FSDN data shall be made publicly available in a manner consistent with Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Regulations (EU) 2016/679* and 2018/1725**.

4. Where relevant, the processing, management and use of data collected under this Regulation shall comply with Regulations (EU) 2016/679, (EU) 2018/1725 and (EC) 223/2009***.’;


* Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).

**    Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

***    Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).’;


(4) Article 2 is replaced by the following:

   ‘Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘farmer’ means the natural person responsible for the day-to-day management of an agricultural holding;

(b) ‘holding’ means a farm business, in accordance with its general use in the context of Union agricultural surveys and censuses;

(c) ‘category of holding’ means a group of agricultural holdings that belong to the same categories, as regards the type of farming and economic size as defined in the Union typology for agricultural holdings defined in Article 5b;

(d) ‘farm return’ means the questionnaire filled in with the data of an agricultural holding according to the FSDN common methodology;

(e) ‘returning holding’ means any agricultural holding making farm returns for the purposes of the data network;

(f) ‘Farm Sustainability Data Network division’ or ‘FSDN division’ means the territory of a Member State, or any part thereof, delimited with a view to the selection of returning holdings;

(g) ‘FSDN data’ means economic, environmental and social farm level data relating to agricultural holdings derived from accounts, and/or from other data sources collected systematically and regularly;

(h) ‘standard output’ means standard value of gross production;

(i) ‘personal data’ means personal data as defined in Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725, however extending protection to the legitimate interests of farmers who are legal persons;

(j) ‘farm ID’ means the unique identification number for an individual holding, with regards to processing of data under this Regulation;

(k) ‘processing data’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed on data of persons, according to Article 3(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725;

(l) ‘primary data’ means data associated with individual farms, natural or legal persons or individual samples;

(m) ‘metadata’ means data giving qualitative and quantitative information about the collected primary data;

(n) ‘anonymised data’ means data based on primary data in a form which does not allow natural or legal persons to be identified directly or indirectly;

(o) ‘pseudonymised data’ means personal data that cannot be longer attributed to a specific subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural or legal person;

(p) ‘aggregated data’ means the output resulting from summarising the primary or detailed data for specific analytic purposes.’;

(5) the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 2a

A list of FSDN divisions is set out in Annex I.’;

(6) in Article 3, the term ‘FADN’ is replaced by ‘FSDN’;

(7) the title of Chapter II is replaced by the following:

‘DATA FOR THE DETERMINATION OF INCOMES OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS AND COLLECTION OF OTHER SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION’;

(8) Article 4 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 4

1. This Chapter shall apply to the collection of accountancy and other sustainability data. FSDN data shall be collected by means of regular and special surveys.

2. The competent authority for FSDN may use other data sources in order to collect and re-use data to feed the FSDN surveys.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 19a supplementing this Regulation with the rules on the data management process, in particular the farm ID, data storage, data quality and validation, use of data, access to and transmission of primary data, processing of primary data, combination of data with other data sources, procedure for ensuring availability of detailed and aggregated data, compatible data storage and exchange systems, review of refusal to provide data, obligations for end-users of scientific data and other interested parties.    

4. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing and updating form and content of common regular and special surveys as well as methods and requirements for reusing and sharing data. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19b(2).’;

(9) Article 5 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 5

1. The field of the survey shall cover agricultural holdings having an economic size equal to, or greater than, a threshold expressed in euro corresponding to one of the lower limits of the economic size classes of the Union typology for agricultural holdings defined in Article 5b.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 19a, supplementing this Regulation with the rules on fixing the threshold referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

The Commission shall adopt, on the basis of data received from Member States, implementing acts fixing the threshold referred to in the first subparagraph. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19b(2).

2. To qualify as a returning holding, an agricultural holding shall:

(a) be covered by the field of the survey referred to in paragraph 1;

(b) be representative, together with the other holdings and at the level of each FSDN division, of the field of survey.

3. An agricultural holding qualifying as returning holding in the plan for the selection of returning holdings shall provide the requested data.

4. Member States may adopt national rules to address possible cases of non-compliance with paragraph 3.’;

(10) Article 5a is amended as follows:

(a) the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Each Member State shall draw up a plan for the selection of returning holdings that ensures a representative sample of the field of survey, including both regular and, when relevant, special surveys.’;

(b)    in paragraphs 2 and 3, the term ‘FADN’ is replaced by ‘FSDN’;

(11) in Article 5b, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Agricultural holdings shall be classified in a uniform manner according to the Union typology for agricultural holdings, such as type of farming, their economic size and the importance of other gainful activities directly related to them.

The typology for agricultural holdings shall be used in particular for the presentation, by type of farming and by economic size class, of data collected through the Union farm structure surveys and the FSDN.’;

(12) Article 6 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Each Member State shall set up a national committee for the data network (hereinafter referred to as ‘the National Committee’).’;

(b) in paragraph 4, the term ‘FADN’ is replaced by ‘FSDN’;

(13) in Article 7, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Each Member State shall appoint a liaison agency whose tasks shall be:

(a) to inform the National Committee, the Regional Committees and the data collectors such as accountancy offices of the applicable regulatory framework and to ensure proper implementation thereof;

(b) to draw up the plan for the selection of returning holdings, to submit it to the National Committee for its approval and, thereafter, to forward it to the Commission;

(c) to compile:

(i) the list of returning holdings;

(ii) where applicable, the list of the data collectors able to complete farm returns;

(d) to produce the farm returns sent to it by the data collectors including from data gathered from other data sources;

(e) to verify that the farm returns have been duly completed;

(f) to forward the duly completed farm returns to the Commission in the required format and within the set deadline;

(g) to transmit the requests for information provided for in Article 17 to the National Committee, to the Regional Committees and to the data collectors and to forward the relevant answers to the Commission;

(h) to make available the obtained results for providing advice and feedback to farmers on their sustainability performance.’;

(14) Article 8 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 8

1. Each returning holding shall be the subject of an individual farm return and identified by a farm ID.

2. The data provided by each duly completed farm return shall be such that it is possible:

(a) to characterise the returning holding by reference to the main elements of its factors of production;

(b) to assess the income of the holding in its various forms;

(c) to assess the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the holding;

(d) to test, by means of on-the-spot checks, the veracity of the information given.

3. The data on the farm return shall relate to a single agricultural holding and to a single reporting year of 12 consecutive months, and shall concern exclusively that agricultural holding. Those data shall refer to agricultural activities of the holding itself and other gainful activities directly related to the holding.

4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 19a, supplementing this Regulation with the rules to determine the main groups of data to be collected and the general rules for data collection.

5. In order to ensure that the data collected by means of the farm returns are comparable, irrespective of the returning holdings surveyed, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the form and layout of the farm return and the methods and deadlines for data transmission to the Commission. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19b(2).’;

(15) Article 16 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 16

1. It shall be prohibited to use for taxation purposes any individual data or other individual details obtained in implementation of this Regulation.

2. Anonymised or pseudonymised individual data can be shared by the Commission or by liaison agencies for the purposes set in Article 1, provided that the identification of natural or legal persons is avoided.’;

(16) in Article 17, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. The National Committee, the Regional Committees, the liaison agency and data collectors shall be bound, within their respective areas of responsibility, to furnish the Commission with any information which the latter may request of them regarding the discharge of their duties under this Regulation.

Such requests for information made to the National Committee, the Regional Committees or to the data collectors and the relevant answers shall be forwarded in writing through the liaison agency.’;

(17) Article 19 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 19

1. Appropriations to be included in the general budget of the Union, in the Commission section, shall cover:

(a) for regular surveys: a standard fee payable to the Member States for the delivery of duly completed farm returns delivered within the set deadline up to the maximum number of returning holdings as fixed in accordance with Article 5a(2). Where the total number of duly completed and delivered farm returns in respect of a FSDN division or a Member State is less than 80 % of the number of returning holdings laid down for that FSDN division or for the Member State concerned, a fee equal to 50 % of the standard fee shall be applied for each farm return from that FSDN division or from the Member State concerned;

(b) for special surveys: a standard fee payable to the Member States for the delivery of duly completed farm returns delivered within the set deadline up to the maximum number of returning holdings as fixed in accordance with Article 5a(2). Where the total number of duly completed and delivered farm returns in respect of a FSDN division or a Member State is less than 80 % of the number of returning holdings laid down for that FSDN division or for the Member State concerned, a fee equal to 50 % of the standard fee shall be applied for each farm return from that FSDN division or from the Member State concerned;

(c) all the costs of the computerised systems operated by the Commission for running and developing the network, the reception, verification, processing, interoperability, analysis, of the data supplied by the Member States. Those costs include, where appropriate, the costs of disseminating the results of those operations and the costs of studies into, and development of, other aspects of the data network.

2. Costs in respect of the setting up and operation of the National Committee, Regional Committees and liaison agencies shall not be included in the general budget of the Union.

3. The Union may also provide financial contributions from the general budget of the Union to Member States, in order to cover the implementation costs of this Regulation when the setting up of the system for collecting the additional environmental and social variables, including training and interoperability between data collection systems, necessitates significant adaptations in the national FADN data collection system of a Member State.

4. The standard fee payable to Member States may be partly or entirely paid to farmers for their participation to FSDN surveys. Member States may establish a specific allocation key whereby part of or the total amount paid to participating farmers is a function of the farm standard output value.

5. Member States may define and provide incentives for farmers’ participation to FSDN surveys.

6. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing the detailed procedures in relation to the standard fee referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), and adaptations to the data collection system referred to in paragraph 3. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19b(2).’;

(18) Article 19a is amended as follows: 

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3 and Articles 4(3), 5(1), 5a(1), 5b(2) and (3) and 8(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 5 years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.’;

(b)    paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3 and Articles 4(3), 5(1), 5a(1), 5b(2) and (3) and Article 8(3) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.’;

(c)    paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

‘5.  A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3 and Articles 4(3), 5(1), 5a(1), 5b(2) and (3) and Article 8(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council. ’;

(19) in Article 19b, 

paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee called ‘Committee for the Farm Sustainability Data Network’. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council 31 .

(20) Annex I is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.