Agricultural statistics: permanent crops

The Commission presents a report on the functioning of Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on permanent crops. Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 covers two structural data collections on permanent crops:

• orchard data collection on apple, pear, peach, nectarine, orange, lemon, small citrus fruit and olive trees and vines for table grapes; and
• vineyard data collection on vineyards producing grapes for wine, raisins and dual purpose grapes.

Three data collections have been organised: two on orchards (2012 and 2017) and one on vineyards (2015).

Main findings

The report states that Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 has not worked as was planned when it was adopted. This is due to the data content and the cross-tabulation of data being too detailed. These factors contributed to the heavy burden on respondents and high data collection costs, resulting in confidential data. The user needs also changed over the years and currently the Commission requires fewer details

With regard to orchard data collection, the Commission found two consequences from having the data variables (species group, colour of fruit, time of harvest, age, density) cross-tabled against each other: (i) Member States have to use very high sampling rates; (ii) the detailed breakdown of the data leads to costly and time consuming data collections. The average cost of the orchard data collection (per reference year) is approximately EUR 220 000 per country, ranging from EUR 2 500 to EUR 900 000. The labour input in statistical authorities ranges from 0.1 full time equivalent (FTE) to 6.2 FTE. There is also a very heavy burden on respondents due to very large samples and long questionnaires requiring a lot of area measurements.

The large investment made at national level for collecting very detailed information unfortunately does not bring the full benefit to the data users as some of the collected data cannot be released due to statistical confidentiality.

With regard to vineyard data, the obligatory link between the vineyard register set up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, and the vineyard data collection under the Regulation poses problems in several Member States as the register is not always up to date and it does not contain all the variables listed in the Regulation.

User needs have also changed over the past decade, and the Commission needs fewer details. The following variables are no longer needed: (i) species groups for apples and pears; (ii) colour of fruit for peaches, nectarines and table grapes; and (iii) the time of harvest for peaches, nectarines, apricots, oranges and small citrus fruits. In addition, there is no longer a need to cross-tabulate certain variables.

New Framework Regulation on Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS)

The structural data collections on orchards and vineyards will take place under the orchard and vineyards modules of Regulation 2018/1091 (IFS Regulation) adopted in July 2018. Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 has been repealed with effect from 1 January 2022. The IFS Regulation also covers the farm structure survey currently covered by the Regulation on farm surveys, the statistics on the structure of orchards and vineyards under Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 and some agri-environmental indicators.

The orchard data collection under the IFS orchard module will take place in 2023.

The collection of vineyard data under the IFS Regulation will take place in 2026. The 2020 vineyard data collection will still take place under Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 to allow enough time to align the statistical holding register with the vineyard register, which is necessary under the IFS Regulation.

The new legal basis for the structural data on orchards and vineyards will better meet user needs and it is expected to reduce the burden on respondents. The orchard and vineyard module data under the IFS Regulation will allow the holdings cultivating fruit trees and vines to be thoroughly analysed. This is thanks to ample possibilities offered by the delivery of micro data, which will allow the structure of the orchards and vineyards to be linked with the full structural 7 data of the farms. Therefore, this will strengthen the evidence base used for taking decisions affecting the sector.