Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 93/24/EEC of 1 June 1993 on the statistical surveys to be carried out on bovine animal production^f1, and in particular Articles 1(2) and (3), 2(2), 3(2), 6, 8(1) and (2), 10(3) and 12(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Decision 94/433/EC of 30 May 1994 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Directive 93/24/EEC as regards the statistical surveys on cattle population and production^f2 has been amended several times.

Precise definitions are required in order to carry out the surveys provided for in Directive 93/24/EEC. This requires the definition of the agricultural holdings covered by the survey. The different categories for the breakdown of the survey results, and the herd size classes and the territorial subdivisions according to which the Member States draw up the survey results at regular intervals must also be precisely defined. A standard definition of carcass weight is necessary for drawing up slaughtering statistics.

Under Directive 93/24/EEC, the Member States may, at their request, be authorised to carry out the May/June or November/December surveys in selected regions, provided that these surveys cover at least 70 % of the bovine population. Member States whose bovine population makes up only a small percentage of the overall livestock population of the Community may also, at their request, be authorised to dispense altogether with either the May/June or the November/December survey or to use the regional breakdown for the final results of the May/June survey. Finally, the Member States may, at their request, be authorised to conduct the prescribed breakdown by herd size classes for the results of the May/June survey.

Applications have been made by the Member States for the various types of derogation.

By reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, it is necessary to make certain technical adaptations and to extend certain derogations to these new Member States.

Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council^f3 establishes a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) for the Member States; the new NUTS nomenclature must therefore replace the previously defined regional levels.

Decision 94/433/EC should therefore be repealed.

This Decision is in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: