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Division Current situation

United Kingdom

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The traditional agricultural statistics will continue to remain crucial for the CAP (market management) and will have to be consolidated and simplified. On the other hand, the new policy concerns (rural development, environmental compliance and impacts, food safety) will require structural statistics which could be less frequent but which should meet the need for detailed and sometimes specific geographical breakdowns matching e.g. spatial data on soil, watersheds and biodiversity. The 2010 agricultural census will be a very valuable source in this respect.

One of the main proposals included in the Commission Communication ‘European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming’ of 2004 focuses on an information-led development of the organic food market. To this end, the collection of statistical data on both production and marketing of organic products will be envisaged. The legal architecture of the EU system for agricultural statistics is to be simplified in the near future and will have to be implemented in the EU and in the candidate countries.

Particular attention will be given to the development of specific indicators for the environmental and sustainable management of forests and wood-derived industries. The EU Forest Action Plan will need monitoring after the launch phase scheduled for 2006/2007.

The programme of fishery statistics will include the continued implementation of the existing legislation, including aquaculture statistics, the development of socio-economic indicators and of sustainability indicators and the development of supply balance sheets for fishery products. Eurostat will follow the developments in the proposed Maritime Policy and adapt its programme of work accordingly.

Main initiatives for 2008 to 2012:

  • an agricultural census will in principle be carried out in 2009-2010 in accordance with legal acts as well as a decennial survey on vineyards. The 2007 farm structure survey results will be made available in 2008 (as well as the 2007 fruit trees survey results),

  • surveys on agricultural production methods, on land use, on input use and on organic farming will be carried out in accordance with legal acts,

  • the current surveys on crops and animal production will be carried out in accordance with revised legal acts, which will be aimed at integrating and simplifying existing legislation and reducing the response burden,

  • the current feasibility study on the income of the agricultural households sector will be evaluated,

  • rural development and agri-environmental indicators will be further developed and made available,

  • special attention will be devoted to the development of a more efficient system for collection and validation of agricultural statistics,

  • new statistical information will be compiled and launched for guidance of the proposed Maritime Policy which is currently being drafted by the Commission.