Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission^f1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f2,

Whereas Council Directive 72/280/EEC of 31 July 1972 on the statistical surveys to be made by the Member States on milk and milk products^f3 has been amended on several occasions; whereas, in the light of new amendments, it is in the interest of transparency to reformulate the provisions of the said Directive;

Whereas in order to carry out its duties under the Treaty and under Community provisions on the common organization of the market in milk and milk products the Commission needs reliable information about the production and use of milk and regular, reliable, short-term information about the delivery of milk to enterprises which treat or process milk and about the production of milk products in the Member States;

Whereas surveys on the production and use of milk on the farm should be conducted in accordance with uniform criteria and in greater detail, and monthly surveys should be made in all Member States in enterprises which process milk;

Whereas, in order to obtain comparable results, common criteria should be fixed as regards the scope of the survey, the characteristics to be noted and the survey procedure;

Whereas experience acquired in implementing the previous rules has shown that it would be useful to simplify the provisions, in particular by abolishing the requirement to provide weekly results;

Whereas, in view of the growing importance of the milk-protein content of milk products the appropriate steps must be taken;

Whereas, in order to facilitate implementation of the provisions of this Directive, it is appropriate to continue the close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, particularly in the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics established by Decision 72/279/EEC^f4,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: