24. 4. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 98/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 959/93 of § April 1993 concerning statistical information to be supplied by Member States on crop products other than cereals THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof, Having regard to the proposal by the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liament (3, Whereas, in order to carry out the tasks imposed on it by the Treaty and the regulations concerning the common agricultural policy, the Commission needs to have reli- able, comparable and up-to-date data, established by objective methods, on areas under cultivation, yields and production of crop products other than cereals; Whereas it is appropriate to recognize the importance of the crop production sector apart from cereals for the orga- . nization and management of agricultural markets, which - implies that the requisite statistical survey should be .conducted to an increasing degree on the - basis of Community rules ; Whereas account should be taken of the experience acquired by the statistical services with these surveys over many years ; Whereas the purpose of this Regulation is to define the statistical information to be supplied, to prescribe a satis- factory level of reliability and lay down additional tech- - nical information necessary to assess production figures, to provide for objectivity and representativeness of surveys on area and production by a broad exchange of experi- ence, involving meetings and reports and to fix the dead- lines to be met; Whereas, for some crop prdducts other than cereals, the communication of regional .data is also required on an annual basis ; ‘Whereas it is appropriate for the Commission to submit a report after three years of experience with this Regulation, together with, if necessary, proposals for improving statis- tical surveys; . () OJ No C 335, 18. 12. 1992, p. 35. (3 Opinion delivered on 12 February 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Whereas, during a transitional period, the changes to be made in statistical methods involve additional work for Member States, which requires a financial contribution from the Community for the period 1993 to 1995, such amount being deemed necessary as ECU 1 million per year ; Whereas, notwithstanding that the collection and treat- ment of data and the organization of surveys at national level ought to remain the responsibility of the statistical services of the Member States, the Commission must ensure the collection, coordination and harmonization of statistical information at European level and provide for the harmonized methodologies for the management of Community policies ; Whereas, in order to facilitate the application of this Regulation, close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission should continue, in particular via the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics set up by Decision 72/279/EEC (%), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : SECTION I Objectives Article 1 Member States shall provide the Commission with annual data on the production and area of crops, other than cereals, as specified in Articles 2 and 6 of this Regulation with due regard for Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data “subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (). f) OJ No L 179, 7. 8. 1972, p. 1. ) OJ No L 151, 15. 6. 1990, p. 1.