The adoption of this regulation was expected as early as 2017 by the Member States and Eurostat in light of the upcoming agricultural census. The aim of the regulation is to ensure a common methodology and scope of the statistical surveys in the field of agriculture in the EU.
On the Parliament’s side Ms. Maria Gabriela Zoană led the negotiations. The Council was represented by Mr. Sergey Tsvetarsky, Chair of the Working Party on Statistics and President of the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria. The Commission’s delegation was led by Ms. Mariana Kotzeva, Director General of Eurostat.
The negotiations were held in a friendly atmosphere and in search of a mutually acceptable agreement on the amendments proposed by the Parliament and the compromise texts prepared by the Presidency. The main issues that were discussed, as in the previous trilogue, were:
- ensuring high-quality statistics;
- guaranteeing that the introduction of new surveys will not increase the burden on the National Statistical Institutes and the respondents;
- efficiency in the definition of statistical activities through further legislative acts.
In the course of the discussions, an agreement was reached on these matters, which led to the successful conclusion of the negotiations. This opens the way for the final adoption of the regulation during the Bulgarian Presidency.
