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The current European Agricultural Statistics System (EASS) has been built up since the early 1950s. Agricultural statistics are the oldest EU statistics still to be produced, and a large part of them are provided under legal obligations.

The EASS covers more than 50 data sets that are transmitted to Eurostat by National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) or other national statistical authorities. It consists of seven statistical domains: structural data, agri-monetary statistics, crop production, organic farming, permanent crops, animal products and livestock, and agri-environmental indicators. In addition, the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) manages the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), a survey that, while not officially part of EU statistics, is closely linked to the EASS.

Agriculture produces close to 100% of the food we eat. The safety and security of food are non-negotiable. Detailed knowledge of production structures and supply chains is essential for rapid responses, particularly for crisis management purposes. In the global context, increasingly volatile food prices coupled with a still increasing world population present a challenge for all countries.

Data on prices, yields and production structures are used in market analyses and market outlook models for policy development and management. They are also widely used by private operators, as such data reduce asymmetries in market information. Agriculture covers almost 40% of the EU territory <a href="#territory" aria-describedby="footnote-label" id="footnotes-ref"> <sup>1<></sup>a>.</a> 

The environmental impact of agricultural practices, but also the environmental services provided by agriculture are immense. Agriculture uses soil, water, air and biodiversity and affects these resources through land management practices and input, output, crop and livestock patterns. Agriculture also plays a special role in view of climate change: it is an important source of emissions (sectoral share in EU-27 in 2020 was 11.8% of the total net Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG, CO2 equivalent), including international transport) <a href="#transport" aria-describedby="footnote-label" id="transport-ref"> <sup>2</sub> </a>, but can also sequester carbon (e.g. through reduced tillage practices) and protect carbon sinks related to agricultural land through good management practices. Without a thorough knowledge of what is produced where by whom and how through high-quality statistics, it would be very difficult to target agricultural, environmental and related policy interventions to where they are most needed. Lastly, agriculture accounts for roughly 30% of the EU budget, being the only policy almost entirely funded by the EU, where EU spending largely replaces national spending<a href="#CAP" aria-describedby="footnote-label" id="cap-ref"> <sup>3</sub> <></a>.

EU taxpayers must have the guarantee that this policy is based on hard facts and figures. The main aim of the Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS) data collection is to provide comparable data on the agricultural holdings of the European Union. Data on farm structure has been collected at regular intervals since 1966, both by full censuses which are carried out every 10 years and via intermediate sample surveys every 3 or 4 years. Such data is used, for example, to produce a variety of information on specific Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) targets, agri-environmental issues or provide a basis for extrapolating Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data.

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    <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="footnote-label">Footnotes</h2>
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      <li id="territory)"> Agricultural land use, LUCAS 2018. <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/bookmark/1f55f273-7eea-4232-bc64-9a1e9a289036?lang=en" target="_blank"> https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/bookmark/1f55f273-7eea-4232-bc64-9a1e9a289036?lang=en, accessed on 2022.02.04 </a>. <a href="#footnotes-ref" aria-   label="Back to content">↩</a></li>
  <li id="transport"> <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/data-viewers/greenhouse-gases-viewer" target="_blank">https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/data-viewers/greenhouse-gases-viewer, accessed on 2023.01.31 </a>. <a href="#transport-ref" aria-label="Back to content">↩</a></li>  
<li id="CAP"> In 2021 the CAP accounted for 33.1% of the EU-27 budget. The share of the EU budget accounted for by agricultural spending has been steadily declining in recent years. Whereas the CAP represented 66% of the EU budget in the early 1980s, it accounted for just 37.8% of it in the 2014-2020 period and accounts for 31% for the 2021-2027 period. <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/106/financing-of-the-cap" target="_blank"> See link accessed on 2023.01.31 </a>. <a href="#transport-ref" aria-label="Back to content">↩</a></li>
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