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Agriculture and rural development

Farm accountancy data network

At a glance

The farm accountancy data network (FADN) monitors farms' income and business activities. It is also an important informative source for understanding the impact of the measures taken under the common agricultural policy. 

FADN is the only source of microeconomic data based on harmonised bookkeeping principles. It is based on national surveys and only covers EU agricultural holdings which, due to their size, can be considered commercial.

The methodology applied aims to provide representative data according to three categories: region, economic size and type of farming.

Results and analysis

The FADN public database aggregates, after validation, individual data into standard results.

Annual economic farming data at EU level and by country

Agricultural and farm economics

Farm economy data by sector:

Access to FADN online platforms

The Commission shares information via multiple online platforms:

  • the FADN-FSDN Public Information Interest Group on CIRCABC contains public libraries providing information on FADN (and later FSDN) methodology, instructions for data collection and validation and publications using FADN data,
  • the FADN Committee and Expert Group on CIRCABC contains documents for the community committee for the FADN and is reserved for designated members of FADN Liaison Agencies, who are granted access after approval of the access request,
  • the RICA-1 computerised system, which is restricted to members of the FADN Liaison Agencies, is dedicated to uploading and testing data.

Conversion to Farm Sustainability Data Network

The European Green Deal is the Commission’s plan to make the EU economy sustainable and carbon neutral by 2050. In the Farm to Fork strategy, the Commission announced its intention to convert the FADN into a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN).

The FSDN initiative will expand the scope of the current FADN network to also collect farm level data on environmental and social farming practices, as well as provide farmers with reporting on their farm performance. The data collection methodology will be in line with the existing one for the current FADN.

The public consultation on the Commission’s FSDN Roadmap ran from 4 June to 2 July 2021. All the feedback provided by the public is available on the FSDN consultation webpage. On 28-29 September 2021, the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development organised the second FSDN workshop, which focused on the outcomes of this consultation process and possible concrete improvements of the FADN.

In June 2022, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation amending Council Regulation 1217/2009. Interinstitutional negotiations led to an agreement between the EU co-legislators in July 2023. Following the overwhelmingly positive vote by the European Parliament’s plenary on 17 October 2023 and the adoption by the Council on 13 November 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/2674 on the conversion of the FADN into a FSDN (FSDN Basic Act) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 29 November 2023.

The FSDN Basic Act establishes the list of economic, environment, and social topics to be covered by the data collection.

The list of new data and variables to be included in the future FSDN is to be set out in secondary legislation (implementing and delegated acts). Based on an ongoing study mapping possible topics to be included in the FSDN, the Commission held discussions with EU countries and stakeholders during a workshop in November 2022 and a conference in September 2023. In September 2023, the Commission presented views on the future FSDN to the Pacioli international workshop for innovations in agriculture micro-economic databases and to the Civil Dialogue Group on the CAP (on 23 November 2023). The ongoing discussions with EU countries in committee and experts’ group meetings to define the secondary legislation build on the FSDN Basic Act and on analyses, findings, and outcome from these dialogues.

Documents

30 NOVEMBER 2023
FSDN presentation at the civil dialogue group on the CAP (23 November 2023)
English
(916.23 KB - PDF)
Download
3 DECEMBER 2021
Summary of the second FSDN workshop (28-29 September 2021)
English
(329.71 KB - PDF)
Download