15.12.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 328/27 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Community (codified version) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, (5) Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third subparagraph of Article 37(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, ©) Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament ('), Whereas: (1) Regulation No 79/65/EEC of the Council of 15 June 1965 setting up a network for the collection of 7) accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Economic Community () has been substantially amended several times (?). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified. (20 The development of the common agricultural policy requires that there should be available objective and relevant information on incomes in the various categories of agricultural holding and on the business operation of holdings coming within categories which ) call for special attention at Community level. (3)  The accounts of agricultural holdings constitute the basic source of essential data for any assessment of incomes on agricultural holdings or study of their business operation. (10) (4)  The data collected should be obtained from agricultural holdings specially and suitably selected in accordance with common rules and be based on verifiable facts. Such data should reflect technical, economic and social an conditions on the holdings involved, be taken from indi- vidual holdings, be available as quickly as possible, be based on uniform definitions, be presented in a common form and be usable at all times and in full detail by the Commission. (') Opinion of 20 October 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ 109, 23.6.1965, p. 1859/65. Those objectives can be attained only by means of a Community network for the collection of farm accountancy data (hereinafter referred to as ‘data network), based on the farm accountancy offices existing in each Member State, enjoying the confidence of the parties concerned and relying on their voluntary participation. In order to obtain accounting results that are sufficiently homogeneous at Community level, the returning holdings should be distributed among the various divisions and the various categories of holdings on the basis of a stratification of the field of survey based on the Community typology for agricultural holdings as estab- lished by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1242/2008 of 8 December 2008 establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings (*). The divisions of the data network should, as far as possible, be identical with those used for the presentation of other regional data that are essential in order to provide guidelines for the common agricultural policy. For management reasons, the Commission should be authorised to amend the list of divisions of Member States, at the request of a Member State. The field of survey of the data network should comprise all agricultural holdings of a certain economic size, irre- spective of any outside work the operator may engage in. This field should be re-examined periodically in the light of the new Farm Structure Survey data. Returning holdings should be selected in accordance with the rules laid down in the context of a selection plan aimed at obtaining a representative accounting sample of the field of survey. In view of the experience gained, it is desirable that the main decisions concerning the selection of returning holdings, particularly the establishment of the selection plan, should be adopted at national level. Consequently, it is at that level that a body should be made responsible for this task. Those Member States which have several divisions should, however, be free to maintain regional committees. () See Annex II. (*) OJ L 335, 13.12.2008, p. 3.