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1. Member States shall collect and provide the core structural data (‘core data’) related to the agricultural holdings referred to in Article 3(2) and (3), for the reference years 2020, 2023 and 2026, as listed in Annex III. The core data collection for the reference year 2020 shall be carried out as a census.

2. The core data collections for the reference years 2023 and 2026 may be carried out on samples. In that case, Member States shall ensure that the weighted results are statistically representative of agricultural holdings within each region and are designed to meet the precision requirements set out in Annex V.

3. When a variable listed in Annex III has a low or zero prevalence in a Member State, that variable may be excluded from the data collection subject to the Member State concerned providing information duly justifying its exclusion to the Commission (Eurostat) in the calendar year preceding the reference year.

4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt implementing acts specifying the descriptions of variables listed in Annex III.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 17(2) not later than 28 February 2019 for the reference year 2020, not later than 31 December 2021 for the reference year 2023, and not later than 31 December 2024 for the reference year 2026.

5. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 16 concerning amendments of the variables listed in Annex III where necessary for the purpose of harmonisation with the data sources specified in Article 4(2), for the years 2023 and 2026. In exercising its power, the Commission shall ensure that such delegated acts only replace variables listed in Annex III that can no longer be derived from the specified data sources. In the event of replacement, the Commission shall ensure that the new variables can be derived from the data sources specified in Article 4(2). It shall further ensure that such delegated acts are duly justified and do not impose significant additional burdens or costs on the Member States or on the respondents.

6. Those delegated acts shall be adopted by 30 September 2021 for the reference year 2023 and by 30 September 2024 for the reference year 2026.