The Commission wishes to encourage projects permitting the improvement of the existing indicators such as, in particular, regional-level information on yields of certain crops, data on the sale or consumption of mineral fertilisers etc. It also supports the establishment of landscape indicators such as the lengths of hedges or walls or the areas used at regional level outside the utilised agricultural area (pasture, alpine meadow etc.);

whereas, to prevent income losses for producers resulting from the aforementioned reduction in institutional prices, it is appropriate to establish a system of compensatory payments for production granted per hectare and intended to maintain present profitability levels for the crop, the amount of which is fixed on the basis of the envisaged price reduction and the agronomic yields recorded in the various Member States over a period considered to be representative;