Glossary:Legal personality of the holding
The legal personality of the holding depends on the holder's status. The legal and economic responsibility for the holding is defined according to Member States’ own documented rules.
Until survey year 1997, only two types of legal personality of the holding were distinguished: sole holder holdings and legal entities. From 2000 onward, some countries have introduced a third type of holding: holding-groups. For the 2020 census of agriculture a new type of holding (with shared ownership) is added.
Depending on whether the holder is a “natural” or a “legal” person the holdings are classified under one of the following groups:
- sole holder holding - holdings where the holder is a natural person and the sole holder of an independent holding
- shared ownership - holdings where the holder is a natural person but where the holding is managed in cooperation with a spouse or family member
- holding-group - holdings where the holder is a group of natural persons being a group of partners on a holding-group
- legal holding - holdings where the holder is a legal person
