Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European environment information and observation network` (98/C 73/25)

On 11 July 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 130s of the Treaty establishing the European Union, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 November 1997. The rapporteur was Mrs Sánchez Miguel.

At its 350th plenary session (meeting of 11 December 1997) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 93 votes to one.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Commission document evaluates the achievements of the European Environment Agency in the light of the objectives laid down when the Agency was first set up (), concentrating chiefly on its function of gathering and disseminating information. In so doing it underlines the importance of the Agency's publication in 1995 of two reports on the state of the environment: the 'Dobris Assessment` and the report contributing to the 'Review of the 5th Environment Action Programme` ().

1.1.1. We would also emphasize the Agency's role in establishing the EIONET information network () for gathering environmental information across the Member States. This has been accompanied by the establishment of nine European Topic Centres (ETCs) () providing, inter alia, objective data for the network.

1.2. As part of this information function, the Agency has also promoted the inclusion of European environmental data in international environment monitoring programmes, with concrete results in the form of agreements with WHO, UNEP and UNECE ().

1.3. Another of the tasks launched by the Agency - and one that has achieved important practical success in its earliest stage - has been to stimulate the development of environmental forecasting techniques and methods of assessing the cost of damage to the environment and the costs of environmental policies themselves.

1.4. The Commission's overall assessment is that the Agency has made significant progress, especially with regard to the publication of reports, but is still at the teething stage insofar as the operation of national networks providing information about different environmental areas is concerned.

1.5. In view of this performance the Commission considers that the Agency should not be given new tasks at the moment and feels that its terms of reference should only be reviewed after the evaluation of its activities in 2003.

2. Relations between the ESC and the Agency

2.1. The Committee has already stressed the urgent need to create a transnational Environmental Agency, believing that it represents a quantum leap compared with the coordination mechanisms set up in the 1980s to provide European-level information on the state of the environment. In its earlier opinion on the creation of the Agency (), the ESC underlined the importance of the contribution such an Agency could make to aligning national instruments and operational methods and to strengthening international cooperation in the field of environmental protection, particularly in respect of the role the European Union could play in international fora and in providing technical support and advice to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and to the developing countries.

2.2. In this same opinion the Committee called for assurances that all the various socio-economic interests would be actively involved, saying that it wanted to see the Agency not only operating under the aegis of the Commission but also responding to the needs of Member States and especially ordinary citizens. To this end, thought should be given to appropriate forms of cooperation with non-governmental bodies operating in the environmental sector and with technical and scientific institutions at both national and European level.

2.2.1. The need to guarantee such involvement is of paramount importance in the context of the Vth Action Programme on the Environment which underlines the shared responsibility of all players.

2.3. Delays in getting the Agency off the ground have been repeatedly criticized by the ESC, most notably in 1992 when commenting on the programme of sustainable development ().

2.4. The Committee has maintained regular contacts with the Agency since its launch in Copenhagen, participating in its initiatives, making use of the information and reports it has provided, and drawing on the help of its experts on specific subjects, particularly those relating to opinions being drawn up in the fields of water and waste.

2.5. On such occasions, as well as in section discussions () with the Agency's Director, members of the Committee have never failed to emphasize the need to broaden the activities of the Agency and involve different players and ordinary citizens more closely.

2.6. More recently, when drawing up the opinion on eco-labels, the ESC developed a fruitful dialogue with the Agency on the possibility of the latter providing support for the scheme (), particularly by assembling information necessary for an analysis of the life-cycle of products. The ESC therefore hopes that the Agency will be actively involved in the eco-label scheme although it rules out any administrative role for the Agency on the grounds that this is not one of its inherent functions.

2.7. Last but not least, the information about the Agency on the Internet, although restricted to the English language, has proved to be a useful benchmark in drawing up opinions and holding debates about environmental protection.

3. General comments

3.1. In view of the Agency's positive contribution, as referred to above, and the permanent need for increasingly accurate and standardized information on the state of the environment in Europe, the Committee feels that the Commission's conclusion spelt out in point 4 of the introduction and stating that 'it would not be appropriate to add major new tasks at this stage in its development` is excessively conservative and seems to be governed largely by financial considerations, especially since point 5 goes on to say that 'no new financial resources will be made available`.

3.1.1. What is needed is an assessment which takes into consideration the added value which can be provided by the Agency once the initial start-up phase has been completed, especially in terms of harmonizing data-collection methods and bringing about synergistic effects between the Member States within the context of thematic networks, not to speak of its work in evaluating environmental incidents.

3.1.2. Any evaluation of the Agency's performance must also take account of the short period in which the Agency has been in operation and of the resources made available to it. The reports published to date, along with the databases, are all of great value to the different Community organizations and to economic and social interest groups. Furthermore, the Agency's staff has always proved ready and willing to cooperate and to provide information about the Agency's tasks to any organizations wishing to obtain such information, as the ESC has itself experienced on several occasions.

3.2. The ESC approves the activities of the Agency and agrees that its tasks should be consolidated along the lines set out by the Commission. The ESC, however, also hopes that the Agency's work on gathering and disseminating information will be expanded - and not only for the benefit of the Commission and the Member States but for all other community and social interests in the EU. If information is ultimately fed through to ordinary citizens, it should be available in the official languages of the EU, which means releasing the required funds.

3.3. A number of other activities need to be broadened so that a 'strategic` evaluation of the environment can be carried out and the EU's environmental situation can be monitored, as called for in the ESC's opinion on the Action Programme for integrated groundwater protection and management (), and so that the Agency can more effectively support the European Union in its involvement in cross-frontier and international organizations specializing in protection of the environment.

3.3.1. The ESC considers that the Agency should have a distinct role within this cross-frontier context, namely that of establishing forms of cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) preparing to join the EU so that it is easier for them to acquire the information needed to update their environmental legislation. According to the latest Commission studies, this is of fundamental importance for their integration into the EU.

3.4. As far as the integration of environmental protection in other Community policies is concerned, the Committee considers that the Agency can serve a useful purpose by giving technical support to all departments with responsibilities in the environmental field, bearing in mind the revision carried out in Amsterdam of Article 130, and especially Article 3 which introduces the concept of making environmental policy an integral part of all Community policies and actions at both the planning and implementation stages. Particular attention should be paid to coordination with DG XII since the lines of investigation pursued in this directorate-general are closely linked to environmental questions and in many cases to draft environmental legislation. The regulation in question also already provides for cooperation between the Agency and the Joint Research Centre. This cooperation should be consolidated and greater synergies achieved between the work of the bodies; overlapping activities would have to be avoided and the flow of information on clean technologies, and on products stemming from research carried out in conjunction with industry, would have to be fully taken advantage of.

3.5. On the other hand, the ESC would emphasize that no way has yet been found of guaranteeing the involvement of the EU's socio-economic organizations (and particularly NGOs and consumer representatives) in the Agency. A greater openness on the part of the Agency towards socio-economic organizations would hold out the prospect of promising developments in parallel with the programme on sustainable development which provides for the involvement of all players active in environmental protection.

3.6. In this context the ESC welcomes the recent initiative to engage in a wider consultation, involving NGOs operating in the environmental sector, industry, trade unions, the various Commission Directorates-General which have environmental responsibilities, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, on the Agency's second work programme, covering the 1999-2003 period. The Committee recommends that consultations of this type should be formalized on a regular footing, and should also cover more specific aspects of the Agency's work.

4. Examination of the proposed amendments

4.1. The amendments proposed by the Commission are of two types: one type deals with the broadening and consolidation of the information function of the Agency via amendments to Articles 2 and 4; the other is concerned with the workings of the Management Board.

4.2. Article 2 - Broadening of the functions of the Agency

4.2.1. The Committee by and large considers that the new functions assigned to the Agency are a move in the right direction. This is because they strengthen the Agency's role in the field of information, particularly through the proposal laying down requirements governing the presentation of reports.

4.2.2. Nevertheless, other organizations, e.g. the Council, Parliament and ESC, should also have the right to request information from the Agency. The Committee likewise considers, in connection with the Agency's function of providing support for the collection of information, that reference should be made in paragraph (ii) to 'standard models for gathering information` as this would be a way of harmonizing the information Member States are required to submit.

4.2.3. The Committee also feels that non-state organizations (NGOs, trade unions, consumer organizations, etc.) should be involved in the new information tasks assigned to the Agency. Similarly, the organizations responsible for environmental policy at different levels of national administration should also have the right to request information from the agency.

4.2.4. The new wording of Article 2 (ii) would also reduce the independence of the Agency by moving away from the original 'provide ... the objective information necessary` to the proposed 'provide the objective information they require`. The ESC therefore calls for the original text to be kept.

4.2.5. The Commission proposes that the phrase 'to establish a repository of information on the environment` be inserted at the beginning of point (iii); such a repository would be tantamount to setting up a European information centre. The ESC, repeating here the requests made time and time again in previous opinions, considers that this should take the form of a Public Register accessible to all persons and organizations interested in environmental information. The Committee therefore calls for the inclusion of a new point (xiv) in Article 2, reading as follows: 'to take responsibility for a register of information obligatory under environmental laws.`

4.2.6. The new paragraph (vi) of Article 2 stipulates that the Agency shall draw up a report on 'the state of the environment` every five years. The ESC urges that the bracketed words (prospects and trends), be added after 'the state of the environment` to introduce a note of dynamism to the report. The ESC also considers that since the environmental situation changes rapidly the 'annual indicator reports` should be linked to the multiannual report of the Scientific Committee in order to give them a sound scientific basis.

4.2.7. The words 'in its own language` should be added after 'the general public` in the proposed new paragraph (xi) of Article 2.

4.2.8. A reference should also be made to 'the strategic or integrated environmental assessment` in the proposed new point (xii) of Article 2, in accordance with the proposed directive on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment ().

4.2.9. The Committee also calls for the inclusion in Article 2 of a point (xv) reading as follows: 'to contribute to the collection of information and the dissemination of results in cooperation with the European eco-label scheme.`

4.2.10. Finally, some of the original text of the amended Article 20, i.e. the part referring to the Agency being 'associated in the monitoring of the implementation of Community environmental legislation, in cooperation with the Commission and existing competent bodies in the Member States` should be incorporated in Article 2.

4.3. Article 4 - Responsibilities of the network

4.3.1. It is important that national networks be fully and properly established and that they feed through the data which enables Member States to fulfil their task of providing the Agency with information. The proposal to add a second sub-paragraph to paragraph 2 of Article 4 is therefore welcomed in that it tightens the obligation on Member States to provide the necessary information.

4.3.2. The ESC is aware that in some cases national networks have not yet been fully developed, which creates difficulties in trying to establish an overall framework for the provision of information. It would therefore help if the Agency could draw attention to these deficiencies by means of an inventory of networks so that the Commission and Member States in question could look at ways of overcoming the problem. Financial support for this operation could come from the Cohesion Fund.

4.4. Article 8 - Management Board

4.4.1. The ESC is favourably disposed to the idea of allowing European Economic Area representatives to sit on the Management Board. Nevertheless, in line with its previous opinion on the Agency (), it calls for Article 8 to include a reference to the need to consult the various socio-economic actors on the multiannual programme (paragraph 4), for ways to be found to ensure that such consultation takes place on a regular basis, if possible including in the Management Board an expert representing the NGOs working in the environmental sector, and for the annual report (paragraph 6) to be officially forwarded to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. It is a matter of formalizing forms of cooperation and consultation which already exist but which need to be recognized in the regulation governing the Agency.

4.4.2. Nor does the Committee have any objection to the creation of an executive bureau designed to speed up and facilitate the work of the management board, but it would recommend that the membership of such a bureau be balanced in terms of the interests represented, including the NGOs.

5. Conclusions

5.1. Looking at the points made above and taking into consideration the proposed changes, we can conclude in general that the Agency will become more independent and efficient and this in turn will make it an instrument attuned to the new environmental policy direction worked out in Amsterdam.

5.1.1. If the work of the Agency is to be brought closer to all citizens of the EU, the Agency will first have to be broadened to ensure that organizations reflecting citizens' interests are represented on it, whilst efforts will also have to be made to establish a balance on the Management Board. Secondly, its publications will have to become more accessible by appearing in all the languages of the Community, the funding being shared between public and private bodies in each Member State.

5.1.2. It is necessary to make the Agency a vehicle for the integration of all policies with environmental repercussions and to this end it needs to work together not only with the Commission, but also with all bodies active in the environment. Its advisory function can similarly be put to use with the enlargement of the EU in mind.

5.1.3. As far as the Agency's functions are concerned, we would urge that it be given responsibilities for carrying out a 'strategic or integrated environmental assessment` and for performing the task, in conjunction with the Commission, of monitoring implementation of the Community's environmental legislation.

5.2. All this will only be possible if the Agency receives funding commensurate with its functions. We should therefore look into the possibility of the Agency being given its own budget so that future budget increases do not have to be borne by DG XI.

Brussels, 11 December 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() Regulation (EEC) of the Council No 1210/1990, OJ L 120, 11.5.1990 - ESC Opinion, OJ C 56, 7.3.1990.

() OJ C 140, 11.5.1996.

() European Environment Information and Observation Network.

() ETCs: atmospheric emissions, air quality, catalogue of databases, inland waters, land cover, marine environment, nature conservation, soil quality and waste management.

() World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

() OJ C 56, 7.3.1990.

() Point 7.4.2, OJ C 287, 4.11.1992.

() Appendix to the minutes of the 176th meeting of the Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, held on 3 March 1995.

() Point 3.3.1.10, OJ C 296, 29.9.1997.

() OJ C 355, 25.11.1996 - ESC Opinion, OJ C 89, 19.3.1997.

() OJ C 129, 25.4.1997; OJ C 287, 22.9.1997.

() OJ C 56, 7.3.1990.