COMMON POSITION (EC) No 41/96 adopted by the Council on 27 June 1996 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No . . ./96 of . . . amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway transport (96/C 264/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 (4) introduced measures for structural improvements in the inland waterway sector; whereas that Regulation sets out to reduce structural overcapacity in inland waterway transport by providing for vessel-scrapping schemes coordinated at Community level; whereas that Regulation provides for the possibility of a Community financial contribution to the scrapping funds for 1995;

Whereas the system of structural improvements currently in force is in principle to be financed primarily by the operators in the sector by means of annual contributions;

Whereas public contributions must be granted annually, in line with the contributions made by the trade; whereas measures are scheduled for a period of three years, namely 1996, 1997 and 1998 and whereas they must be assessed annually;

Whereas provision for a financial contribution from the Community should be envisaged for the year 1996 only;

Whereas the financial contributions from the Member States in question must be calculated against the size of their fleets for the years 1996, 1997 and 1998,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 4 (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89:

1. - 'and the year 1996,` shall be inserted after '1995` in paragraph 1,

- 'and 1996` shall be inserted after '1995` in paragraph 2;

2. the following paragraphs shall be added:

'3. The Member States in question shall jointly make available from their funds sufficient amounts to achieve, along with the Community contribution fixed for the year 1996 only, the structural improvement objectives for the years 1996, 1997 and 1998. The proportionate share of each Member State concerned shall be calculated against the size of its active fleet as compared with that of the Member States' total fleet. These amounts shall be determined by the Commission in conjunction with the authorities of the various scrapping funds.

4. At the beginning of each year during the scrapping operations for 1996, 1997 and 1998, the Commission shall lay down, as part of this Regulation, the procedures for scrapping for the year in progress as a function of available finances, market developments and liberalization measures taken.`.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, . . .

For the Council The President

(1) OJ No C 318, 29. 11. 1995, p. 11.

(2) OJ No C 39, 12. 2. 1996, p. 96.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 February 1996 (OJ No C 65, 4. 3. 1996, p. 29), common position of the Council of 27 June 1996 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ No L 116, 28. 4. 1989, p. 25. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2819/95 (OJ No L 292, 7. 12. 1995, p. 7).

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

On 15 September 1995 the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Regulation, based on Article 75 of the EC Treaty, amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway transport (1).

The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 13 February 1996 (2). The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 23 November 1995 (3).

In the light of those opinions, the Commission sent the Council an amended proposal on 22 April 1996 (4).

The Council adopted its common position, in accordance with Article 189c of the EC Treaty, on 27 June 1996.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL

The purpose of the proposal is to open up the possibility of a Community financial contribution to the national scrapping funds of the Member States concerned for 1996 as part of further extensive structural improvements over a three-year period (1996 to 1998).

This Commission proposal is to be regarded as a supporting measure for the proposal for a Directive on the organization of the inland waterway market, which is to phase out systems of chartering by rotation so as to bring about a fully liberalized market as of 1 January 2000.

III. ASSESSMENT OF THE COMMON POSITION

The common position adopted by the Council departs from the original Commission proposal in one important respect in that it confines Community financial contributions for structural improvements to 1996. The Council took the view that, while it was prepared, in a spirit of solidarity, to approve a Community contribution for 1996, the further structural improvements planned for 1996, 1997 and 1998 to cut fleet capacity by about 15 % were primarily to be funded by the Member States concerned and the trade.

The recitals and Article 1 have consequently been amended by the Council. In particular, paragraph 2 (3) has been deleted following the confining of Community contributions to 1996. The new paragraph 2 (3) (formerly 2 (4)) has had to be adjusted.

IV. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AMENDMENTS (5)

1. European Parliament amendment included by the Commission and accepted by the Council

Amendment 14, concerning entry into force on the date of publication, has been accepted by the Council in order for the Regulation to become operational more quickly.

2. European Parliament amendments included by the Commission but not accepted by the Council Amendments 11, 12 and 13 have become redundant as a result of the Council's amendment of the Commission proposal (see point III above).

3. European Parliament amendments not included by the Commission and not accepted by the Council Amendments 15 and 16 concern the financial statement and not the body of the Regulation. The Council has therefore disregarded them.

(1) OJ No C 318, 29. 11. 1995, p. 11.

(2) OJ No C 65, 4. 3. 1996, p. 30.

(3) OJ No C 39, 12. 2. 1996, p. 46.

(4) Not yet published in the Official Journal.

(5) The European Parliament delivered a single opinion on the three Commission proposals; the only amendments concerning this proposal are those numbered 11 to 16.