Common Position (EC) No 17/2000

adopted by the Council on 24 January 2000

with a view to adopting a Directive 2000/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 64/432/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine

(2000/C 83/03)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 152 thereof,

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

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

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),

Whereas:

(1) Both Council Directive 64/432/EEC(4) and Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products(5) refer to the creation of computer databases, for bovine and porcine animals, to store information on animals and their movements.

(2) The appropriate implementation of functional national databases for recording the movements of porcine animals must be ensured,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 64/432/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1. In point 3 of Article 14(3)(C), the third subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

"However, only points 2, 3 and 4 shall be applicable to porcine animals.";

2. The following point shall be added to Article 14(3)(C):

"(4) In order to ensure the operation of the national computer databases concerning porcine animals, appropriate rules of application, including the information that the national databases must contain, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17.";

3. Article 18 shall be replaced by the following:

"Article 18

Those Member States which have not introduced an approved surveillance network system shall ensure that a computer database complying with the provisions laid down in Article 14 is fully operational as follows:

(a) for bovine animals, from 31 December 1999;

(b) for a register of holdings of porcine animals, complying with the provisions laid down in Article 14(3)(C)(2) from 31 December 2000;

(c) for movements of porcine animals, complying with the provisions laid down in Article 14(3)(C)(3):

- from their holding of birth, by 31 December 2001,

- from all other holdings, by 31 December 2002.

There shall be an entry in the database for each separate movement of porcine animals. The entry shall comprise at least the following: the number of porcine animals being moved, the identification number of the holding or herd of departure, the identification number of the holding or herd of arrival and the departure and arrival dates."

Article 2

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 3

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

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at ...

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 100, 2.4.1998, p. 23.

(2) OJ C 235, 27.7.1998, p. 59.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 16 June 1998 (OJ C 210, 6.7.1998, p. 30), Council Common Position of 24 January 2000 and Decision of the European Parliament of ... (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 121, 29.7.1964, p. 1977/64. Directive amended and updated by Council Directive 97/12/EC (OJ L 109, 25.4.1997, p. 1) and last amended by Council Directive 98/99/EC (OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 107).

(5) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997, p. 1.

Statement of the Council's reasons

I. INTRODUCTION

1. On 19 February 1998 the Commission sent the Council a proposal based on Article 100a of the EC Treaty and designed to amend Directive 64/432/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine.

2. On 16 June 1998 the European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal, approving it without amendment.

On 16 September 1999, following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Parliament stated that its June 1998 opinion could be considered as a first reading under the co-decision procedure, the proposal's legal basis having become Article 152 of the EC Treaty.

The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 27 May 1998.

The Committee of the Regions was consulted by letter dated 6 December 1999.

3. At its meeting on 24 January 2000, the Council adopted a Common Position in accordance with Article 251 of the EC Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVES

4. Directive 64/432/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine as amended and updated by Council Directive 97/12/EC(1), provides, inter alia, for the creation of computer databases for the storage of information on bovine animals and swine and their movements.

5. In order to ensure the operations of the various national databases and the intra-Community exchange of information between them, the proposal would, where necessary, give the Commission the task of adopting appropriate rules of application under the Standing Veterinary Committee procedure.

III. THE COMMON POSITION

6. The Council accepted the Commission proposal but restricted the delegation of powers to databases for swine. It saw no justification for delegating powers for the databases for bovine animals, which should be in place by 31 December 1999 at the latest.

The Council acknowledged the problem involved in setting up databases for swine by the prescribed deadline: the timetable for establishing computerised databases for swine has therefore been spread over three years (see new Article 18(b) and (c) under point 3). This does not call into question the principle of the Directive.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The Council adopted as its Common Position the Commission proposal as approved by the European Parliament, with the amendments described above.

(1) OJ L 109, 25.4.1997, p. 1.