Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Council Regulations (EEC) No 3528/86 on the protection of the Community's forests against atmospheric pollution and (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire will expire on 31 December 2001.

Under Articles 11(3) and 10(3) of the above Regulations, the Commission is required to submit a revision proposal to Parliament and the Council before the end of the application period, covering in particular the environmental, economic and social aspects and the results of a cost-benefit analysis.

Preparation of the revision proposal is still under way and no proposal can therefore be presented at this stage. Parliament and the Council are consequently not in a position to adopt any new arrangements for continuing the schemes covered by Regulations (EEC) No 3528/86 and (EEC) No 2158/92 before they reach the end of their application period.

Transitional measures are therefore needed to extend the two Regulations for a further year so that the schemes can continue in 2002.

The financial allocation for implementing these schemes in 2002 has been adjusted in line with the actual budget allocations for 1997-2001 and those provided for in the 2002 PDB.

2001/0268 (COD)

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

[1] OJ C ...

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee [2],

[2] OJ C ...

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [3],

[3] OJ C ...

Acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty [4],

[4] OJ C ...

Whereas:

(1) The period of application of the Community scheme referred to in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 [5] is due to expire on 31 December 2001.

[5] OJ L 217, 31.7.1992, p. 3. Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1485/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 196, 20.7.2001, p. 4).

(2) Under Article 10(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92, the Commission is required to submit a revision proposal to Parliament and the Council before the end of the application period, covering in particular the environmental, economic and social aspects and the results of a cost-benefit analysis.

(3) Preparation of the proposal is still under way and no proposal can therefore be presented at this stage. Parliament and the Council are consequently not in a position to adopt any new arrangements for continuing the Community scheme for the protection of forests against fire before it reaches the end of its application period.

(4) A transitional measure is therefore needed to extend application of the Regulation for a further year so that the scheme can continue in 2002.

(5) Article 10(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 fixes at EUR 49,4 million the financial allocation for implementation of the scheme, which constitutes the prime reference for the budgetary authority within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure. That allocation should be adjusted in line with the amount entered in the preliminary draft budget for 2002.

(6) Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 should therefore be amended,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 10, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be replaced by the following:

"1. The scheme shall run for 11 years from 1 January 1992.

2. The financial allocation for the implementation of the scheme shall be EUR 58,75 million for the period 1997 to 2002.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective."

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following 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 Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1. TITLE OF OPERATION

Extension of the schemes to protect forests against atmospheric pollution (Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 - scheme 1) and against fire (Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 - scheme 2).

2. BUDGET HEADINGS INVOLVED

B2-515 Forestry

3. LEGAL BASIS

Article 175 of the Treaty.

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATION

4.1 General objective

Scheme 1: to improve knowledge of forest health

Scheme 2: to improve knowledge of forest fires, prevention and monitoring

4.2 Period covered:

1997-2002.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE

5.1 Compulsory/Non-compulsory expenditure

5.2 Differentiated/non-differentiated appropriations

6. TYPE OF EXPENDITURE/REVENUE

See point 7.

7. FINANCIAL IMPACT

7.1 Method of calculating total cost of operation (definition of unit costs)

Scheme 1:

- Community contribution of not more than 50% to projects submitted by the Member States to the Commission for the periodic forest health report, intensive monitoring and experiments and pilot projects,

- Community contribution of 100% for coordination, evaluation and monitoring activities,

- the estimated breakdown of Community assistance is as follows: 10% for the periodic report, 65% for intensive surveillance, 15% for pilot projects and 10% for coordination.

Scheme 2:

- Community contribution of not more than 30% or 50% (depending on the degree of forest-fire risk) to projects/programmes submitted by the Member States to the Commission for studies on the causes of forest fires, information campaigns, prevention and monitoring,

- Community contribution of not more than 15%, 30% or 50 % (depending on the degree of forest-fire risk) for the continued implementation of the Community system of information on forest fires,

- Community contribution of 100% for coordination, evaluation and monitoring activities,

- the estimated breakdown of Community assistance is as follows: 15% for studies on the causes of forest fires and information campaigns, 45% for prevention, 35% for monitoring and 5% for the information system and coordination.

7.2 Itemised breakdown of cost

The breakdown for 2002 is proportional to 1997-2001.

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (current prices)

>TABLE POSITION>

7.3 Schedule of commitment and payment appropriations

The following table also reflects actual budget implementation during the period 1997-2001 and the 2002 PDB.

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (current prices)

>TABLE POSITION>

8. FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES

9. ELEMENTS OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS

10. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (SECTION III, PART A OF THE BUDGET)

On these points, there is no change from the financial statement for the two 1996 proposals for Regulations.