Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire (COM(96)0341 - C4-0477/96 - 96/0186(CNS)

The proposal is approved with the following amendments:

(Amendment 9)

Citation 1

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Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

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Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 and Article 130s(1) thereof,

(Amendment 10)

Citation 4a (new)

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Having regard to the joint declaration by the three institutions of 1 March 1995 on the incorporation of financial provisions into legislative acts,

(Amendment 11)

Recital -1 (new)

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Having regard to the fundamental role of the rural communities, in particular foresters and stock farmers, the main trustees of the European forestry heritage, and in particular of their professional organizations, in drawing up regional fire prevention action plans, in practising preventive silviculture and in primary intervention methods, it is important to create the conditions for the effective participation of these people in the protection of European forests against such an abiotic agent;

(Amendment 18)

Recital 8a (new)

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Whereas Community funding should be made subject to reafforestation of the areas damaged by fire;

(Amendment 12)

Recital 10

>Original text>

Whereas it is estimated that ECU 70 million will be necessary to implement the programme during the second period;

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Whereas an additional indicative amount of ECU 70 million is proposed as a financial reference which illustrates the will of the legislative authority and shall not affect the powers of the budgetary authority as defined by the Treaty to implement the programme during the second period;

(Amendment 13)

ARTICLE -1 (new)

Article 5(3) (Regulation (EEC) 2158/92)

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Article -1

In Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) 2158/92 paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

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"3. Detailed rules for the application of paragraph 2 shall be adopted, within the limits of the appropriations available, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9. They shall cover, in particular, the type, comparability and collection of data and the procedures for access to the data gathered. The European Parliament shall be informed of the decisions taken on the rules for implementation.¨

(Amendment 14)

ARTICLE -1a (new)

Article 8a (new) (Regulation (EEC) 2158/92)

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Article -1a

The following new article is inserted after Article 8:

'Article 8a

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee of an advisory nature (the Standing Forestry Committee set up by Decision 89/367 (EEC)), made up of one representative per Member State and chaired by a representative of the Commission.¨

(Amendment 15)

ARTICLE -1b (new)

Article 9(2) and (3) (Regulation (EEC) 2158/92)

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Article -1b

In Article 9 paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following text:

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"2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on this draft within a time limit to be determined by the Chairman according to the urgency of the matter and, where necessary, by taking a vote.

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The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes. Furthermore, each Member State shall have the right to request that its position be included in the minutes.

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The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee and shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

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The committee shall meet as a rule in public, unless a specific duly motivated decision is taken to the contrary and published in good time. It shall publish agendas two weeks before its meetings. It shall publish minutes of its proceedings. It shall establish a public register of declarations of interest by its members.¨

(Amendment 16)

ARTICLE 1, AFTER INTRODUCTION, SOLE PARAGRAPH

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Article 10(1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) 2158/92 are replaced by the following:

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Article 10 is replaced by the following:

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"1. The scheme shall run for five years from 1 January 1997.

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"1. The scheme shall run for five years from 1 January 1997.

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2. The amount of Community financial resources deemed necessary for the implementation of the scheme is ECU 70 million for the period 1997 to 2001.¨

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2. The financial reference illustrating the will of the legislative authority for the implementation of the scheme is ECU 70 million for the period 1997 to 2001. This reference shall not affect the powers of the budgetary authority as defined by the Treaty.

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The budgetary authority shall determine the annual funding, in relation to the appropriations available for each financial year, taking into account the principles of sound management referred to in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977, applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities.

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3. Before the end of 1999, the Commission shall submit for information a report on the impact of the measures planned in implementation of the programme, in particular ecological, economic and social aspects (qualitative assessment) and the results of a cost-benefit analysis of their implementation (quantitative assessment).¨

Legislative resolution embodying Parliament's opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire (COM(96)0341 - C4-0477/96 - 96/0186(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council, COM(96)0341 - 96/0186(CNS) ((OJ C 268, 14.9.1996, p. 8.)),

- having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 43 of the EC Treaty (C4-0477/96),

- whereas the legal basis is inappropriate; whereas reference should be made to Article 130s(1) of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Rule 58 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and the opinions of the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights (A4-0417/96),

1. Approves the Commission proposal, subject to Parliament's amendments;

2. Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty;

3. Instructs its President to forward this opinion to the Council and the Commission.