8. 3. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 60/15 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive harmonizing and rationalizing reports on 
the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment (*) 
(91/C 60/05) 
On 16 August 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 130S of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned 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 December 1990. The Rapporteur was Mr van Dam. 
At its 282nd plenary session (meeting of 18 December 1990) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously. 
1. The aim of the proposal is to make the reporting 
obligations of the Member States regarding the 
implementation of environmental Directives more sys­
tematic and more consistent. To this end it proposes 
the following arrangements: 
1.1. On the basis of a questionnaire established by 
the Commission for each sector (water, air, waste, 
nature), the Member States must forward the relevant 
information to the Commission. The questionnaires 
will be staggered so that the national administrations 
do not have to answer them all in the same year. 
1.2. On the basis of the replies received, the Com­
mission will prepare reports alternately for each sector 
on the implementation of the Directives. 
2. These arrangements are intended to avoid the 
considerable variations in the frequency with which 
national reports have hitherto been sent to the Com­
mission, resulting in insufficient data for the Com­
mission to compile its own reports. Ultimately, they 
should also obviate the need for proceedings against 
Member States for non-fulfilment of their obligations. 
3. In order to implement this reporting system, it 
will be necessary to amend those Directives which 
already provide for an obligation to report and to 
introduce a corresponding provision in those Directives 
which do not as yet provide for such an obligation. In 
all, some 31 Directives are involved at the present time. 
4. The Committee welcomes this proposal. Infor­
mation on the progress made in implementing environ­
mental Directives in the Member States is essential for 
Community environmental policymaking and for assessing the effectiveness of the measures taken and 
their impact on the environment. For this reason the 
Committee also approves the inclusion of a reporting 
obligation in those Directives not yet containing such 
a provision (generally the oldest Directives). 
5. The Committee would not exclude the possibility 
of introducing a reporting system such as that now 
proposed for the environment, if proved effective, in 
other areas of Community policy where the need to 
report on the implementation of Directives so warrants. 
6. The Committee urges the Commission to confine 
its questionnaires to such information as it needs to 
assess the implementation of the Directives so as not 
to impose unnecessary work on the Member State 
administrations and on the institutions and bodies 
which have to furnish the information. The Committee 
welcomes the Commission's intention to consult the 
Member States on the content of the questionnaires. 
7. The Committee would draw attention to the link 
between this proposal and that on free access to infor­
mation on the environment. In line with the latter 
Directive, the Commission intends itself to admit such 
free access. The ESC called for this in its Opinion of 
31 March 1989 (2). 
The Committee urges the Commission to define more 
precisely the relation between the present proposal and 
free access to information on the environment, particu­
larly with a view to avoiding duplication. 
(!) OJ No C 214, 29. 8. 1990, p. 6. (2) OJ No C 139, 5. 6. 1989. 
No C 60/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 3. 91 
8. There is a similar need to demarcate areas of 
responsability with regard to the new European 
Environment Agency and the collection of data. The 
Done at Brussels, 18 December 1990. 
The Committee welcomes the proposed Directive, sub­
ject to the following comments. 
General comments 
1. In December 1989 the Council adopted Directive 
89/665/EEC on the coordination of the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions relating to the 
application of review procedures to the award of public 
supply and public works contracts. This Directive 
applied to the fields covered by Directives 71/305/EEC 
and 77/62/EEC: purchase of works and supplies by the 
public administration. It did not cover the award of 
works and supply contracts in the water, energy, trans­
port and telecommunications sectors. 
2. The ESC Opinion on the relevant proposal 
pointed out that the framing of EC rules remained 
purely a paper exercise unless backed by the means Committee wishes to see the various EC instruments 
for providing environmental information used as effec­
tively as possible. 
necessary to ensure implementation. Once again the 
ESC stressed the need for an enforcement Directive 
comprising three key points: 
— the Commission should embark on cooperation 
with the Member States on working out uniform 
provisions regarding time limits, penalty payments 
and administrative procedures, 
— the Commission must have the same powers to 
impose sanctions as those to be given to the national 
authorities under the enforcement Directive, 
— some form of arbitration machinery should be set 
up at Community level if systematic recourse to 
the highly cumbersome procedure of the Court of 
Justice is to be avoided. 
3. The current proposal is therefore a welcome step 
in the right direction. 
4. The remedies open to undertakings and suppliers 
in the Member States currently differ widely. The Com-The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive coordinating the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions relating to the application of Community rules on the procurement 
procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications 
sectors 
(91/C 60/06) 
On 4 September 1990, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 100A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 5 December 1990. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Kaaris. 
At its 282nd plenary session (meeting of 18 December 1990), the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously.