No C 140/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 84 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision on the adoption of a work programme 
for the first phase of the implementation of an information system on the state of the 
environment and the natural resources in the Community (1984 to 1987) 
(84/C 140/06) 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro­
pean Communities No C 291 of 27 October 1983, page 8. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 27 October 1983 the Council, acting in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty 
setting up the European Economic Community, asked the Economic and Social Com­
mittee for an opinion on the 
— proposal for a Council Decision on the adoption of a work programme for the 
first phase of the implementation of an information system on the state of the 
environment and the natural resources in the Community (1984 to 1987) ('), and 
the 
— communication from the Commission to the Council on the methodological 
approach to an information system on the state of the environment and the 
natural resources in the European Community. 
Procedure: 
The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs 
was instructed to prepare the Committee's work on the matter. The Section adopted its 
Opinion on 6 March 1984 after hearing a report by Mr Schnieders. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
At its 216th Plenary Session (meeting of 28 March 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion: 
1. The Committee welcomes the Commission pro­
posal for gradually setting up an information system 
on the state of the environment and the natural 
resources in the Community. Such an information 
system is an essential precondition for an effective 
environmental policy. The Committee expressly 
supports the Commisssion in its intention to create 
"a basis for directing the Community's environmen­
tal policy and giving that policy a more explicitly 
protective capability". 
2. The Committee stresses that for an effective 
environmental policy, it is essential to gather infor­
mation on the state of the environment and of 
natural resources. 
The Committee rocognizes that the Commission's 
work programme constitutes a first step, in line with 
the Council's request of November 1974 which gave 
rise to the 1977/81 action programme. The Com­
mittee takes the view that, in addition to setting up 
the information system, the Commission must press 
(') OJ No C 291, 25. 10. 1983, p. 8. forward with its existing and planned environmental 
protection measures. 
3. The Committee appreciates that the setting-up 
of an information system on the state of the envi­
ronment and of natural resources in the Community 
is an ambitious aim. Of course, there are countries 
throughout the world which have information sys­
tems covering a larger area than that of the Euro­
pean Community. In the Member States — albeit to 
a varying extent — there is a wealth of information 
on certain fields of environment policy. However, 
no attempt has yet been made in any part of the 
world to pool all information relevant to environ­
ment policy on a cross-frontier basis and render it 
comparable. Thus the Commission was unable to 
base its work programme on experience elsewhere. 
However, the Committee acknowledges that the 
Commission has adopted a realistic approach, since 
it is initially limiting the scope of the programme. 
4. The Committee has the following suggestions to 
make with regard to this project: 
4.1. The Council should commit itself to ensuring 
that data on the state of the environment, which are 
28. 5. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 140/15 
at present collected by different methods in the var­
ious Member States, are gathered in accordance 
with uniform rules. To this end, the Commission 
should be given comprehensive coordinating pow­
ers. At present the data collected under different cir­
cumstances in the various Member States are not 
comparable. This applies in particular to all data 
that have to undergo a qualitative evaluation. The 
data compiled must be processed quantitatively so 
that they are easy to use. 
It is therefore necessary to introduce rules allocating 
specific responsibility for, and providing a check on, 
the reliability and comparability of collection meth­
ods in all the Member States. The Commission 
already has considerable powers with regard to data 
collection (Article 213 of the EEC Treaty), but 
increased and continuous cooperation with the 
Member States is essential in order to achieve a 
step-by-step improvement in the sitaution described 
above. 
4.2. The regions in which pollution is to be deter­
mined should not be too small. Pollution must be 
recorded over a large area, and freak results must be 
avoided. 
4.3. The work programme is designed to cover 
only four years. A comprehensive information sys­
tem on the state of the environment and of the 
natural resources in the Community can be set up 
only gradually over a long period. Such a pro­
gramme is worthwhile, and its long-term cost justifi­
able, only if data collection over a long period is 
guaranteed. The Committee would ask the Council 
to check whether the Community appropriations 
envisaged for the information system (300 000 ECU 
in 1984, 2 500 000 ECU in 1985 and again in 1986, 
and 500 000 ECU in 1987) are adequate. These funds 
will be sufficient only if the Member States share 
the cost of data collection. There must therefore be 
clear arrangements between the Commission and 
the Member States for the financing of data collec­
tion, processing and transmission. 
Duplication of work must be avoided. There could 
be a risk of this if there is insufficient coordination 
with existing programmes. For example, the Com­
mission has issued a separate proposal on a moni­
toring network for damage to forests (acid rain). 
4.4. The Committee would also like to draw atten­
tion to the following: 4.4.1. Re. section 2.3.3.: Land quality for agriculture 
and forestry: 
The importance of land for farming depends not 
only on the natural factors described but also 
increasingly on operational efficiency factors such 
as internal and external transport, infrastructure and 
marketing facilities, etc. Greater account should be 
taken of these aspects in appraising conflicts 
between agricultural and non-agricultural uses of 
land. An appropriate operational efficiency criterion 
ought to be found here — a common agricultural 
policy task, which could be carried out by supple­
menting the information system's data on the state 
of the environment with specific agricultural data. 
Such information will also be useful from the point 
of view of conserving and protecting agricultural 
and forestry land as a matter of priority. 
4.4.2. Re. section 2.5.1.: Pollutant concentrations in 
the air (air quality): 
Important factors in the possible damage to vegeta­
tion by atmospheric pollutants are not only the 
emissions referred to (discharges from pollution 
sources) but also — and above all — the concentra­
tion levels (pollutant content of the air) and the 
deposition rates (amount of pollutant deposited per 
unit of area). Recent investigations in connection 
with the damage to forests caused by atmospheric 
pollutants suggest that forests as it were 'attract' pol­
lutants. This means that despite the same concentra­
tion level, the deposition rate in forests, particularly 
conifer forests, is considerably higher than in open 
country. This means that forests become, as it were, 
'polluted areas' as a result of their filter effect. It is 
therefore necessary: 
(a) to improve the methodology for determining the 
dry deposition of acids and acid-forming sub­
stances; particularly important are measurements 
of the dry deposition of gases and aerosols on 
highly indented natural surfaces, such as 
forests; 
(b) to set up a sufficiently dense network of moni­
toring stations in forests and in agricultural 
areas; so far, measurements of pollutants in the 
atmosphere have been largely confined to con­
centrations in the polluted area. For this, spe­
cific measures — planned from the outset to 
provide useful data for the information system 
— would be needed. 
(c) to include pollution damage to buildings in the 
data to be collected for the information system. 
No C 140/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 5. 84 
4.4.3. The Committee calls upon the Commission 
to extend the information system at a later stage to 
cover the seas surrounding the Community. To this 
end, an immediate start should be made on coopera­
tion with international organizations which already 
have experience in this field, because of: 
— the importance of the sea as a source of raw 
materials and as a source of economic activity 
(fishing, sea-bed resources etc.), 
— rising pollution including hydrocarbon pollu­
tion, particularly of sea basins which are iso­
lated by barriers, 
— the fact that the sea is being used more and 
more for the dumping of rubbish. A common policy to combat marine pollution — a 
policy which the Economic and Social Committee 
has advocated in the past — would make it easier to 
monitor and control the serious forms of pollution 
which have already led to ecological changes. 
4.4.4. It should also be ensured that the system is 
compatible with other information systems, con­
cerning the quality of the urban and rural environ­
ment. Such systems ought, in particular, to evaluate 
the links between housing, on the one hand, and, on 
the other, people's mental and physical health and 
certain social phenomena such as delinquency. 
Done at Brussels, 28 March 1984. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francis CEYRAC 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision implementing Decision 83/200/EEC 
empowering the Commission to contract loans under the New Community Instrument for 
the promoting investment within the Community 
(84/C 140/07) 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro­
pean Communities No C 48 of 21 February 1984, page 3. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 1 February 1984 the Council of the European Communities asked the Economic 
and Social Committee for an opinion on the abovementioned proposal. 
Procedure: 
The Section for Economic and Financial Questions, which was entrusted with the pre­
paration of this opinion and appointed Mr Drago as rapporteur, adopted its opinion 
on 20 March 1984. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Committee adopted its opinion at its 216th plenary session, held on 28/29 March 
1984 (meeting of 29 March) by a majority, with six votes against and three abstentions.