COMMON POSITION (EC) No 41/96 adopted by the Council on 27 June 1996 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No .../96 of ... amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway transport
Date: 1996-06-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: development plan, fund (EU), industrial restructuring, inland waterway fleet, inland waterway shipping, vessel













EUR-Lex - 51996AG0911(01) - EN






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51996AG0911(01)

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 41/96 adopted by the Council on 27 June 1996 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No .../96 of ... amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway transport  


Official Journal C 264 , 11/09/1996 P. 0001 





COMMON POSITION (EC) No  41/96 adopted by the Council on 27 June 1996 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No . .  ./96 of . . . amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway  transport (96/C 264/01) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75  thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3), Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 (4) introduced measures for structural improvements in the  inland waterway sector; whereas that Regulation sets out to reduce structural overcapacity in  inland waterway transport by providing for vessel-scrapping schemes coordinated at Community level;  whereas that Regulation provides for the possibility of a Community financial contribution to the  scrapping funds for 1995; Whereas the system of structural improvements currently in force is in principle to be financed  primarily by the operators in the sector by means of annual contributions; Whereas public contributions must be granted annually, in line with the contributions made by the  trade; whereas measures are scheduled for a period of three years, namely 1996, 1997 and 1998 and  whereas they must be assessed annually; Whereas provision for a financial contribution from the Community should be envisaged for the year  1996 only; Whereas the financial contributions from the Member States in question must be calculated against  the size of their fleets for the years 1996, 1997 and 1998, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 In Article 4 (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89: 1. - 'and the year 1996,` shall be inserted after '1995` in paragraph 1, - 'and 1996` shall be inserted after '1995` in paragraph 2; 2. the following paragraphs shall be added: '3. The Member States in question shall jointly make available from their funds sufficient amounts  to achieve, along with the Community contribution fixed for the year 1996 only, the structural  improvement objectives for the years 1996, 1997 and 1998. The proportionate share of each Member  State concerned shall be calculated against the size of its active fleet as compared with that of  the Member States' total fleet. These amounts shall be determined by the Commission in conjunction  with the authorities of the various scrapping funds. 4. At the beginning of each year during the scrapping operations for 1996, 1997 and 1998, the  Commission shall lay down, as part of this Regulation, the procedures for scrapping for the year in  progress as a function of available finances, market developments and liberalization measures  taken.`. Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of 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 Luxembourg, . . . For the Council The President (1) OJ No C 318, 29. 11. 1995, p. 11. (2) OJ No C 39, 12. 2. 1996, p. 96. (3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 February 1996 (OJ No C 65, 4. 3. 1996, p. 29), common  position of the Council of 27 June 1996 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of  the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal). (4) OJ No L 116, 28. 4. 1989, p. 25. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2819/95 (OJ  No L 292, 7. 12. 1995, p. 7). STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS I. INTRODUCTION On 15 September 1995 the Commission  submitted to the Council a proposal for a Regulation, based on Article 75 of the EC Treaty,  amending Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 on structural improvements in inland waterway transport (1). The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 13 February 1996 (2). The Economic and Social  Committee delivered its opinion on 23 November 1995 (3). In the light of those opinions, the Commission sent the Council an amended proposal on 22 April  1996 (4). The Council adopted its common position, in accordance with Article 189c of the EC Treaty, on 27  June 1996. II. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL The purpose of the proposal is to open up the possibility of a  Community financial contribution to the national scrapping funds of the Member States concerned for  1996 as part of further extensive structural improvements over a three-year period (1996 to 1998). This Commission proposal is to be regarded as a supporting measure for the proposal for a Directive  on the organization of the inland waterway market, which is to phase out systems of chartering by  rotation so as to bring about a fully liberalized market as of 1 January 2000. III. ASSESSMENT OF THE COMMON POSITION The common position adopted by the Council departs from  the original Commission proposal in one important respect in that it confines Community financial  contributions for structural improvements to 1996. The Council took the view that, while it was  prepared, in a spirit of solidarity, to approve a Community contribution for 1996, the further  structural improvements planned for 1996, 1997 and 1998 to cut fleet capacity by about 15 % were  primarily to be funded by the Member States concerned and the trade. The recitals and Article 1 have consequently been amended by the Council. In particular, paragraph  2 (3) has been deleted following the confining of Community contributions to 1996. The new  paragraph 2 (3) (formerly 2 (4)) has had to be adjusted. IV. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AMENDMENTS (5) 1. European Parliament amendment included by the  Commission and accepted by the Council Amendment 14, concerning entry into force on the date of publication, has been accepted by the  Council in order for the Regulation to become operational more quickly. 2. European Parliament amendments included by the Commission but not accepted by the Council Amendments 11, 12 and 13 have become redundant as a result of the Council's amendment of the  Commission proposal (see point III above). 3. European Parliament amendments not included by the Commission and not accepted by the Council Amendments 15 and 16 concern the financial statement and not the body of the Regulation. The  Council has therefore disregarded them. (1) OJ No C 318, 29. 11. 1995, p. 11. (2) OJ No C 65, 4. 3. 1996, p. 30. (3) OJ No C 39, 12. 2. 1996, p. 46. (4) Not yet published in the Official Journal. (5) The European Parliament delivered a single opinion on the three Commission proposals; the only  amendments concerning this proposal are those numbered 11 to 16.