Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Observation Network'
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU office or agency, European Environment Agency, budgetary discharge, financial control, information network

C 95/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30.3.98

3.5. Article 8

3.7. Article 10

Explicit provision should be made for rigorous
3.5.1.
respect for the confidentiality of data and the utmost
discretion regarding research under way.

For

investigational medicinal products,

3.7.1.
it
would seem best to use the provisions on Good Manufac-
turing Practice (Directive 91/356/EEC) (1).

3.6. Article 9

3.8. Article 13

3.6.1.
In cases where a trial is suspended or prohibited,
the Member State should inform not only the Com-
mission and the other Member States, but also the
sponsor, before taking any decision.

3.8.1.
and definitions be made consistent with the ICH text.

The Committee recommends that procedures

(1) OJ L 193, 17.7.1991.

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of
the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Observation Network’

(98/C 95/02)

On 18 November 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 130s of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
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
6 January 1998. The rapporteur, working without study group, was Mrs Sa´nchez Miguel.

At its 351st plenary session (meeting of 28 January 1998), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 109 votes, with three abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
In application of the principle of transparency in
the budgetary workings of EU bodies, the Commission
proposes to amend nine regulations covering the so-
called ‘second-generation’ agencies which, when created,
were given different budgetary rules to those in force
for the ‘first-generation’ agencies.

The first-generation agencies (1) have a budget
1.2.
management and approval system under which the

(1) Bodies set up in 1975: CEDEFOP (Thessaloniki) and the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions (Dublin).

European Parliament grants discharge to the Manage-
ment Board, after consulting the Council. In the second-
generation agencies (2), on the other hand, the Manage-
ment Board grants discharge to the Executive Director,
who is responsible for implementing the budget.

After reviewing the operation of these second-
1.3.
generation agencies, once established in their functions,

(2) The European Environment Agency, the European Train-
ing Foundation, the European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drug Addiction, the European Agency for
Safety and Health at Work, the Translation Centre for
Bodies of the European Union, the Office for Harmon-
ization in the Internal Market, the European Agency for
the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, the Community
Plant Variety Rights Office and the European Monitoring
Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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the Commission has concluded that the Regulations
should be amended with regard to their budgetary
discharge procedure.

2. General comments

The Commission points out that the Parliament
2.1.
has called for greater budgetary control over the second-
generation bodies; the reason for this proposal is not
however explained. It may consequently be understood
as a measure to harmonize the two systems, with a view
to the Parliament gaining the power of discharge.

2.2.

The proposed amendments relate to:

2.2.1.
The power of discharge, to follow the pro-
cedure laid down in Treaty Article 206, under which
the Parliament, after consulting the Council, grants
discharge to the Management Board.

2.2.1.1.
A variant is introduced into the procedure
for bodies which are entirely or largely self-financing
from their own resources (1), to the effect that the
Management Board grants discharge, on the recommen-
dation of the Parliament.

The Commission envisages regulating agencies’
2.2.2.
own resources by integrating them with the Com-
munity’s own resources, having noted that some agencies
are entirely or largely financed from their own resources.

The difficulty lies in the fact that not all
2.2.2.1.
agencies with own resources obtain them in the same
way: they may come from provision of consultation
services, sale of publications or fees, etc. Nevertheless,

(1) The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, the
European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products
and the Community Plant Variety Rights Office.

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

as they are not profit-making bodies, they could set up
reserves of these resources, provided that they do not
exceed certain limits and that the Management Board,
with the prior consent and approval of the Parliament,
enters them in its accounts as such.

2.2.3.
It is proposed that the Commission’s Financial
Controller should perform the budgetary control func-
tion for these agencies, thus complying with the principle
of accounting independence and objectivity.

3. Specific comments

3.1.
The amendment to Regulation 1210/90 affects
Article 13(2) and (4). The current system corresponds
to the second-generation agency model, in which the
Management Board grants discharge to the Executive
Director and appoints the Financial Controller.

3.2.
The proposal introduces the system of a single
discharge granted by the Parliament to the Executive
Director on the recommendation of the Management
Board. The ESC endorses the amendment insofar as it
increases the objective nature of budgetary control,
without the Management Board thereby losing any
decision-making powers.

3.3.
Paragraph 2 is amended to the effect that the
Commission’s Financial Controller is to be responsible
for the control of the budget and expenditure. It should
be pointed out that the European Environment Agency
has already been doing this on a voluntary basis: in
practice, therefore, there will be no change. The Agency’s
willingness to submit its annual accounts for external
control is thereby confirmed.

To conclude, the ESC considers that any measure
3.4.
which further improves the current system and enables
budgetary controls to be objective will help the proper
functioning of Community bodies.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS