Council Regulation (EC) No 1100/98 of 25 May 1998 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 establishing a European forestry information and communication system (EFICS)
Date: 1998-05-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: access to information, forest, forestry policy, information system

L 157/10

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EN

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 5. 98

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1100/98

of 25 May 1998

amending Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 establishing a European forestry
information and communication system (EFICS)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas the period of application of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1615/89 of 29 May 1989 establishing a Euro-
pean forestry information and communication system
(EFICS) (1) expired on 31 December 1997;

Whereas several Community measures have already been
undertaken to establish the system based mainly on an
analysis of the reliability and comparability of the data
obtained from Member States’ forest inventories and on
improving coordination of the statistical work undertaken
sector;
by international organisations on the forest
whereas that work has demonstrated the timeliness of the
process initiated by the Community and the benefits
which the latter can expect from the continuation of that
work;

Whereas the system cannot be implemented unless the
Member States take appropriate measures to that end;
whereas such measures must be specified in a work-
programme prepared by the Commission and presented
to the Standing Forestry Committee;

Whereas the implementation of Community policies, the
European Union’s international commitments as part of
the post-Helsinki process and the special session of the
United Nations General Assembly (1997) (UNGASS) and
the work of the European Environmental Agency require
that the measures to be taken to improve the quality of
international forestry data and to improve the use of the
computer and data-processing techniques most suitable
for disseminating those data, should be reinforced;

Whereas, furthermore, the European Parliament Resolu-
tion of 30 January 1997 on the European Union’s forestry
strategy (2) stresses that the Commission must ensure that
EFICS is effectively implemented; whereas the own-
initiative opinion of the Economic and Social Committee
of 24 April 1997 on the situation and problems of forestry
in the European Union and potential for developing for-
estry policies (3) notes the importance of improving infor-
mation in the forestry sector and the contribution that

(1) OJ L 165, 15. 6. 1989, p. 12. Regulation as amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 400/94 (OJ L 54, 25. 2. 1994, p. 5).

(2) OJ C 55, 24. 2. 1997, p. 22.
(3) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 128.

EFICS could make to that, in particular by including data
on forest protection;

Whereas
extended and amended to take account of
requirements,

the above Regulation should therefore be
the above

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 is hereby amended as
follows:

1. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

In order to collect and provide objective, reliable,
comparable and pertinent information on the structure
and operation of the forestry sector in the Community,
and thus:

— improve consideration of the interests of the for-

estry sector in international discussions,

— facilitate the implementation of measures in favour
of the forestry sector under existing Community
policies,

— facilitate implementation of Member States’ poli-
cies relating to forestry or having an impact on the
forestry sector,

— permit access by the general public to information

on the European forestry sector,

a European forestry information and communication
system (EFICS), hereinafter called “the System”,
is
hereby set up, the objective of which is to collect, coor-
dinate, standardise, process and disseminate informa-
tion concerning the forestry sector and its develop-
ment’.

2. Article 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 3

The Commission shall set up the System in close
cooperation with the Member States and international
bodies active in the field of European forestry statistics
during a period commencing 1 January 1989 and
ending on 31 December 2002.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 157/11

implementation of

the European level,

To improve the comparability and completeness of the
data at
the
System may require that Member States, after obtaining
the opinion of the Standing Forestry Committee set up
by Decision 89/367/EEC (1), adjust or supplement their
procedures for the collection of data,
in particular
where the evaluation of
forestry resources and the
monitoring of the timber and forestry products market
are concerned.

The Commission shall, where appropriate, support
measures undertaken by Member States and interna-
tional organisations such as the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Economic
the
Commission for Europe and intended to meet
specific requirements for setting up the System.

(1) OJ L 165, 15. 6. 1989, p. 14.’

3. The following Article 3a shall be inserted:

‘Article 3a

1.
The Commission shall present to the Standing
Forestry Committee a work-programme detailing the
measures which shall be taken by Member States and
the Commission with a view to establishing the
System.

2.
The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the
work-programme within a time limit to be fixed by its
chairman on the basis of the urgency of the matter in
question. The opinion shall be by a majority as
provided for in Article 148(2) of the Treaty for the
adoption of decisions which the Council is requested
to take on a proposal from the Commission. Member
States’ votes in the Committee shall be weighted as set
out in the said Article. The chairman shall not have a
vote.

3.

(a) The Commission shall adopt

the envisaged
measures where they are in accordance with the
opinion of the Committee.

(b) Where the envisaged measures are not in ac-
cordance with the opinion of the Committee, or
in the absence of an opinion, the Commission
shall present the Council without delay with a
proposal on the measures to be taken. The
Council shall decide on the proposal by quali-
fied majority.

If the Council has failed to adopt the measures
within a period of three months of being asked
to do so,
the
proposed measures and implement them imme-
diately’.

the Commission shall adopt

4. Article 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 4

The financial reference amount for implementing the
System shall be ECU 3 900 000 for the period 1989 to
2002.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
budgetary authority within the limits of the available
budget’.

5. Article 5 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 5

The Commission shall report to the Council, before
1 January 2003, with an assessment of the implemen-
tation of the System and the results obtained. In the
light of that report it shall, where necessary, make
proposals to the Council on the future organisation
and operation of the System’.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

It shall apply from 1 January 1998.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 25 May 1998.

For the Council

The President

J. CUNNINGHAM