COMMON POSITION (EC) No 50/98 adopted by the Council on 16 June 1998 with a view to adopting Council Decision 98/ /EC, of ... amending Decision 93/389/EEC for a monitoring mechanism of Community CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions
Date: 1998-06-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, combustion gases, environmental monitoring, greenhouse gas, pollution control measures, stratospheric pollution

C 333/38

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

30.10.98

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  50/98

adopted  by  the  Council  on  16  June  1998

with  a  view  to  adopting  Council  Decision  98/

/EC,  of  . . .  amending  Decision  93/389/EEC

for  a  monitoring  mechanism  of  Community  CO2  and  other  greenhouse  gas  emissions

(98/C 333/03)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Article  130s(1)  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  referred  to
Article  189c  of  the  Treaty (3),

Whereas  all  Member  States  and  the  Community  are
Parties to the United Nations  Framework  Convention on
Climate  Change  (UNFCCC)  which,  from  its  entry  into
force on 21 March 1994, commits all Parties to develop,
periodically update, publish and report to the Conference
of  the  Parties  national  inventories  of  anthropogenic
emissions  by  sources  and  removals  by  sinks  of  all
the  Montreal
greenhouse  gases  not  controlled  by 
Protocol,  using  comparable  methodologies  agreed  on  by
the  Conference  of  the  Parties;

national  greenhouse  gas 
inventories  and  Technical
Guidelines  for  assessing  climate  change  impacts  and
adaptations  adopted  by  the  Intergovernmental  Panel  on
Climate Change should be used in preparing their reports
pursuant  to  the  Convention;

Whereas it is necessary to amend Decision 93/389/EEC (4)
to  allow  for  the  updating  of  the  monitoring  process,  in
particular the post — 2000 monitoring of greenhouse gas
emission limitations and reductions and its application to
all  anthropogenic  greenhouse  gas 
emissions  not
controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol,  in  line  with  the
obligations  of  the  UNFCCC  and  taking  into  account  the
requirements  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  to  that  Convention,
adopted  by  the  Third  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the
UNFCCC  on  10  December  1997;

Whereas  it  is  vital  to  be  able  to  assess  accurately  and
regularly  the  extent  of  progress  being  made  towards  the
Community’s  commitments  under  the  UNFCCC  and  the
Kyoto  Protocol  to  that  Convention;

Whereas 
mechanism 
assessment  of  this  progress;

the  Community  considers 
to  be  an  essential 

the  monitoring
the

instrument 

in 

Whereas  that  same  Convention  commits  all  Parties  to
formulate, 
implement,  publish  and  regularly  update
national,  and  where  appropriate,  regional  programmes
containing  measures  to  mitigate  climate  change  by
addressing  anthropogenic  emissions  by  sources  and
removals  by  sinks  of  all  greenhouse  gases  not  controlled
by  the  Montreal  Protocol;

Whereas  the  provisions  of  the  monitoring  mechanism
established  under  Decision  93/389/EEC  need  to  apply
equally  to  anthropogenic  emissions  by  sources  and
removals  by  sinks  of  all  greenhouse  gases  not  controlled
by  the  Montreal  Protocol  and  the  monitoring  process
should continue to be updated to reflect further decisions
in  the  framework  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol;

Whereas  the  First  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the
UNFCCC  decided  that  Annex  I  Parties  to  the  said
Convention  should  submit  to  the  secretariat  national
inventory  data  on  emissions  by  sources  and  removals  by
sinks  on  an  annual  basis  and  that  the  Guidelines  for

(1) OJ  C  120,  18.4.1998,  p.  22.
(2) OJ  L  89,  19.3.1997,  p.  7.
(3) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  18  September  1997
(OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 109), Council Common Position of
16  June  1998  and  European  Parliament  Decision  of  . . .  (not
yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

Whereas  it  is  recognised  that  the  31  July  deadline  for
reporting 
for  by  Decision
93/389/EEC  is  difficult  to  meet  for  all  Member  States;

inventories  provided 

Whereas  at  its  meeting  of  22  and  23  June  1995  the
Council  reaffirmed  the  determination  of  the  Community
to  meet  its  commitments  under  the  Convention  and
confirmed  its  conclusions  of  29  October  1990,  15  and
16  December  1994  and  9  March  1995;

(4) OJ  L  167,  9.7.1993,  p.  31.

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C 333/39

Whereas  Decision  93/389/EEC  should  be  amended
accordingly,

contributions  to  the  Community’s  commitments
under  the  UN  Framework  Convention  on  Climate
Change  and  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol.

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  DECISION:

These  programmes  shall  be  periodically  updated.

Article  1

Each  Member  State  shall  include  in  its  national

2.
programme:

Articles  1  to  8  of  Decision  93/389/EEC  shall  be  replaced
by  the  following:

‘Article  1

This  Decision  establishes  a  mechanism  for:

— monitoring  all  anthropogenic  greenhouse  gas
emissions  not  controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol
in  the  Member  States,  and

— evaluating  progress  towards  meeting  commitments

in  respect  of  these  emissions.

Article  2

National programmes

1.
The  Member  States  shall  devise,  publish  and
implement  national  programmes  for  limiting  and/or
reducing their anthropogenic emissions by sources and
enhancing  removals  by  sinks  of  all  greenhouse  gases
not  controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol  in  order  to
contribute  to:

levels 

— the  stabilisation  of  CO2  emissions  by  2000  at
1990 
in  the  Community  as  a  whole,
assuming  that  other  leading  countries  undertake
commitments  along  similar  lines,  and  on  the
understanding  that  Member  States  which  start
from  relatively  low  levels  of  energy  consumption
and  therefore  low  emissions  measured  on  a  per
capita  or  other  appropriate  basis  are  entitled  to
have  CO2  targets  and/or  strategies  corresponding
to  their  economic  and  social  development,  while
improving  the  energy  efficiency  of  their  economic
activities,  as  agreed  at  the  Council  meetings  of
29  October  1990,  13  December  1991  and  15  and
16  December  1994,

— the  fulfilment  of  the  Community’s  commitments
relating  to  the  limitation  and/or  reduction  of  all
greenhouse  gas  emissions  not  controlled  by  the
Montreal  Protocol  under  the  UN  Framework
Convention  on  Climate  Change  and  under  the
Kyoto  Protocol,

— transparent  and  accurate  monitoring  of  the  actual
and  projected  progress  of  Member  States,
including  the  contribution  made  by  Community
in  meeting  any  agreed  national
measures, 

(a) estimates of the effect of policies and measures on
emissions  and  removals  and  incorporation  of
these in projections for CO2  and other geenhouse
gases  not  controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol
between  the  base  year  and  2000,  in  line  with  the
reporting  requirements  under  the  UN  Framework
Convention  on  Climate  Change;

in  Annex  A 

(b) as  a  minimum  for  the  six  greenhouse  gases
listed 
the  Kyoto  Protocol
to 
(carbon  dioxide  (CO2),  methane  (CH4),  nitrous
(HFCs),
oxide 
perfluorocarbons 
sulphur
hexafluoride  (SF6)),

hydrofluorocarbons 

(N2O), 

(PFCs) 

and 

— its 1990 base year anthropogenic emissions of
carbon  dioxide,  methane  and  nitrous  oxide  in
accordance  with  Article  3(1),

— its 1990 and/or 1995 base year anthropogenic
emissions 
hydrofluorocarbons,
perfluorocarbons  and  sulphur  hexafluoride
determined  in  accordance  with  Article  3(1),

of 

— inventories  of  its  anthropogenic  emissions  by
sources  and  removal  by  sinks,  determined  in
accordance  with  Article  3(1),

— details  of  national  policies  and  measures
implemented  or  committed  to  since  the  base
year  which  contribute  significantly  to 
its
efforts  to  reduce  emissions  and  enhance  sinks
of  greenhouse  gases,  organised  by  gas  and  by
sector  and  including  the  objective  of  the
measure, the type of policy instrument used by
measure,  the  status  of  implementation  of  the
policy  or  measure  as  well  as,  where  possible,
intermediate indicators of progress for policies
and measures,

— measures  being  taken  or  envisaged  for  the
relevant  Community

implementation  of 
legislation and policies,

— estimates of the effect of policies and measures
on  emissions  and  removals  and  incorporation
of  these  in  projections:

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30.10.98

(i)

(ii)

the  greenhouse  gases 

in
for 
Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol  between
the  base  year  and  the  period  2008  to
2012,  and

listed 

to  the  extent  possible,  for  the  greenhouse
gases  listed  in  Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto
Protocol  between  the  base  year  and
2005,

in  accordance  with  the  procedure  set  out  in
Article  8,  on  the  basis  of  standard  procedural
guidelines, 
for  a
including 
the  key
quantitative  understanding  of 
assumptions  used 
said
the 
to  develop 
projections  and  the  methodology  used  for  the
provision  of  the  estimates,

information 

— an  assessment  of  the  economic  impact  of  the

above  measures,  to  the  extent  possible;

(c)

(CO), 

nitrogen 

information  on  the  following  gases:  carbon
(NOx),
monoxide 
non-methane 
compounds
(NMVOCs)  and  sulphur  oxides,  in  line  with  the
the  UNFCCC,
reporting  requirements  under 
including:

organic 

volatile 

oxides 

Commission  by  31  December  their  final  data  for  the
previous  year  but  one,  and  provisional  data  for  the
previous year.

Member  States  shall  also  report  by  31  December  on
the  most  recent  projected  emissions  by  sources  and
removals  by  sinks  of  the  greenhouse  gases  listed  in
Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol for the period 2008 to
2012  and,  as  far  as  possible,  for  2005.

The  Commission  shall  take  further  steps  to  promote
the  comparability  and 
transparency  of  national
inventories  and  reporting.

the  basis  of 

The  Commission  shall,  in  cooperation  with  the
3.
the
Member  States,  establish,  on 
information  provided  by 
inventories  of
anthropogenic  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  removal
by  sinks  in  the  Community.  The  Commission  shall
circulate  to  all  Member  States  by  1  March  these
inventories based on data received in accordance with
paragraph  2.

them, 

Article  4

— data  on  emissions,

Procedures  and  methods  for  evaluation

— a  description  of  policies  and  measures  being
taken  or  envisaged  for  the  limitation  and/or
reduction  of  the  emissions  of  these  gases,

— as  far  as  possible,  estimates  for  emissions
projections  at  regular  intervals  in  the  future
and as being agreed on in accordance with the
procedure  set  out  in  Article  8,  on  the  basis  of
standard  procedural  guidelines, 
including
information  for  a  quantitative  understanding
of  the  key  assumptions  and  the  methodology
used  for  the  provision  of  the  estimates.

Article  3

Inventories  and  data  reporting

shall 

States 

determine 

1. Member 
their
anthropogenic  emissions  by  sources  and  removals  by
sinks  of  all  greenhouse  gases  not  controlled  by  the
Montreal  Protocol,  as  specified  in  Article  2(2),  in
accordance  with  the  methodologies  accepted  by  the
IPCC and agreed on by the Conference of the Parties.
They  shall  be  revised, 
in  accordance  with  the
procedure  under  Article  8,  as  appropriate,  to  take
fully into account any relevant future decisions by the
Conference  of  the  Parties.

2. Member  States  shall  each  year,  not  later  than
their
to 
31  December,  report 
anthropogenic  CO2  emissions  and  CO2  removal  by
sinks  for  the  previous  calendar  year.

the  Commission 

Member  States  shall  also  report  national  inventory
data on emissions by sources and removals by sinks of
the  other  greenhouse  gases  referred  to  in  Article  2(2)
on  an  annual  basis.  They  shall  report  to  the

In  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in
Article  8,  the  Commission  shall  establish  procedures
and  methods 
evaluation  of  national
programmes  as  referred  to  in  Article  6  and  the
frequency  of  updating  by  the  Member  States.

the 

for 

Article  5

Evaluation of national programmes and of the state of
emissions  in  the  Community

1. Member States shall forward to the Commission
their  existing  national  programmes  not  already
forwarded,  or  updates  of  programmes  already
forwarded,  within 
receiving
notification  of  this  Decision.

three  months  of 

Future  national  programmes  and  their  updates  shall
be forwarded to the Commission within three months
of  their  adoption.

2.
The  Commission  shall  forward  to  the  other
Member  States  the  national  programmes  received
within  one  month  of  their  reception.

3.
The  Commission  shall  evaluate  the  national
programmes,  in  order  to  assess  whether  progress  in
the  Community  as  a  whole  is  sufficient  to  ensure
fulfilment  of 
in
the  commitments 
Article  2(1).

referred 

to 

The  Commission  shall  report  to  the  European
4.
Parliament  and 
its
evaluation  within  six  months  of  the  reception  of  the
national programmes.

the  results  of 

the  Council 

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C 333/41

The  European  Environment  Agency  will  assist  in
compiling  this  report  as  appropriate,  in  accordance
with  its  annual  work  programme.

Article  6

Evaluation  of  progress

The  Commission  shall  assess  annually  in  consultation
with  Member  States  whether  the  actual  and  projected
progress of Member States, including the contribution
made  by  Community  measures,  towards  fulfilling  the
Community’s  commitments  under  the  UNFCCC  and
the  Kyoto  Protocol  is  sufficient  to  ensure  that  the
Community  and  its  Member  States  are  on  course  to
fulfil  their  commitments  and  shall  report  to  the
European Parliament and the Council, on the basis of
information  received  under  Articles  2,  3  and  5.  The
Commission’s  report  shall  be  made  available  to  the
European Parliament and the Council even in the case
of  incomplete  data  being  received  from  Member
States,  and  the  Commission  may  include  in  this  case
the  best  available  data  in  the  report,  in  consultation
with  the  Member  State  concerned.

Article  7

Other  greenhouse  gases

(deleted)

Article  8

Committee

The  Commission 

1.
shall  be  assisted  by  a
committee  composed  of  the  representatives  of  the
Member  States  and  chaired  by  the  representative  of
the  Commission.

2.
The  representative  of  the  Commission  shall
submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be
taken.  The  committee  shall  deliver  its  opinion  on  the
draft  within  a  time  limit  which  the  chairman  may  lay
down  according  to  the  urgency  of  the  matter.  The
opinion  shall  be  delivered  by  the  majority  laid  down

in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions
which  the  Council  is  required  to  adopt  on  a  proposal
from the Commission. The votes of the representatives
of  the  Member  States  within  the  committee  shall  be
weighted  in  the  manner  set  out  in  that  Article.  The
chairman  shall  not  vote.

3.

(a) The  Commission  shall  adopt  the  measures
envisaged  if  they  are  in  accordance  with  the
opinion  of  the  committee.

(b)

the  opinion  of 

the  measures  envisaged  are  not 

in
If 
accordance  with 
the
committee,  or  if  no  opinion  is  delivered,  the
Commission  shall,  without  delay,  submit  to
the  Council  a  proposal  relating 
the
measures  to  be  taken.  The  Council  shall  act
by  a  qualified  majority.

to 

If,  on  the  expiry  of  a  period  of  three  months
from  the  date  of  referral  to  the  Council,  the
Council has not acted, the proposed measures
shall  be  adopted  by  the  Commission’.

Article  2

This  Decision  shall  enter  into  force  on  1  January  1999.

Article  3

This  Decision  is  addressed  to  the  Member  States.

Done  at  . . .

For  the  Council

The  President

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30.10.98

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On  4  September  1996  the  Commission  submitted  to  the  Council  a  proposal  based  on
Article 130s(1) of the EC Treaty, for a Council Decision amending Decision 93/389/EEC
for  a  monitoring  mechanism  of  Community  CO2  and  other  greenhouse  gas  emissions.

2. The  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  17  October  1996.

3. The  European  Parliament  deliverd  its  opinion  on  18  September  1997.

4. The  Commission  forwarded  an  amended  proposal  to  the  Council  on  3  March  1998.

5. The  Council  adopted  its  Common  Position  on  16  June  1998  in  accordance  with

Article  189c  of  the  Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

The  Common  Position  aims  at  amending  Council  Decision  93/389/EEC,  so  as:

— to  update  the  Community  monitoring  mechanism  for  all  greenhouse  gas  emissions  not
controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol  for  the  period  post  —  2000,  also  taking  into
account the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol adopted at the Third Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on
11  December  1997,  and

— to  evaluate  progress  made  within  the  Community  towards  fulfilling  the  commitments
regarding those emissions under the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
Kyoto  Protocol  to  that  Convention.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

GENERAL  COMMENTS

The  Council  was  guided  by  the  following  two  main  considerations  in  elaborating  the
Common  Position:

— firstly,  updating  the  monitoring  mechanism  on  the  basis  of  the  Commission  proposal,
and making it technically consistent with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, which
was  meanwhile  adopted  (on  11  December  1997),

— and  secondly,  making  the  monitoring  mechanism  a  useful  instrument  for  evaluating  the
progress  made  within  the  Community  towards  meeting  the  commitments  deriving  from
both  the  UNFCCC  and  the  Kyoto  Protocol.

The Common Position incorporates, in whole or in part, an important number of European
Parliament’s amendments, which were incorporated in the Commission’s amended proposal.
There  are  no  European  Parliament’s  amendments  that  the  Commission  rejected  and  the
Council  included  in  its  Common  Position.  Further  indications  are  given  under  ‘Specific
comments’  below,  including  on  additional  technical  substantive  changes  introduced  by  the
Council in the text of the Common Position as a consequence of the adoption of the Kyoto
Protocol.

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SPECIFIC  COMMENTS

Preamble

The  preamble  now  includes  two  new  ‘whereas’  clauses  (respectively,  the  fifth  and  sixth
‘whereas’  clauses)  on  the  basis  of  the  amendments  of  the  European  Parliament.
Furthermore, the ‘whereas’ referring mainly to the different phases in the process leading to
the  adoption  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  were  eliminated  and  replaced  with  shorter  wording
referring  to  the  outcome  of  that  process,  i.e.  the  requirements  contained  in  the  Kyoto
Protocol.

In addition to other minor adjustments (such as the deadline for reporting inventories (now,
31 December) and further dates of previous Council conclusions) to ensure consistency with
the modified Articles, a reference was also introduced to the possible future updating of the
monitoring  mechanism  to  reflect  further  decisions  in  the  framework  of  the  Kyoto
Protocol.

Article  1

Article  1  was  modified  so  as  to  be  brought  in  line  with  the  contents  and  objective  of  the
Common  Position  (see  Section  II).

Article  2

The  main  modifications  introduced  in  this  Article  concerning  the  ‘national  programmes’
principally  aim  at  taking  into  account  the  outcome  of  the  Kyoto  negotiations  meanwhile
concluded  and  in  particular  the  requirements  deriving  from  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the
Community and its Member States. The monitoring mechanism as updated will, in fact, also
contribute  to  the  evaluation  of  progress  made  by  the  Community  and  its  Member  States
towards  fulfilling  the  UNFCCC  and  the  Protocol’s  commitments.  This  Article  was
reorganised also to make a distinction between the requirements of the UNFCCC and of the
Kyoto  Protocol.

— Paragraph  1

this  paragraph  was  modified  so  as  to  include,  in  its  first  indent,  reference  to  Council
conclusion  of  15  and  16  December  1994,  for  reasons  of  completeness.

The  second  indent  was  slightly  adjusted  and  the  third  indent  was  added  to  reflect  the
broadened  objective  of  the  Common  Position:  they  now  refer  respectively  to  the
fulfilment of the Community’s commitments relating to greenhouse gas emissions under
the  UNFCCC  and  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  and  to  the  transparent  and  accurate  monitoring
of the actual and projected progress of Member States (including the contribution made
by  Community  measures) 
those
commitments,

their  national  contributions 

in  meeting 

to 

— Paragraph  2

this  paragraph  (and  in  particular  subparagraph  (b))  was  also  amended  so  as  to  bring  it
in line technically with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, in particular as far as the
commitment period (2008 to 2012), the basket of gases (the six gases listed in Annex A
to  the  Protocol)  and  the  base  year  (1990  or  1995  for  the  three  additional  gases)  are
concerned.  Information  to  be  given  under  the  FCCC  for  the  other  greenhouse  gases  is
referred  to  under  subparagraph  (c).

Furthermore, on the basis of the European Parliament’s amendments, it is indicated that
data  and  information  will  need  to  be  submitted  by  the  Member  States  on  the  basis  of
standard  procedural  guidelines.

Article  3

The  main  amendments  in  this  Article  concerning  national  inventories  and  data  reporting
include  the  following:

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— in  paragraph  1:  reference  was  added  to  IPCC  methodologies  and  subsequent  relevant
decisions  by  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Climate  Change  Convention,  so  as  to
ensure  compatibility  of  methodologies  in  establishing  inventories  and  reporting  relevant
data,

— in  paragraph  2:

(a) modification of the deadlines (31 December) for submitting information and data to
the  Commission,  also  to  make  those  deadlines  compatible  with  the  further
requirements  of  the  UNFCCC  and  other  major  international  conventions  on  air
pollution;

(b) reference  to  reporting  on  the  most  recent  projected  emissions  for  the  gases  covered
by  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  prescribed  commitment  period  (2008  to  2012)  and,
as  far  as  possible,  for  2005;

(c)

reference to further steps to be taken by the Commission to ensure the compatibility
and  transparency  of  the  information  provided  by  Member  States  (notably,  national
inventories  and  communications).  This  reference  was  added  taking  partially  into
account an amendment proposed by the European Parliament; the further reference
to  common  modelling  guidelines  that  was  included  in  the  Commission’s  amended
proposal  was  not  retained  by  the  Council,

— in paragraph 3: modification of the deadline (1 March) for the Commission to circulate

to  the  Member  States  the  above-mentioned  information.

Article  5

The  Council  incorporated  the  European  Parliament’s  amendment  (as  also  accepted  by  the
Commission in its amended proposal) for retaining this Article. The text of this Article was
however  modified  in  the  Common  Position  (and  its  title  adjusted),  so  as  to  include  further
updates  of  the  national  programmes.

Other  changes  introduced  by  the  Council  included  the  following:

— the  delay  for  the  Commission  to  forward  to  the  other  Member  States  the  national

programmes  received  was  reduced  to  one  month,

— a  reference  was  added  to  the  European  Environment  Agency,  which  will  assist,  as
appropriate,  in  the  compilation  of  the  evaluation  report  to  be  presented  by  the
Commission  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament.

Article  6

The  text  of  this  Article  was  modified  to  make  it  consistent  with  the  amended  wording  of
Article  2(1).

The Article now includes an annual assessment by the Commission on actual and projected
progress  of  Member  States,  including  the  contribution  made  by  Community  measures,
towards  fulfilling  the  commitments  under  the  UNFCCC  and  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  and  a
report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council.

The last part of this Article was added taking into account an amendment proposed by the
European  Parliament.  It  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  above-mentioned  report  shall  be  made
available even in case of incomplete data received from the Member States; in such event the
Commission  may  include  the  best  available  data,  in  consultation  with  the  Member  State
concerned.  The  Common  Position  differs 
in  this  from  the  European  Parliament’s
amendment  and  the  Commission  amended  proposal  which  requested  to  make  explicit
reference  to  such  absence  of  data  in  the  report.

Article  7

This  Article  (Other  greenhouse  gases)  was  deleted,  as  proposed  by  the  Commission.

30.10.98

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Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 333/45

Article  8

The  Common  Position  envisages  a  regulatory  committee  (Procedure  IIIa)  instead  of  a
committee  of  an  advisory  nature  (Procedure  I)  as  the  European  Parliament  had  proposed
and  the  Commission  had  accepted  in  its  amended  proposal.

The  Commission  expressed  reluctance  to  change  the  type  of  committee,  but  in  the  end
accepted  the  modification  introduced  by  the  Council.

Article  9

For  reasons  of  clarity  and  legal  certainty,  a  date  for  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Decision
(1  January  1999)  was  introduced.

The  Commission  accepted  the  modifications  incorporated  by  the  Council  in  its  Common
Position.