Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251(2) (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures to promote the conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests and other forests in developing countries, amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2000-05-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: developing countries, forest, forest conservation, sustainable development, tropical forest

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 24.05.2000
COM(2000) 308 final

1999/0015 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2) (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

on measures to promote the conservation and sustainable management of tropical
forests and other forests in developing countries

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

1.

INTRODUCTION

Article 251(2)(c) of the EC Treaty lays down that the Commission shall deliver an opinion on
the amendments proposed by the European Parliament at second reading. The Commission
sets out its opinion below on the 12 amendments proposed by Parliament.

2.

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

g)

BACKGROUND

On 3th February 1999, the Commission forwarded to the Council and to the European
Parliament its proposal for a regulation (COM(1999) 41 final) - 1999/015 (COD) .

The Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on the 7th July 1999.

The Committee of the Regions informed the Council that it would not express an
opinion on the proposal.

The European Parliament approved the Commission proposal on 5th May 1999, in
first reading, subject to 34 amendments.

On 9th February 2000 the Commission adopted, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the
Treaty, an amended proposal for a decision incorporating wholly or in part 19 of the
34 amendments proposed by Parliament (COM(2000) 54).

The Council adopted its common position on 16th December 1999.

On 14th March 2000,
favourable resolution including 12 amendments to the common position.

the Parliament European adopted at second reading a

3.

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL

Based on Articles 175 and 179 of the Treaty, the proposed Regulation will be an important
instrument to enable the Community to meet
its commitments to the conservation and
in the context of sustainable development. It will ensure the
management of forests,
continuation of activities implemented under Council Regulation (EC) n° 3062/95 of 20
December 19951, which expired on 31st December 1999. The proposed legal instrument takes
into account relevant developments within the Community, the results of the international
discussion on Forests through the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests/ Intergovernmental
Forum on Forests process, the evolution in the forest sector, as well as experience acquired
during the implementation of the 1995-1999 regulation.

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OJ L 327, vol. 38, 30.12.1995.

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4.

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION ON THE AMENDMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

4.1.

Amendments retained by the Commission

• Amendments 4, 7, 9, 10 are retained by the Commission. Amendments 4 and 7 concern
minor drafting improvements while Amendment 10 (also supported by Council) requires
that Parliament be informed of the annual guidelines for activities to be funded under the
Regulation. Amendment 9 specifies a financial framework of 249 M EUR (over 7 years).
This figure represents an acceptable compromise between the initial proposals of Council
and Parliament.

• Certain other amendments, namely Amendments 11 and 13 can be accepted in principle,
subject to some reformulation. These concern the split comitology arrangement proposed
by Parliament, whereby the annual guidelines for the implementation of the Regulation
would be subject to a management procedure, while approval of projects of over 2 M EUR
would be subject to an advisory procedure. As currently drafted there is some overlap in
the provisions of these two amendments. The Commission prefers the wording on split
comitology approved in the parallel proposal for a Regulation on the Integration of the
Environmental Dimension into the Development Process of Developing Countries.

4.2.

Amendments not accepted by the Commission

• Amendment 1 expands a recital with an unnecessary reference to the need for substantial
financial resources and to environmental disasters. It is considered not to be coherent with
agreed guidelines for drafting of Community legislation.

• Amendment 2 is considered redundant as it is addressed in Art 4 (1) (a), Art. 4 (3) indent 3

and Art 4 (5) of the common position.

• Amendment 3 on coordination is considered redundant as it is addressed in Art 4(3) 5th

indent and Art. 6 (5) of the common position.

• Amendment 5 states that projects should not be funded where there exist “serious doubts”
about their impact. The Commission considers that the term “serious doubts” is subjective
and not appropriate for a Regulation. Furthermore the impact assessments mentioned in
Article 4.5 address the concern not to fund projects with potential negative impacts.

• Amendment 6 requires evaluations to take into account views of local people. While the
Commission has no objection to the spirit of the amendment
is considered to be
redundant, given that Art 11 (2) deals with this topic in a more comprehensive manner.
Furthermore the amendment is misplaced as it introduces the topic of evaluation into an
article that deals with planning of projects.

it

• Amendment 8 concerning the possible lifting of the requirement for bank guarantees is
considered to be unnecessary, given that bank guarantees are now only required for
advances to NGOs of over 1 M EUR. Also as a point of principle and in order to simplify
administration the Commission does not consider it appropriate to introduce specific
financial provisions in specific Regulations. An identical amendment
in the parallel
proposal for a Regulation on the Integration of the Environmental Dimension into the
Development Process of Developing Countries was not approved by Parliament in the
second reading.

3

5.

CONCLUSION

Under the terms of Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal
according to the above.

4