Common Position (EC) No 21/2001 adopted by the Council on 31 May 2001 with a view to adopting a Regulation (EC) No …/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council … of … concerning action against anti-personnel landmines in developing countries
Date: 2001-05-31
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, developing countries, development aid, explosive, military equipment

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I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 21/2001

adopted by the Council on 31 May 2001

with a view to adopting a Regulation (EC) No . . ./2001 of the European Parliament and of the
Council . . . of . . . concerning action against anti-personnel landmines in developing countries

(2001/C 213/01)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction
(Ottawa Convention).

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 179(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1) The European Community is concerned by the presence
of anti-personnel landmines and other unexploded devices
in areas where civil communities are trying to recover
from armed conflict.

(2) Anti-personnel

landmines cause suffering and casualties,
particularly in the poorest parts of
the world, and
constitute a serious obstacle to economic development,
inhibit the return of refugees and displaced persons, and
obstruct humanitarian aid operations, reconstruction and
social
rehabilitation and the
conditions.

restoration of normal

(3) The Community is determined to make a full contribution
towards the goal of total elimination of anti-personnel
landmines worldwide in the coming years.

(4) The Community and its Member States have provided the
largest contribution to the wider international effort to
overcome the tragedy of anti-personnel landmines.

(5) Action to achieve the total elimination of anti-personnel
landmines is still at an early stage and therefore the
Community should continue
to exercise determined
leadership until that goal is fully achieved.

(6) This Regulation is a direct response to the Convention on
the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and

(1) OJ C 248 E, 29.8.2000, p. 115.
(2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 October 2000 (OJ C 197,
12.7.2001, p. 179), Council Common Position of 31 May 2001 and
Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the
Official Journal).

(7) Therefore, financial aid should, as a priority, benefit those
developing countries which are committed to the fight
against anti-personnel
landmines and are parties to the
Ottawa Convention.

(8) Community mine action is often an integral part of
humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, reconstruction or devel-
opment activities, whilst being a discrete and specialised
activity responding to distinct priorities, operational
requirements and political imperatives.

(9) As part of such activities, as well as in the case of
framework programmes for the research and development
of mine action technology, new and existing actions will
lines,
continue
supported, complemented and coordinated under
this
Regulation where appropriate.

funded from specific budget

to be

(10) For the Community to be able to contribute effectively to
preventive actions on mines, it will be necessary to allow
for Community
anti-personnel
to
landmines in stockpiles in conjunction with operations
to destroy anti-personnel landmines in the ground.

destroy

action

(11) Scientific research should be intensified with the aim of
developing technologies to facilitate mine detection and
identification of the affected areas with greater precision.

(12) The Community needs to be in a position to ascertain that
the mine clearance actions which it has financed have
been effective. It must therefore employ the appropriate
including military technology where
technical means,
necessary.

action

(13) This Regulation is designed to provide the basis for a
the Community
coherent and efficient approach for
through
mine
in
in close coor-
advancement of an integrating strategy,
dination between the Commission,
the Member States
and the international community at all stages of mine
actions.

developing

countries,

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(14) Such an approach should not prevent a Community
response to humanitarian emergencies wherever
they
occur.

Mine actions shall be integrated into all country strategies for
those developing countries which suffer from the consequences
of anti-personnel landmines.

(15) It is necessary to ensure that these actions are consistent
with the European Union’s foreign policy as a whole,
including the common foreign and security policy.

(16) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be
adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (1).

Article 2

1.
Community action under this Regulation shall be aimed
at assisting countries which suffer from the consequences of
anti-personnel landmines, to create the conditions necessary for
their economic and social development, by:

(a) supporting the elaboration, monitoring and implemen-

tation of a civilian mine action strategy;

(17) The

anti-personnel

landmine problem, by

life-
threatening nature and its global extent, requires efficient,
flexible and, where necessary,
rapid decision-making
procedures for the financing of Community actions.

its

(18) This Regulation establishes,

for

reference for

its entire duration, a
financial framework which is to be the principal point
of
the budgetary authority, within the
meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement
between the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and
improvement of the budgetary procedure (2).

(b) assisting afflicted countries in their implementation of the

Ottawa Convention;

(c) creating and sustaining international structures and local
capabilities within the afflicted countries to carry out
mine actions with maximum effectiveness;

(d) responding

preventing
casualties and assisting the rehabilitation of mine victims;

humanitarian

emergency,

to

(19) The Community should ensure maximum transparency in
and

the
stringent controls in the use of appropriations.

implementation of

assistance

financial

the

(20) The protection of the Communities’ financial interests as
well as the fight against fraud and irregularities constitute
an inherent part of this Regulation,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article1

for

This Regulation lays down the procedures

the
1.
anti-
implementation of Community operations
personnel
landmines within the framework of Community
development cooperation policy, while advancing a consistent
and coherent humanitarian mine clearance strategy in response
to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their
Destruction (hereinafter referred to as the (cid:145)Ottawa Convention(cid:146)).

against

2.
The operations referred to in this Regulation shall be
implemented in the territory of developing countries or shall
be directly related to situations arising in developing countries,
particularly in those most vulnerable amongst them and in
those which are recovering from conflicts.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(2) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

(e) supporting the in-country trial and introduction into oper-
ational use of appropriate mine action equipment and tech-
niques;

(f) promoting coordination with end-users of

the mine
clearance equipment at the early stages of research and
supporting the use of these technologies in the poorest
mine-affected countries;

(g) encouraging mine clearance actions that are compatible
with the local environment and consistent with the
sustainable development of the affected region;

(h) supporting coordination among international mine action

actors.

The operations

2.
this Regulation may
financed under
comprise all activities related to action against anti-personnel
landmines which will
for
economic and social development, including:

support objectives necessary

(a) mine-awareness education;

(b) training of specialist personnel;

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(c) survey and marking of suspected areas;

(d) detection and identification of anti-personnel landmines;

anti-personnel

(e) mine clearance to humanitarian standards and destruction
of
in the ground and in
conjunction therewith the destruction of anti-personnel
landmines in stockpiles;

landmines

(f) victim assistance, rehabilitation and socio-economic reinte-

gration of mine victims;

(g)

information
information systems;

management,

including

geographical

(h) other activities, which contribute to the reduction of the
impact of anti-

human, economic, and environmental
personnel landmines.

in the most

In the context of paragraph 2, priority shall be given to
3.
operations
seriously mine-afflicted countries,
where anti-personnel landmines or, in conjunction therewith,
other unexploded ordnance cause many civilian casualties or
where the presence or suspected presence of these devices is a
major obstacle to the restoration of economic and social
activity or
requires a specific
long-term commitment that emergency humanitarian or recon-
struction aid are unable to provide.

to development and thus

In order

4.
to ensure coherence, complementarity and
synergy within regional cooperation programmes and in the
context of humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, reconstruction and
development projects, mine actions which can be financed
within the framework of any of
those programmes or
projects shall continue to be financed from the budget line
on which the principal action is financed. Where necessary,
these activities may be complemented or supported by mine
actions financed under this Regulation.

Article 3

financed under

this Regulation shall

The operations
in
principle benefit those countries which are committed to the
fight against anti-personnel
landmines and are Parties to the
Ottawa Convention. Exceptions may be made for humanitarian
emergency, for assistance to mine victims and for actions in
direct support of vulnerable civil communities, such as refugees
and displaced persons, or where the national administration is
not functioning.

Article 4

agencies,

non-governmental

(NGOs),
and
national, provincial and local governments, their departments
and agencies, institutes and public and private operators with
appropriate specialised expertise and experience.

organisations

2.
Participation in invitations to tender and the award of
contracts shall be open on equal terms to natural and legal
persons of the Member States and of the beneficiary country.
In exceptional cases which are fully justified, participation may
be extended to non-member countries.

and

other

Companies

organisations

3.
for
contracts shall show that they have an operations policy that
does not put their employees unduly at risk, and that such
policy is
supported by adequate employee accident and
liability insurance.

tendering

Article 5

1.
Community aid under this Regulation may be used to
training, personnel or other
finance technical assistance,
services related to mine action; trials of equipment and tech-
niques; logistical support, procurement, provision and storage
of any equipment,
the
implementation of mine actions; studies and conferences and
measures to strengthen international coordination of mine
action; evaluation and monitoring missions; activities to raise
public awareness; as well as the costs of highlighting the
Community nature of the aid.

supplies and works needed for

Community financing under this Regulation shall take the

2.
form of grants.

3. Where operations are the subject of financial agreements
between
such
agreements shall stipulate that the payment of taxes, duties
or any other charges is not to be covered by the Community.

Community

beneficiary

countries,

and

Article 6

The financial framework for the implementation of Community
mine actions during the period 2002 to 2009, under all
applicable regulations in the context of Article 2(4), shall be
EUR 240 million. Out of this amount, EUR 140 million shall
be available for mine actions under this Regulation and Council
Regulation (EC) . . . of 23 July 2001 concerning action against
anti-personnel landmines in non-member countries other than
developing countries (1).

1.
Partners eligible for financial support under this Regu-
lation may include regional and international organisations

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal.

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The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of the financial perspective.

Financing decisions exceeding EUR 3 million shall be

2.
taken under the procedure laid down in Article 7(2).

Article 7

The Commission shall be assisted by the relevant

1.
geographical committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

The Commission shall

inform the relevant committee
3.
referred to in Article 7(1) of any financing decision of
less
than EUR 3 million in value. This information shall be made
available no later than one week before the adoption of the
financing decision.

4.
The Commission may take decisions amending financing
decisions adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 7(2), where they do not entail any substantial
amendments or additional commitments in excess of 20 % of
the initial commitment.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Article 10

Article 8

1.
The Commission shall, on the basis of a regular exchange
of information, including the exchange of information on the
spot, facilitate effective coordination of the assistance efforts
undertaken by the Community and individual Member States,
in order to increase the coherence and complementarity of
their programmes.

The Commission may seek opportunities for co-financing
2.
with other providers of funds, especially with Member States.

3.
The Commission shall promote coordination and coop-
eration with international contributors and actors, in particular
those which form part of the United Nations system and with
NGOs, as well as with relevant centres such as the Geneva
International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

The necessary measures shall be taken to give visibility to

4.
the contribution by the Community.

Projects shall

form part of

the wider development or
1.
reconstruction framework of
region in
question, and be prioritised and appraised in terms of their
positive impact and cost effectiveness.

country or

the

2. Wherever possible, the project should be clearly inte-
grated within a national anti-personnel landmines programme
coordinated by the beneficiary government or by local society
in cooperation with NGOs, or by an international institution
mandated for that purpose. The aim should be for the project
to be taken over, in due course, by the beneficiary government
itself or by local society or NGOs in order to enhance local
capacity and the sustainability of the project.

Article 11

financing agreements or contracts concluded under this
All
Regulation shall provide for the Commission and the Court
of Auditors to conduct on-the-spot checks according to the
usual procedures laid down by the Commission under the
rules in force, and in particular those of the Financial Regu-
lation.

Article 9

1.
The Commission shall appraise, decide, and administer
operations covered by this Regulation in accordance with the
budgetary and other procedures in force, and in particular
those laid down in Articles 116 and 118 of the Financial Regu-
lation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities (1).

In addition, the Commission may carry out on-the-spot checks
and inspections
in conformity with Council Regulation
(Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (2). The measures taken by the
Commission shall provide for adequate protection of
the
the Community in conformity with
financial
Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 (3).

interests of

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 762/2001 (OJ L 111, 20.4.2001, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1.

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Article 12

for

To facilitate multiannual mine
action coordination and
programming, an Anti-Personnel Landmine (APL) Strategy
Paper comprising horizontal guidelines and priorities
for
their
Community mine action and the benchmarks
achievement shall regularly be presented to a joint meeting
of the Committees referred to in Article 7(1), for consideration
in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 7(2).
The APL Strategy Paper shall cover issues such as a multi-
annual indicative programme and shall refer to existing mine
action programmes at country and regional
to the
contributions of other donors including Member States and
to Community mine actions funded from other budget lines.
The APL Strategy Paper shall also be transmitted to the
European Parliament for information.

levels,

The Commission shall present in its annual report on EC
2.
development cooperation to the European Parliament and the
Council
information on the progress of all Community
operations as well as on the results of assessments made. The
report shall specify which actions have been implemented and
indicate the respective amounts from the different budget lines.

Article 14

Every three years after entry into force of this Regulation, the
Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the
Council an overall assessment of all Community mine actions,
together with suggestions for the future of this Regulation and,
as necessary, proposals for amendments to it.

Article 13

Article 15

The Commission shall

operations
1.
financed by the Community in order to establish whether the
objectives of the operations have been achieved and to provide
guidelines for improving the effectiveness of future operations.

regularly

assess

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply until 31 December 2009.

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

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. On 11 April 2000 the Commission forwarded to the Council a proposal for a Regulation of the
landmines
European Parliament and of
(COM(2000) 111 final of 14 March 2000). This proposal was based on Article 179 of
the
Treaty. It sets out the scope and objectives of Community mine action worldwide and lays down
the decision-making procedures (including for emergency action) on the basis of a horizontal
budget line (B7-661), created by the European Parliament in 1996.

the Council concerning action against anti-personnel

2. The European Parliament adopted its opinion in the first reading on the proposal based on Article

179 at the plenary session on 25 October 2000.

3. At its meeting on 10 November 2000, the Council came to the conclusion that the geographical
scope and the objectives of the Commission’s proposal went beyond the legal basis of Article 179
EC. It decided that the proposal should be split into two regulations, one based on Article 179 EC
for developing countries and the other on Article 308 EC for third countries other than developing
ones.

4. On 22 December 2000 the Commission thus submitted an amended proposal (COM(2000) 880
final) for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council based on Article 179 EC
covering developing countries (2000/0062/A (COD)) and a Council Regulation based on Article
308 EC covering third countries other than developing ones (2000/0062/B (CNS)). In this amended
proposal
the European Parliament’s amendments in the first
reading.

the Commission accepted 19 of

5. On 4 April 2001 Coreper agreed in principle upon a draft common position taking into account
the European Parliament’s opinion and the Commission’s amended proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council based on Article 179 EC.

6. On 31 May 2001 the Council adopted its Common Position in accordance with Article 251 of the

EC Treaty.

II. PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL

The objective of this proposal is to reinforce the Community’s mine actions in response to inter-
national requirements under the Ottawa Convention on the one hand, and at the same time to
strengthen the consistency and effectiveness of these actions as the Community’s internal obligation.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1.

1.1.

General remarks

Although the Council largely followed the approach and objectives of the Commission proposal
and supported several amendments proposed by Parliament, it considered it necessary to make a
number of changes to both the substance and the wording of some Articles in the proposed
Regulation.

When drawing up the Common Position, the Council tried to respect the following principles
and guidelines:

(cid:151) render the wording of the Regulation more precise and thus improve the legal clarity of the
text (according to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 22 December 1998 on common
guidelines for the quality of drafting of Community legislation) (1),

(1) OJ C 73, 17.3.1999, p. 1.

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(cid:151) clarify the scope of certain provisions, in particular those relating to the destruction of
stockpiles (Article 2(2)(e)) and emergency action (deletion of Article 9 and related parts of
other Articles of the Commission proposal),

(cid:151) procedural or administrative proposals that were not in accordance with standard formu-

lations (Article 7 on comitology procedure).

1.2.

In its Common Position the Council has approved the essence and wording of the Commission’s
proposal with the exceptions referred to under point 2.2 (specific comments).

2.

Specific comments

2.1.

Legal basis

With regard to the geographical scope, the aim and contents of the proposal, the Council
considers the legal basis put forward by the Commission, namely Article 179 EC, as appropriate.

2.2. Amendments made by the Council to the Commission proposal

2.2.1. Objectives of activities (Article 2(2))

The scope of the activities proposed by the Commission in this paragraph had to be refor-
mulated taking into account the Community’s development cooperation objectives.

2.2.2. Financial framework (Article 6)

Pursuant to the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and
the Commission of 6 May 1999 (1) on the incorporation of financial provisions into legislative
acts, these acts must contain a provision in which the legislative authority lays down the
financial framework for multiannual programmes adopted under the codecision procedure.
Taking into account the eight-year programme in this case, the financial framework for the
implementation of Community mine action under all applicable regulations has been fixed at
EUR 240 million. Out of this amount, EUR 140 million is to be available for mine actions
under this Regulation and the Council Regulation to be based on Article 308 TEC concerning
than developing ones.
action against anti-personnel
Accordingly, a corresponding recital
the
Commission’s proposal).

(18) has been inserted (replacing recital 14 of

in third countries other

landmines

2.2.3. Report (Article 13(2))

The joint statement by the Council and the Commission on the (cid:145)European Community’s devel-
opment Policy(cid:146) (2) provides for an annual report on Community development policy containing
an assessment of the implementation of development policy in general. In accordance with this
statement,
the European Parliament and the Council will be informed of progress on all
Community mine actions in this annual report.

2.2.4. Duration (Article 15)

The Council agreed to limit the duration of the Regulation until 31 December 2009 which
corresponds to the duration of the Ottawa Convention.

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) Adopted at the Council (Development) on 10 November 2000, Doc. 13458/2000.

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2.3.

European Parliament amendments

The plenary session of the European Parliament adopted 30 amendments to the Commission’s
proposal.

2.3.1. Parliament amendments adopted by the Council

Out of these 30 amendments, the Council has been able to accept 10 completely (Amendments
1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 20, 24, 27, and 28) and eight partly or in substance (Amendments 2, 3, 9 and
10 (to delete financial reference amount, reintroduced instead as a new recital 18 on the
financial framework), 15, 21, 23 regarding Article 7 of the Comitology Decision, and 30).

2.3.2. Parliament amendments not adopted by the Council

With regard to the recitals, the following were not accepted;

(cid:151) Amendments 4, 5 and 14 (referring to stockpile destruction),

(cid:151) Amendment 8 (comitology).

Concerning the Articles of the Regulation, the following were not accepted:

(cid:151) Amendment 11 (request to expand activities to States not Parties to the Ottawa Convention

in exceptional cases),

(cid:151) Amendment 16 (to limit mine actions to be financed under only under one single budget
line with the exception of Research and ECHO does not allow for sufficient flexibility),

(cid:151) Amendment 17 (to establish a Central Mine Action Unit within the Commission),

(cid:151) Amendment 18 (Commission to take all possible steps to encourage states to accede to the

Ottawa Convention),

(cid:151) Amendment 19 (rejection of deletion of provision on participation in invitations to tender,

which is a standard formula),

(cid:151) Amendments 22, 23 and 25 (comitology procedure, see under point 1.1 and Council

position for management procedure instead of advisory),

(cid:151) Amendment 26 (emergency procedure deleted because a specific need for that was not

established),

(cid:151) Amendment 29 (APL Strategy Paper to be presented to the Committee for consideration

rather than for reference only).

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The Council considers that its Common Position constitutes a balanced text to ensure the objectives set
out above. The activities to be financed under this Regulation will be limited to developing countries
and take account of
It allows for
addressing the APL problem through a comprehensive Community approach and for facilitating a
multiannual mine action coordination and programming through an APL Strategy Paper comprising
horizontal guidelines and priorities.

the Community’s development cooperation.

the objectives of