Regulation (EC) No 1485/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against fire
Date: 2001-06-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, action programme, fire, fire protection, forest conservation

L 196/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

20.7.2001

REGULATION (EC) No 1485/2001 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 on protection of the Community's forests against
fire

of 27 June 2001

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Community, particularly the regions affected by deserti-
fication, should be taken into account.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof,

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

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Having consulted the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Since the rural communities, in particular foresters and
stock farmers, who are the main trustees of Europe's
forest heritage, and in particular
their professional
organisations, play a fundamental role in drawing up
regional
in practising
preventive silviculture and as first-line firefighters, it is
important
to create the conditions for the effective
participation of these people in the protection of Euro-
pean forests against this abiotic agent.

fire prevention action plans,

The period of application of Regulation (EEC) No 2158/
92 (4) expired on 31 December 1996. The said Regula-
tion was amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 308/
97 (5). In its judgment of 25 February 1999 in Joined
Cases C-164/97 and C-165/97 (6) the Court of Justice of
the European Communities annulled Council Regulation
(EC) No 308/97 but preserved its legal effects pending
the adoption of a new Regulation which replaces the
Regulation annulled.
legal
In order
certainty, the validity of the measures taken in applica-
tion of the annulled Regulation should be ensured.

to guarantee

Forests play an essential part
in maintaining funda-
mental balances, particularly as regards the soil, water
flora and fauna. Those ecological
resources, climate,
balances are indispensable for sustainable agriculture and
the management of rural areas.

(4)

the Mediterranean forests in the
The importance of
ecosystems of the Member States in the south of the

(1) OJ C 307 E, 26.10.1999, p. 33 and
OJ C 96 E, 27.3.2001, p. 365.

(2) OJ C 51, 23.3.2000, p. 24.
(3) European Parliament Opinion of 6 July 2000 (OJ C 121,
24.4.2001, p. 176), Council common position of 26 February 2001
(OJ C 97, 27.3.2001, p. 5) and European Parliament Decision of 13
June 2001.

(4) OJ L 217, 31.7.1992, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 51, 21.2.1997, p. 11.
(6) [1999] ECR I-1139.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

the

forest

conservation of

The
ecosystem reflects
economic, ecological and social concerns and contri-
butes, in particular, towards maintaining the social situa-
tion of those people working in agriculture and in rural
areas.

The Community and the Member States attach particular
importance to the protection of their forest resources
and have given international undertakings on the
sustainable development of forests and the protection of
forest regions, in particular during the United Nations
World Conference on the Environment and Develop-
ment in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and at the three pan-
European Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of
European Forests in Strasbourg in 1990, in Helsinki in
1993 and in Lisbon in 1998. The Community scheme
provided for by Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 helps to
fulfil those undertakings.

Pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92, sixty million
hectares of
to about one half of
Europe's forests, have been classified as fire-risk zones.

forest, equivalent

Fires continue to restrict the sustainable development of
forests in fire-risk zones.

The protection of forests against fire therefore contri-
butes directly to the achievement of the aims set out in
Article 33(1)(b) of the Treaty.

The Community system of information on forest fires
established under Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No
2158/92 has permitted the development of Community
cooperation on forest fires. The development of that
system will provide an effective instrument for better
evaluating forest-fire protection measures and for better
analysing the causes of fires.

in particular

The scheme provided for by Regulation (EEC) No 2158/
92 should therefore be continued,
to
strengthen the consistency of forest measures financed
to reinforce the fight against
in fire-risk zones,
the
causes of
and to improve prevention and
monitoring systems and its duration extended for five
years, thus bringing its period of application to ten years
from 1 January 1992.

fires

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 196/5

(12)

(13)

The measures necessary for the implementation of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2158/92 should be adopted in accord-
ance 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).

This Regulation establishes for the entire duration of the
measure a financial framework which is to be the prin-
cipal point of reference, within the meaning of point 33
of
the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999
between the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement
of
the budgetary
authority under the annual budgetary procedure.

the budgetary procedure (2),

for

(14)

Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 should accordingly be
amended,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 is hereby amended as follows.

1. Articles 9 and 10 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing
“the

referred to as

(hereinafter

1.
Forestry Committee
Committee”).

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 10

The scheme shall run for ten years from 1 January

1.
1992.

2.
The financial allocation for the implementation of the
scheme shall be EUR 49,4 million for the period 1997 to
2001.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budg-
etary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.

3.
Before expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1,
the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament
and to the Council a report on the application of this
Regulation and a proposal for revision covering in particular
the ecological, economic and social aspects (qualitative
assessment) and the results of a cost-benefit analysis
(quantitative assessment).’.

2. In Article 2(5), Article 4(4) and Article 5(3) the words
‘procedure laid down in Article 9’ shall be replaced by
‘procedure laid down in Article 9(2)’.

Article 2

Any reference to a measure taken in application of Regulation
(EC) No 308/97 shall be taken as a reference to a measure
taken in application of this Regulation from the day of the
latter's entry into force.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard
to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/
468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communi-
ties.

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

Done at Luxembourg, 27 June 2001.

For the European Parliament

The President

N. FONTAINE

For the Council

The President

B. ROSENGREN

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