Council Regulation (EC) No 405/2003 of 27 February 2003 concerning Community monitoring of imports of hard coal originating in third countries (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-02-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: coal, coke, disclosure of information, energy production, import (EU), import policy, third country

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(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 405/2003

of 27 February 2003

concerning Community monitoring of imports of hard coal originating in third countries

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Article 284 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

energy

external

supplies of primary

The Community has become increasingly dependent on
its
sources.
According to the Green paper ‘Towards a European
the security of energy supply’,
Union strategy for
adopted by the Commission on 29 November 2000,
50 % of
the Community's energy requirements are
currently covered by imports, and this figure will rise to
almost 70 % by 2030 on current trends.

The diversification of suppliers and energy sources is a
key factor in security of energy supply. It is therefore
essential for the Community to have a system for moni-
toring imports of hard coal originating in third coun-
tries.

implementing measures,
The ECSC Treaty and its
notably Decision 77/707/ECSC of the representatives of
the Governments of the Member States of the European
Coal and Steel Community, meeting within the Council
of 7 November 1977, concerning Community surveil-
lance of imports of hard coal originating in third coun-
tries (1) expired on 23 July 2002.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Commission Decision No 341/94/ECSC of 8 February
1994 implementing Decision No 3632/93/ECSC estab-
lishing Community rules for State aid to the coal
industry (2), which enables the Commission to determine
the price of coal from third countries intended for blast
furnaces and to collect essential data on purchases of
coal, coking coal or coke from third countries, also
expired on 23 July 2002.

(10)

(11)

(1) OJ L 292, 16.11.1977, p. 11. Decision amended by Decision 85/

161/ECSC (OJ L 63, 2.3.1985, p. 20).

(2) OJ L 49, 19.2.1994, p. 1.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Information on the guide prices of coal originating in
third countries, intended for electricity production and
of coal intended for the steel industry, is necessary for
the proper functioning of the internal market, in parti-
cular for the monitoring of State aid to the Community
coal industry.

It
is therefore necessary to introduce a Community
procedure for information and consultation on the costs
of external supplies of hard coal and on guide prices for
imported coal intended for the production of electricity
and for coal intended for the steel industry.

This procedure calls for the examination at regular inter-
vals of aggregate information from Member States on
the costs of external coal supplies and on prices of coal
originating in third countries intended to be used for
electricity production and for the steel
industry. The
information collected must make it possible to compare
the development of the costs and the import prices of
coal applied in the Community.

In keeping with current practice, Member States should
continue to transmit to the Commission the prices of
coal originating in third countries. Member States may
retain their current system or set up new procedures for
collecting the data.

The information collected and the results of the analyses
carried out by the Commission must be published at
Community level in order to ensure the transparency of
the market, albeit in a form that does not enable specific
imports or individual companies to be identified, with
consultation between the Member States
and the
Commission.

If the Commission finds any anomalies or inconsisten-
cies in the notified figures,
it must be able to obtain
other information from the Member State concerned.

In order to provide guidance,
in line with the tasks
assigned to the Community, on the course of action to
be followed by all concerned and to determine its own
course of action, in accordance with the provisions of
the Treaty, the Commission conducts a continuous study
of solid fuel market and price trends.

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(12)

The Commission must publish the studies and the infor-
mation collected in application of this Regulation, albeit
in a form that does not enable specific imports or indivi-
dual companies to be identified.
It must specify the
arrangements for the communications.

(13)

This Regulation should be applied retroactively from the
expiry of the ECSC Treaty on, in order to ensure the full
benefit of its provisions,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation establishes a system for monitoring of imports
of hard coal originating in third countries.

Article 5

The data characterising any import of coal products to a

1.
Member State must comprise:

(a) the designation of the coal product;

(b) the quantity expressed in metric tonnes, and in addition for

steam coal the average low calorific value;

(c) in the case of coal for the production of coke referred to in
paragraph (2)(b): ash, moisture, volatile matter and sulphur
content;

(d) the price actually paid.

Information shall be communicated on the following coal

2.
products:

(a) coal for the production of electricity or for combined heat

and power generation;

Article 2

(b) coal for the production of coke to supply steel

industry

blast furnaces.

Member States shall provide the Commission with information
on imports of hard coal and on the import prices of coal
products intended for electricity production and for use in the
steel industry in the Community.

This information shall be obtained by aggregating the data
received in accordance with Article 4 and it shall be presented
in such a way as to provide as accurate a picture as possible of
the Community coal market.

Article 3

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) ‘coal

imports’ means any consignment of coal products
originating in third countries and entering the customs
territory of the Community for purposes other than transit,
which is intended for the production of electricity or to
supply the coke ovens of a Member State;

(b) ‘import price’ means the free-at-frontier price of coal
products entering the customs territory of the Community,
based on tonnes of coal equivalent (tce) in the case of coal
intended for power stations and based on a standard grade
in the case of coal intended for coke ovens.

Article 4

Any person or undertaking importing one of the coal products
referred to in Article 5 from a third country shall provide the
Member State, in which that person or undertaking is estab-
lished, with the relevant information on such imports.

3. Member States may request from their Customs Services
information necessary to fulfil
their obligations under this
Regulation.

Article 6

The information which Member States are required to provide
to the Commission pursuant to Article 2 shall be communi-
cated within a period of two months from the end of each
period not exceeding six months. This information shall be the
aggregate result, for each type of coal product, of the data
which Member States receive from persons or undertakings.
For each of the coal products, the information shall comprise:

(a) the tonnage and characteristics for harmonisation referred

to in Article 5(1)(b) and (c);

(b) the import prices.

Article 7

On the basis of the information collected in application of this
Regulation, the Commission shall publish in an appropriate
form:

(a) each semester, the prices aggregated at Community level, of
all coal imports intended for the production of electricity
or for combined heat and power generation, excluding
duties and taxes;

Any imports divided into several batches for transport reasons
must be considered as a single import consignment if covered
by a single price.

(b) each semester, the prices aggregated at Community level, of
all coal imports intended for the production of coke for
blast furnaces, excluding duties and taxes;

If an import consignment of a given product is declared as
having been divided into several batches, each with different
prices, a separate declaration shall be made for each batch.

(c) during the first quarter of each year, a report on the market
in solid fuels in the Community concerning the preceding
year together with a market outlook for the current year.

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Article 8

Article 10

Member States and the Commission shall consult each other at
regular intervals at the request of a Member State or on the
initiative of the Commission. These consultations shall concern
in particular the communications referred to in Article 6 and 7.

If the Commission finds any anomalies or inconsistencies in
the information communicated to it by Member States, it may
ask them to provide details of the calculation or evaluation
procedures on which the aggregate information is based.

Consultations shall be organised with international organisa-
tions and with third countries that have introduced similar
information mechanisms.

Article 9

All information received by the Commission in the application
of this Regulation shall be subject to the rules laid down in
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (1).

Article 11

The Commission shall adopt the provisions implementing this
Regulation relating to the form, content and all other character-
istics of the communications referred to in Article 2.

Article 12

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Member States may refrain from submitting details which relate
to individual undertakings.

It shall apply from 24 July 2002 and shall expire on 31
December 2010.

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

Done at Brussels, 27 February 2003.

For the Council

The President

M. CHRISOCHOÏDIS

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.