Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting a multiannual programme for action in the field of energy : "Intelligent Energy - Europe" programme (2003-2006) amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2003-07-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, action programme, available energy, energy demand, energy policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 3.7.2003
COM(2003) 388 final

2002/0082 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

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

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

adopting a multiannual programme for action in the field of energy : "Intelligent
Energy - Europe" programme (2003-2006)

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

2002/0082 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

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

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

adopting a multiannual programme for action in the field of energy : "Intelligent
Energy - Europe" programme (2003-2006)

1.

INTRODUCTION

Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty provides that the Commission is
to  deliver  an  opinion  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  European  Parliament  at  second
reading.  The  Commission  sets  out  its  opinion  below  on  the  13  amendments  adopted  by  the
Parliament.

2.

BACKGROUND

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On 10 April 2002, the Commission transmitted to the European Parliament and to the
Council its proposal for a Decision (COM(2002)162 final - 2002/0082(COD)).

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  an  opinion  on
18 September 2002.

The Committee of the Regions delivered an opinion on 20 November 2002.

On  20  November  2002,  the  European  Parliament,  at  its  first  reading,  delivered  its
opinion, containing a number of amendments to the Commission proposal.

The Council adopted its Common Position on 3 February 2003.

On  7  February  2003,  the  Commission  adopted  its  Communication  to  the  European
Parliament  on  the  Council's  Common  Position,  pursuant  to  the  2nd  subparagraph  of
Article 251(2) of the Treaty.

On  13  May  2003  the  European  Parliament  adopted,  at  the  second  reading,  a
resolution containing 13 amendments to the Common Position.

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3.

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL

This  proposal  for  a  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerns  a
multiannual programme for actions in the field of energy - the “Intelligent Energy for Europe”
programme  -  for  the  period  from  2003  to  2006.  The  programme  is  designed  as  the  main
Community  instrument  for  non-technological  support  in  the  field  of  energy.  It  provides
continuity  for  the  actions  undertaken  under  the  ALTENER,  SAVE  and,  to  a  certain  extent,
SYNERGY  programmes  and  combines  all  activities  in  the  energy  sectors  that  contribute  to
the  accomplishment  of  the  main  aims  of  Community  energy,  transport  and  sustainable
development strategies.

The programme is structured around four specific fields:

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rational use of energy and demand management (SAVE),

new and renewable energy sources (ALTENER),

energy aspects of transport (STEER), and

promotion at international level in the fields of renewable energy sources and energy
efficiency (COOPENER).

Six types of action are foreseen for each field:

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f)

development  of  standards,  labelling  and  certification  systems,  long-term  voluntary
commitments with industry, forward studies, strategic studies on the basis of shared
analysis,  monitoring  of  markets  and  energy  trends  including  for  the  preparation  of
future legislative measures or for the review of existing legislation;

creation, enlargement or reorganisation of structures and instruments for sustainable
energy  development,  including  local  and  regional  planning  and  management;  and
development of adequate financial products and market instruments;

promotion of sustainable energy systems and equipment in order  to accelerate their
penetration  in  the  market  and  stimulate  investment  to  facilitate  the  transition  from
demonstration to marketing of more efficient technologies;

development of information, education and training structures, utilisation of results,
dissemination of know-how and best practices;

monitoring  of the implementation  and the impact  of  Community  initiatives  and  the
support measures;

evaluation of the impact of the actions and projects funded under the programme.

The Commission proposed a total budget of € 215 million for EU-15 for the four-year period.

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4.

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

Parliament  adopted  13  amendments  to  the  Common  Position  of  the  Council  at  the  second
reading. All these 13 amendments were the result of a  compromise  with  the Council with a
view to avoid conciliation.

The Commission accepts all 13 amendments proposed by the European Parliament, which are
in line with the objectives of the Commission’s original proposal or constitute an acceptable
compromise.

4.1.

Amendments accepted by the Commission

(cid:1)  Amendment 10 concerns the deleting of Article 6, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4 related to

the possible revision of the reference amount for the programme.

The Commission can accept this amendment since the possibility of revising the financial
reference  amount  in  the  course  of  the  programme  is  now  addressed  in  Article  9  (2)
subsequent to the amendment 25 adopted by the Parliament.

(cid:1)  Amendment  16  adds  a  new  Recital  16a,  which  makes  reference  to  the  increase  of  the

financial framework for an even more comprehensive programme.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment.  It  reflects  one  of  the  objectives  of  the
Commission’s  original  proposal,  i.e.  to  increase  the  financial  framework  for  the
programme as compared to the previous Energy Framework Programme (1998-2002) and
is a simple statement of this fact.

(cid:1)  Amendment 17 concerns Recital  20,  which  deals  with the  diversification  of  fuels  in  the
transport sector. The amendment proposes that a specific reference is made to the role that
can  be  played  by  new  developing  energy  sources  in  this  context,  like  hydrogen  and
renewable energy sources.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment.  The  Commission  agrees  to  include  this
reference in the Recitals since it brings more consistency with the text of Article 2(a) and
Article 3(c) on the same issue (related to amendments 19 and 20 below).

(cid:1)  Amendment 18 is an addition to Recital 22, which deals with the importance of issues like
co-ordination of the programme with other Community policies. The amendment notes that
national,  regional  or  local  organisations  could  play  a  useful  role  in  contributing  to  the
implementation of the programme with corresponding national programmes.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment  that  brings  in  an  explicit  reference  to  an
important  component  in  the  programme  implementation,  which  is  related  to  its  linkage
with national programmes, and that was missing in the Recitals.

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(cid:1)  Amendments  19  and  20  bring  Articles  2(a)  and  3(c)  into  line  with  the  revised  text  in
Recital  20  by  adding  a  reference  to  ‘new  developing  and  renewable  energy  sources’  as
examples of ‘energy diversification’ or the ‘diversification of fuels.

The Commission can accept this amendment which reinforces the internal coherence of the
text and enhances clarity as regards the sort of ‘diversification’ that the programme should
be looking at.

(cid:1)  Amendment  21  is  an  addition  to  Article  (3),  which  precise  why  the  Commission  shall
make  available  the  reports  on  the  actions  and  projects,  i.e.  in  order  to  contribute  to  the
dissemination of the project results.

The Commission can accept this amendment given that it brings more transparency to the
dissemination  of  the  projects’  results  by  the  Commission  and  builds  on  its  original
proposal.

(cid:1)  Amendment 22 adds a clarification in Article 5(2c) in the sense that the selection criteria

reflect the objectives of this decision.

The Commission can accept this amendment given that it recalls the principles behind the
selection criteria.

(cid:1)  Amendment 23 concerns Article 5(2g) and specifies that the Community rules on public
access to information,  transparency  and  gender mainstreaming apply  all  the  way  through
the programme.

The Commission can accept this amendment given that it is in fact more precise to say that
these rules apply throughout the programme instead of referring to the work programme.

(cid:1)  Amendment  24  concerns  Article  6(1)  related  to  the  financial  framework  for  the
implementation  of  the  programme.  With  this  amendment  the  Parliament  increases  the
budget  to  200  million  Euro  (190  million  Euro  are  in  the  Council’s  Common  Position).

The Commission can accept this amendment as the amount is closer to its original proposal
of  215  million  Euro  that  enables  to  take  better  account  of  the  new  developments  and
priorities in the field of energy, environment and sustainable development.

(cid:1)  Amendment 25 concerns  Article 9(2)  on  the  programme  mid-term  evaluation.  With  this
amendment,  the  Parliament  aims  at:  firstly,  to  anticipate  the  mid-term  evaluation  to  the
‘end  of  the  second  year’;  secondly,  to  include  in  the  Commission’s  conclusions,  any
adaptation of the current programme in particular in the light of enlargement, if considered
appropriate; and thirdly, that the conclusions of the Commission shall be communicated to
the  other  institutions  before  putting  forward  proposals  not  only  for  any  subsequent
programme but also on this programme as well.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment  since  it  extends  the  scope  of  the  mid-term
evaluation exercise to serve as an input to a possible adaptation of the current programme,
and not only as a compulsory step prior to any subsequent programme, as it was the case
until now.

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(cid:1)  Amendment 26 adds in Article 9(1) that the  annual progress examination report shall be

submitted by the Commission to the other institutions.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment  given  that  it  emphasises  the  transparency
efforts that are inherent to the programme management, despite the fact that, the access to
these  reports  was  already  foreseen  by  the  ‘droit  de  regard’  as  far  as  the  European
Parliament is concerned, as by the Committee as far as the Member States are concerned.

(cid:1)  Amendment 27 concerns the annex of this decision related to the indicative allocation of
the programme estimated amount. The Parliament allocates the 200 million Euro along the
same percentage shares as fixed in the Council Common Position: 34.9% for SAVE field,
40%  for  ALTENER  field,  16.3%  for  STEER  field  and  8.8%  for  COOPENER  field.
Moreover,  the  Parliament  introduces  changes  in  the  text  of  three  footnotes  related  to  the
table: to delete a reference to the three programme fields in footnote 1; to delete footnote 2
on  the  fixed  amount  for  COOPENER,  and  to  introduce  a  new  formulation  as  far  as  the
additional contribution from 2004 onwards is concerned.

The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment  given  that,  firstly,  the  indicative  financial
allocation  between  fields  builds  on  its  original  proposal,  secondly,  the  deleted  text  in
footnotes 1 and 2 did not bring any added value and, thirdly, it brings more clarity to the
issue of additional contribution beyond 2004 as a result of the enlargement in footnote 3.

4.2.

Amendments rejected by the Commission

No amendments have been rejected by the Commission.

5.

CONCLUSION

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as set out
above.

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