Regulation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network
Date: 2003-07-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: European Environment Agency, access to EU information, environmental protection, financial regulation, information network

29.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 245/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

REGULATION (EC) No 1641/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 22 July 2003

amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 on the establishment of

the European

Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

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

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (4),

Whereas:

(1)

Certain provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No
1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the
European Environment Agency and the European
Environment Information and Observation Network (5)
should be brought into line with Council Regulation
(EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the
Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities, (hereinafter referred to as
‘the general Financial Regulation') (6) and in particular
Article 185 thereof.

(2)

The general principles and limits governing the exercise
of the right of access to documents, provided for in
the Treaty, have been laid down by
Article 255 of

(1) OJ C 331 E, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
(2) OJ C 285, 21.11.2002, p. 4.
(3) OJ C 85, 8.4.2003, p. 64.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 22 October 2002 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 3
June 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision
of the European Parliament of 1 July 2003.
(5) OJ L 120, 11.5.1990, p. 1. Regulation as

last amended by

Regulation (EC) No 933/1999 (OJ L 117, 5.5.1999, p. 1).

(6) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. with Corrigendum in OJ L 25,

30.1.2003, p. 43.

the European
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of
Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council
and Commission documents (7).

(3) When Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 was adopted, the
three institutions agreed in a joint declaration that the
agencies and similar bodies should have rules which
conform to those of that Regulation.

(4)

Appropriate provisions should therefore be included in
Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 to make Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 applicable to the European Environment
Agency, as should a provision for appeals against a
refusal of access to documents.

(5)

Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 should therefore be
amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 6 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 6

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of

1.
the European
Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents (*)
shall apply to documents held by the
Agency.

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

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Official Journal of the European Union

29.9.2003

for

The Management Board shall adopt

the practical
2.
arrangements
implementing Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 within six months after the entry into force of
Regulation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 22 July 2003 amending Council
Regulation (EC) No 1210/90 on the establishment of the
European
European
Environment Information and Observation Network (**).

Environment Agency

and

the

The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment plan
for the Agency.

5.
The budget shall be adopted by the Management
Board. It shall become final following final adoption of the
general budget of the European Union. Where appropriate,
it shall be adjusted accordingly.

Decisions taken by the Agency pursuant to Article 8
3.
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of
a complaint to the Ombudsman or of an action before the
Court of Justice, under the conditions laid down in Articles
195 and 230 of the EC Treaty respectively;

(*) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(**) OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 1.';

2.

in Article 8:

(a) paragraph 6 shall be replaced by the following:

The Management Board shall adopt the annual
‘6.
report on the Agency's activities and forward it by 15
June at
the
Council, the Commission, the Court of Auditors and
the Member States.';

to the European Parliament,

the latest

the budgetary

any project which may have

The Management Board shall, as soon as possible,
6.
intention to
authority of
notify
significant
implement
financial
in
particular any projects relating to property such as the
inform the
rental or purchase of buildings.
Commission thereof.

implications for the funding of the budget,

shall

its

It

Where a branch of the budgetary authority has notified its
intention to deliver an opinion, it shall forward its opinion
to the Management Board within a period of six weeks
after the date of notification of the project.'

4. Article 13 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 13

(b) the following paragraph shall be added:

The Executive Director shall implement the budget of

1.
the Agency.

The Agency shall

‘7.
budgetary authority all
outcome of the evaluation procedures.';

forward annually to the
to the

information relevant

3. Article 12 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 12

1.
Each year the Management Board, on the basis of a
draft drawn up by the Executive Director, shall produce a
statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure of the
Agency for the following financial year. This statement of
estimates, which shall include a draft establishment plan,
shall be forwarded by the Management Board to the
Commission by 31 March at the latest.

2.
The statement of estimates shall be forwarded by the
Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
(hereinafter referred to as the budgetary authority) together
with the preliminary draft general budget of the European
Union.

On the basis of

the statement of estimates,

the
3.
Commission shall enter in the preliminary draft general
budget of
the European Union the estimates it deems
necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of
the subsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it
shall place before the budgetary authority in accordance
with Article 272 of the Treaty.

By 1 March at the latest following each financial year,
2.
the Agency's accounting officer shall communicate the
provisional accounts
to the Commission's accounting
together with a report on the budgetary and
officer
year. The
that
financial management
financial
Commission's accounting officer
shall consolidate the
provisional accounts of the institutions and decentralised
bodies in accordance with Article 128 of
the general
Financial Regulation.

for

3.
By 31 March at the latest following each financial
year, the Commission's accounting officer shall forward the
Agency's provisional accounts to the Court of Auditors,
together with a report on the budgetary and financial
management
financial year. The report on the
budgetary and financial management for the financial year
shall also be forwarded to the European Parliament and the
Council.

for that

4.
On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on
the Agency's provisional accounts under Article 129 of the
general Financial Regulation, the Executive Director shall
final accounts under his own
draw up the Agency's
responsibility and submit them to the Management Board
for an opinion.

The Management Board shall deliver an opinion on

5.
the Agency's final accounts.

The

4.
appropriations for the subsidy to the Agency.

budgetary

authority

shall

authorise

the

The Executive Director shall, by 1 July at the latest
6.
following each financial year, forward the final accounts to

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the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and
the Court of Auditors,
together with the Management
Board's opinion.

5. Article 14 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 14

7.

The final accounts shall be published.

The Executive Director

8.
send the Court of
Auditors a reply to its observations by 30 September at the
latest. He shall also send this reply to the Management
Board.

shall

9.
The Executive Director shall submit to the European
Parliament, at the latter's request, all information necessary
for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for
the financial year in question, as laid down in Article
146(3) of the general Financial Regulation.

10.
The European Parliament, on a recommendation
from the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall,
before 30 April of year N + 2, give a discharge to the
Executive Director in respect of the implementation of the
budget for year N.';

been

depart

consulted. They may not

The financial
rules applicable to the Agency shall be
adopted by the Management Board after the Commission
has
from
Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of
19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation
for
the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial
the
Regulation applicable
European Communities (*) unless
is
specifically required for the Agency's operation and the
Commission has given its prior consent.

to the general budget of
such departure

(*) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72; corrigendum in OJ L 2,

7.1.2003, p. 39.'

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the first day of the
month following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Union.

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

Done at Brussels, 22 July 2003.

For the European Parliament

The President

P. COX

For the Council

The President

G. ALEMANNO