CELEX: 51998PC0191
Language: en
Date: 1998-03-24
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending 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

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 •ir  -ir
                                                Brussels, 24.03.1998
                                                COM(1998) 191 final
                                                97/0168 (SYN)
                            Amended proposal for a
                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)
amending 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
          (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                               of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                           EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
In accordance with Article 130s, paragraph 1, of the EC Treaty, the Council consulted
the European Parliament on the above mentioned proposal. At its session on 18th
February 1998, the European Parliament approved nine amendments, of which six
were wholly or partially accepted by the Commission. These amendments are
discussed below and six are included in the modified proposal.
Amendments wholly accepted by the Commission
Amendment 3 redefines the scope of the State of the Environment Report so that it
covers trends and prospects for the future. This is in keeping with the current practice
and was also proposed in the opinion from the Economic and Social Committee.
Amendment 6 makes sensible provision for a multi-annual budget linked to the Multi-
annual Work Programme.
Amendments partially accepted by the Commission
The elements of Amendment 1 incorporated into the modified proposal consist of
three points of detail. These:
• revert the text to that of the original Regulation on the scope of the information
     provided for the framing and implementation of policy (this was also proposed in
     the opinion from the Economic and Social Committee);
• reinforce the need for the work covered by Article 2(ii) to be built into the
      Agency's Multi-annual Work Programme;
 • clarify that other EU Institutions, as well as the Commission, may request support
      on the monitoring of environmental measures.
 The reference to co-operation between the Agency and Commission is not necessary
 as this is already covered by the objectives in Article 1 of the original Regulation. For
 the Agency to undertake peer reviews on its own initiative could be seen as an
 enforcement or inspectorate role which is not consistent with the aims of the Agency
 and it is therefore not accepted.
 Amendment 2 introduces a data register as a component part of the Agency's
 repository of information and this is included in the new proposal. However, the
  suggestion that the register contain information on Community and national
  legislation would effectively alter reporting systems established by other legislation
  and is therefore not acceptable from a legal point of view. The reference to a
  continuously updated directory is an unnecessary detail and is therefore rejected.
  In amendment 4 the useful suggestions on the need for information to be available in
  all official languages (and this was also proposed in the opinion from the Economic
 ---pagebreak--- and Social Committee) are accepted. The Parliament's amendment to enlarge the
scope of the dissemination activity is accepted with one caveat, as proposed by the
Commission to Parliament, that a clause be added that states that this dissemination
should concentrate on the state of the environment. The reference to freedom of access
is considered unnecessary and is rejected as this is already covered in Article six of
the original Regulation.
Amendment 9 makes reference to the next review of tasks being undertaken within the
perspective of the EU's global environment policy and the Commission accepts this.
However, the reference in the Parliament's text to evaluating the cost-effectiveness of
centralised and decentralised [Community environmental] actions is rejected for the
following reasons:
• the original proposal also makes provision for a performance and efficiency
     review;
• the Agency's cost-effectiveness cannot be considered in the wider framework of
     the EU's Institutions, rather cost-effectiveness must be a criterion for review on the
     basis of the Agency's own role and objectives.
Amendment 9 makes provision for the performance and efficiency review report to be
made available to the Parliament and this is accepted.
Amendments not accepted by the Commission
 Amendment 5 addresses an Article (3.2) of the original Regulation that is not
 addressed by the Commission's proposal and, from a legal standpoint, the Parliament
 may not propose to amend this article.
 Amendments 7 and 8 make superfluous references to the Agency tasks and objectives
 which are already covered by the terms of Articles 1 and 2 of the original Regulation.
 Amendments from the Economic and Social Committee
 Following its opinion of 11th December, the Commission has considered the points
 made by the Economic and Social Committee. The following amendments are
 incorporated into this new modified proposal:
 • A reference should be made to strategic environmental assessment in the proposed
      new point (xii) of Article 2;
  • Article 8 should include a reference to the need to consult the various socio-
      economic actors on the multi-annual work-programme (paragraph 4), for ways to
      be found to ensure that such consultation takes place on a regular basis.
  These modifications are shown in italics.
  Modified Proposal
   In accordance with Article 189a, paragraph 2, of the EC Treaty, the Commission
   modifies as follows the text of its proposal concerning the European Environment
   Agency in order to include the accepted amendments.
 ---pagebreak---                                       Amended proposal for a
                                COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)
    amending Regulation EEC No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the
    European Emironment Agency and the European environment information and
                                      observation network
Original Proposal                                 Amended proposal
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION                       HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION
Article J                                         Article 1
Regulation 1210/90/EEC is hereby amended          Regulation 1210/90/EEC is hereby amended
as follows:                                       as follows:
1. Article 2 is modified as follows:              1. Article 2 is modified as follows:
a. Paragraph (ii) is replaced by the following:   a. Paragraph (ii) is replaced by the following:
         "(ii) to provide the Community and                "(ii) to provide the Community and
         the Member States with the objective              the Member States with the objective
         information they require for framing              information necessary for framing
         and implementing sound and                        and implementing sound and
         effective environmental policies; to              effective environmental policies; to
         that end, m particular to provide the             that end, in particular to provide the
         Commission with the information                   Commission with the information
         that it needs to be able to carry- out            that it needs to be able to carry out
         successfully its tasks of identifying,            successfully its tasks of identifying,
         preparing and evaluating measures                 preparing and evaluating measures
         and legislation in the field of the               and legislation in the field of the
         environment. The Agency shall assist              environment. In accordance with its
         the monitoring of environmental                   current multi-annual work
          measures through appropriate                     programme, the Agency shall assist
          support for reporting requirements,              the monitoring of environmental
          and through peer reviews and advice,             measures through appropriate
          as required by the Commission or on              support for reporting requirements,
          the specific request of a Member                  and through peer reviews and advice,
          State;                                            as required by the Commission, other
                                                            EU Institutions or on the specific
                                                            request of a Member State;
 ---pagebreak--- Original Proposal                                Amended proposal
b. In Paragraph (iii) the phrase "to establish a b. In Paragraph (iii) is replaced by the
repository of information on the                 following:
environment," shall be inserted at the
beginning.                                       "(iii) to establish a repository of information
                                                 on the environment, to record, collate and
                                                 assess data on the state of the environment, to
                                                 draw-up expert reports on the quality,
                                                 sensitivity and pressures on the environment
                                                 within the territory of the Community, to
                                                 provide uniform assessment criteria for
                                                 environmental data to be applied in all
                                                 Member States. The repository shall include
                                                 a data register. The Commission shall use
                                                 this information in its task of ensuring the
                                                 implementation of Community legislation on
                                                 the environment;"
c. Paragraph (vi) is replaced by the             c. Paragraph (vi) is replaced by the
 following:                                      following:
"(vi) to publish a report on the state of the    "(vi) to publish a report on the state of, trends
 environment every five years, supplemented       in and prospects for the environment every
 by annual indicator reports;"                   five years, supplemented by annual indicator
                                                  reports;"
 d. New paragraphs (xi) to (xiii) are inserted   d. New paragraphs (xi) to (xiii) are inserted
 as follows:                                      as follows:
           "(xi) to ensure the broad                        "(xi) to ensure the broad
           dissemination of information on the              dissemination of reliable
           state of the environment to the                  environmental information
           general public and, to this end, to              (particularly on the state of the
           promote the use of new telematics                environment) to the general public m
           technology for this purpose;                     the official languages of the
                                                            European Union wherever possible,
                                                            and, to this end, to promote the use
                                                            of new telematics technology for this
                                                            purpose;
           (xii) to support the Commission in               (xii) to support the Commission in
            the process of exchange of                       the process of exchange of
            information and development of                   information and development of
            Environmental Impact Assessments;                Environmental Impact Assessments
                                                             and Strategic Environmental
                                                             Assessments;
  (xiii) to assist the Commission in the           (xiii) to assist the Commission in the
  diffusion of information on environmental        diffusion of information on environmental
  research which has a policy relevance."          research which has a policy relevance."
 ---pagebreak--- Original Proposal                             Amended proposal
3. Article 8 shall be modified as follows:    3. Article 3 shall be modified as follows:
a. The following is added to the end of the   a. The following is added to the end of the
first sub-paragraph of paragraph 1;;          first sub-paragraph of paragraph 1;;
         " 1., and one representative of each          " 1 . , and one representative of each
         EFTA/European Economic Area                    EFTA/European Economic Area
         State which participates in the                State which participates in the
         Agency as provided for in the                 Agency as provided for in the
         European Economic Area                         European Economic Area
         agreement."                                   agreement."
b. The following is added to the end of       b. The following is added to the end of
paragraph 2:                                  paragraph 2:
         "The management board shall elect a            "The management board shall elect a
         bureau to which it may delegate                bureau to which it may delegate
         executive decisions. The executive            executive decisions. The executive
         bureau shall consist of the Chairman          bureau shall consist of the Chairman
         and vice chairmen, a representative           and vice chairmen, a representative
         of the Commission and one of the              of the Commission and one of the
         members designated by the                     members designated by the
         European Parliament."                          European Parliament."
c. In paragraph 3, the phrase, "except in the c. In paragraph 3, the phrase, "except in the
case referred to in the second sub-paragraph  case referred to in the second sub-paragraph
of Article 4 (5)" shall be deleted.           of Article 4 (5)" shall be deleted.
d. In paragraph 4, the last sentence shall be d. Paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the
deleted.                                      following:
                                                       "The management board shall adopt
                                                       a multi-annual work programme
                                                       based on the priority areas referred to
                                                       in Article 3(2), using as its basis a
                                                       draft submitted by the Executive
                                                       Director, referred to in Article 9,
                                                       after consulting the scientific
                                                       committee, referred to in Article 10,
                                                       and receiving the Commission's
                                                       opinion. The management board
                                                       shall also consult economic and
                                                       social actors. The multi-annual work
                                                       programme shall - without prejudice
                                                       to the annual EU budgetary
                                                       procedure - include a draft multi-
                                                       annual budget proposal."
 ---pagebreak--- Original Proposal                                Amended proposal
e. In paragraph 6, the word 'January' shall be   e. In paragraph 6, the word 'January' shaft be
replaced by 'March'.                             replaced by'March'.
6. Article 20 shall be replaced by the           6. Article 20 shall be replaced by the
following:                                       following:
         " 1 . Not later than 31/12/2003, on the          " I. Not later than 31/! 2/2003, on the
         basis of a report from the                       basis cf a report from the
         Commission, the Council shall                    Commission, the Council shall
         review the progress of and tasks                 review the progress of and tasks
         undertaken by the Agency.                        undertaken by the Agency in relation
         2. The Agency shall conduct an                   to the Union's global policy on the
         evaluation of its performance and                environment.
         efficiency before October 31st 1999              2. The Agency shall conduct art
         and submit a report to the                       evaluation of its performance and
         management board and                             efficiency before 15th September
         Commission."                                     1999 and submit a report to the
                                                          management board, the Commission
                                                          and the European Parliament."
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(98) 191 final
EN                                                             14 16 15 01
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-198-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-32555-4
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