CELEX: 51990PC0498
Language: en
Date: 1991-01-09
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON SPECIFIC ACTION TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE COASTAL AREAS AND COASTAL WATERS OF THE IRISH SEA, NORTH SEA, BALTIC SEA AND NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC OCEAN

29. 1.91                               Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 21/13
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on specific action to protect the environment in the
             coastal areas and coastal waters of the Irish Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea and North-East Atlantic
                                                            Ocean
                                                     COM(90) 498 final
                                    (Submitted by the Commission on 20 December 1990)
                                                        (91/C 21/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          States, meeting within the Council, adopted the
                                                                  recommendations contained in the Community action
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             programme on the environment (1987 to 1992);
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s
                                                                  Whereas the ministerial declaration of the participants in
thereof,
                                                                  the Third International Conference on the Protection of
                                                                  the North Sea, held in The Hague on 7 and 8 March
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                1990, stressed the need to protect the environment of the
                                                                  North Sea, and adopted a package of specific measures
Having regard       to   the  opinion   of   the   European       together with a precise timetable;
Parliament,
                                                                  Whereas protection of the environment of the Irish Sea,
                                                                  the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the North-East
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  Atlantic Ocean requires a combined international effort
Social Committee,                                                 by all the littoral States^ whereas certain measures in this
                                                                  field can be carried out more effectively at Community
Whereas pursuant to Article 130r of the Treaty one of             level than at the level of the individual Member States;
the chief objectives of Community action relating to the
environment is to preserve, protect and improve the               Whereas the Community should grant financial support
quality of the environment;                                       within the limits of available resources to projects
                                                                  relating to protection of the environment in certain
                                                                  coastal areas and coastal waters, and to the adminis-
Whereas the declaration on the environment of the
                                                                  trative and technical flanking measures essential to their
European Council of Rhodes of 2 and 3 December 1988
                                                                  implementation;
stated that special attention should be devoted to the seas
and coastal areas of Member States, which are of                  Whereas an adequate amount of funding is required in
outstanding economic and ecologial importance, in                 order to attain the objectives of the scheme; whereas the
particular the Mediterranean region, the North Sea and            first phase is to be of five years' duration and extends
the Irish Sea;                                                    beyond the period which is covered by the Interinstitu-
                                                                  tional Agreement and the financial perspective; whereas
Whereas the resolution of 19 October 1987 of the                  it is not possible at this stage to fix definitively the
Council of the European Communities and of the rep-               necessary funds for the entire period covered by the
resentatives of the Governments of the Member States,             action plan;
meeting within the Council, on the continuation and
implementation of a European Community policy and                 Whereas an advisory committee should assist              the
action programme on the environment (1987 to 1992) (')            Commission in implementing this Regulation;
states that it is important for Community action to               Whereas, to this end, recourse should be had to the
concentrate on combating fresh-water and marine                   committee set up by the Medspa Regulation,
pollution by means of a general improvement of the
aquatic environment, in particular of the North Sea and           HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
the Mediterranean Sea;
                                                                                              Article 1
Whereas the Council of the European Communities and                Community action to protect the environment in the
the representatives of the Governments of the Member              coastal areas and coastal waters of the Irish Sea, North
                                                                   Sea, Baltic Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean (Norspa)
O OJ No C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                 is hereby instituted.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 21/14                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 29. 1.91
                           Article 2                              2.   The financial support may be granted in respect of
                                                                 the operations referred to in Article 4 provided such
The objectives of the action to be undertaken under this         operations do not qualify for aid under a Structural
Regulation shall be:                                             Fund or to the process of economic and social reform of
                                                                 the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
(a) to intensify efforts to protect and improve the quality
     of the environment and to implement Community                                         Article 6
     environment policy in the areas concerned;
                                                                  1.   All natural or legal persons and associations bearing
                                                                 ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the
                                                                 operations referred to in Article 4 may qualify for
(b) to maintain and increase the effectiveness of
                                                                 financial support.
     Community measures on the environment in the
     areas concerned pursuant to other Community
     policies;                                                   2.    The financial support shall take the form of:
                                                                 — capital grants towards investment in projects other
(c) to increase cooperation between the littoral States on           than infrastructure projects,
     protection of the environment by integrating
     Community actions and the operations carried out at
                                                                     or
     regional, national and international level;
                                                                 — financial contributions towards pilot or demon-
                                                                     stration projects and to measures providing an
(d) to promote the development and use of clean or
                                                                     incentive or creating awareness, and towards
     low-emission technologies, as the transfer of these
                                                                     initiatives designed to acquire the information
     technologies and the exchange of experience would
                                                                     necessary for the implementation of the operations,
     benefit the environment in the areas concerned.
                                                                     improve supervision and monitoring of the environ-
                                                                     ment concerned and promote the exchange of
                                                                     experience and technology transfer.
                          Article 3
1.     The amount of Community expenditure estimated                                       Article 7
necessary for the implementation of the action provided
for in this Regulation is ECU 10 million during the first        Community financial support for the operations referred
two years.                                                       to in Article 5 shall be subject to the following limits:
                                                                 — a maximum of 50 % of the total cost in the case of
                                                                     public investment projects,
2.    The budgetary authority shall determine the
resources available for each financial year during the
annual budgetary procedure, in compliance with the               — a maximum of 30 % of the total cost in the case of
financial perspectives.                                              private investment projects,
                                                                 — a maximum of 100 % of the total cost of measures
                                                                     designed to acquire the information necessary for
                          Article 4                                  implementation of the operations or of incentive and
                                                                     awareness measures taken at the initiative of the
1.    The financial support provided for in this Regu-
                                                                     Commission.
lation may be granted in respect of operations suited to
giving rise to a lasting improvement in the quality of the
coastal areas and coastal waters referred to in Article 1
                                                                                           Article 8
and which reflect the priorities listed in the Annex.
                                                                 1.    In order to guarantee the success of the operations
                                                                 carried out by beneficiaries of Community financial
                                                                 support, the Commission shall take the necessary
2.     Financial support for an operation is decided in
                                                                 measures:
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 11.
                                                                 — to verify that actions financed by the Community
                                                                     have been properly carried out,
                          Article 5
1.    Operations benefiting from aid under a Structural          — to prevent and take action against irregularities,
Fund or any other Community financial instrument shall
not qualify for the financial support provided for in this       — to recover any amounts wrongly paid as a result of
Regulation.                                                          an irregularity or negligence.
 ---pagebreak--- 29. 1.91                              Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 21/15
2.    Without prejudice to checks carried out by the            A final report shall be submitted to the Commission
Court of Auditors in conjunction with the competent             within six months of completion of the operation; for
national control institutions or services under Article         each operation to be implemented over a period of less
206a of the EEC Treaty or to any inspection carried out         than two years, the beneficiary shall submit a report to
on the basis of Article 209c of the EEC Treaty,                 the Commission within six months of completion of the
Commission officials or employees may carry out                 action. The Commission shall determine the form and
on-the-spot checks, including sample checks, in respect         content of the reports.
of operations financed by Community action.
                                                                 3.    On the basis of the monitoring reports and
Before carrying out an on-the-spot check, the                   procedures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the
Commission shall give notice to the beneficiary                 Commission shall make any necessary adjustments to the
concerned with a view to obtaining all the assistance           amount of the financial support approved initially, to the
necessary.                                                      conditions for granting that support and to the projected
                                                                schedule of payments.
3.    For a period of three years following the last
payment in respect of any operation, the beneficiary of         4.    The detailed rules for the implementation of this
financial support shall keep available for the Commission       Article are laid down according to the procedure set out
all the supporting documents regarding expenditure on           in Article 11.
the operation.
                                                                                         Article 11
                          Article 9
                                                                 1.    For the purposes of implementing the operations
1.    The Commission may reduce or suspend payment              referred to in Article 4 the Commission shall be assisted
of assistance in respect of a particular operation if it        by a committee of an advisory character created by . . .
finds irregularities or a significant change affecting the       (Medspa).
nature or conditions of implementation of the action for
which the Commission's approval has not been sought.
                                                                 2.   The representative of the Commission shall submit
                                                                to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken.
2.    If the completion dates have not been respected or        The committee shall deliver its opinion on this draft
if a particular operation has been carried out in such a        within a time limit which the chairman may lay down
manner that payment of only part of the financial                according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by
assistance allocated to it is justified, the Commission         taking a vote.
shall ask the beneficiary to submit his comments within a
specified period. Unless adequate justification is
produced, the Commission may cancel the remaining                3.   The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in
portion of the financial assistance concerned.                   addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
                                                                to have its position recorded in the minutes.
3.    Any sum which is unduly received by the
beneficiary shall be repaid to the Commission. Interest          4.   The Commission shall take the utmost account of
may be charged on sums not repaid in due time. The               the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform
Commission shall lay down the detailed rules for the             the committee of the manner in which its opinion has
implementation of this paragraph.                                been taken into account.
                         Article 10                                                       Article 12
 1.   The Commission shall ensure effective monitoring           The list of measures which have received financial
of implementation of the Community action. Such moni-            support shall be published for information purposes in
toring shall be carried out by means of reporting                the Official Journal of the European Communities.
procedures agreed jointly between the Commission and
the beneficiary of the operation and by spot checks.
                                                                                          Article 13
2.    For each multiannual action, the beneficiary shall         This Regulation shall enter into force on the day
submit progress reports to the Commission within six             following its publication in the Official Journal of the
months of the end of each full year of implementation.           European Communities.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 21/16                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    29. 1. 91
It shall apply for 10 years, divided into two five-year                  lation, in particular with regard to the priority measures
phases. Before the end of the first phase, the Commission                to be taken for the implementation of the second phase,
shall assess the results and report to the Council and to
the    European       Parliament.       If    appropriate,     the       This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
Commission shall propose amendments to this Regu-                        directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                  ANNEX
              Community action to protect the environment in the coastal areas and coastal waters of the Irish Sea, North
                                              Sea, Baltic Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean
              Priority measures
              A. Action in the European Community
                  1. Nutrients
                     Measures to reduce nutrient inputs in coastal areas, including those due to agricultural activities.
                 2. Dangerous substances
                     All measures designed to reduce:
                     — inputs of persistent, toxic and potentially bioaccumulative substances entering the seas concerned
                         from rivers, estuaries and the atmosphere,
                     — dumping and incineration at sea of sewage sludge, industrial waste and dredged materials,
                     — pollution from ships and offshore installations.
                 3. Industry
                     Identification of measures suited to speeding up the application of emission standards and possible
                     establishment of sectoral agreements for industries responsible for significant pollution from point
                     sources, such as the paper and pulp industry, fertilizer industry, biocide manufacturing and formu-
                     lation industry, pharmaceuticals industry.
                 4. Conservation and protection of species and habitats
                     Application of appropriate measures for:
                     — integrated management of biotopes of Community and international interest,
                     — reduction or elimination of coastal erosion or disappearance of the dune belt in certain wetlands,
                         coastal and estuarine areas of ecological importance.
              B. Action directed at the non-Community coastal States of the area concerned
                 All measures supporting the development of:
                 — cooperation between seaboard States,
                 — exchange of experience in the fields listed under A,
                 — where appropriate, transfer of clean or low-emission technologies, technical assistance for the estab-
                     lishment of policies and action programmes and the creation of administrative and regulatory
                     structures in the environment field.