CELEX: 51993PC0593
Language: en
Date: 1993-12-02
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) extending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 establishing a European Forestry Information and Communication System (Efics)

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                            C0M(93) 593 final
                                            Brussels, 2 December 1993
                               Proposal for a
                          COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
            ..tending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 establishing
            ex
           European Forestry Information and Communication System (Efics)
         a
                        (presented by the Commission)
IE-:
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      z
                             Explanatory memorandum
The purpose of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 is to establish a
European Foresty Information and Communication System. According to Article
3, the Commission is to set up the System in close cooperation with the
Member States during an initial four-year stage starting on 1 January 1989
and ending on 31 December 1992. According to Article 5, a report on the
implementation of the System and the initial results obtained must be
presented to the Council before 1 January 1993.
The period provided for in the first paragraph of Article 3 of Regulation
(EEC) No 1615/89 expired at the end of 1992.
Unfortunately, in view of the work involved, it has not been possible for
the System to be implementated during the period covered by the Regulation.
The programme is particularly ambitious given the limited harmonization of
forestry statistics and the total absence of data on a whole range of
activities in the sector.
A certain amount of preparatory work on future trends proved to be necessary
for a fuller understanding of the data available on the sector in the
various Member States.
The timetable set in the Regulation for establishing the System could not be
respected, therefore, and the report became purposeless.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    "7>
                                                                 t   ^
The development of the measures envisaged and the implementation of the
System mean that the Regulation needs to be prolonged.
The purpose of the System is to make up for the lack of reliable information
on the forestry sector within the Community and between the Member States, a
situation which was at the basis of Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 and which
still exists. The need for relevant information both for implementing
Community measures relating to forestry and in the context of the findings
of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, Rio
de Janeiro, June 1992) has further increased.
The existing data systems are unable to compensate for the said lack of
 information.  For that reason it is necessary to proceed with the
 implementation of the System.
The System must be established in close cooperation with the Member States.
To that end an Efics working group has been set up within the Standing
Forestry Committee.   The aims of the System, the rules for its organization
and its content have been dealt with by the Standing Forestry Committee and
discussed by the working group.
This has led to unanimous agreement on the part of the Member States'
delegations in favour of proceeding with the establishment of the System and
consequently of amending Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89.
The contents of the Regulation, including its financial terms, can remain
unchanged. The deadlines which have expired need simply be extended and the
references to the applicable Community legislation amended.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                            t
                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No
                              of                 1993
          extending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 establishing
       a European Forestry Information and Communication System (Efics)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic community,
and in particular Article 213,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of thm European Parliament(2),
Having regard to t**e «pinioti of t.hm Econoreic and Social Coawifct«e<3),
Whereas the ia§>le*ei»tatia*i *nd neaitaring of Regulations <E£C)
W© 2QWQ/§2(4)s   <EC£) He T*l$/S9<^„ (EEC) !«o *47/9«<6), of decision
85/347/EECO) a«d of *e3j&Wti<wie |IÊC) Mo 21S?/92(8), (EEC) «o 2158/92(9) o*
measures relating to the forestry aéctor call for detailed, consistent a**d
comparable information on the situation of and developments in that sector
in the community;
Whereas the forestry data available at Community level are incomplete and
cover only part of the information necessary for taking consistent forestry
measures; whereas, however, a considerable amount of information already
exists in many Member States and this should be collected and made
comparable; whereas to that end there should be an appropriate system for
the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of the information;
whereas such data must cover not only the present situation of woodlands and
their structure and the production and consumption of wood but also
developments in the afforestation of agricultural land, the forestry
situation in the various regions of the Community and a description of the
exploitation, processing and marketing of forestry products;
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4) OJ No L  215, 30.7.92, p. 96.
 (5) OJ No L  165, 15.6.89, p. 3.
 (6) OJ No L  91, 6.4.90, p. 7.
 (7) OJ NO L  165, 15.6.89, p. 14.
 (8) OJ NO L  217, 31.7.92, p. 1.
 (9) OJ No L  217, 31.7.92, p. 3.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    s
Whereas it is necessary to grant assistance to certain Member States or
 regions to help them to compile data or improve the availability of
comparable data which can be used at Community level;
Whereas the setting-up of this system requires close cooperation between the
Commission and the Member States, and in particular assistance from the
relevant bodies within the Member States, in order to facilitate access to
the data;
Whereas, in addition to meeting the Community's requirements, the system
should facilitate the implementation of decisions taken at national and
regional   level concerning the forestry sector and thereby improve knowledge
of that sector at all levels;
Whereas the system must be set up taking account of existing information
systems at Community level in order to ensure complementarity and achieve
consistency and comparability in data collected in the Member States,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                   Article 1
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 of 29 May 1989 is hereby amended as
fol lows:
1. In Article 1, the numbers 1609/89, 1612/89, 1613/89 and 1614/89 are
    replaced by 2080/92, 867/90, 2157/92 and 2158/92 respectively. The number
    1611/89 is deleted.
2. In Article 3, the words "four-year stage" are replaced by "stage" and the
    date "31 December 1992" is replaced by "31 December 1997".
3. In Article 4, the year "1992" is replaced by "1997".
4. In the first sentence of Article 5, the year "1993" is replaced by
    "1998". In the second sentence of Article 5, the year "1993" is replaced
   by "1998" and the year "1998" by "2002".
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply with effect from 1 January 1993.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member states.
Done at Brussels;                       , For * n e Council
                                         The President
 ---pagebreak---                                                                   ^
EFICS
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
1. TITLE OF OPERATION
Forests
2. BUDGET HEADING INVOLVED
B2-515
3. LEGAL BASIS
(Extension of) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 of 29 May 1989
establishing a European Forestry Information and Communication System
(Efics)
4. DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION
4.1. Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 (Efics) is an integral part of the forestry
action programme launched by the Commission in 1988 and is seen as an
essential element in the optimum implementation of Community forestry
policy.
The development of an effective forestry policy, the follow-up to the
resolutions of the United Nations conference on the environment and
development in Rio in 1992 and the international conference on the
protection of forests in Helsinki in June 1993 (sustainable management of
forests) call for an improvement in information in the forestry sector.
The existing information systems could not meet this information
requirement, which is why Efics was needed, to work in close collaboration
with the Member States.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to build up Efics during the period 1989
to 1992 on account of the priority given to the implementation of the other
 ---pagebreak--- operations under the forestry action programme. The need for information in
the forestry sector remains imperative. The general objective of Efics
(European Forestry Information and Communication System) will be "to collect
comparable and objective Information on the structure and operation of the
forestry sector in the Community, and thus facilitate implementation and
monitoring of the Community forestry provisions in force."
The Efics system will not have to be a large data bank in the Commission,
but rather a network linking the different existing systems, via which the
Member States can obtain forestry data. So that the data are comparable and
to fiI I in gaps, new methods of data collection or approprlate processing
systems need to be developed. Efics must also make it possible to promote
and ensure the monitoring and implementation of the main Community
operations to assist forestry (afforestation, support for timber processing,
etc.).
It is envisaged, with the aid of the various existing geographical
information systems in the Commission (CORINE, GISCO within Eurostat) to
produce and distribute maps.
4.2 The period covered is 1993 to 1997.
5. CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE
5.1 Non-compulsory expenditure
5.2 Differentiated appropriations
5.3 No revenue involved
6. TYPE OF EXPENDITURE OF REVENUE
100% of expenditure chargeable to the Community
 ---pagebreak--- 7. FINANCIAL IMPACT
7.1       Method of calculating total cost of operation
The total cost of the operation is estimated at ECU 3.0 million, broken down
as fol tows:
a. Detailed design                                ECU 0.35 million
-   full development of appropriate methodology
-   demonstrations in pilot areas, on a limited scale
-   estimate of human and financial resources required
-   programming of operations
b. Specific studies                               ECU 0.35 million
-   preparatory studies
    for the establishment and improvement of statistics (forestry products,
    forest ownership) and
    for the production of documentation at Community level
-   analysis of needs/possibilities for harmonization as regards the results
    of the various national forestry inventories
-   standardization of definitions, units of measurement and classification
    cr iteria
c. Adaptation of data to Efics requirements       ECU 1.50 million
Once the main gaps have been identified, a reference network in the Member
States must be set up; this network will integrate the national data. With
the aid of methods already developed, these data will be harmonized and
supplemented where necessary.
-   calculation and development of the reference network (+/- ECU 0.3
   m iI Ii on)
-   breakdown of national samples according to the reference framework (+/-
   ECU 0.9 mi I I ion)
-   definition of the format for the transmission of data to Efics (+/- 0.3
   m i11 Ion)
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    /\ £=>
d. Testing of Efics on a Community scale        ECU 0.80 mi 11 ion
-  definitive description of the system
-  determination of action to be taken by the Member States
-  demonstration of the properties and potential uses of the system
7.2 Breakdown (ECU million)
     Breakdown          1993      1994    1995      1996      1997        TOTAL
        Efics             0.3      0.5     0.7       0.7       0.8         3.0
 ---pagebreak---                                                            "M
7.3.1. Schedule (ECU million)
                        *993     1994     1995     1996    1997 TOTAL
 Commitment approprs.    0.3      0.5      0.7      0.7     0.8  3.0
 Payment approps.
  1993                   0.2                                     0.2
  1994                   0.1      0.2                            0.3
  1995                            0.3      0.4                   0.7
  1996                                     0.3      0.4          0.7
  1997                                              0.3     0.8  1.1
  TOTAL                  0.3      0.5      0.7      0.7     0.8  3.0
8. ANT I-FRAUD MEASURES
Payments will be made on the basis of documentary evidence
 ---pagebreak--- 9. ELEMENTS OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
9.1 The implementation of an effective forestry policy requires a thorough
knowlege of the forestry sector and forstry-based industries.
All the countries which apply such a policy are making efforts to ensure
that they have reliable, effective information systems. The same applies to
Community poll icy. Efics is designed to provide - at Community, national and
regional level - all the information relevant to the optimum implementation
of measures relating to the forestry sector.
9.2 Experience shows that the Community's forestry operations have not
always been as effective as hoped. One of the reasons for this problem has
been the lack of adequate information for the correct evaluation of the
measures planned. A provisional assessment of the Community action to assist
forestry shows that Community financing since 1980 has totalled around
ECU 1 500 million. Such an important financing supposes an adapted tool to
give community aid the best suitability. A thorough knowledge of the
forestry sector at national and regional level would have enabled aid to be
concentrated in such a way as to achieve maximum effectiveness.
    In the next few years the appropriations for the forestry sector will be
   very large (e.g. afforestation of agricultural   land under Regulation
    (EEC) No 2080/92).
    Financing totalling ECU 500 to 600 million a year is planned. There is an
   obvious need therefore for appropriate instruments in terms of
    implementation and monitoring for optimum management of resources.
     the cost of Efics is very low when seen in relation to the total budget
    for forestry pi icy and the financial benefits which could accrue from
   better application of measures relating to the forestry sector as a
   whole.
9.3 The monitoring and evaluation of the operation are to be done in close
collaboration between DGs VI, XI, XI, Eurostat and the Member States,
represented in an Efics working group under the Standing Forestry
 ---pagebreak---                                                                   ^3
Committee*, use also being made of contacts with international
organizations such as ECE/FAO in Geneva which already have various forestry
data at their disposal and methods for collecting them. The involvement of
these various bodies helps to assure optimum execution of the operation.
-   The data gathered by Efics are likely to be published in various forms
-   The need for the implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 1615/89 (Efics)
    has been stressed on several occasions, both by the Standing Forestry
   Committee and by members of the Efics working group.
   The Standing Forestry Committee is unanimously in favour of the
    establishment of such a system.
10.   ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (part A of the budget)
The implementation of the Regulation does not require additional resources
to those already earmarked.
*   The Efics working group of the Standing Forestry Committee is made up of
    representatives/experts from the Member States to oversee the
   establishment of the European Forestry Information and Communication
   System (Efics).
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475 *h
                                                              COM (93) 593 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                         16 03
                                 Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-628-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-61683-0
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