CELEX: 51989PC0598
Language: en
Date: 1990-03-09
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON ACTION BY THE COMMUNITY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION ( MEDSPA )

30. 3. 90                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 80/9
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on action by the Community for the protection of the
                                   environment in the Mediterranean region (Medspa)
                                                    COM(89) 598 final
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 13 March 1990)
                                                       (90/C 80/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         and integrated environmental protection of the Mediter-
                                                                 ranean region as one of the priority areas;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s
thereof,
                                                                 Whereas in its communication on the protection of the
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               environment in the Mediterranean basin (3), presented to
                                                                 the Council on 24 April 1984, the Commission
Having regard      to   the  opinion    of  the  European        undertook to formulate a strategy and action plan for
Parliament,                                                      the protection of the environment in this region;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                 Whereas the communication on protection of the en-
Whereas pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty the                  vironment in the Mediterranean region (4), adopted by
Community has as its task, inter alia, to promote                the Commission on 14 November 1988 and presented to
throughout the Community a harmonious development                the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic
of economic activities, a continuous and balanced                and Social Committee, specified guidelines for this
expansion and an increase in stability;                          strategy and action plan;
Whereas pursuant to Article 130r of the Treaty one of
the chief objectives of Community action relating to the
                                                                 Whereas, in view of the vulnerability of the Mediter-
environment is to preserve, protect and improve the
                                                                 ranean environment and of the pressures to which it is
quality of the environment; whereas, in preparing this
                                                                 exposed, the environmental operations carried out at
action, the Community is required to take account, inter
                                                                 regional, national, Community and international level
alia, of environmental conditions in the various regions
                                                                 must be intensified and made more effective;
of the Community and of the economic and social devel-
opment of the Community as a whole and the balanced
development of its regions;
                                                                 Whereas the region forms an ecological entity and
Whereas a certain number of operations for the                   whereas protection of the Mediterranean sea would be
protection of the environment in the Mediterranean               inconceivable without a combined international effort by
region can be carried out more successfully by the               all the littoral States;
Community than by individual Member States;
Whereas the Council resolution of 7 February 1983 on
the continuation and implementation of a European                Whereas, by virtue of geomorphological and socio-
Community policy and action programme on the en-                 economic similarities, the Atlantic coast of the Iberian
vironment (1982 to 1986) (') lists protection of the             peninsula, south of the river Tagus, is an ecological
Mediterranean region as one of the areas in which it is          entity comparable to the Mediterranean region;
particularly important for the Community to take action;
whereas this declaration was repeated in the resolution
of 19 October 1987 on the continuation and implemen-             Whereas the Community should contribute to implemen-
tation of the abovementioned policy and action                   tation of the environmental operations by providing
programme from 1987 to 1992 (2), which listed overall            financial support for specific measures;
(') OJ No C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.                               (») OJ No C 133, 21. 5. 1984, p. 12.
O OJ No C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                (4) COM(88) 392 final, 21. 11. 1988.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 80/10                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                  30. 3. 90
Whereas the Community's Structural Funds and other                                           Article 3
financial instruments may be used, in accordance with
the rules, regulations and objectives governing them, to           1.    The budgetary resources allocated to the operations
help finance some of the types of operation provided for          provided for in this Regulation will be shown in the
by this Regulation.                                               annual appropriations in the general budget of the
                                                                  European Communities to the extent of the resources
                                                                  available for that year.
Whereas the Commission has decided to launch a
scheme concerning Structural Funds and the environ-
ment (Envireg); whereas, on the other hand, it is                  2.    The abovementioned budgetary resources shall be
necessary to launch an additional scheme to benefit the           used in accordance with this Regulation.
environment in the Mediterranean region, which is the
subject of this Regulation;                                                                  Article 4
Whereas an adequate amount of funding is required for             Priorities for the first five-year phase are listed in the
the realization of the objectives of the scheme; whereas          Annex.
the first phase is to be of five years' duration and extends
beyond the period which is covered by the inter-institu-          Priorities for the second five-year phase will be reviewed
tional Agreement and the financial prospects; whereas it          in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
is not possible at this stage to fix the necessary funds           14.
definitively for the entire period covered by the action
plan;
                                                                                             Article 5
Whereas an advisory committee should be set up to assist          The financial support provided for in this Regulation
the Commission in implementing this Regulation,                   may be granted in respect of operations which fall within
                                                                  the priorities referred to in Article 4.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                      Where appropriate, the financial support may also be
                                                                  granted in respect of operations which
                           Article 1
                                                                  — are undertaken to deal with a grave situation or a
1.    Community action relating to the protection of the               rapidly changing situation,
environment in the Mediterranean region (Medspa) is
hereby instituted.                                                     or
2.    The action shall cover the entire Mediterranean             — permit the transfer of technologies and their adap-
region, both within the Community and outside,                         tation to the situation in the Mediterranean envi-
together with the non-Mediterranean Spanish and                        ronment,
Portuguese territories of the Iberian peninsula, south of
the river Tagus.                                                       or
                                                                  — are undertaken to deal with a problem which is
                           Article 2                                   liable, within a short time, to give rise to a lasting
1.    The objectives of the Community action to be                     change in the ecological conditions in the area
undertaken under this Regulation shall be:                             concerned.
— to intensify efforts to protect and improve the quality
                                                                                             Article 6
    of the environment and to implement Community
    environment policy in the region concerned,                    1.    Operations benefiting from aid under a Structural
                                                                  Fund or any other Community financial instrument shall
— to help make the environmental dimension a more                 not qualify for the financial support provided for in this
    integral part of action taken by the Community                Regulation.
    pursuant to other Community policies,
                                                                   2.    The financial support may be granted in respect of
— to maintain and increase the effectiveness of
                                                                  the operations referred to in Article 5 provided such
    Community measures on the environment in the
                                                                   operations do not qualify for aid under other
    Mediterranean region,
                                                                   Community financial instruments.
— to increase the cooperation on protection of the envi-
    ronment in the region concerned, by integrating                                          Article 7
    Community action and the operations carried out at
    regional, national and international level,                    1.    All natural or legal persons and associations bearing
                                                                   ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the
— to encourage the transfer of the appropriate techno-             operations referred to in Article 5 may qualify for
    logies to protect the Mediterranean environment.               financial support.
 ---pagebreak--- 30. 3. 90                              Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 80/11
2.    The financial support shall take the form of:              3.    For a period of three years following the last
                                                                 payment in respect of any operation the beneficiary of
— capital grants towards investment in projects other            financial support shall keep available for the Commission
    than infrastructure projects,                                all the supporting documents regarding expenditure on
                                                                 the operation.
— financial contributions towards pilot or demon-
    stration schemes, towards measures designed to                                         Article 10
    provide the information necessary for the implemen-
    tation of the operations or towards technical                 1.   The Commission may reduce or suspend payment
    assistance    measures     decided    upon     by    the     of financial support in respect of any operation if it finds
    Commission,                                                  irregularities or a significant change affecting the nature
                                                                 or conditions of the Community action for which the
    or                                                           Commission's approval has not been sought.
— interest rebates for infrastructure projects,
                                                                 2.    If the completion dates have not been respected or
    or                                                           if a particular operation has been carried out in such a
— repayable advances decided on a case-by-case basis.            manner that payment of only part of the financial
                                                                 support allocated to it is justified, the Commission shall
                                                                 ask the beneficiary to submit his comments within a fixed
                         Article 8                               period. Unless adequate justification is produced, the
Community financial support for the operations listed in         Commission may cancel the remaining portion of that
Article 5 shall be subject to the following limits:              support.
— a maximum of 50 % of the total cost in the case of
    public investment projects, and pilot or demon-              3.    Any sum which is unduly received by the
    stration projects,                                           beneficiary shall be repaid to the Commission. Interest
                                                                 may be charged on sums not repaid in due time. The
— a maximum of 30 % of the total cost in the case of             Commission shall lay down the detailed rules for the
    private investment projects,                                 implementation of this paragraph.
— a maximum of 100 % of the total cost of measures
    designed to provide the information required for                                       Article 11
    implementation of the operations or of technical
    assistance    measures     decided    upon     by    the      1.   The Commission shall ensure effective monitoring
    Commission.                                                  of the implementation of the Community action. Such
                                                                 monitoring shall be carried out by means of reporting
                          Article 9                              procedures agreed jointly between the Commission and
                                                                 the beneficiary of the operation and by spot checks.
1.    In order to guarantee the success of the operations
carried out by beneficiaries of Community financial
                                                                 The Commission shall report to the committee referred
support, the Commission shall take the necessary
                                                                 to in Article 12 on the progress made in implementing
measures:
                                                                 the Community action, including the use made of appro-
— to verify that actions financed by the Community               priations.
    have been properly carried out,
— to prevent and take action against irregularities,             2.    For each multiannual action, the beneficiary shall
                                                                 submit progress reports to the Commission within six
— to recover any amounts wrongly paid as a result of             months of the end of each full year of implementation. A
    an irregularity or negligence.                               final report shall be submitted to the Commission within
                                                                 six months of completion of the operation; for each
2.    Without prejudice to checks carried out by the             operation to be implemented over a period of less than
Court of Auditors in conjunction with the competent              two years, the beneficiary shall submit a report to the
national control institutions or services under Article          Commission within six months of completion of the
206b of the Treaty or to any inspection carried out on           action. The Commission shall determine the form and
the basis of Article 209c of the Treaty, Commission              content of the reports.
officials or employees may carry out on-the-spot checks,
including sample checks, in respect of operations
financed by Community action.                                     3.   On the basis of the monitoring reports and
                                                                 procedures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the
Before carrying out an on-the-spot check, the                    Commission shall make any necessary adjustments to the
Commission shall give notice to the beneficiary                   amount of the financial support approved initially, to the
concerned with a view to obtaining all the assistance             conditions for granting that support and to the projected
necessary.                                                        schedule of payments.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 80/12                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                      30. 3. 90
4.    The Commission shall lay down the detailed rules                4.    The Commission shall take the utmost account of
for the implementation of this Article.                               the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform
                                                                      the committee of the manner in which its opinion has
                         Article 12                                   been taken into account.
 1.   For the purposes of implementing the operations                                            Article 13
referred to in Article 5 the Commission shall be assisted             The list of measures which have received financial
by a committee of an advisory nature composed of the                  support shall be published for information purposes in
representatives of the Member States and chaired by a                 the Official Journal of the European Communities.
representative of the Commission.
                                                                                                 Article 14
2.    The representative of the Commission shall submit
                                                                      This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991.
to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken.
The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft                  It shall apply for 10 years, divided into two five-year
within a time-limit which the chairman may lay down                   phases. In 1995 the Council, acting on a proposal from
according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by               the Commission, shall assess the results and decide on
taking a vote.                                                        any amendments to this Regulation, in particular with
                                                                      regard to the priority measures to be taken for the
3.    The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in                implementation of the second phase.
addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
to have its position recorded in the minutes.                         directly applicable in all Member Sates.
                                                              ANNEX
             ACTION BY THE COMMUNITY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE
                                                  MEDITERRANEAN REGION
                                          Priority measures eligible under this Regulation
             1. ACTION IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
                — For coastal towns with less than 100 000 inhabitants and small islands: collection, treatment, storage
                   and disposal of waste water and solid waste
                — Collection, treatment, storage, recycling and disposal of sewage sludge and toxic and dangerous
                   waste
                — Treatment of water from ships' tanks containing residues of oil and other chemicals
                — Integrated management of biotopes of Community interest in coastal regions.
             2. ACTION IN NON-COMMUNITY MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES
                — Help with the establishment of the requisite environmental administrative structures
                — Technical assistance required for the establishment of environmental policies and action programmes
                — Where necessary, specific measures in the priority areas referred to in paragraph 1.