CELEX: 51989PC0303
Language: en
Date: 1989-07-12
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY AND THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT MONITORING AND INFORMATION NETWORK

23. 8. 89                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 217/7
                                                             II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the establishment of the European Environment
                        Agency and the European Environment Monitoring and Information Network
                                                     COM(89) 303 final
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 23 June 1989)
                                                        (89/C 217/11)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          as a reliable basis for the action to be taken for the
                                                                  protection of the environment, for the assessment of the
                                                                  implementation and results of such action and for sound
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             information to the public on the state of the envi-
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s                ronment;
thereof,
                                                                  Whereas there already exist in the Community regional
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                or national, public or private facilities providing such
                                                                  information and services;
Having regard        to   the opinion   of   the   European       Whereas, in order to coordinate their efforts for the
Parliament,                                                       benefit of the Community these facilities should be
                                                                  linked together in a network forming a European envi-
                                                                  ronmental monitoring and information system in which a
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                  European Environment Agency on the Community level
Social Committee,                                                 should be the coordinating element;
Whereas the protection of the environment has become              Whereas the status and structure of such an Agency
one of the basic concerns of the Community when                   should correspond to the objective character of the
conceiving and carrying out its policies;                         results it is intended to produce and allow it to carry out
                                                                  its functions in close cooperation with the existing
                                                                  national and international facilities;
Whereas according to Article 130r of the Treaty, in
preparing its action relating to the environment, the             Whereas the Agency should be given legal autonomy
Community shall take account, inter alia, of the available        while maintaining a close institutional relationship with
scientific and technical data;                                    the Commission and respecting the overall political
                                                                  responsibilities of the Community and its institutions;
Whereas in accordance with Council                  Decision
                                                                  Whereas all countries which share the Community's
 85/338/EEC (') the Commission has undertaken a work
                                                                  concern for the objectives of the Agency should be able
 programme concerning an experimental project for
                                                                   to participate in its work as laid out in agreements
 gathering, coordinating and ensuring the consistency of           between the Community and themselves,
 information on the state of the environment and natural
 resources in the Community; whereas it is now appro-
 priate to take the necessary decisions regarding a                HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 permanent environmental monitoring and information
 system;                                                                                   CHAPTER I:
                                                                                          THE SYSTEM
 Whereas systematic monitoring and               harmonized
 collection, validation and processing of environmental                                      Article 1
 data throughout the Community and, as far as possible,
                                                                                             Objective
 in cooperation with third countries and international
 organizations is necessary in order to provide full,              This Regulation establishes the European Environment
 objective scientific, technical and economic information          Agency and the European Environment Monitoring and
                                                                   Information Network (together referred to as the
 (') OJ No L 176, 6. 7. 1985, p. 14.                               'System'). The objective of the System is to furnish the
 ---pagebreak--- No C 217/8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 8. 89
Community and the Member States with the technical                  2.    The system shall furnish information which will be
and scientific support to allow them to achieve the goals           directly useable in the implementation of Community
of environmental protection and improvement which are              policy relating to the environment as well as in that of
established in the Treaty, in the Community's successive           actions and programmes drawn up at international,
environmental action programmes and at international,              national, regional and local levels.
national, regional and local levels.
                                                                   Priority will be given to the following areas of work:
                            Article 2                              — air quality and atmospheric emissions,
                           The tasks                               — water quality, pollutants and water resources,
                                                                   — the state of the soil and of vegetation,
For the purposes of achieving the objective set out in
Article 1, the tasks of the System shall be:                       — land use and resource aspects.
  (i) to provide the Community, the Member States and              The system shall take account of economic questions,
      participating third countries with the objective infor-      especially by linking environmental information to the
      mation requested for the formulation                and      official socio-economic statistics.
      implementation of sound and effective environ-
      mental policies;
                                                                                           CHAPTER II
 (ii) in particular, to provide technical, scientific and
                                                                                          THE AGENCY
      economic information requested by the Commission
      in its tasks of identification, preparation and
      assessment of the implementation and results of
      environmental action and legislation;                                                  Article 4
                                                                                    Status and responsibilities
(iii) to stimulate the development and the application             1.    The Agency shall have legal personality. It shall
      within the Agency of techniques of environmental             enjoy in all the Member States the most extensive legal
      modelling and forecasting in order that adequate             capacity accorded to legal persons under their laws; it
      preventive action can be taken at the appropriate            may, in particular, acquire or dispose of movable and
      time;                                                        immovable property and may be a party to legal
                                                                   proceedings.
(iv) to help ensure the harmonization and comparability
      of environmental data in the Community as well
      as the integration of European environmental data            2.    The Agency shall be responsible for fulfilling the
      into    international      environmental     monitoring      tasks of the System as specified in Article 2. In particular
      programmes, such as those established within the             it shall have the role of coordinating the Network and of
      framework of the United Nations and its system of            ensuring the comparability and consistency of the infor-
      agencies;                                                    mation supplied through the Network. It shall be
                                                                   entrusted with, and be responsible for continuing as
                                                                   appropriate, the work undertaken by the Commission
 (v) such other tasks as may be defined by                 the     pursuant to Decision 85/338/EEC. It shall assist the
      Management Board in agreement with                  the      Commission in the tasks which this last has given it.
      Commission.
                                                                   3.    The Agency shall ensure the wide diffusion of
                            Article 3                              reliable environmental data. It shall publish periodic
                   (Principal areas of work)                       reports on the State of the Environment at a frequency
                                                                   to be determined by the Management Board.
1.     The principal subject areas to be covered by the
System shall include as far as possible all elements
permitting the acquisition of information enabling the             4.     Environmental data supplied to, or emanating
state of the environment to be described from the                  from, the Agency shall not be subject to restrictions as
following points of view:                                          regards publication or dissemination to the public.
  (i) the quality of the environment;
                                                                   5.    The Commission's Representation Offices and the
                                                                   Agency will operate in reciprocal relay. They will
 (ii) the sensitivity of the environment;                          contribute to the distribution of information furnished by
                                                                   the Agency through the medium of the new information
(iii) the pressures on the environment.                            relays in the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 8. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 217/9
                           Article 5                              3.    Third countries may be represented on the
                                                                  Management Board on the basis of the agreements
                      Executive-Director                         which may be concluded between them and the
1.     The Agency is headed by an Executive-Director              Community in accordance with Article 16.
appointed by the Management Board on the proposal of
the Commission for a period of five years, which shall be         4.    The Management Board shall elect its chairman for
renewable. The Executive-Director shall be the legal              a period of four years and adopt its rules of procedure.
representative of the Agency. He shall be responsible             Each member of the Management Board shall have a
                                                                 vote.
— for the proper preparation and execution of the
     decisions and programmes            adopted    by the        For their adoption, the decisions of the Management
     Management Board,                                            Board shall require a simple majority of members, except
                                                                  that     the   appointment        or   revocation     of the
— for the day-to-day administration of the Agency,                Executive-Director shall require a two-thirds majority of
                                                                  the members.
— for the preparation of the statement of revenue and
     expenditure and execution of the budget of the               5.    On the basis of a draft submitted by the
     Agency,                                                      Executive-Director and after consultation with the
                                                                  Scientific Committee provided for in Article 7 and
— the preparation and publication           of  the   reports     approval by the Commission, the Management Board
     specified in Article 4 (3),                                  shall adopt the annual work programme of the Agency.
— for all staff matters,                                          The programme can be adapted in the course of the year
                                                                  by the same procedure.
— for undertaking the tasks referred to in Article 6.
                                                                  6.    The Management Board shall, by 31 January each
H e shall obtain the opinion of the Scientific Committee          year, at the latest, adopt an annual general report on the
referred to in Article 7 for the purposes of recruitment of       activities and the financial situation of the Agency and
the Agency's scientific staff.                                    shall submit it to the Commission, the European
                                                                  Parliament, the Member States and the participating
2.     The Executive-Director shall be accountable to the         third countries referred to in Article 16.
Management Board for his activities.
                                                                  7.    The Management Board shall designate a Scientific
3.     The Executive-Director shall present an annual             Committee of six members to assist it in drawing up the
report on the activities of the Agency to the Commission,         annual work programme.
to the Council and the European Parliament.
                                                                                              Article 7
4.     The Commission may, for important reasons, at                                   Scientific Committee
any time propose that the Executive-Director be
replaced.                                                          1.    The      Management            Board       and     the
                                                                   Executive-Director shall be assisted by a Scientific
                                                                   Committee which shall deliver an opinion where
                            Article 6
                                                                   provided for in this Regulation and on any scientific
                      Management Board                             matter concerning the Agency's activity which the
                                                                   Management Board or the Executive-Director may
 1.    The Agency shall have a Management Board                    submit to it.
 consisting of one representative of each Member State
 and two representatives of the Commission. Represen-              2.    The Committee shall be made up of six members
 tatives of Member States shall be chosen so as to                 designated by the Management Board for a renewable
 promote the closest and most efficient cooperation                term of four years. It shall function as determined by the
 possible between the Agency and national environmental            rules of procedure provided for in Article 6 (4).
 monitoring and information entities or networks.
 In addition, the European Parliament shall designate two                                     Article 8
 scientific personalities particularly qualified in the field                           Financial provisions
 of environmental protection, who shall be chosen on the
 basis of the personal contribution they are likely to make         1.   The Management Board shall draw up an estimate
 to the Agency's work.                                             of revenue and expenditure which shall be in balance for
                                                                   each financial year which shall be the same as the
 Each member of the Management Board can be repre-                 calendar year by 31 January each year. This estimate,
 sented by an alternate representative.                            which shall include an establishment plan separate to that
                                                                   of the Commission, shall be forwarded to the
 2.     The term of office of representatives shall be four        Commission, to the Member States and to participating
 years, renewable once.                                            third countries.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 217/10                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  23. 8. 89
2.    The revenues of the Agency shall include the               2.     The Agency shall also cooperate actively with other
contribution of the Community and of participating third         bodies such as the European Space Agency, O E C D , the
countries; payments for services rendered and any other          Council of Europe and the International Energy Agency
income.                                                          as well as the United Nations and its system of agencies,
                                                                 particularly the United Nations Environment Programme
                                                                 (UNEP) and International Atomic Energy Authority.
3.    The expenditure of the Agency shall include its
staff, administrative, infrastructural and operational
expenses.
                                                                                         CHAPTER III
4.    The Commission shall include an appropriate
contribution to the Agency in the preliminary draft                                    THE NETWORK
budget of the European Communities. The budget of the
European Communities shall each year under a specific
heading include a contribution to the Agency.
                                                                                           Article 10
5.    The Management Board, after receiving the                                      Component elements
Commission advice shall adopt the statement of revenue
                                                                  1.    Member States shall, within three months of being
and expenditure at the beginning of the financial year
                                                                 notified of the establishment of the Agency, indicate to
adjusting it to the several contributions granted to the
                                                                 the Agency the main component elements of their
agency and to its other resources.                               national environmental monitoring networks, including
                                                                 any relevant institutions, which in their judgement could
6.    The Management Board shall adopt the financial             or should be part of the system, taking into account the
regulations of the Agency in agreement with the                  need to ensure the most complete geographical coverage
Commission.                                                      possible of their territory.
7.    Within two months after the end of each financial
year the Executive-Director of the Agency shall submit
                                                                 2.     They should in particular identify, from among the
the annual accounts of the preceding year and the
                                                                  above, institutions or other entities ('operational centres')
annual balance sheet to the Commission and to the
                                                                  in their territory which could be specifically entrusted
Court of Auditors of the European Communities. The
                                                                 with the task of cooperating with the Agency in respect
Executive-Director of the Agency shall present the
                                                                  of specific geographical or sectoral areas of interest.'
annual accounts and the annual balance sheet together
                                                                  Such areas of interest may extend across national
with the reports of the Court of Auditors and of the
                                                                  boundaries.
Commission to the Management Board for approval.
The Executive-Director of the Agency is entitled and, if
requested by the Management Board, obliged to
comment on the reports.
                                                                  3.     The Agency shall, within six months of receiving
                                                                  the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2,
8.     The Management Board shall give a discharge to             confirm on the basis of a decision by the Management
the Executive-Director in respect of the implementation           Board the principal elements of the Network, including
of the estimate of revenue and expenditure for each               the main operational centres for priority areas of interest.
financial year. It shall submit it to the Commission.             The Agency maintains an updated list of the Network
                                                                  elements as they evolve.
                           Article 9
               Cooperation with other bodies
                                                                                           Article 11
 1.    The Agency shall actively seek the cooperation of
other Community bodies and programmes, and notably                                  Working arrangements
the Joint Research Centre, the Statistical Office and the
 Community's Environmental Research Programme, in                  1.    The Agency shall make the necessary arrangements
the operation and further development of the System.              with entities referred to in Article 10 for the execution of
                                                                   specified tasks.
 In particular:
— cooperation with the Joint Research Centre shall
     include the tasks set out in the Annex under A,               2.    These entities may — in consultation with the
 — coordination with the Statistical Office of the                 Agency — make arrangements with other institutions or
     European Communities (Eurostat) and the Statistical           bodies, whether public or private, where they believe it
     Programme of the European Communities will                    necessary for the efficient execution of their tasks. The
     follow the guidelines outlined in the Annex under B.          Agency should be notified of such arrangements.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 8. 89                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                           No C 2\7/\\
                          CHAPTER IV                                            2.      In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency
                                                                                shall, in accordance with the general principles common
                      FINAL PROVISIONS
                                                                                to laws of the Member States, make good any damage
                            Article 12                                          caused by the Agency or its servants in the performance
                                                                                of their duties.
                   Privileges and immunities
The Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the                            The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes
European Communities shall apply to the Agency.                                 relating to compensation for any such damage.
                            Article 13
                                                                                3.     The personal liability of servants towards the
                               Staff                                            Agency shall be governed by the relevant provisions
                                                                                applying to the staff of the Agency.
Apart from the civil servants and other personnel
seconded by a Community institution, the Agency will be
able to dispose of its own staff subject to a special regime                                                 Article 16
set out by Council Regulation adopted by a qualified                                             Participation of third countries
majority from a Commission proposal.
In respect of this personnel, the Agency exercises the                          1.      Countries which are not Members of the European
powers devolved to the authority having the power of                            Community but which share with the Community and
nomination.                                                                     Member States a common interest in the objectives of
The Management Board will, in agreement with the                                the System shall be able to participate fully in the Agency
Commission, pass the appropriate rules.                                         and the Network as laid down in conventions between
                                                                                the Community and themselves following the procedure
                            Article 14                                          laid down in Article 228 of the Treaty.
                      Professional secrecy
                                                                                2.      The conventions shall in particular specify the
Members of the Management Board, the Executive-                                 nature and extent of the full participation by the
Director, the staff and all other persons engaged in the                        countries in any decision to enlarge or otherwise signifi-
activities of the Agency shall be required, even after their                    cantly amend the system. They shall also include
duties have ceased, not to disclose information of the                          provisions on financial contributions and staff.
kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy.
                            Article 15                                                                       Article 17
                             Liability                                                                   Entry into force
1.    The contractual liability of the Agency shall be                          This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
governed by the law applicable to the contract in                               following its publication in the Official Journal of the
question. The Court of Justice of the European                                   European Communities.
Communities shall have jurisdiction to give judgment
pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract                      This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
concluded by the Agency.                                                        directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                        ANNEX
               A. Cooperation with the Joint Research Centre
                   — harmonization of environmental measurement methods ('),
                   — intercalibration of instruments ('),
                   — standardization of data formats,
                   — development of new environmental measurement methods and new instruments,
                   — other tasks as agreed between the Executive-Director of the Agency and the Director General of the
                       Joint Research Centre.
               (') Cooperation in these areas shall also take account of the work carried out by the Community Bureau of Reference.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 217/12                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 8. 89
          B. Cooperation with Eurostat
             1. The System will as far as possible make use of the statistical information system established by
                Eurostat and the National Statistical Services in the Member States.
             2. The Statistical Programme in the field of environment will be agreed between the Executive-Director
                of the Agency and the Director General of Eurostat and will be presented for approval to the
                Management Board of the Agency and the Statistical Programme Committee.
             3. The Statistical Programme is conceived and implemented within the framework established by the
                statistical international bodies, such as the UN Statistical Commission, the Conference of European
                Statisticians and OECD.