CELEX: 51976PC0576(02)
Language: en
Date: 1976-12-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION CONCERNING THE INTRODUCTION OF A COMMUNITY CONSULTATION PROCEDURE IN RESPECT OF POWER STATIONS LIKELY TO AFFECT THE TERRITORY OF ANOTHER MEMBER STATE

8. 2. 77                           Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 31/3
                                                          II
                                                  (Preparatory Acts)
                                             COMMISSION
             'Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the introduction of a Community
             consultation procedure in respect of power stations likely to affect the territory of
                                                another Member State
                        (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 13 December 1976)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                      water surfaces may affect the national territory of
                                                               States other than those responsible for the stations;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European "Economic Community, and in particular               Whereas Community-wide consultation exists only in
Article 235 thereof,                                          respect of plans for the discharge of radioactive
                                                              effluents likely to cause radioactive contamination of
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
                                                              the waters, soil or air space of another Member State;
European Atomic Energy Community, and in
particular Article 203 thereof,
                                                              Whereas it is therefore necessary to introduce a
Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,              Community consultation procedure in respect of the
                                                              abovementioned power stations;
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,                                                   Whereas such a consultation procedure implies that
                                                               the Member State on whose territory the proposed
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                              project is to be carried out shall communicate to the
Social Committee,
                                                               Commission such data as to make possible an
Whereas the establishment of a common energy                   assessment of the likely effects which the project
policy is one of the objectives of the Community;             might have on the territory of another Member State;
whereas it is the Commission's task to propose the            whereas, to this end, the persons and undertakings
measures to be taken for this purpose;                        involved shall be required to communicate this data
                                                              to the Member State on whose territory the proposed
Whereas under the Council resolution of 3 March               project is to be carried out;
1975 on energy and the environment it is incumbent
on the Communities and the Member States to take              Whereas the powers of action required for this
environmental protection requirements into account            purpose are not provided for by the Treaty
in all energy policy strategy by taking effective             establishing the European Economic Community and
measures;                                                     the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
                                                              Community,
Whereas electric power has an important role to play
in a Community energy policy;
                                                              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Whereas the selection of sites for new power stations,
be they nuclear or conventional, is one of the major
problems raised by the development of electric                                         Article 1
power;
Whereas power stations, particularly those built in            1.    The construction of new power stations and the
frontier regions and on international watercourses or          extension of existing ones likely to have effects, not
 ---pagebreak--- No C 31/4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                8. 2. 77
covered by Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the             — the possible interaction between one or more
European Atomic Energy Community, on the                             border power stations and installations of all
territory of a Member State other than the one on                    types, whether existing, under construction or
whose territory it is proposed to carry out the project              planned, in a neighbouring Member State where
shall be subject to a procedure of prior Community                   the hazards and effects on the environment and
consultation.                                                        health might be cumulative.
2.       Conventional thermal power stations with a net          2.     This information shall, at the latest, be
generating capacity of less than 200 MW and                      communicated to the Commission when the
 hydro-electric power stations with a net generating             competent national authorities receive a request for
capacity less than 50 MW shall be excluded from the              permission to build or extend a power station.
consultation procedure.
                                                                 3.     In order to fulfil the obligation specified in
                                                                 paragraphs 1 and 2, the persons and undertakings
                           Article 2                             concerned are required to communicate the
                                                                 information referred to in paragraph 1 to each
 1.      The Commission shall, on the basis of                   Member State on whose territory they intend to build
 communications submitted to it pursuant to Council              the planned power station, in respect of which
 Regulation (EEC) No 1056/72 of 18 May 1972 on                   Community consultation has been requested.
 the notification to the Commission of investment
 projects of interest to the Community in the
 petroleum, natural gas and electricity sectors (*), as                                   Article 4
 amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No
 1215/76 (*), draw up a list of new power-station
                                                                 1.     The Commission shall consult         a panel of
 projects, indicating their site, capacity and type and          independent experts.
 shall forward this list to the Member States during
 the month of March each year.
                                                                 2.     At the request of the Commission each Member
                                                                 State shall appoint one or more experts on whom the
 2.      The     Community        consultation    procedure
                                                                  Commission may call in order to form the panel
 envisaged by Articles 3 to 6 may be initiated:
                                                                 referred to in paragraph 1.
 — by a Member State which considers that a power
       station planned by another Member State is likely
       to have effects on its territory which are not                                     Article 5
       covered by Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty,
                                                                  1.     The Commission shall, after consulting the
  — by the Member State on whose territory it is                  panel of experts referred to in Article 4, deliver an
       proposed to build the power station,                       opinion within six months from the date of
  — by the Commission.                                            notification of the information referred to in Article 3.
                                                                  2.     The Commission's opinion shall be forwarded
                            Article 3                             to the Member State on whose territory the proposed
                                                                  project is to be carried out and to those Member
  1.      The Commission shall inform the Member State            States which have requested that the Community
  in question that Community consultation has been                consultation procedure be put into operation.
  requested in respect of a proposed power station to
  be built on its territory and shall request that State to
  supply such data as will enable an assessment to be                                     Article 6
  made of the following points:
                                                                  1.     If the Commission considers that the
  — the permanent, temporary or potential effects on              information supplied is insufficient to enable an
        the atmosphere, soil, surface and ground waters           assessment to be made of the aspects referred to in
        of the other Member States,                                Article 3 paragraph 1, it shall inform within 60 days
                                                                  the Member State on whose territory the project is to
  — the risks for neighbouring States likely to arise             be carried out specifying the information which is
        from any malfunctioning of the power station or            lacking. The Member State concerned shall forward
       from accidents,                                             this additional information to the Commission within
                                                                   30 days. Upon receipt of this additional information
                                                                   and in any case on expiry of the 30-day period, the
   (*) OJ No L 120, 25. 5. 1972.                                   Commission shall deliver an opinion in accordance
   (») OJ N o L 140, 28. 5. 1976.                                  with the procedure laid down in Article 5.
 ---pagebreak--- 8.2.77                                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                              N o C 31/5
2.       If i m p o r t a n t changes likely to influence the                                          Article 7
assessment of the various points referred to in Article
3 p a r a g r a p h 1 are m a d e to the p o w e r station plans
after the Commission has delivered its opinion, the                      This Regulation shall enter into force one m o n t h
M e m b e r State on w h o s e territory the proposed                    after its publication in the Official Journal of the
p o w e r station is to be built shall be required to                    European Communities.
provide the Commission w i t h the additional
information as soon as it becomes available. In
accordance with the procedure laid d o w n in Article
4, the Commission shall deliver a supplementary                          This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
opinion within three months.                                             directly applicable in all M e m b e r States.
                    Proposal for a Council Directive on the harmonization of provisions laid d o w n by law,
                   regulation or administrative action relating to the rules governing turnover tax and
                                              excise duty applicable in international travel
                                 (Submitted  by the Commission    to the Council      on 31 December       1976)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                 reduced, in real terms, by the rise in the cost of living
                                                                         in the C o m m u n i t y as a whole;
Having regard to the T r e a t y establishing the
European Economic C o m m u n i t y , and in particular
                                                                         Whereas, so as to safeguard the real value of the
Article 99 thereof,
                                                                         concessions, the a m o u n t of the exemptions granted to
                                                                         travellers should be reviewed each year;
H a v i n g regard to Council Directive 6 9 / 1 6 9 / E E C of
28 M a y 1969 ( 1 ), as a m e n d e d by Council Directive
72/230/EEC              of    12    June    1972 (%), on      the        Whereas, in order to reduce the difficulties and
harmonization of provisions laid d o w n by law,                         instances       of      double     taxation        resulting       from
regulation or administrative action relating to                          fluctuations in M e m b e r States' currencies and f r o m
exemption f r o m turnover tax and excise duty on                        the present provisions governing tax remission, it is
imports in international travel,                                         desirable, firstly, to d r a w as close as possible to
                                                                         economic reality by using the E u r o p e a n unit of
H a v i n g regard to the proposal of the Commission,                    account, as defined by Commission Decision N o
                                                                         3289/75/ECSC of 18 December 1975 ( 3 ), for con-
Having regard              to  the  opinion   of  the  European          verting units of account into M e m b e r States' cur-
Parliament,                                                              rencies and, secondly, to harmonize the rules
                                                                         governing tax remission at the retail stage,
H a v i n g regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Whereas it is appropriate to pursue the action
undertaken in respect of tax exemptions granted to                                                     Article    1
individuals in international travel so that the
populations of the M e m b e r States should become                      Article 2 of the Council Directive of 28 M a y 1969, as
more strongly conscious of the reality of the c o m m o n                a m e n d e d by Article 1 of the Council Directive of 12
market;                                                                  June 1972, shall be amended as follows:
Whereas travel between M e m b e r States should be                      (a) in p a r a g r a p h 1, the w o r d s ' t w o h u n d r e d units of
facilitated by an increase in exemptions f r o m                               account' shall be substituted for 'one h u n d r e d
turnover t a x and excise duty, the a m o u n t s of which,                    and twenty-five units of account';
as fixed by the Council Directive of 28 May 1969, as
amended by the Directive of 12 June 1972, have been                      (b) in p a r a g r a p h 2, the w o r d s 'fifty units of account'
                                                                               shall be substituted for 'thirty units of account';
(J) OJ No L 133, 4. 6. 1969.
(2) OJ No L 139, 17. 6. 1972.                                            (s) OJ No L 327, 19. 12. 1975.