CELEX: 51986PC0729
Language: en
Date: 1986-12-19
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ON ACTION BY THE COMMUNITY RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT

24.1.87                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 18/5
                                                                   II
                                                            (Preparatory Acts)
                                                     COMMISSION
                  Proposal for a Council Regulation on action by the Community relating to the environment
                                                          COM(86) 729 Final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 30 December 1986)
                                                              (87/C 18/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                Whereas the development of clean technologies is a
                                                                        particularly appropriate way of ensuring a preventive
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                   reduction in pollution and a more careful use of natural
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                       resources in the most economically sensible fashion;
thereof (*),
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                      Whereas the development of techniques for recycling
                                                                        and reusing waste is necessary for better management of
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                       waste and/or natural resources;
liament,
                                                                        Whereas a contribution should be made to the
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                        development of techniques for locating and restoring
Social Committee,                                                       sites contaminated by hazardous wastes and/or
                                                                        hazardous substances;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty, the
Community has as its task inter alia to promote
                                                                        Whereas the development of clean technologies and of
throughout the Community a harmonious development
                                                                        improved techniques for the recycling of waste and for
of economic activities, continuous and balanced
                                                                        the restoration of contaminated sites is likely to have a
expansion and an increase in stability;
                                                                        positive effect on innovation and employment and to be
                                                                        of particular importance for small and medium sized
Whereas the Single European Act states that action by
the Community relating to the environment shall have as                 enterprises;
its objective to preserve, protect and improve the quality
of the environment, to contribute towards protecting                    Whereas experience has shown that it is necessary to
human health, and to ensure a prudent and rational                      encourage the development of new techniques and
utilization of natural resources;                                       methods for measuring and monitoring the quality of the
                                                                        natural environment;
Whereas in its declaration of 22 November 1973 (') the
Council adopted an action programme of the European                     Whereas more use should be made of certain results of
Communities on the environment which was continued                      the Community research and development programmes
and extended on 17 May 1977 (2); whereas, in their                      relating to the environment and raw materials;
resolution of 7 February 1983, the Council and the
representatives of the Governments of the Member States
                                                                        Whereas it is important that the Community should be
meeting within the Council approved the general
                                                                        able to make a contribution towards the protection,
guidelines of an action programme of the European
                                                                        maintenance and re-establishment of areas of particular
Communities on the environment (1982 to 1986) (3);
                                                                        Community-wide importance for the conservation of
Whereas, in order to ensure that the objectives                         nature and especially seriously threatened biotopes which
formulated in this action programme are fully realized, it              are the habitat of endangered species;
is necessary that the Community should contribute
financially towards the carrying out of certain specific                Whereas it is necessary for the Community to be able to
measures;                                                               participate in the implementation of conservation
                                                                        programmes, particularly on populations of species in
                                                                        danger of extinction in the Community;
(*) If the Regulation is adopted after the entry into force of the
     Single European Act the legal basis should be changed to
     Article 130 S.                                                     Whereas it is necessary that the Community should,
(') O J N o C 112,20. 12. 1973, p. 1.                                   within the limits of the budget funds available, grant
O O J N o C 139, 13.6. 1977, p. 1.                                      financial support for projects relating to clean
(3) O J N o C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.                                    technologies, to techniques for recycling and reusing
 ---pagebreak--- No C 18/6                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    24.1.87
waste, to techniques for locating and restoring sites                (f) projects providing an incentive and aimed at
contaminated by hazardous wastes and/or hazardous                          implementing programmes on the conservation or
substances, to techniques and methods for measuring                       restoration of populations of species in danger of
and monitoring the quality of the natural environment,                     extinction in the Community.
to schemes of importance for the conservation of nature
and the conservation of species in danger of extinction in           Projects covered by (a), (b), (c) and (d) which are
the Community;                                                       eligible for financial support under other Community
                                                                     instruments of a structural nature shall be excluded.
"Whereas an Advisory Committee should be set up to
assist the Commission in implementing this Regulation                2.     The necessary appropriations shall be entered
and in particular in selecting the projects for which                annually in the statement of expenditure in the budget of
financial support may be granted;                                    the European Communities.
Whereas application of Council Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                     3.     The financial support may:
1872/84 (') has demonstrated the benefits of a
Community system to support action relating to the
                                                                      (i) be not more than 30 % of the cost of the projects
environment and the practicability of the procedures
                                                                          referred to in paragraph 1 (a) and (b) and not more
introduced under that Regulation;
                                                                          than 50 % of the cost of the projects referred to in
                                                                          paragraph 1 (c) and (d); and normally not more than
Whereas the said Regulation should therefore                be             50 % of the cost of the projects referred to in
replaced, taking account of new requirements;                             paragraph 1 (e) and (f);
Whereas the Treaty does not provide the necessary                    (ii) be over 50 % in exceptional cases where Community
powers (**),                                                              financial support of 50 % would be insufficient for
                                                                          projects referred to in paragraph 1 (e) or (f)
                                                                          concerning the habitat or populations of species
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                              threatened with extinction in the Community; for
                                                                          projects referred to in paragraph 1 (e) Community
                                                                          financial support shall be not more than 75 %.
                            Article 1
1.     The Community may grant financial support for: .                                         Article 2
                                                                     1.     To be eligible for financial support, a project must
(a) demonstration projects aimed at developing new                   be of interest to the Community and in terms of
     clean technologies, i.e. technologies which cause               protection of the environment and/or the management
     little or no pollution and which may also be more               of natural resources.
     economical in the use of natural resources;
(b) demonstration        projects    aimed    at    developing       2.     The projects referred to in Article 1 (1) (a), (b) and
    techniques for recycling and reusing waste;                      (c) must:
                                                                     — implement innovatory technologies or procedures for
(c) demonstration        projects    aimed    at    developing
                                                                          which the research phase may be considered
     techniques     for locating and         restoring sites
                                                                          completed but which are still untested or not yet in
     contaminated by hazardous wastes and/or hazardous
                                                                          existence in the Community,
     substances;
                                                                     — by their demonstration value, be such as to
(d) demonstration projects aimed at developing new                        encourage the creation of other installations or the
     techniques and methods for measuring and                             application of processes of the same type which are
     monitoring the quality of the natural environment;                   capable of noticeably reducing adverse effects on the
                                                                          environment,
(e) projects providing an incentive and aimed at contri-
     buting towards the protection, maintenance or re-               — first and foremost concern installations or procedures
     establishment of areas of particular Community-wide                  which:
     importance for the conservation of nature and
                                                                          — because of the large amounts or the particularly
     especially of seriously threatened biotopes which are
                                                                               dangerous nature of their emissions seriously
     the habitat of endangered species and are of
                                                                               harm the environment, or
     importance to the Community;
                                                                          — make it possible to recycle or reuse waste of a
                                                                               nature posing serious environmental problems or
                                                                          — make it possible to locate and/or restore sites
(«) O J N o L 176, 3.7. 1984, p. 1.
(**) This whereas should be removed if the legal basis is                      contaminated by wastes and/or substances
      changed to Article 130 S.                                                hazardous to human beings and the environment.
 ---pagebreak---  24.1.87                                  Official Journal of the "European Communities                               No C 18/7
 3.    The projects referred to in Article 1 (1) (d) must             (iv) the choice of projects for which financial support is
 cover first and foremost the major air, water and soil                    to be granted in accordance with Article 5;
pollutants and contribute towards harmonization of
 methods of measurement and the compatibility of
measurement results obtained within the Community.                     (v) the levels of financial support to be granted to
                                                                           projects;
4.     Financial support for the projects referred to in
Article 1 (1) (e) shall be commensurate with the                      (vi) the arrangements for disseminating the results.
importance of the area to the Community and with the
urgency of the need for the financial support in question.
                                                                      3.    The Committee shall deliberate on requests for its
5.     Financial support for the projects referred to in              opinion from the Commission. When the Commission
Article 1 (1) (f) shall be commensurate with the urgency             makes the request it may set a time limit within which
of the need to implement the programme and of the                    the Committee should give it the opinion. No vote shall
need for Community financial support.                                be taken at the end of the Committee's deliberations.
                                                                      However, each Committee member may ask for his
                                                                     opinion to be recorded in the minutes.
                            Article 3
 1.    Applications for financial support for projects
covered by Article 1 (1) (a), (b), (c) and (d) that have                                       Article 5
been drawn up in response to an invitation to submit
projects prepared by the Commission and published in                  1.    The Commission shall decide whether to grant or
the Official Journal of the European Communities shall be            refuse financial support for projects after consulting the
sent to the Commission, with copies to the competent                 Advisory Committee referred to in Article 4.
authorities of the Member State concerned.
                                                                     2.     Where appropriate the Commission shall negotiate
2.     Applications for financial support for the projects           and conclude the necessary contracts.
referred to in Article 1 (1) (e) shall be sent to the
Commission by the Member States and contain the
information specified in Annex I.
                                                                                               Article 6
3.     Applications for financial support for the projects           Financial support may be granted to the natural persons,
referred to in Article 1 (1) (f) shall be sent to the                or the legal persons constituted in accordance with the
Commission by the Member States and shall contain the                law of the Member States, who are responsible for the
information specified in Annex II.                                   project.
In cases where urgent action is needed to safeguard
endangered species the Commission may study projects                 If the creation of a legal entity for the purpose of
of the type referred to in Article 1 (1) (f) on its own              carrying out a project involves additional costs for the
initiative.                                                          participating undertakings, the project may be carried
                                                                     out simply by cooperation between natural or legal
                                                                     persons. In that case, responsibility for complying with
                           Article 4                                 the obligations resulting from Community support must
                                                                     be specified in the contract to be concluded with the
1.     An Advisory Committee consisting of represen-
                                                                     Commission.
tatives of the Member States and chaired by a
Commission representative is hereby set up. The
Committee shall draw up its rules of procedure.
                                                                                               Article 7
2.     The Commission shall           consult  the   Advisory        Recipients of Community financial support shall send the
Committee on, inter alia:                                            Commission, each year or at its request, a report on the
                                                                     fulfilment of the obligations towards the Commission,
  (i) the general conditions governing submission of the             and in particular on the progress of work on the project
      applications for financial support referred to in              and the expenditure incurred in carrying it out.
      Article 3;
 (ii) preparation of the invitations to submit projects
                                                                                               Article 8
      referred to in Article 3 (1);
                                                                     The benefits granted by the Community must not affect
(iii) any additional criteria to be applied in selecting             conditions of competition in a manner incompatible with
      projects for which applications for financial support          the principles embodied in the relevant provisions of the
      have been submitted;                                           Treaty.
 ---pagebreak--- NoC18/8                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                   24.1.87
                            Article 9                                                                Article 11
In the event of commercial exploitation of the results of                  Every three years the Commission shall submit a report
a project, the Community may request repayment of its                      on the implementation of this Regulation to the
financial contribution in accordance with arrangements                     European Parliament and the Council.
to be laid down in the contract.
                                                                                                     Article 12
                                                                           This Regulation shall enter into force on the day
                           Article 10                                      following its publication in the Official Journal of the
A list of the measures for which Community financial                       European Communities.
support has been granted shall be published each year in                   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
the Official Journal of the European Communities.                          directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                  ANNEX I
                                         List of the particulars to be provided under Article 3 (2)
                 The location of the site in question and, where necessary, a map showing the boundaries of the area
                 covered by the project,
                 the importance of the site to the Community for the conservation of nature and, in appropriate cases,
                 the degree of the risk to the biotopes and species concerned,
                 the nature and extent of the problems which the project is intended to solve, and in particular the
                 nature and extent of the threat,
                 a detailed description of the project, and in particular of the organization of its management and of the
                 results expected,
                 the timetable for carrying out the project,
                 the cost of the project, its viability and the financing arrangements proposed,
                 the extent to which the Community financial support is urgently needed in order to implement the
                 project,
                 any other evidence supporting the application,
                 the protection provided for the site in question at present and the protection planned,
                 the proposed method of disseminating the results of the project.
                                                                  ANNEX II
                                            List of particulars to be provided under Article 3 (3)
                 The situation as regards conservation of the endangered species, and in particular the degree and
                  immediacy of the threat of extinction,
                  detailed description of the project, and in particular of the organization of its management and of the
                  results expected,
                  the timetable for carrying out the project,
                  the cost of the project and the financing arrangements proposed,
                  the extent to which Community financial support is urgently needed in order to carry out the project,
                  any other evidence supporting the application,
                  the proposed method of disseminating the results of the project.