CELEX: 51982PC0849
Language: en
Date: 1983-01-11
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON ACTION BY THE COMMUNITY RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT ( ACE )

No C 30/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   4.2.83
                     ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                                    AMENDED PROPOSAL
                         Article 14                                                          Article 14
1.    Member States shall allow undertakings which                   1.     Member States shall allow           undertakings
do not carry on insurance in their territories in any                providing in their territories assistance only a period
class other than assistance a period of five years,                  of five years commencing on the date of adoption of
commencing on the date of adoption of this                           this Directive in order to comply with the
Directive, in order to comply with the requirements                  requirements of Articles 16 and 17 of the First
of Articles 16 and 17 of the First Directive.                        Directive.
                                         P a r a g r a p h s 2, 3 and 4 u n c h a n g e d
                         Article 15                                                          Article 15
Member States shall allow agencies and branches                      Member States shall allow agencies and branches,
referred to in Title III of the First Directive which                referred to in Title III of the First Directive and
provide in their territories assistance insurance only a             providing in their territories assistance only, a
maximum period of five years commencing on the                       maximum period of five years commencing on the
date of adoption of this Directive in order to comply                date of adoption of this Directive in order to comply
with the requirements of Article 25 of the First                     with the requirements of Article 25 of the First
Directive provided such agencies or branches do not                  Directive provided such agencies or branches do not
extend their business pursuant to Article 10 (2) of the              extend their business pursuant to Article 10 (2) of the
First Directive.                                                     First Directive.
                                             A r t i c l e s 16 to 18 u n c h a n g e d
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on action by the Community relating to the
                                                         environment (ACE)
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 13 January 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                          Whereas in its Declaration of 22 November 1973 (')
COMMUNITIES,                                                         the Council adopted the action programme of the
                                                                     European Communities on the environment which
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                         was continued and extended on 17 May 1977 (2), and
European Economic Community, and in particular                       again on 17 December 1982 for the period 1982 to
Article 235 thereof,                                                 1986;
                                                                     Whereas, in order to ensure that the objectives
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   formulated in this action programme are fully
                                                                     realized, it is necessary that the Community should
Having regard to the opinion of the European                         contribute financially towards the carrying out of
Parliament,                                                          certain specific measures and, for this purpose, the
                                                                     European Parliament has allocated funds to specific
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     budget headings with a view to constituting a
 Social Committee,                                                   'European Fund for the Evironment';
                                                                     Whereas the development of clean technologies is a
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty, the                    particularly appropriate way of ensuring a preventive
Community has as its task inter alia to promote
throughout       the     Community       a       harmonious
development of economic activities, a continuous and                 (») OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1.
balanced expansion and an increase in stability;                     O O J N o C 139, 13.6. 1977, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---  4. 2. 83                               Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 30/9
 reduction in pollution and a more careful use of                   Whereas an Advisory Committee should be set up in
 natural resources in the most economically sensible                order to assist the Commission in selecting the
 fashion;                                                           projects to be financially supported;
Whereas the development of clean technologies will                  Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary
 have a positive effect on innovation and employment;               powers,
Whereas use should be made of certain results of the                HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 Community research and development programmes
relating to the environment (') and raw materials ( 2 );                                     Article 1
Whereas, in order to ensure that the objectives of                  The purpose of this Regulation is to establish a
Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on                     system of financial support for certain specific types
the conservation of wild birds (3) and the resolution               of investment relating to environment policy in the
relating thereto (4) are fully realized, it is important            Community.
that the Community should be able to make an
effective contribution towards the establishment of a                                        Article 2
consistent network of protected areas ensuring the
conservation of the species covered by that Directive;              1.     Under the conditions laid down below, the
                                                                    Community may grant financial support for:
Whereas the creation, conservation, maintenance and                 (a) the development of new technologies which are
appropriate management of nature protection areas                        'clean';
are essential to the implementation of that Directive;
                                                                    (b) measures to protect the natural environment in
                                                                         sensitive areas of Community interest.
Whereas there are similar obligations arising from the
Berne Convention on the conservation of European
                                                                    2.     The financial support referred to in paragraph 1
wildlife and natural habitats and the Bonn
                                                                    shall be granted within the framework of the appro-
Convention on the conservation of migratory species
                                                                    priations provided for this purpose in the general
of wild animals, approved by Council Decisions
                                                                    budget of the European Communities.
82/72/EEC (5) and 82/461/EEC (6) respectively, and
from the Protocol to the Barcelona Convention for
the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against                                              TITLE I
pollution,         approved       by      Council     Decision
77/585/EEC (7) to which the Community is, or is                                 New technologies which are 'clean'
preparing to be, a Contracting Party;
                                                                                             Article 3
Whereas the creation, maintenance and appropriate
                                                                    1.     The financial support referred to in Article 2 (1)
management of certain areas which provide a habitat
                                                                    (a) may be granted for projects contributing towards
for threatened or migratory species are of genuine
                                                                    the systematic development of new technologies
Community interest;
                                                                    which are 'clean', i.e. which cause little or no
                                                                    pollution and are more economical of natural
Whereas these areas are in particular threatened by                 resources, in particular raw materials, and the
certain economic activities, and measures should                    development of new, more effective techniques for
therefore be encouraged to restrict, transfer or put an             monitoring the quality of the natural environment.
end to such activities;
                                                                    2.     However, projects to make rational use of
Whereas it is necessary that the Community should,                  energy which come under other Community
within the limits of the budget funds available, grant              programmes shall not be eligible.
financial support for projects relating to clean
technologies and for schemes for the conservation of                3.     Financial support shall not exceed 50 % of the
nature protection areas of Community importance;                    cost of projects and/70 % of the cost of descriptive
                                                                    analyses.
(') O J N o L l O l , 11.4. 1981, p. 1.                                                      Article 4
(2) OJ No L 174, 21. 6. 1982, p. 23.
(5) OJ No L 103, 25. 4. 1979, p. 1.                                 Applications for financial support for projects covered
(4) OJ No C 103, 25. 4. 1979, p. 6.                                 by this Title from individuals or undertakings in the
( 5 )OJNoL38, 10.2. 1982, p. 1.                                     Community, following an invitation to submit
(') OJ No L 210, 19. 7. 1982, p. 10.                                projects prepared by the Commission after consul-
O OJ No L 240, 19. 9. 1977, p. 1.                                   tations within the Committee provided for in Article
 ---pagebreak--- No C 30/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             4.2.83
15 and published in the Official Journal of the              protection of the natural environment in sensitive
European Communities,         shall be sent to the           areas of Community interest such as those covered by
Commission and shall contain the following infor-            Directive 79/409/EEC, the Berne Convention on the
mation :                                                     conservation of European wildlife and natural
                                                             habitats, the Bonn Convention on the conservation of
— a detailed description of the project, and in              migratory species of wild animals, and the Protocol
    particular the organization of its administration        to the Barcelona Convention for the protection of the
    and the results expected,                                Mediterranean Sea against pollution.
— the time-scale for carrying out the project,
                                                             2.     Expenditure intended to compensate for
— the nature and extent of the technical             and     restricting economic activities in areas such as those
    economic problems involved in the project;               defined in paragraph 1 in order to safeguard habitats
                                                             shall also be eligible, subject to guarantees given by
— the cost of the project, its viability and the
                                                             the public authorities in accordance with procedures
    financing arrangements proposed,
                                                             to be laid down in each contract.
— the extent to which the relevant experience may
    provide encouragement for the widespread intro-                                   Article 9
    duction of the technique, process or product in
    the Community, the general application prospects         Applications for financial support for projects covered
    for this technique, process or product and the           by this Title from individuals or undertakings in the
    benefits thereby obtainable for the economy as a         Community shall be sent to the Commission and shall
    whole,                                                   contain a detailed description of the project, and in
                                                             particular the following information:
— any other information which may justify the
    Community support requested,                             — the organization of its administration, and the
                                                                  expected results,
— how it is proposed to disseminate the results of
    the project.                                             — the time-scale for carrying out the project,
                         Article 5                           — the nature and extent of the problems which the
                                                                  project is intended to resolve,
The degree of detail of the information to be
                                                             — the cost of the project, its viability and the
furnished confidentially to the Commission, to
                                                                  financing arrangements proposed,
government bodies in the Member States or to the
public, and the procedures and measures for making           — any other information which may justify            the
such information available shall be determined by the             application,
Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee
referred to in Article 15.                                   — how it is proposed to disseminate the results of
                                                                  the project.
                         Article 6
                                                                                      Article 10
In the event of commercial exploitation of the results
of a project, the Commission may request repayment           Financial support shall not exceed 50 °/o of the cost of
of its financial contribution in accordance with             projects and 70 % of the cost of descriptive analyses.
procedures to be laid down in the contract.
                                                                                      Article 11
                         Article 7
                                                             The Commission shall examine the applications
The benefits granted by the Community must not                submitted, and shall decide as to the grant of
adversely affect the conditions of competition in a           financial support on the basis of the importance of
manner incompatible with the principles embodied in           the zone at Community level, and of the urgency of
the relevant provisions of the Treaty.                        financial support, after consultations within the
                                                              Committee referred to in Article 15.
                         TITLE II
                                                                                      TITLE III
          Sensitive areas of Community interest
                                                                             General and final provisions
                         Article 8
                                                                                      Article 12
 1.    The financial support referred to in Article 2 (1)
 (b) may be granted for projects (including land-             Financial support under this Regulation may be
 acquisition projects) contributing towards the               granted to the natural persons or legal persons
 ---pagebreak--- 4. 2. 83                         Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 30/11
constituted in accordance with the laws in force in                                   Article 14
the Member States who are responsible for the
project or the descriptive analysis.                          A list of the measures for which Community aid has
                                                              been granted shall be published each year in the
                                                               Official Journal of the European Communities.
If the creation of a legal entity for the purpose of
carrying out a project will involve additional costs for                                Article 15
the participating undertakings, the project may be            1.     An Advisory Committee consisting of represen-
carried out simply by cooperation between natural or          tatives of the Member States and chaired by a
legal persons. In that case, the liability for the            Commission representative is hereby set up.
obligations resulting from Community support shall
be specified in the contract.                                 2.     The work        of    the   Committee   shall  be
                                                              confidential.
                                                              3.     The Committee shall adopt rules of procedure.
                                                                                        Article 16
                        Article 13
                                                              The Commission shall submit an annual report on the
The Commission shall negotiate and conclude the               implementation of the Regulation to the European
necessary contracts.                                          Parliament and to the Council.
                                                                                        Article 17
The person in receipt of Community support shall
                                                              This Regulation shall into force on the day following
send to the Commission, each year or at its request, a
                                                              its publication in the Official Journal of the European
report on the fulfilment of the contractual obligations
                                                               Communities.
towards the Commission and, in particular, the
progress of work on the project and the expenditure           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
incurred in carrying it out.                                  directly applicable in all Member States.
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on the security to be given to ensure payment of a
                                                     customs debt
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 14 January 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                   traders, irrespective of the Member State in which
COMMUNITIES,                                                  they are situated, be subject to the same rules in
                                                              regard inter alia to the manner in which such security
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                  may be given, the calculation on the amount thereof
European Econimic Community, and in particular                and the use to which it is put; whereas it is
Articles 43 and 235 thereof,                                  accordingly necessary to adopt provisions on this
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,            matter at Community level;
Having regard to the opinion of the European                  Whereas, where security is required, it must be given
Parliament,                                                   by the person by whom the customs debt has been or
                                                              may be incurred; whereas no security should be
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and              required where that person is a public authority since
Social Committee,                                             there is no risk of failure to pay the amount of the
                                                              customs debt involved; whereas the cost involved in
Whereas certain provisions of the customs rules
                                                              the provision of security, both for traders and for the
stipulate that the customs authorities are either
                                                              competent authorities, may be disproportionate to the
obliged or entitled to require security to be given to
                                                              real risk of non-payment of the customs debt where
ensure payment of a customs debt which has been or
                                                              the amount of the latter does not exceed a certain
may be incurred;
                                                              limit; whereas the competent authorities must
Whereas, since the giving of security involves sub-           therefore have the right to waive security for customs
stantial expense, it is important that all Community          debts below that limit;