CELEX: 51983PC0528(02)
Language: en
Date: 1983-10-10
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON THE ADOPTION OF A WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE FIRST PHASE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INFORMATION SYSTEM ON THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE COMMUNITY ( 1984-1987 )

No C 291/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            27. 10. 83
                Proposal for a Council Decision on the adoption of a work programme for the first phase
                of the implementation of an information system on the state of the environment and the
                                      natural resources in the Community (1984 to 1987)
                                                       COM(83) 528 final
                              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 14 October 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                        Whereas it is desirable to have an appropriate
COMMUNITIES,                                                       methodological framework for an information system
                                                                   on the state of the environment in the Community;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                       whereas a framework of this kind is needed to allow
European Economic Community, and in particular                     rational organization of the work that will be
Article 235 thereof,                                               involved in gathering and processing information on
                                                                   the state of the environment at Community level,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 instead of reacting on an ad hoc basis in the light of
                                                                   specific needs; whereas an ad hoc approach does not
Having regard to the opinion of the European                       make it possible to appreciate how phenomena
Parliament,                                                        interact or to monitor the development of the
                                                                   environment over time, and proves more expensive in
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   the long run;
Social Committee,
                                                                  Whereas the state of knowledge concerning environ-
Whereas, in order to implement the action
                                                                   mental phenomena and interactions between different
programme of the European Communities on the
                                                                   media, the characteristics of the data available at
environment (1982 to 1986), it is necessary to have
                                                                  present and the geographical extent of the
consistent and comparable information on the state of
                                                                   Community territoriy necessitate a progressive
the environment and natural resources in the
                                                                   implementation of the information system;
Community, in particular for the purpose of action by
the Community in the following priority areas:
incorporating the environmental dimension into other              Whereas progressive implementation should make it
Community           policies;    combating      transfrontier     possible to obtain practical results on a number of
pollution; protecting areas of Community interest                 priority matters in the first phase of implementation;
which are particularly sensitive from the point of view
of their environment; specific measures relating to the           Whereas it is necessary to supplement the data
Mediterranean;                                                     available in certain regions and to develop the
                                                                   methodological research for certain issues;
Whereas the present Decision draws its inspiration
from the consideration listed in the resolution of the            Whereas compatibility must be ensured between the
Council and the representatives of the Member States               Community information system to be established and
of 7 February 1983 on the abovementioned action                    other activities at Community or national level
programme (*), that is, the need for action at the                 already in existence or foreseen, in particular as
appropriate level, the need to coordinate work at                  regards their data processing aspects;
international level, the need to assess the costs and
benefits involved, the need to take account of the
differing situations in the Community and the need                Whereas close cooperation between the Commission
for adequate preparatory technical work and consul-                and the Member States will be needed for the
tations;                                                           purposes of implementing and directing the work
                                                                   involved, including in particular the support of the
                                                                   agencies concerned in Member States in facilitating
Whereas the aim is to provide information on the
                                                                   access to data, in accordance with the general
state of the environment which is of value not only
                                                                   obligation stemming from Article 5 of the EEC
for work carried out by the Community institutions,
but also for national or regional bodies, and the                  Treaty,
public in the European Community which the
European Parliament has repeatedly urged should be                 HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
informed of the state and development of the
environment in the Community and of the effects of
Community environment policy;                                                              Article 1
                                                                   A work programme for the first phase of the
                                                                   implementation of an information system on the state
(») O J N o C 4 6 , 17.2. 1983, p. 1.                              of the environment and the natural resources in the
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 10. 83                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                        N o C 291/9
European Community, hereinafter referred to as 'the                                                  Article 3
programme', is hereby adopted, as set out in Article
1, for a period of four years starting on 1 January                       The amount of Community funds required to
1984.                                                                      implement the programme is estimated at 5,80 million
                                                                           ECU.
The Commission shall be responsible for carrying out                                                 Article 4
the programme.                                                            At the end of the second year, a progress report shall
                                                                           be drawn up and submitted to the Council and to the
                          Article 2                                        European       Parliament       for     information.      The
                                                                           programme shall be completed with a final report
The programme shall be carried out in accordance                          which shall contain proposals for organizing the sub-
with the methodological framework set out in                               sequent phases of the implementation of the infor-
Annex 2.                                                                   mation system.
                                                                ANNEX 1
            WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE FIRST PHASE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN
            INFORMATION SYSTEM ON THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE
                               NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE COMMUNITY (1984 to 1987)
             1. CONTENT OF THE PROGRAMME
                The programme comprises three complementary components:
                A. Application of the information system on a Community scale
                    — biotopes of major importance for nature conservation
                    The basic data will be collected and analyzed in accordance with the methodological
                    approach described in communication to the Council COM(83) . . . so as to obtain results, in
                    particular by means of mapping, which can be used within the framework of Community
                    environment policy. In addition, work will be carried out in close collaboration with the
                    Council of Europe.
                 B. Application to specific problems of Community importance
                    (a) Protection of the Mediterranean environment
                         Work will focus above all on collecting and processing data relating to the target areas
                         for which information can be obtained within time limits that are compatible with the
                         work programme, in particular: soil erosion; natural hazards; scarce resources (agri-
                         cultural land, water resources, biotopes foreseen under point A above); and the pressures
                         to which these resources are subjected (water quality, changes in land use, oil pollution).
                         This work will be pursued in harmony with the Mediterranean integrated programmes.
                    (b) Acid deposition
                         The aim of the work in question will be to make a contribution towards tackling the very
                         acute problem of transfrontier pollution commonly referred to as 'acid rain'. Data will be
                         collected concerning atmospheric pollution, the vulnerability of land and biotopes (in
                         connection with point A above), and concerning pollutant emissions, with a view in
                         particular to supplementing the data already available at Community level in these
                          areas (*).
                 C. Preparation of the subsequent phases of implementation
                    The aim of the work in question will be to complete .the requisite basic data and render them
                    compatible and comparable and to perfect the methods of analyzing and interpreting environ-
                     mental data. In particular, it will be a question of:
             (') In particular the results of the work carried out within the framework of the exchange of information on air
                 quality (Decision 75/441/EEC) as well as the foreseen collection of data in the principal forests of the
                 Community, and the Soil Map of the European Community 1 : 1 000 000.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 291/10                            Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s              2 7 . 1 0 . 83
                     — transfrontier projects seeking to improve the comparability of existing environmental data,
                     — the development of methods for processing remote sensing data,
                     — the coordination of data-gathering work under way or envisaged in the Member States
                         and at international level, with a view to ensuring their compatibility with the European
                         information system,
                     — the development of computer techniques for the management of the European infor-
                         mation system,
                     — the perfecting of certain data-analysis methods.
             2. WORKING A N D ORGANIZATIONAL PROCEDURES
                The Commission, assisted by a group of national experts and a group of technical experts, shall
                 be responsible for the concurrent implementation of the three components of the programme.
                 The various projects involved in the programme shall be carried out by experts or specialist
                 bodies which shall perform their tasks in accordance with instructions given by the Commission
                 with the agreement of the groups of national and technical experts. In order to facilitate
                 communication between the groups of experts, the bodies concerned and the Commission, in
                 particular as regards access to data, the Member States shall designate a focal point (who may be
                 a member of one of the two groups of experts).
                 The information on the state of the environment resulting from the execution of the programme
                 shall be communicated to the Member States and made public, subject to acceptance of its
                 scientific quality and to compliance with the Commission's rules on the dissemination of infor-
                 mation.
                                                                  ANNEX      2
             METHODOLOGICAL                 FRAMEWORK                FOR         THE       FIRST            PHASE OF THE
             IMPLEMENTATION O F AN INFORMATION SYSTEM O N T H E STATE O F
             T H E E N V I R O N M E N T A N D T H E NATURAL RESOURCES IN T H E C O M M U N I T Y
                                                                (1984 to 1987)
             The present methodological framework embodies the principal characteristics of the communication
             by the Commission to the Council on 'A methodological approach to an information system on the
             state of the environment and the natural resources in the European Community 1 (COM(83) . . . ) .
              1. The objective of the project is the incremental establishment of an information system on the
                  state of the environment and the natural resources designed to orientate Community
                  environment policy and make it possible to assess its effects, to incorporate the environment
                  dimension into Community sectoral policies, and to coordinate or stimulate the collection of data
                  on the state of the environment in the Member States and at international level.
              2. The methodological approach is characterized in particular by:
                  — the requirement for compliance with the principles of consistency, flexibility, transparency,
                      scientific rigour and costreffectiveness,
                  — a modular structure enabling the information system to be implemented incrementally and to
                      be adapted to advances in knowledge,
                  — the gathering of information enabling the state of the environment to be described from three
                       points of view: the quality of the environment, the sensitivity of the environment and the
                       pressures on the environment,
                  — the limitation of the Community data base to information having the function of an
                       indicator,
                       the general guidelines for the scales for the collection and processing of data and the
                       presentation of the results.
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 10. 83                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 291/11
             3. Computer techniques will be used which will facilitate:
                — the storage of data in their original from,
                — the collection and preliminary processing of data,
                — public access to the basic data for the purposes of scientific verification.
             Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 75/106/EEC on the approximation
             of the laws of the Member States relating to the making-up by volume of certain
                                                    prepackaged liquids
                                                     COM(83) 598 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 17 October 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                             'Article 5
COMMUNITIES,
                                                                        1.    Member States may not refuse, prohibit or
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                           restrict the placing on the market of prepackages
European Economic Community, and in particular                         which satisfy the requirements of this Directive on
Article 100 thereof,                                                   grounds related to the determination of their
                                                                       volumes, the methods by which they have been
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                     checked or the nominal volumes where these are
                                                                       set out in Annex III, column I.
Having regard to the opinion of the              European
Parliament,
                                                                        2.    Member States which on 31 December 1973
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                       allowed the nominal volumes listed in Annex III,
Social Committee,                                                      column II, shall continue to allow them up to
                                                                        31 December 1988, or in the case of the volume
Whereas total harmonization of the ranges of                            of 0,73 litres up to 31 December 1985.
nominal volumes for products in the wine sector
appears now necessary for all the products concerned                    3. (a) For prepackages containing the products
since the adoption of Council Directive 75/106/                                 listed in Annex III, Section 1 (a) and (b),
E E C O , as amended by Directive 79/1005/EEC ( 2 );                            only those whith the nominal volumes set
whereas that Directive should be                  amended                       out in Annex III, columns I and II, may be
accordingly;                                                                    marketed after 31 December 1983. The
                                                                                volume 0,73 litres shall be deleted from
Whereas Directive 75/106/EEC does not lay down                                  column II with effect from 1 January 1986.
provisions relating to packages or to their use;
whereas questions relating to the recycling of                             (b) For prepackages containing the products
packages for beverages are being examined within an                             listed in Annex III, Section 1 (a) and (b),
appropriate framework; whereas Article 5 (4) of that                            only those with the nominal volumes set
Directive, as amended by Directive 79/1005/EEC,                                 out in Annex III, column, I, may be
should therefore not be retained,                                               marketed after 31 December 1988.'
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                                                    Article 2
                         Article 1                                 Member States shall bring into force on 1 January
                                                                   1984 the laws, regulations and administrative
Article 5 of Directive 75/106/EEC is hereby replaced               provisions needed to comply with this Directive. They
by the following:                                                  shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
                                                                                               Article 3
(') OJ No L 42, 15. 2. 1975, p. 1.
O OJ No L 308, 4. 12. 1979, p. 25.                                 The Directive is addressed to the Member States.