Article 1 Objective
This Regulation lays down the detailed arrangements for the financial contribution of the Community to the budget of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the implementation of the tasks assigned to it in the field of responding to pollution caused by ships and other associated actions, pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply: (a) ‘the Agency’ means the European Maritime Safety Agency, established by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002; (b) ‘regional agreements’ means the bilateral and regional agreements concluded between coastal states to render mutual assistance in the event of a maritime pollution incident; (c) ‘oil’ means petroleum in any form including crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and refined products as established by the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation, 1990; (d) ‘hazardous and noxious substances’ means any substance other than oil which, if introduced into the marine environment, is likely to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, as established by the Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Cooperation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000.
Article 3 Scope
The financial contribution of the Community referred to in Article 1 shall be allocated to the Agency with the aim of financing actions such as the ones mentioned in the Action Plan and in particular those relating to: (a) information and the assembling, analysing and disseminating of best practices, techniques and innovations, such as instruments for monitoring tank-emptying, in the field of responding to pollution caused by ships; (b) cooperation and coordination and the provision to the Member States and the Commission of technical and scientific assistance in the framework of the activities of the relevant regional agreements; (c) operational assistance and supporting, on request, with additional means, such as stand-by anti-pollution ships and equipment, Member States' pollution response actions in the event of accidental or deliberate pollution caused by ships.
Article 4 Community funding
The financial envelope for the implementation of the tasks referred to in Article 3 for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 shall be EUR 154 000 000. Annual appropriations shall be determined by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework. In this connection the necessary funding of operational assistance to the Member States pursuant to Article 3(c) is to be guaranteed.
Article 5 Monitoring existing capabilities
In order to define the requirements for operational assistance, such as additional anti-pollution vessels, to be provided by the Agency to the Member States, the Agency shall draw up on a regular basis a list of the private and state pollution response mechanisms and response capabilities in the various regions of the European Union.
Article 6 Protection of Community financial interests
1. The Commission and the Agency shall ensure that, when actions funded under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Community are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by means of effective checks and the recovery of any amounts unduly paid and, where irregularities are detected, by effective, proportional and dissuasive penalties, in accordance with Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 ( 5 ) and (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 ( 6 ) and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ) . 2. For the Community actions funded under this Regulation, the notion of irregularity referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 shall mean any infringement of a provision of Community law or any breach of a contractual obligation resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the European Union or budgets managed by it, by an unjustified item of expenditure. 3. The Commission and the Agency shall, each within its respective sphere of competence, ensure that best value for money is achieved in the funding of Community actions under this Regulation.
Article 7 Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002
Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 shall be amended as follows: (a) The following point shall be added to Article 10(2): ‘(l) review the financial execution of the detailed plan referred to in (k) and the budgetary commitments provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1891/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on multiannual funding for the action of the European Maritime Safety Agency in the field of response to pollution caused by ships ( *1 ) on the basis of the report provided for in Article 15(2)(g) of this Regulation. This review shall be carried out when the statement of estimates of the Agency's revenue and expenditure for the following financial year are produced, as provided for in Article 18(5) of this Regulation. ( *1 ) OJ L 394, 30.12.2006, p. 1 ’ "
Article 8 Mid-term evaluation
The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council, on the basis of information provided by the Agency, a report on the implementation of this Regulation no later than 31 December 2010 The report, which shall be established without prejudice to the role of the Administrative Board of the Agency, shall set out the results of the utilisation of the Community contribution referred to in Article 4 as regards commitments and expenditure covering the period between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2009. On the basis of this report, the Commission shall, if appropriate, propose amendment of this Regulation to take account of scientific progress in the field of combating pollution from ships, including that caused by oil or hazardous and noxious substances.
Article 9 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .