THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Community, and in
particular Article 175(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal
from the Commission(1),
Having
regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(2),
Following
consultation with the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3),
and in the light of the joint text approved by the
Conciliation Committee on 11 October 2000,
Whereas:
(1) The
actions taken by the Community in the field of
accidental marine pollution since 1978 have made it
possible progressively to develop cooperation
between the Member States within a Community action
programme. The resolution and decisions adopted
since 1978(4) constitute the basis for this
cooperation.
(2)
Several regional agreements on accidental marine
pollution, such as the Bonn Cooperation Agreement,
already facilitate mutual assistance and cooperation
between Member States in this field.
(3)
Regard should be had to the international
conventions and agreements applicable to European
seas and maritime areas, such as the OSPAR
Convention, the Barcelona Convention and the
Helsinki Convention.
(4) The
Community information system has served the purpose
of making available to the Member States the data
required for the control and reduction of pollution
caused by the spillage of hydrocarbons and other
harmful substances at sea in large quantities. The
information system will be simplified by the use of
a modern automatic data-processing system.
(5) A
system for the rapid and efficient exchange of
information needs to be established.
(6) The
Community task force and other actions within the
Community action programme have provided practical
assistance to operational authorities during marine
pollution emergencies and promoted cooperation and
preparedness for efficient response to accidents.
(7) The
Community programme of policy and action in relation
to the environment and sustainable development(5)
presented by the Commission envisages that the
Community's activities will be stepped up in
particular in the field of environmental emergencies
which includes accidental or deliberate marine
pollution.
(8)
Directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council on port reception facilities for
ship-generated waste and cargo residues(6) is of
fundamental importance in the context of this
Decision.
(9)
Harmful substances means any hazardous or noxious
substance liable to raise concern if spilled into
the marine environment.
(10)
Community cooperation in the field of accidental
marine pollution helps, by taking action against the
risks, to achieve the objectives of the Treaty by
promoting solidarity between Member States and
contributing, pursuant to Article 174 of the Treaty,
to preserving and protecting the environment and
protecting human health.
(11) The
establishment of a Community framework for
cooperation providing support measures will help to
develop cooperation in the field of accidental
marine pollution even more efficiently. Such a
framework for cooperation should be based to a large
extent on experience already gained in this field
since 1978.
(12) A
Community framework for cooperation will also
increase transparency as well as consolidate and
strengthen the different actions.
(13)
Accidental or deliberate pollution at sea includes
pollution from offshore installations and illicit
operational spills from vessels.
(14)
Action to provide information and prepare those
responsible for and involved in dealing with
accidental marine pollution in the Member States is
important, increases the degree of preparedness for
accidents and contributes to preventing the risks.
(15) It
is also important to undertake Community action to
improve techniques and methods of response and
rehabilitation after emergencies.
(16) The
provision of operational support in emergency
situations to Member States and facilitating the
dissemination of experience from such situations
among Member States has proved to be of significant
value.
(17)
Actions under this framework should also promote the
polluter-pays principle which should be applied in
accordance with the applicable national and
international environmental and maritime law.
(18) The
measures necessary for implementing this Decision
should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission(7).
(19) This
Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the
cooperation framework, a financial framework
constituting the prime reference, within the meaning
of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6
May 1999 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline
and improvement of the budgetary procedure(8), for
the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary
procedure.
(20) The
provisions of this Decision take over, in
particular, the action programme set up through
Council Resolution of 26 June 1978 and the Community
information system established through Council
Decision 86/85/EEC of 6 March 1986 establishing a
Community information system for the control and
reduction of pollution caused by the spillage of
hydrocarbons and other harmful substances at sea or
in major inland waters(9). That Decision should be
repealed from the date on which this Decision enters
into force,
(1) OJ C 25, 30.1.1999, p. 20.
(2) OJ C 169, 16.6.1999, p.
16.
(3) Opinion of the
European Parliament of 16 September 1999 (OJ C 54,
25.2.2000, p. 82), Council Common Position of 17
December 2000 (OJ C 87, 24.3.2000, p. 1) and
Decision of the European Parliament of 13 June
2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
Decision of the European Parliament of 30 November
2000 and Decision of the Council of 5 December
2000.
(4) OJ C 162,
8.7.1978, p. 1, OJ L 355, 10.12.1981, p. 52, OJ L
77, 22.3.1986, p. 33 and OJ L 158, 25.6.1988, p.
32.
(5) OJ C 138, 17.5.1993,
p. 5.
(6) See page 81 of
this Official Journal.
(7)
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(8) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p.
1.
(9) OJ L 77, 22.3.1986,
p. 33. Decision as amended by Decision 88/346/EEC
(OJ L 158, 25.6.1988, p. 32).
01 Article
1. A Community
framework for cooperation in the field of accidental
or deliberate marine pollution (hereinafter called
"the framework for cooperation") is hereby
established for the period 1 January 2000 to 31
December 2006.
2. The
framework for cooperation is intended:
(a) to
support and supplement Member States' efforts at
national, regional and local levels for the
protection of the marine environment, coastlines and
human health against the risks of accidental or
deliberate pollution at sea, excluding continuous
streams of pollution originating from land-based
sources;
accidental marine
pollution risks include releases of harmful
substances into the marine environment, whatever
their origin, both from ships and from the shoreline
or estuaries, including those linked to the presence
of dumped materials, such as munitions, but
excluding authorised discharges and continuous
streams of pollution originating from land-based
sources;
(b) to
contribute to improving the capabilities of the
Member States for response in case of incidents
involving spills or imminent threats of spills of
oil or other harmful substances at sea and also to
contribute to the prevention of the risks. In
accordance with the internal division of competences
within Member States, they shall exchange
information on dumped munitions with a view to
facilitating risk identification and preparedness
measures;
(c) to
strengthen the conditions for and facilitate
efficient mutual assistance and cooperation between
Member States in this field; and
(d) to
promote cooperation between Member States in order
to provide for compensation for damage in accordance
with the polluter-pays principle.
02 Article
Without prejudice to the division of
responsibilities between Member States and the
Commission, the Commission shall implement the
actions under the framework for cooperation, as set
out in Annexes I and II.
(a)
Within the framework for cooperation, a Community
information system for the purpose of exchanging
data on the preparedness for and response to
accidental or deliberate marine pollution, is
established. The system shall consist of at least
the components set out in Annex I.
Types of actions under the
framework for cooperation and financial arrangements
for Community contribution are set out in Annex II.
(b) A
three-year rolling plan to implement the framework
for cooperation, to be reviewed annually, shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 4(2) and on the basis, inter alia, of the
information supplied by Member States to the
Commission.
The Commission
may, where necessary, arrange additional actions to
those set out in Annex II. Such additional actions
shall be assessed in the light of the priorities set
and the financial resources available and shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 4(2).
(c) The
financial framework for the implementation of this
Decision for the period 2000 to 2006 is hereby set
at EUR 7 million.
The
budgetary resources allocated to the actions
provided for in this Decision shall be entered into
the annual appropriations of the general budget of
the European Union. The available annual
appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of the financial
perspectives.
03 Article
1. The rolling plan
to implement the framework for cooperation shall
contain the individual actions to be undertaken.
2.
Individual actions shall be selected primarily on
the basis of the following criteria:
(a)
contributing to providing information and preparing
those responsible for and involved in dealing with
accidental or deliberate marine pollution, including
where relevant port authorities, in the Member
States, in order to increase the degree of
preparedness and contribute to preventing the risks;
(b)
contributing to improving techniques and methods of
response and rehabilitation after emergencies and to
improving techniques for the evaluation of damage
caused to the marine and coastal environment;
(c)
contributing to providing better public information
to help clarify risks and relaying accidents
information;
(d)
contributing to strengthening the cooperation of
relevant local bodies and nature protection bodies
as regards risk prevention and response;
(e)
contributing to providing operational support, by
mobilising experts mainly belonging to the Community
task force, in emergency situations to Member States
and to disseminating experience from such situations
among Member States.
3. Each
individual action shall be implemented in close
cooperation with the competent authorities at
national, regional and local levels in the Member
States.
04 Article
1. The Commission
shall be assisted by a committee.
2. Where
reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard
to Article 8 thereof.
The
period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision
1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
3. The
Committee shall adopt its rules of
procedure.
05 Article
The Commission shall evaluate the
implementation of the framework for cooperation at
mid term and before its end, and report no later
than 36 months after the entry into force of the
Decision and thereafter six years after the entry
into force of the Decision, to the European
Parliament and to the Council. In its final report,
the Commission shall, if appropriate, make proposals
for new measures to continue this
framework.
06 Article
Decision 86/85/EEC shall be
repealed.
07 Article
This Decision shall enter into force
on the day of its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.
08 Article
This Decision is addressed to the
Member States.
Done
at Brussels, 20 December 2000.
For the European
Parliament
The
President
N. Fontaine
For the Council
The
President
J.-C.
Gayssot
Annex I Components of the communnity information
system
The Community information system will
use a modern automatic data processing system. On
the Internet site, there will be general background
information at Community level on a Community home
page and, on national home pages, information
related to the national intervention resources
available.
Separately, a
printed part of the system will be maintained in the
form of a Community operational loose-leaf booklet
with information on emergency management in each
Member State.
1. The
Commission will open a website for the purpose of a
general access page of the system and a Community
home page.
2. Each
Member State, within six months from the date the
Decision enters into force, will:
(a)
appoint the authority or authorities responsible for
the management of the national part of the system,
and inform the Commission thereof;
(b) open
or maintain a national home page, or interconnected
national home pages. This national home page or one
of the interconnected national home pages will be
connected with the whole system through the
Community general access page of the system;
(c) fill
in its national home page(s) with the relevant
information, namely:
(i) a
description of national structures and of links
between national authorities in the field of
accidental or deliberate marine pollution, including
focal points to be addressed in questions of
emergency response;
(ii)
general information on existing teams and equipment
for emergency response and clean-up, in particular:
- strike teams (seaborne)
consisting of spill response vessels,
- strike teams (land-based) to
combat shoreline pollution and to organise temporary
storage as well as to conduct actions for the
rehabilitation of sensitive coastal areas,
- expert teams to carry out
environmental monitoring of pollution and/or the
impact of the combating techniques used, including
chemical dispersion,
- other
mechanical, chemical and biological means for
combating pollution at sea and cleaning up coasts,
including systems for lightening of oil tankers,
- aircraft for aerial
surveillance,
- location of
stockpiles,
- emergency towage
capacity,
- emergency
number(s) for public use;
(iii)
conditions for offering assistance.
Upon request the focal points
will provide additional information.
3. Each
Member State will update its national home page(s),
specified in point 2, as soon as changes have
occurred.
4. Each
Member State will provide the Commission with its
information on operational emergency management to
be included in the Community operational loose-leaf
booklet, including operational procedures for
mobilisation and operational contact points with
their references, within six months from the date
the Decision enters into force.
5. Each
Member State will notify to the Commission at the
earliest opportunity any change related to the
information contained in the loose-leaf booklet.
6. The
Commission will make available to each Member State
a copy of the loose-leaf booklet and provide any
updating to the Member States.
The models for the Community
and national home pages and further guidance for the
implementation of the Community information system
will be adopted in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 4(2).
Annex II Financial arrangements for the community
contribution