COMMON POSITION (EC) No 24/98 adopted by the Council on 17 March 1998 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No .../98 of ... concerning the granting of Community financial assistance for actions of an innovative nature to promote combined transport
27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/1 I (Information) COUNCIL COMMON POSITION (EC) No 24/98 adopted by the Council on 17 March 1998 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No. /98 of. concerning the granting of Community financial assistance for actions of an innovative nature to promote combined transport (98/C 161/01) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (4), (1) Whereas the present situation and the expected development of transport in the Community make it necessary to manage the Community’s transport resources to optimum effect and hence to promote combined transport; (2) Whereas Commission Decision 93/45/EEC of 22 December 1992 concerning the granting of financial support for pilot schemes to promote combined in 1992, an transport (5) launched, (1) OJ C 343, 15. 11. 1996, p. 4 and OJ C 364, 2. 12. 1997, p. 5. (2) OJ C 89, 19. 3. 1997, p. 18. (3) OJ C 379, 15. 12. 1997, p. 47. (4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 June 1997 (OJ C 200, 30. 6. 1997, p. 137), Council Common Position of 17 March 1998 and Decision of the European Parliament of. (not yet published in the Official Journal). (5) OJ L 16, 25. 1. 1993, p. 55. experimental five-year scheme for the granting of financial assistance for pilot schemes to promote combined transport; whereas that scheme came to an end on 31 December 1996; (3) Whereas, therefore, Community action in this area is clearly useful; whereas this experimental scheme should be converted into a proper framework for Community action field of combined transport which takes account of the experience gained since 1992; the in (4) Whereas the main objective of Community action in the field of combined transport is to increase the competitiveness of this type of transport in order to provide alternatives to road transport which are acceptable to the user; whereas financial assistance for projects eligible under this Regulation can therefore be of direct benefit only to Member States and to natural or legal persons established in the Community, and solely in respect of expenditure and costs incurred on Community territory; (5) Whereas Member States and natural or legal persons established in the Community should be the only applicants submitting a combined transport project; whereas it is possible, however, for directly concerned third countries and persons established outside the Community to be associated with the submission of a project; (6) Whereas combined transport projects should cover commercial services relating type of transport; whereas Community financial assistance this to C 161/2 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 98 is consequently granted for innovative operational measures and for feasibility studies relating to them; whereas projects concerning infrastructure networks technological development projects are therefore excluded from the scope of this Regulation; research and and (7) Whereas the Community financial assistance referred to in this Regulation should be provided for a limited period; (8) Whereas it is advisable to allow applicants to submit projects which best match current market needs; whereas innovation should therefore not be discouraged by an over-rigid definition of innovative projects; (9) Whereas it is nevertheless necessary, during the project selection procedure, to ensure that the project chosen makes a real contribution to the common transport policy and does not cause unacceptable distortions of competition; (10) Whereas a financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 2 of the Declaration by the European Parliament, the Commission of 6 March 1995 (1), is included in this Regulation for the entire duration of the action provided for, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as they are defined by the Treaty; the Council and (11) Whereas the Commission should monitor the progress of projects in order to obtain the desired results; whereas respective powers and responsibilities of the Member States and the Commission with regard to financial control should be spelt out; the (12) Whereas the Commission should evaluate the procedures for implementing combined transport projects in order to assess whether the objectives originally set can be or have been attained; (13) Whereas the application of this Regulation should be monitored on a regular basis; whereas, to this end, the Commission should, two years after the Regulation enters into force, report on progress to the the European Parliament, Economic the and Committee of the Regions; the Council, and Social Committee (14) Whereas the activities financed should be the subject of appropriate information, publicity and transparency; projects; whereas this Regulation should therefore be of limited duration, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Objective for granting Community This Regulation specifies the conditions, detailed rules financial and procedures assistance to innovative projects, which contribute to the increased use of combined transport and encourage the transfer to more environmentally-friendly modes of transport through: traffic roads from of (a) increasing the competitiveness of combined transport as compared with exclusively road haulage; or (b) promoting the use of advanced technology in combined transport; or (c) improving the possibilities of supplying combined transport services. Article 2 Definitions and scope 1. For the purposes of this Regulation: — ‘combined transport’ means the transport of goods between Member States where the lorry, trailer, semi-trailer, with or without the tractor unit, swap body or container of 20 feet or more uses the road on the initial or final leg of the journey and, on the other leg, rail or inland waterway or maritime services, on the understanding that the road section is as short as possible, — ‘combined transport action’ means any action of an innovative nature aimed at achieving the objectives provided for in Article 1 and selected in accordance with Article 7. 2. Within the territory of the Community, combined transport actions shall primarily be covered by Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for transport the development of network (2). trans-European the (15) Whereas the purpose of the action covered by this Regulation is to help start up combined transport 3. However, combined transport actions may also cover routes situated partly outside Community territory, on the following conditions: (1) OJ C 293, 8. 11. 1995, p. 4. (2) OJ L 228, 9. 9. 1996, p. 1. 27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/3 — the action must be carried out in the interests of the common transport policy, as in the case of projects concerning transit third countries in the context of an intra-Community transport operation, Article 5 Eligible expenditure and costs — the action must cover the territory of at least one Member State. Article 3 Eligible projects Eligible projects constitute: are innovative projects which (a) innovative operational measures; (b) feasibility studies which plan and prepare innovative operational measures. Article 4 Applicants submitting projects Any Member State or any public or private natural 1. or legal person, established within the Community, may submit a project to the Commission. Without prejudice to Article 2(3), as a general rule the project should be submitted by two or more public or private natural or legal persons who are nationals of at least two Member States. When a project is submitted in accordance with the first subparagraph, any third country and any public or private natural or legal person, established outside the Community and directly concerned, may be associated with the submission of that project on the understanding that they receive no Community support under this Regulation. the development of 2. Where the project involves exercising rights of access to the rail infrastructure as provided for in Article 10 of Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the Community’s railways (1), Community financial assistance shall be granted only to railway undertakings which hold a licence within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19 June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings (2). (1) OJ L 237, 24. 8. 1991, p. 25. (2) OJ L 143, 27. 6. 1995, p. 70. 1. Regarding expenditure and costs in respect of innovative operational measures, Community financial assistance shall be limited to a maximum of 30 %. The eligible expenditure and costs may include inter alia: (a) (b) leasing or amortisation of the cost of hiring, combinations of vehicles — trailers, semi-trailers, with or without tractor unit, swap bodies or containers of 20 feet or more; lorries, the cost of hiring, leasing or amortisation and of making the adjustments necessary to complete the planned action successfully, in respect of rolling stock (including locomotives) and inland waterway and sea vessels subject, with regard to inland waterway vessels, to compliance with the specific rules on structural improvements to inland waterway transport; (c) investment expenditure or the cost of hiring, elasing or amortisation in respect of installations permitting transhipment between railways, inland waterways, shipping routes and roads; (d) the cost of using rail, inland waterway and maritime infrastructures, with the exception of harbour dues and transhipment costs; (e) expenditure relating to the commercial operation of techniques, technologies or equipment previously transport tested and approved, information technology; in particular (f) the cost of measures related to staff training and the dissemination of project results, as well as expenses for information and communication action taken in order to make new combined transport services known to the relevant transport industry. Expenditure and/or costs under (a), (b), (c) and (e) are eligible provided that the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the assistance undertake to keep the equipment for which assistance has been granted on the route concerned throughout the duration of the contract. Community 2. in respect of feasibility studies shall be limited to a maximum of 50 %. financial assistance 3. The Community financial assistance provided for by this Regulation shall directly benefit Member States and the persons referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 4(1), in respect of the expenditure and costs incurred in Community territory. C 161/4 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 98 This assistance shall be granted for a maximum period of three financial years. — contribution of the project to the development and use of trans-European transport networks; 4. When examining a project extending beyond Community territory submitted under this Regulation, the possibilities of the Commission shall consider financing the part of the project situated outside the Community by means of other Community budgetary instruments, to ensure efficient use of Community resources. in order Article 6 Submission of projects 1. Projects for combined transport actions shall be submitted to the Commission. The submission shall the contain all Commission to make its selection in accordance with Article 7. the elements necessary to enable The submission of an innovative operational 2. measures project shall describe the project, taking into account the following elements: (a) identification of the project and the applicants submitting it, its general objectives and the financial assistance requested; (b) project objectives: — customer potential for combined transport, time gains) — prices and service performance (accessibility, reliability, in comparison with competing transport services, in particular road transport (at the time of submission and after implementation of the project), — envisaged receipts, — cost factors (particularly elements for evaluating the marginal cost of access to the infrastructure, particularly rail, for the service covered by the action and any further information enabling a judgment to be made as to whether aid towards the costs of infrastructure access is justified), — timetable for viability, — compatibility and interoperability; (c) contribution of the project to the common transport policy — benefits to the environment and safety when in existing compared with in terms of the balance between particular different modes, making it possible, inter alia, to develop combined long-distance transport, situation, the — effects on other competing transport services in the relevant market and possible new entrants, (d) project characteristics: — identification of modes of transport, natural or legal persons involved and cooperation planned, — reason for envisaged project (customer requests, congestion, market potential, remoteness of area, etc. ), — innovative features in comparison with current situation, — duration of project, — need for assistance and information on the other sources of financing planned for the project as a whole, — market conditions, including existing technologies and services, taking account also of other modes; (e) financial statement itemising all the costs in ecus and the amount in ecus of aid applied for in respect of each eligible heading. 3. The submission of a feasibility study project must describe the project taking into account the following elements: — information available on the content of points (a) to (e) of paragraph 2, — organisation of tasks, and implementation phases and timetable, — broad lines and summary of the study project. The Commission shall forward to the Committee 4. referred to in Article 8 the list of projects submitted to it, accompanied by a summary of eligible projects. Article 7 Selection of projects — Granting of financial assistance The Commission shall decide whether to grant financial assistance under this Regulation taking into account, for the selection of the project, the objectives referred to in Article 1, and the information referred to in Article 6(2) and (3) as appropriate, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8. It shall inform all beneficiaries and all Member States concerned directly of its decision. Article 8 Committee — relevance of project results for other natural or legal persons, other routes, or other participants, 1. Where reference is made to the procedure laid down in this Article, the Commission shall be assisted by a 27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/5 Committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. The Commission shall inform the Member States of 6. the payments made and of the activity reports accepted. 2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote. 3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee. (b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority. is delivered, If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission. Article 9 Financial provisions 1. Financial assistance may be granted for expenditure on the implementation of combined transport actions carried out by the beneficiaries or by third parties who have been made responsible for implementation. 2. Financial assistance shall not cover expenditure incurred before the date on which the Commission received the application. Commitments and payments shall be expressed and 3. paid in ecus. 4. As a general rule, payments shall be made in the form of advances and a final payment. The first advance shall be paid once the application for financial assistance has been approved. Subsequent payments shall be made on the basis of requests for payment and taking into account progress with the project. The Commission shall make the final payment after 5. approval of an activity report on the study or other measure submitted by the beneficiary and itemising all the expenditure actually incurred. Article 10 Financial reference amount The financial reference amount for the implementation of the actions provided for in this Regulation, for the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001, is ECU 35 million. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budget authority within the limits of the financial perspective. Article 11 Financial control in accordance with national 1. Without prejudice to inspections carried out by Member States laws, the regulations and administrative provisions, provisions of Article 188a of the Treaty, and to inspections carried out under Article 209(c) of the Treaty, officials or other staff of the Commission may visit the sites of supported combined transport actions to carry out spot checks. to 2. If the implementation of a combined transport action appears not to correspond, wholly or in part, to the the project approved and/or Commission shall conduct appropriate investigations. its objectives, to the referred Following investigations 3. in paragraph 2, the Commission may reduce, suspend or withdraw financial assistance for the combined transport action if the investigation confirms that there is some irregularity or that the conditions set out in the decision granting the financial assistance have not been met, particularly if there is an important change which affects the nature or conditions of implementation of the combined transport action and if the beneficiaries had not obtained prior approval from the Commission. Article 12 Monitoring and evaluation execution The Commission shall be responsible for the 1. the financial Regulation. In order to ensure that Community aid is used efficiently, the Commission shall monitor and implementation of combined transport evaluate the implementation of and C 161/6 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 98 actions during and after their completion. On completion of a combined transport action and before final payment, the Commission shall carry out an evaluation of it, taking into account a report by the beneficiary showing how money has been spent and demonstrating the extent to which traffic forecasts have been achieved. 2. Up to 1 % of the budget provided for in this Regulation shall be set aside for independent monitoring and evaluation. Article 14 Publicity The beneficiaries of Community aid shall ensure that proper publicity is given to the assistance granted under this Regulation to make the public aware of the role played by the Community in implementing combined transport actions. They shall consult the Commission on how this is to be done. 3. The monitoring and evaluation procedures referred to in this Article shall be defined by the contracts, based on accordance with adopted Article 7(1). the decisions in Article 13 Report Two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall submit a report on the activities carried out under it to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. It shall take the utmost account of the comments made by the other institutions and bodies on the report. The report shall be accompanied, if need be, by appropriate proposals for adjusting the orientation of the actions provided for in this Regulation. The application of this Regulation shall be evaluated in line with Commission evaluation principles. The result of this evaluation shall be available by 1 October 2001. Article 15 Duration The granting of financial assistance for combined transport under this Regulation shall be authorised from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001. Article 16 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels,. For the Council The President 27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/7 STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS I. INTRODUCTION On 9 October 1996, the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Regulation, based on Article 75(1) of the EC Treaty, concerning the granting of Community financial assistance for actions to promote the combined transport of goods (1). The European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal on 12 June 1997 (2), while the Economic and Social Committee delivered its on 29 January 1997 (3) and the Committee of the Regioins its on 17 September 1997 (4). In the light of the European Parliament’s opinion, the Commission submitted an amended proposal to the Council on 31 October 1997 (5). On 17 March 1998, the Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 189c of the EC Treaty. II. AIM OF THE PROPOSAL The amended Commission proposal, which includes all or part of three European Parliament amendments, aims to provide for a specific system of Community assistance for combined transport, based on a Regulation and designed to encourage the transfer of existing or future traffic from roads to more environmentally friendly modes of transport. By means of its proposal for a Regulation, the Commission aims to convert the experimental scheme, which it launched in June 1992 in the form of the PACT programme (Pilot actions for combined transport) aimed at promoting combined transport, into a more structured arrangement (6). On 22 December 1992 the Commission adopted Decision 93/45/EEC (7), as part of the above programme, with a view to granting financial support, spread over a five-year period (1992—1996), for the launching of new combined transport services. As in the case of the PACT programme, the proposal for a Regulation covers a period of five years (1997—2001). Like the PACT programme, the scope of the proposed Regulation covers primarily combined transport services on routes situated in Community territory, but also, under certain conditions, routes partly situated outside the Community. However, whereas the PACT programme took account of maritime transport only when it constituted, for a region of the Community, the sole possible means of access to the rest of the Community, the new programme also includes amongst the eligible categories of action those covering coastal navigation. (1) OJ C 343, 15. 11. 1996, p. 4. (2) OJ C 200, 30. 6. 1997, p. 137. (3) OJ C 89, 19. 3. 1997, p. 18. (4) OJ C 379, 15. 12. 1997, p. 47. (5) OJ C 364, 2. 12. 1997, p. 5. (6) COM(92) 230 final of 11 June 1992. (7) Commission Decision 93/45/EEC of 22 December 1992 concerning the granting of financial support for pilot schemes to promote combined transport (OJ L 16, 25. 1. 1993, p. 55). C 161/8 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 98 The scope of the proposal does not include measures for the construction and adaptation of the transport infrastructure network and technological research projects. The proposal concerns the co-financing of short-term projects designed to improve the quality of the service of combined transport. The proposal for a Regulation makes provision in particular for the following: — for a period of up to three years: — the granting of Community financial assistance, limited to 50 % of the total cost, for feasibility studies on a given innovative scheme, — the co-financing, limited to 30 % of the total cost, of innovative measures. Considerable flexibility of use is provided for, — the improvement of the procedures for project submission, selection, monitoring and evaluation, — the granting by the Commission of financial assistance in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 2(II)(a), of the Council Decision on committee procedure (1), — financial control of projects, — dissemination of the results of each project. III. ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL’S COMMON POSITION The common position adopted by the Council corresponds very largely to the Commission proposal but includes the following changes: 1. Scope of combined transport projects (a) Territory covered by the combined transport action Article 2(3) stipulates, as the Commission proposes in its Article 2(2), that a combined transport action may, under certain conditions, cover routes outside Community territory. However, whereas the Commission makes the actions in question subject to the amount of traffic leaving or entering the Community, the common position makes it a condition that an action be carried out in the interests of the common transport policy and that it concern the territory of at least one Member State. (b) Applicants submitting a combined transport project The first subparagraph of Article 4(1) stipulates that any Member State and any public or private natural or legal person, established within the Community, may submit a combined transport project to the Commission. The third subparagraph of Article 4(1) stipulates that third countries and public or private natural or legal persons, established outside the Community and directly concerned, may be associated, in presenting a project, with the Community applicants referred to above. In contrast, Article 5(1) of the amended Commission proposal also makes provision for the submission of projects by non-Community undertakings. (c) Beneficiaries of financial assistance under the Regulation Article 5(3) indicates that the beneficiaries of the financial assistance provided for by this Regulation are the Member States and any public or private natural or legal (1) Council Decision of 13 July 1987 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (OJ L 197, 18. 7. 1987, p. 33). 27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/9 person, established within the Community, in respect of the expenditure and costs incurred in Community territory. In the case of projects relating to routes situated partially outside Community territory, Community assistance is limited, under the Regulation, to the Community part of the route. The Council does not intend to call into question the possibility of other Community instruments granting financial support to certain combined transport projects but, in its view, the purpose of the draft Regulation is to provide support only to the part of the route situated in Community territory. In addition, the Council stressed the difficulty of making on-the-spot checks in third countries under the Regulation. As indicated in 1(b) above, Article 5(1) of the amended Commission proposal allows non-Community undertakings to submit projects to the Commission. Since the proposal neither states explicitly who can benefit from Community financial support nor does it specify that: — third countries and natural or legal persons established outside Community territory are excluded from such support, — support is not granted for expenditure and costs incurred on the non-Community part of the route, it follows that the Commission did not intend to limit grant of the aid. 2. Change in the type of committee appointed to assist the Commission in granting financial support Whereas the Commission proposal provides for a type IIa committee, Article 8 of the Council’s common position provides for a type IIIa committee. 3. Financial reference amount Article 10 of the common position adds a new Article to the Regulation, which specifies the financial reference amount laid down for the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001, namely ECU 35 million. IV. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AMENDMENTS 1. European Parliament amendments adopted by the Council The Council followed the Commission proposal by adopting the following European Parliament amendments: — amendment 2, first part, which is helpful in aiming to specify, in Article 4(1)(b), that innovative measures introduced under this Regulation shall consist of investments in specific operational measures. Article 3(a) of the Council’s common position includes specific operational measures among eligible projects, — amendment 3, which seeks to include in Article 6(3)(d) the possibility of granting assistance for the cost of access to the inland waterway infrastructure. In order to avoid any discrimination between modes of transport other than road transport, the Council added the following to the eligible expenditure and costs: — the cost of hiring, leasing or amortisation and of making the adjustments necessary to complete the planned action successfully, with regard not C 161/10 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 98 only to inland waterway vessels, subject to compliance with the specific rules on structural improvements, but also to sea vessels (Article 5(1)(b) of the common position), — the cost of using inland waterways and sea routes, with the exception of harbour dues and transhipment costs (Article 5(1)(d), — amendment 4, first part, seeking to replace Article 6(4)(a) by a provision, which includes among the criteria to be taken into account when assessing a project the degree of harmonisation with the main routes of trans-European networks or trans-European rail freight corridors. In Article 6(2)(c) of the common position, the Council took into consideration the part of the amendment which concerned the importance of the project in terms of the development and use of trans-European networks. 2. European Parliament amendments not adopted by the Council — amendment 1 and amendment 7, second part — amendment 1, seeking to add a new paragraph 4a to Article 3 to make clear that the eligible measures include those which can be combined with PHARE projects in the CCEE and with projects financed by the Cohesion Fund in countries qualifying therefor, — amendment 7, second part, which seeks to provide that the Commission shall ensure, when taking decisions with the aid of the Committee, that due consideration is given to projects which link up with the CCEE and where there are synergies with the PHARE programme. Article 5(3) of the Council’s common position lays down that Community financial assistance shall be granted only for the expenditure and costs incurred in Community territory by a project situated partially outside the Community. However, Article 5(4) of the Council’s common position provides that, when examining a project extending beyond Community territory, the Commission shall consider the possibilities of financing the part of the project situated outside the Community by means of other Community budgetary instruments, in order to ensure efficient use of Community resources. — amendment 2, second part, which seeks to amend Article 4(2) of the amended proposal by increasing Community financial assistance for innovative measures from 30 % to 50 % and reducing support for studies from 50 % to 30 %. However, in Article 5(1) and (2) of the common position, the Council felt it advisable to reduce the funding percentage for operations and to increase that for studies in order to prevent Community assistance from having too great an influence on the market and distorting competition, — amendment 4, second part, which seeks to add to Article 6(4)(a) a reference to the importance of a project being able to provide an effective link in the area where the combined transport operates. The Council felt this amendment was irrelevant, — amendment 9, seeking to add a paragraph 1a to Article 6 which provides that the Commission, when selecting projects, shall strike a balance between the regions and the Member States and shall ensure that its decisions do not lead to distortions in competition between the regions and the Member States. The Council felt that selection criteria should not be laid down which might result in discrimination between regions, 27. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 161/11 — amendment 5, seeking to amend Article 6(5)(d) (see common position, Article 4(2)), in order to provide that railway undertakings may take part in a project even though they do not yet hold the Community licence provided for by Directive 95/18/EC (1), but have merely applied for one. The Council thought it preferable not to relax unnecessarily the conditions which railway undertakings were required to fulfil. It also pointed out that, under Article 15 of Directive 95/18/EC, the licensing authority had to take a decision on an application not more than three months after all the relevant information had been submitted. The Council therefore did not adopt amendment 5 for reason of legal certainty, — amendment 6, seeking to add a new paragraph 7a to Article 6, so that 10 % of the funding for the programme may be reserved, as a priority, for projects directly implementing the results of innovative research. The Council felt that certain types of project should not be given priority over others, — amendment 7, first part, seeking to provide that the Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an advisory nature. However, Article 8 of the common position provides that the Commission shall be assisted by a type IIIa committee, thus enabling Member States and, where appropriate, the Council, to intervene in the decision-making process, — amendment 8, seeking to add a new paragraph to Article 13 stipulating that, in the context of the eastward enlargement of the Union, there should be discussions in 1999 on increasing the financial framework of the programme (a further ECU 4 million per year). The Council pointed out that the common position did not grant financial assistance for projects situated in third countries and that the amendment was not compatible with the Community financial perspective. (1) Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19 June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings (OJ L 143, 27. 6. 1995, p. 70)