Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Information and Observation Network'
C 374/10 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 12. 1999 Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Information and Observation Network’ (1999/C 374/03) THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, having regard to the list of Commission proposals pending at 1 May 1999 for which the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam implies a change in the legal base and/or a change in procedure (SEC (1999) 581 final); having regard to Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Information and Observation Network [COM(1997) 489 final — 97/0256 (COD)] (1); having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 14 July 1999, under the first paragraph of Article 265 and the first paragraph of Article 175 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions on the matter; having regard to the Decision of its President of 2 August 1999 to appoint Mr Jean Asselborn (L), PES, as Rapporteur General to draw up an opinion on this subject, in accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee of the Regions; having regard to the Committee of the Regions Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European environment information and observation network (COM(97) 282 final) (CdR 300/97 fin) (2) (Rapporteur: Jean Asselborn (L), PES), adopted 12 March 1998, adopted unanimously the following opinion at its 30th plenary session on 15 and 16 September 1999 (meeting of 15 September). The Committee of the Regions issued an Opinion on the Commission’s proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European environment information and observation network, which was adopted 12 March in 1998. — the regional and local authorities should have priority access to the Agency’s information network and the EIONET network to be open to local and regional auth- orities. In its previous opinion the Committee of the Regions empha- sised that: The Committee of the Regions urges the Commission to take these comments into consideration for any future amendments of the Regulation. — the Environment Agency has carried out a good work to date, but that it is too early to assign it new tasks; — the Environment Agency should be open to third countries; — the regions should be integrated into the network as the base unit for assessing the state of the environment in Europe; — the Committee of the Regions would like to be involved in the Agency and be represented on its the work of management board; (1) OJ C 335, 6. 11. 1997, p. 16. (2) OJ C 255, 20. 8. 1997, p. 9; OJ C 180, 11. 6. 1998, p. 32. The Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on the establish- ment of the European Environment Agency, amends only two paragraphs of the previous regulation. The paragraphs regard financial control and the power of discharge, which are subjects that the Committee of the Regions did not comment on in its previous opinion. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the proposal that discharge should be granted by the European Parliament on the recommendation of the Management Board of the European Environment Agency, in accordance with Article 276 of the Treaty of Amsterdam. 23. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374/11 The Committee of the Regions also supports the proposal that the financial control of the European Environment Agency should be exercised by the Commission’s Financial Controller, to secure an independent and uniform system. Brussels, 15 September 1999. The President of the Committee of the Regions Manfred DAMMEYER Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Commission report to the European Council “Better lawmaking 1998 — a shared responsibility”’ (1999/C 374/04) THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty) and, in particular, Article 5 thereof; having regard to the Amsterdam Treaty, and in particular, Protocol No 7 on the implementation of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and Declaration No 39 on the quality of the drafting of Community legislation; having regard to the conclusions of the Vienna European Council of 11 and 12 December 1998, which stated that the future ‘Better lawmaking’ reports should be submitted in time to allow an detailed analysis, not least within the Committee of the Regions; having regard to the Commission’s report to the European Council ‘Better lawmaking 1998 — a shared responsibility’ COM(1998) 715 final; having regard to the European Parliament resolution on the Commission’s report to the Council ‘Better lawmaking 1997’, adopted on 18 December 1998; having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 10 March 1999, in accordance with Article 198c para. 4 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to issue an opinion on this matter and to instruct the Commission for Institutional Affairs to draw up this opinion; having regard to its opinion of 11 March 1999 on the principle of subsidiarity ‘Developing a genuine culture of subsidiarity. An appeal by the Committee of the Regions’ (CdR 302/98 fin) (1); having regard to the draft opinion adopted by the Commission for Institutional Affairs on 27 April 1999 (CdR 50/99 rev. 1) (rapporteur: Mercedes Bresso); whereas the principle of subsidiarity, introduced into the present Article 5 of the EC Treaty by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, is a dynamic constitutional principle designed to ensure that decisions are taken as close to the citizens of Europe as possible; (1) OJ C 198, 14. 7. 1999, p. 73