The Committee on the Environment, Public Health
and Food Safety adopted the report by Adina-Ioana VĂLEAN (EPP,
RO) on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
of the Council on the alignment of reporting obligations in the
field of environment policy and thereby amending Directives
86/278/EEC, 2002/49/EC, 2004/35/EC, 2007/2/EC, 2009/147/EC and
2010/63/EU, Regulations (EC) No 166/2006 and (EU) No 995/2010, and
Council Regulations (EC) No 338/97 and (EC) No
2173/2005.
As a reminder, the proposed Regulation seeks to
streamline the alignment of reporting obligations of the
environment-related legislation, updating specific provisions of 10
sectoral directives and regulations.
The committee recommended that the European
Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary
legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as
follows.
Purpose: Members considered that the
Regulation should aim to modernise information management
and ensure a more consistent approach to the legislative acts
within its scope by simplifying reporting so as to reduce the
administrative burden (notably for SMEs), enhancing the database
for future evaluations, and increasing transparency for the benefit
of the public, each time in accordance with the
circumstances.
The proposed amendments aim in particular
to:
- offer a more transparent access to clear
environmental information for various stakeholders, including
the public, and contribute inter alia to priority objective 4 of
the 7th Environment Action Programme. For example, the Commission
shall continue to carry out at regular intervals the evaluation of
Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial
Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and make this
evaluation available to the public. Comprehensive, accurate and
comparable information shall be made public with regard to the
assessment of Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council relating to the assessment and management of
environmental noise;
- clarify the definitions of various terms in the
basic acts covered by the proposal or detailing certain terms, for
example by introducing the new definition of 'spatial data
services';
-
strengthen the role of
co-legislators, including the
European Parliament, and clarify the role of the European
Environment Agency in the overall reporting and monitoring
exercise;
- provide that the Commission shall adopt a delegated
act to amend Annex VI to Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental
liability as regards the detailed criteria to be applied for the
classification of the scale and type of environmental
damage;
- introduce in Directive 2010/63/EC (animals used for
scientific purposes) a requirement for the Commission not only to
publish but also to regularly provide update on a Union overview
based on the data submitted by the Member States;
- impose a clear deadline on Member States (by 31 March
each year) for the communication to the Commission, by electronic
transfer, of all the required data specified in Regulation (EC) No
166/2006 (European Pollutant Release and Transfer
Register);
- reduce the reference period for Commission reports
from six to five years for Regulation (EC) No 995/2010 (the Timber
Regulation) so as to allow Parliament to examine Commission reports
and possible legislative proposals during each parliamentary
term.