COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 23
December 1991 standardizing and rationalizing

reports on the
implementation  of certain Directives
relating to the

environment (91/692/EEC)

 

THE
COUNCIL OF THE  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

 

Having
regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity,
and in particular Article  130s thereof,

 

Having
regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

 

Having
regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

 

Having
regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),

 

Whereas
some Community Directives relating to the environmentrequire the
Member States to  establish a report on
the measures takento implement them; whereas the Commission drafts a  consolidatedreport; whereas other
Community Directives relating to the environmentcall for no  such reports;

 

Whereas
the existing provisions on the establishment of reportsstipulate
different intervals  between reports and
set differentrequirements for their content;

 

Whereas
such an obligation should be introduced to enable the MemberStates and
the Commission  alike to assess the
progress made inimplementing these Directives throughout the Community's  territoryand, at the same time,
to provide the general public with a source ofinformation on this  subject;

 

Whereas
the existing provisions should therefore be harmonized tomake them
more consistent and  more complete on a
sectoral basis;

 

Whereas
the interval at which the Member States submit these reportsto the
Commission should be  fixed at three
years, with a one-yearinterval between sectors; whereas the reports are to be
drawn  up onthe basis
of a questionnaire produced by the Commission with theassistance
of a committee  and sent to Member
States six months beforethe start of the period referred to by the report;  whereas theCommission is to publish
a consolidated report on the sector concernedwithin nine  months of Member States' submission of their
respectivereports;

 

Whereas,
in particular, the report on the implementation of CouncilDirective
76/160/EEC of 8  December 1975
concerning the quality ofbathing water (4), as last amended by the 1985 Act of  Accession,should appear annually and
in sufficient time to inform the public ofthe quality of  bathing water for the most recent period.

 

Whereas
the measures which need to be taken by Member States do notentail the
adoption of  legislation or regulations
since thedrawing-up of reports on the implementation of
Community  Directivesdoes not at
present require the adoption of such provisions by MemberStates,

 

 

 

 

 

HAS
ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

 

Article 1

 

The
purpose of this Directive is to rationalize and improve on a

sectoral
basis the provisions on the transmission of information and

the
publication of reports  concerning
certain Community Directives on

the
protection of the environment, without prejudice to  the

provisions
of the first indent of Article 155 of the Treaty.

 

Article 2

 

1.  The provisions listed in Annex I shall be
replaced by thefollowing:

 

'At
intervals of three years the Member States shall sendinformation
to the Commission on the  implementation
of thisDirective, in the form of a sectoral report which shall also
coverother  pertinent
Community Directives. This report shall be drawn upon the
basis of a questionnaire or  outline
drafted by the Commissionin accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6
of  Directive91/692/EEC
(*). The questionaire or outline shall be sent to theMember
States six months  before the start of
the period covered bythe report. The report shall be sent to the Commission  within ninemonths of the end of the
three-year period covered by it.

 

The
first report shall cover the period from 1993 to 1995 inclusive.

 

The
Commission shall publish a Community report on theimplementation
of the Directive within nine  months of
receiving thereports from the Member States.

 

2.  The text set out inparagraph 1
shall be inserted into the Directives listed in Annex IIas  there indicated.

 

(*) OJ N° L
377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.`

 

 

Article 3

 

     Article 13 of Directive 76/160/EEC shall
be replaced by thefollowing:

 

 'Article 13

Every
year, and for the first time by 31 December 1993,the Member States shall
send to the  Commission a report on theimplementation
of this Directive in the current year. The report shall

 be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire
or outline drafted by theCommission in accordance with  the procedure laid down in Article 6 ofDirective
91/692/EEC (*). The questionnaire or outline 
shall be sentto the Member States six months before the start of the
period covered

by
the report.  The report shall be made to
the Commission before theend of the year in question.

 

The
Commission shall publish a Community report on theimplementation
of the Directive within four  months of
receiving thereports from the Member States.

 

 

(*) OJ N° L
377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.`

 

Article 4

 

1.  The provisions listed in Annex III shall be
replaced by thefollowing:

 

'At
intervals of three years the Member States shall sendinformation
to the Commission on the  implementation
of thisDirective, in the form of a sectoral report which shall also
coverother  pertinent
Community Directives. This report shall be drawn upon the
basis of a questionnaire or  outline
drafted by the Commissionin accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6
of  Directive91/692/EEC
(*). The questionnaire or outline shall be sent to theMember
States six  months before the start of
the period covered bythe report. The report shall be sent to the   Commission within ninemonths of
the end of the three-year period covered by it.

 

The
first report shall cover the period from 1994 to 1996 inclusive.

 

The
Commission shall publish a Community report on theimplementation
of the Directive within nine  months of
receiving thereports from the Member States.

 

2.  The text set out inparagraph 1
shall be inserted into the Directive listed in Annex IV asthere
indicated.

 

3.  The following text shall be inserted into
the Directives listedin Annex V as there indicated:

 

'The
Commission shall each year communicate to the Member States theinformation
it has received  pursuant to
this Article.`

 

 

(*) OJ N° L
377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.`

 

 

Article 5

 

The
provisions listed in Annex VI shall be replaced by thefollowing:

 

'At
intervals of three years Member States shall send information tothe
Commission on the  implementation of
this Directive, in the formof a sectoral report which shall also cover
other  pertinent CommunityDirectives.
The report shall be drawn up on the basis other of aquestionnaire  or outline drafted by the Commission in
accordance withthe procedure laid down in Article 6 of  Directive 91/692/EEC (*). Thequestionnaire
or outline shall be sent to the Member States six

months
before the start of the period covered by the report. Thereport
shall be made to the  Commission within
nine months of the endof the three-year period covered by it.

 

The
first report shall cover the period 1995 to 1997 inclusive.

 

The
Commission shall publish a Community report on theimplementation
of the Directive within nine  months of
receiving thereports from the Member States.

 

 

(*) OJ N° L
377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.`

 

 

 

 

Article 6

 

The
Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of therepresentatives
of the  Member States and chaired by therepresentatives
of the Commission.

 

The
representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee adraft of
measures to be taken.  The committee
shall deliver itsopinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman
may laydown according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion
shall bedelivered by the majority laid  down in Article 148 (2) of the Treatyin the case
of decisions which the Council is required to 
adopt on aproposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives
of theMember States  within
the committee shall be weighted in the mannerset out in that Article.
The chairman shall  not vote.

 

The
Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately.However, if
these measures are  not in accordance
with the opinion ofthe committee, they shall be communicated by the
Commission  to theCouncil
forthwith. In that event:

 

-
the Commission may defer applications of the measures which it hasdecided for
a period of not  more than one month
from the date of suchcommunication,

-
the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a differentdecision
within the time limit  referred to in
the first indent.

  

Article 7

 

1.  The Member States shall take such measures
as are needed tocomply with the 
provisions of:

 

-
Articles 2 and 3 by 1 January 1993 at the latest,

-
Article 4 by 1 January 1994 at the latest,

-
Article 5 by 1 January 1995 at the latest.

 

They
shall immediately notify the Commission of the measures taken.

 

2.  The existing provisions of the various
Directives which havebeen amended by new provisions  shall remain in force until the datesmentioned
in the first subparagraph 1.

 

3.  When Member States adopt the measures
referred to in paragraph 1, they shall contain
a  reference to this Directive or shall
beaccompanied by such reference on the occasion of their  officialpublication. The methods
of making such a reference shall be laid downby the Member  States.

   

Article 8

 

This
Directive is addressed to the Member States.

 

Done at Brussels, 23
December 1991.

For the CouncilThe
President

V. VAN ROOY

 

 






(1)OJ N° C
214, 29. 8. 1990, p. 6.

(2)OJ N° C
19, 28. 1. 1991, p. 587.

(3)OJ N° C
60, 8. 3. 1991, p. 15.

(4)OJ N° L
31, 5. 2. 1976, p. 1.






                                ANNEX I

 

Directives
amended in accordance with Article 2 (1) of thisDirective

 

(a)  Article 13 (1) of Council Directive
76/464/EEC of 4 May 1976 onpollution caused by certain  dangerous substances discharged into theaquatic
environment of the Community (1).

 

(b)
Article 14 of Council Directive 78/176/EEC of 20 February 1978on waste
from the titanium oxide  industry (2),
as amended byDirective 83/29/EEC (3).

 

(c)
Article 16 of Council Directive 78/659/EEC of 18 July 1978 onthe quality
of fresh waters  needing protection or
improvement inorder to support fish life (4), as last amended by the
1985  Act ofAccession.

 

(d)
Article 8 of Council Directive 79/869/EEC of 9 October 1979concerning
the methods of  measurement and
frequencies of sampling andanalysis of surface water intended for the
abstraction  of drinkingwater in
the Member States (5), as last amended by Directive81/855/EEC
(6).

 

(e)
Article 14 of Council Directive 79/923/EEC of 30 October 1979 onthe quality
required of  shellfish waters (7).

 

(f)
Article 16 (1) of Council Directive 80/68/EEC of 17 December 1979
on the protection of  groundwater
against pollution caused bycertain dangerous substances (8).

 

(g)
Article 5 (1) and (2) (1) first subparagraph of CouncilDirective
82/176/EEC of 22 March 1982  on limit
values and qualityobjectives for mercury discharges by the chlor-alkali
electrolysis    industry (9).

 

(h)
Article 5 (1) and (2) of Council Directive 83/513/EEC of 26September
1983 on limit values and  quality
objectives for cadmiumdischarges (10).

 

(i)
Article 6 (1) of Council Directive 84/156/EEC of 8 March 1984 onlimit
values and quality  objectives for
mercury discharges by sectorsother than the chlor-alkali electrolysis
industry  (11).

 

(j)
Article 5 (1) and (2) of Council Directive 84/491/EEC of 9October
1982 on limit values and  quality
objectives for discharges ofhexachlorcyclohexane (12).

 

(k)
Article 6 (1) and (2) of Council Directive 86/280/EEC of 12 June1986 on
limit values and  quality objectives for
discharge of certaindangerous substances included in list I of the Annex to  Directive76/464/EEC (13), as last
amended by Directive 90/415/E