Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Lead | ENVI | COLLINS Kenneth D. (PSE) | |
Opinion | JURI | GEBHARDT Evelyne (PSE) |
Legal Basis RoP 132
Activites
- #2030
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1997/10/07
Council Meeting
- #2017
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1997/06/19
Council Meeting
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1997/06/02
Final act published in Official Journal
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1997/05/14
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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T4-0232/1997
summary
In adopting the report by Ken COLLINS (PSE, UK), by 444 votes to 0, with 3 abstentions, Parliament called on the Commission to codify Community environmental legislation in order to improve its coherence and transparency and to propose legislation to ensure that a certain proportion of Community appropriations is earmarked annually for the implementation of environmental legislation and for the Community budget to give priority to environmental objectives. The report proposes a two-tier series of measures: (1) It calls on the Commission to: - propose legislation requiring each Member State to have an environmental inspectorate, to be subject to monitoring and oversight by the Commission; - bring forward proposals which link its own work with that of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and of the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) in order to ensure adequate monitoring of the national inspection agencies; - introduce a legislative proposal on access to justice giving individuals and organizations a right of legal standing before their national courts in the case of alleged breaches of Community environmental legislation; - bring forward proposals for the thorough application of Article 171 of the EC Treaty to breaches of environmental law (payment by a Member State of a lump sum or penalty for failure to comply with a Court judgment); - make official communications between it and the Member States related to Article 169 of the EC Treaty (failure to fulfil obligations under the Treaty) available to Parliament; (2) It calls on the IGC to: - ensure that all environmental legislation is subject to the codecision procedure; - to amend the Treaty so as to allow certain organisations to challenge Community decisions on environmental matters before the Court of Justice. Plenary also adopted an amendment calling on the Council and the Commission to publish all declarations adopted in connection with environmental legislation. �
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T4-0232/1997
summary
- 1997/05/13 Debate in Parliament
- 1997/03/20 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
- #1990
- 1997/03/03 Council Meeting
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1996/11/15
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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1996/10/22
Non-legislative basic document published
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COM(1996)0500
summary
OBJECTIVE: the Commission communication seeks to define the guidelines which will facilitate monitoring of and respect for Union environmental legislation in the Member States. SUBSTANCE: the current situation with regard to the implementation of Community environmental law is a matter for concern and must be improved: in 1995 the Commission registered a total of 265 suspected breaches of Community environmental legislation which represented 20% of all the infringements registered in that year. In October 1996 the Commission was dealing with over 600 environmental complaints and infringement cases of which 85 were pending before the Court of Justice. In this Communication the Commission considers the means which can be used to ensure respect for Community legislation at all the levels concerned without systematically involving legal proceedings pursuant to Article 169 of the EC Treaty. To this end the Commission presents three proposals intend to rationalize the implementation of the legislation and to offer European citizens the information and powers needed to ensure respect for environmental law: 1) the development of Community-wide minimum criteria for the carrying out of inspection tasks by Member State authorities; at a later stage the Commission will consider the possible need to create a Community body with auditing competencies; 2) the establishment in the Member States of complaints and investigations procedures which will allow complaints from the public to be examined; 3) an increase in the opportunties for environmental cases to be dealt with by national courts through broader access for the relevant organizations with regard to Community environmental law issues. With regard to reinforcing existing systems, the Commission suggests improvements in the various areas in Community environmental law and policy where current practices show shortcomings, namely: the quality of legislation, transparency, cooperation at Community and Member State level, monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of legislation, knowledge of Community environmental law among practitioners of the law and the integration of Community funding into the implementation of Community environmental law. It envisages in particular the systematic introduction in new Community legislation or in the revision of existing texts of a provision requiring Member States to making provision in national law for sanctions where Community legislation has not been implemented. �
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COM(1996)0500
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1996)0500
- Debate in Council: 1990
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0109/1997
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0232/1997
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