/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL
ENVIRONMENT
Directorate B - Natural Capital
ENV.B.3 - Nature

Brussels, 10.4.2014

DG ENV B3/SL

Note to the Members of the ORNIS and the Habitats Committee

Subject: Adapting Working Practices to the new rules on committees and expert groups

Summary

The current practice of holding committee meetings under the Birds and Habitats Directives will need to change. In future only those points that are directly related to particular provisions in the directives that clearly give a role to the committees (e.g. implementation acts such as Union Lists) should be discussed in committee meetings, all other points relating to the general implementation of the directives should in future be discussed in a so-called Commission Expert Group, in which representatives of the European Parliament may request to participate. In consequence future meetings will need to be split in committee & expert group parts.

Background

In accordance with the Treaty and Regulation 182/2011 (Comitology Regulation), the role of comitology committees is the control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers through opinions on draft implementing acts. Parliament and Council are informed of the work of the committees as provided for in Article 10 of the comitology regulation and their right of scrutiny is exhaustively defined in Article 11 of the comitology regulation. Therefore, Parliament experts cannot participate in comitology committee meetings, whereas they can request to participate in Commission expert group meetings.

Using committees as expert groups, i.e. discussing general matters of implementation that are not directly related to the formal functions given to the committee by the legislator, creates confusion and risks complicating the functioning of the committees and blurring the concept of Commission expert groups. It is therefore necessary to avoid situations where the committees (or their working groups established under the committees' Rules of Procedure) are used as expert groups.

What's the role of a Commission expert group?

To provide advice and expertise to the Commission and its departments in relation to:

  1. the preparation of legislative proposals and policy initiatives (Commission's right of initiative)
  2. the preparation of delegated acts
  3. the implementation of existing EU legislation, programmes and policies, including coordination and cooperation with member countries and stakeholders in that regard.

For further details on Commission Expert Groups see

What does all this mean for the ORNIS and the Habitats Committees?

It is the intention of the Commission to continue the good and useful cooperation with Member States on matters of implementation and in consequence continue the type of discussions we have had in the frame of the committees. However the form of the meetings needs to be changed for those matters that are not directly related to the functions given to the committees by the respective directives.

  • Under the Birds Directive, the roles given to the committee established under Art. 16 are the following:
  • Amending Annex I and V to the technical and scientific progress (Art.15)
  • Under the Habitats Directive, the roles given to the committee established under Art.20 are the following:
  • Establishing a format for the Natura 2000 Standard Data Form (Art.4.1)
  • Adopting the Union List of Sites of Community Importance (Art.4.2)
  • Adopting a prioritized action framework & reviewing it (Art.8)
  • Reviewing the contribution of Natura 2000 to the objectives set out in Art.2 & 3 (Art.9)
  • Establish the format for derogation reporting & receive accounts by the Commission on derogations (Art.16.2)
  • Establish the format for Art.17 reporting (Art.17.1)
  • Verification of the Member State data used in the Art.17 composite report and receiving a draft of the composite report (Art.17.2)
  • Receiving for information results of assessment of Member States that want to deliberately introduce non-native species to their territory (Art.22)
  • Adopt the Interpretation Manual of Annex I habitat types (Annex I)

Matters directly relating to these functions will also in future be discussed in the frame of committee meetings.

All other matters of implementation of these two directives shall in future be discussed in the frame of a "Commission Expert Group on the Birds and Habitats Directives". This means particularly for the Birds Directive that most meetings in future will most likely be Commission Expert Groups only.

Practical implementation

In future most meetings will have a committee part and an expert group part. For those parts of the meetings that are committee meetings, no changes are foreseen.

  • Creation of a new Commission Expert Group

For those discussions relating to the general implementation of the directives, the Commission has in the register of Commission Expert Group created a new sub-group under the "Co-ordination Group for Biodiversity and Nature" (CGBN - code E02210), called "Commission Expert Group on the Birds and Habitats Directives". The new group covers both directives. The idea is to merge the debates on both directives as there are many points of common interest (Natura 2000, reporting, etc.). This means that points traditionally discussed in both Committees on different dates will in future be discussed in one single expert group meeting.

  • Participation & reimbursement

The representatives from Member States in the expert group are proposed to be the same as in the two committees. In the expert group meeting representatives of the European Parliament may request to participate. It is also possible to invite other stakeholders to the expert group part of the meeting, but this is not planned at the moment. The European Environmental Agency and its Topic Centre on Biological Diversity will continue to be regular contributors and observers to the meetings. The Commission intends to continue to reimburse two representatives per Member State. Agenda items will be grouped according to the Directives (i.e. common items, Habitats, Birds) so that participants can better plan their attendance.

  • Timing and Place

Future meetings shall start with the committee part of the meeting (usually this will concern a short Habitats Committee part at the beginning of the day – particularly in the autumn when the Union Lists are voted) and the meeting will then continue as an expert group meeting. There will be separate agendas and minutes for the committee part and the expert group part. Meetings will continue to take place in Centre Borschette and will cover between one and two days (1,5 days also possible) depending on the agenda items to be discussed.

The ORNIS and Habitats Committee Members are asked to please submit their questions on this subject before the meeting so that we can consult with colleagues that are experts on the matter.

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