Regulation 2019/1010 - Alignment of reporting obligations in the field of legislation related to the environment - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 170/115

In order to address the need for implementation and compliance information, amendments to several Union legislative acts related to the environment should be introduced, taking into account the results of the Commission report of 9 June 2017 on Actions to Streamline Environmental Reporting and the accompanying Fitness Check of Reporting and Monitoring of EU Environment Policy of 9 June 2017 (together referred to as the ‘Fitness Check on reporting’).

This Regulation seeks 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, enhancing the database for future evaluations and increasing transparency for the benefit of the public, each time in accordance with the circumstances.

It is necessary that accessibility to data should ensure that the administrative burden on all entities remains as limited as possible, especially on non-governmental entities such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such accessibility requires active dissemination at national level in accordance with Directives 2003/4/EC (3) and 2007/2/EC (4) of the European Parliament and of the Council and their implementing rules, to ensure the appropriate infrastructure for public access, reporting and data-sharing between public authorities.

The data and the process of Member States’ comprehensive and timely reporting are essential for the Commission to monitor, review and assess the performance of the legislation against the objectives it pursues in order to inform any future evaluation of the legislation, in accordance with paragraph 22 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (5). It is appropriate to add provisions to several legislative acts in the environmental sector for the purpose of their future evaluation, on the basis of data collected during implementation, possibly complemented by additional scientific and analytical data. In that context, there is a need for relevant data that will allow for a better assessment of the efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, coherence and added value of Union legislation, hence the necessity to ensure appropriate reporting mechanisms that can also serve as indicators for this purpose both for decision-makers and for the general public.

It is necessary to amend the reporting obligations laid down in Articles 10 and 17 of Council Directive 86/278/EEC (6). The obligation to report to the Commission should be simplified and, at the same time, Member States should be required to ensure a higher level of transparency, whereby the required information will be made available...