What changed

PR_COD_1amCom

P9_TA(2023)0390

Symbols for procedures

European environmental economic accounts: new modules

* Consultation procedure

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

*** Consent procedure

PE738.601

***I Ordinary legislative procedure (first reading)

Amendments adopted by the European Parliament on 9 November 2023 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 as regards introducing new environmental economic accounts modules (COM(2022)0329 – C9-0223/2022 – 2022/0210(COD))

***II Ordinary legislative procedure (second reading)

***III Ordinary legislative procedure (third reading)

(The type of procedure depends on the legal basis proposed by the draft act.)

Amendments to a draft act

Amendments by Parliament set out in two columns

Deletions are indicated in bold italics in the left-hand column. Replacements are indicated in bold italics in both columns. New text is indicated in bold italics in the right-hand column.

The first and second lines of the header of each amendment identify the relevant part of the draft act under consideration. If an amendment pertains to an existing act that the draft act is seeking to amend, the amendment heading includes a third line identifying the existing act and a fourth line identifying the provision in that act that Parliament wishes to amend.

Amendments by Parliament in the form of a consolidated text

New text is highlighted in bold italics. Deletions are indicated using either the ▌symbol or strikeout. Replacements are indicated by highlighting the new text in bold italics and by deleting or striking out the text that has been replaced.

By way of exception, purely technical changes made by the drafting departments in preparing the final text are not highlighted.

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 as regards introducing new environmental economic accounts modules

(COM(2022)0329 – C90223/2022 – 2022/0210(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2022)0329),

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 338(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C90223/2022),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A9-0296/2023),

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Amendment 1

Amendment

(1) Decision No(EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 laying down a General Union Environment Action Programme to 203012 confirmed that sound information on the key trends, pressures and drivers for environmental change is essential for the development of effective policy, its implementation, and the empowerment of citizens. Instruments should be developed with a view to enhancing public awareness of the environmental effects of economic activity. Environmental economic accounts is one such instruments.

(1) Decision No(EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 laying down a General Union Environment Action Programme to 203012 confirmed that monitoring, including sound information on the key trends, pressures and drivers for environmental change is essential for the development of effective policy, its implementation to reach the environmental objectives of the Union, and the empowerment of citizens. Instruments should be developed with a view to enhancing general awareness of the effects of economic activity on the environment and the contribution of the environment to the economy and to wellbeing. Environmental economic accounts is one such instruments.

_________________

14 Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164)

Amendment 536

Proposal for a regulation

(6) In order to better monitor progress towards a green, competitive and resilient circular economy and to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in a Union context, additional data is required.

(6) In order to achieve the objective of climate neutrality at the latest by 2050, it is essential to align all Union legislation and processes with the Union’s long-term environmental and climate objectives as established under the European Green Deal, Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 (the ‘European Climate Law’), in particular Article 6(4) thereof, and the Fit for 55 package. Several pieces of Union legislation already require close monitoring of trends, and thereby, of additional and more precise data. According to the Commission’s data, meeting the Union’s ambitious Green Deal agenda will require significant investment and the private and public investment gap to cater for the green transition is estimated at nearly EUR 520 billion per year, for the next decade. Furthermore, according to the Commission’s data, reducing fossil fuel dependence from third countries and accelerating the Union’s energy transition from fossil fuels will require an estimated EUR 210 billion of additional investments by the end of 2027. It is also clear that while a substantial share of the investment will be provided by the private sector, public investment will have to significantly increase as well. Taking that into account, it is critical to get relevant and granular data from Member States about their climate, energy and environment investment gaps to make sure that the Union is on the right track to deliver on the European Green Deal objectives with sufficient public and private capital allocated to the Green transition. For all those reasons, the system of European environmental economic accounts is to be developed rapidly into a comprehensive tool providing significant additional data for monitoring the implementation of Union environmental law and environmental policymaking. The Commission should therefore be empowered to adopt,present bya meanslegislative ofproposal delegatedto acts,adopt new modules that capture all the relevant data and reporting values related to the goals of the Union.

Amendment 6

(6b) Water is a crucial resource and integrating a new module on water into the European environmental economic accounts is a prerequisite for managing it sustainably as well as understanding its relationship with economic activity.

Amendment 837

Proposal for a regulation

Amendment

(6c) Adaptation is a key component of the long-term global response to climate change. It is necessary to address the growing climate-related risks to health, including more frequent and intense heatwaves, wildfires and floods, food and water safety and security threats, and the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. The adverse effects of climate change can potentially exceed the adaptive capacities of Member States. Therefore, Member States and the Union should enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, as provided for in Article 7 of the Paris Agreement, as well as maximise the co-benefits with other policies and legislation. Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 requires that Member States adopt comprehensive national adaptation strategies and plans based on robust climate change and vulnerability analyses, progress assessments and indicators, while guided by the best available and most recent scientific evidence. As it is necessary to monitor progress towards climate adaptationadaptation, athe newCommission moduleshould onpresent climatea adaptationlegislative shouldproposal beto adoptedadopt bya meansnew ofmodule delegatedon acts,climate adaptation, capturing all the relevant data and reporting values related to climate change adaptation.

Amendment 938

Proposal for a regulation

Amendment

(6d) Biodiversity loss is among the key vulnerabilities faced by economies, together with and amplified by climate change. Biodiversity is crucial for food security, human well-being and overall resilience of societies and economies. Member States and the Union should therefore enhance their response to the biodiversity crisis in line with their international commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. As it is necessary to monitor progress towards reversing the decline of biodiversity, athe newCommission moduleshould onpresent biodiversitya shouldlegislative beproposal adoptedto byadopt meansa ofnew delegatedmodule acts.on biodiversity.

Amendment 10

Amendment

(6e) Ecosystem accounts, as a means to present data on the extent and condition of ecosystem assets and the services they provide to society and the economy, aim to put a value to nature, allowing the costs to nature to be taken better into consideration. The aim of establishing monetary values should be to raise visibility on the cost of non-action and to support the Union to achieve its environmental objectives. In order to deliver its intended effects fully, the module should in the future be further developed, including by possibly adding reporting on monetary values, while ensuring at the same time that the intrinsic value of nature and biodiversity is not undermined and avoiding the commercialisation as well as monetisation of nature.values.

Amendment 11

(9) Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 lists the sources that Member States may use to estimate the environmental economic accounts. In order to ensure flexibility and to reduce the administrative burden on respondents, National Statistical Institutes and other national authorities, Member States should be allowed to use innovative approaches such as, for example, earth observation (Copernicus services). Member States should always inform the Commission and provide details as regards the quality of those approaches for the Commission to assess the quality of the data. Copernicus services should be further developed with a view to collecting data increasingly automatically and be adequately financed for this purpose.

Amendment 1339

Proposal for a regulation

(11) The list of possible future European environmental economic accounts listed in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 needs to be updated to align them to the current policy priorities of the Union.

(11) Given the urgent need to expand the system of European environmental economic accounts (EEEA) for policy-making and monitoring, the Commission should be empowered to adopt,present bya meanslegislative ofproposal delegatedto acts,adopt the new modules listed in this Regulation and to improve and further develop the existing modules set out in annexes to Regulation (EU) No 691/2011.

Amendment 14

(8) ‘environmental subsidies and similar transfers’ means current and capital transfers, as defined in ESA 2010, intended to support activities protecting the environment and safeguarding natural resources and related products;

Amendment 1740

Proposal for a regulation

Amendment

(aa)(a a) the following paragraph is inserted:

1a."1a. By ... [3 years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation] the Commission shall adoptpresent delegateda actslegislative proposal in accordance with Article 9 to supplement this Regulation withdevelop the following further modules:

(a) Energy subsidies including fossil fuel subsidies;

(j) Resource Management Expenditure Accounts, including critical raw material;

(k) Environmental footprint.footprint.";

Amendment 18

4a. The Commission (Eurostat) shall carry out a methodological and feasibility study on the monetary valuation of ecosystem services. Based on the results of this study, the Commission may supplement this Regulation in order to define, by means of a delegated act, for which of the ecosystem services already included in the reporting tables in section 5 of Annex IX monetary values shall be reported, the first reference year as well as a list of acceptable methods for establishing these monetary values.;

4a. By .... [18 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission (Eurostat) shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the monetary valuation of ecosystem services. The report shall include an assessment of methodological possibilities and the feasibility of monetary valuation, possible reporting values where those values are missing and possible alternative ways of measuring for Ecosystem services Accounts. The report shall also include possible shortcomings and other aspects lacking from such an approach and solutions of how to avoid undermining the intrinsic value of nature and biodiversity and the commercialisation as well as monetisation of nature. The report may, where appropriate, be accompanied by a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation.;

Amendment 19

4aa. By ... [one year from the date of entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission shall publish a study analysing the reporting data currently included in this regulation for Climate change mitigation, as well as propose the creation of a dedicated climate adaptation module to ensure that all reporting values to deliver the objectives of the European Green Deal and European Climate Law, the Fit for 55 package and the Net Zero Industry Act are provided by Member States. The study shall be accompanied by an indicative timeline for the future development of the modules.

Amendment 20

Proposal for a regulation

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b b (new)

Regulation (EU) No 691/2011

Article 3 – paragraph 4a b (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(ba) the following paragraph 4ab is inserted:

4ab. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 9 to amend the annexes in order to adapt and further develop the modules.

Amendment 21

"1. The Commission shall draw up a programme for pilot studies to be carried out by Member States on a voluntary basis in order to develop reporting and improve data quality, establish long time series and develop methodology. The programme shall include pilot studies to test the new environmental economic account modules. In drawing up the programme, the Commission shall give particular attention to modules producing data on energy subsidies, including fossil fuel subsidies, and ensure that no additional administrative or financial burdens are placed on the Member States and on the respondent units."

(02011R0691)

Amendment 22

(c) Nature-based tourism related services

Justification

The number of stays in hotels, hostels, camping ground etc that can be attributed to visits to ecosystems is too crude a measurement to be referred to as 'cultural services'. Hence the change in title to refer more accurately to the service.

Amendment 35

(2) Statistics shall be transmitted within 12 months of the end of the reference year.

PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Title

Amending Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 as regards introducing new environmental economic accounts modules

References

COM(2022)0329 – C9-0223/2022 – 2022/0210(COD)

Date submitted to Parliament

11.7.2022

Committee responsible

Date announced in plenary

ENVI

12.9.2022

Committees asked for opinions

Date announced in plenary

ECON

12.9.2022

Not delivering opinions

Date of decision

ECON

13.9.2022

Rapporteurs

Date appointed

Pascal Canfin

12.9.2022

Discussed in committee

5.6.2023

Date adopted

12.10.2023

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

42

19

21

Members present for the final vote

Catherine Amalric, Maria Arena, Margrete Auken, Marek Paweł Balt, Traian Băsescu, Aurélia Beigneux, Alexander Bernhuber, Malin Björk, Delara Burkhardt, Pascal Canfin, Mohammed Chahim, Maria Angela Danzì, Esther de Lange, Christian Doleschal, Pietro Fiocchi, Heléne Fritzon, Catherine Griset, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Martin Hojsík, Jan Huitema, Petros Kokkalis, Ewa Kopacz, Joanna Kopcińska, Peter Liese, Sylvia Limmer, César Luena, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Tilly Metz, Dolors Montserrat, Alessandra Moretti, Ville Niinistö, Ljudmila Novak, Nikos Papandreou, Jutta Paulus, Francesca Peppucci, Stanislav Polčák, Jessica Polfjärd, Erik Poulsen, Frédérique Ries, Sándor Rónai, Maria Veronica Rossi, Silvia Sardone, Christine Schneider, Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, Nils Torvalds, Edina Tóth, Alexandr Vondra, Mick Wallace, Emma Wiesner, Michal Wiezik, Tiemo Wölken

Substitutes present for the final vote

Matteo Adinolfi, João Albuquerque, Mercedes Bresso, Milan Brglez, Catherine Chabaud, Dacian Cioloş, Christophe Clergeau, Estrella Durá Ferrandis, Jens Gieseke, Romana Jerković, Radan Kanev, Ska Keller, Norbert Lins, Sara Matthieu, Manuela Ripa, Christel Schaldemose, Susana Solís Pérez, Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Nikolaj Villumsen

Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote

Rasmus Andresen, Pascal Arimont, Konstantinos Arvanitis, Alessandra Basso, Ana Collado Jiménez, Niclas Herbst, Ladislav Ilčić, Virginie Joron, Alice Kuhnke, Elżbieta Rafalska, Tineke Strik, Lucia Vuolo

Date tabled

17.10.2023

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

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