Legal provisions of COM(2002)482 - Community surveillance of imports of hard coal from third countries

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dossier COM(2002)482 - Community surveillance of imports of hard coal from third countries.
document COM(2002)482 EN
date February 27, 2003


Contents

Article 1

This Regulation establishes a system for monitoring of imports of hard coal originating in third countries.

Article 2

Member States shall provide the Commission with information on imports of hard coal and on the import prices of coal products intended for electricity production and for use in the steel industry in the Community.

This information shall be obtained by aggregating the data received in accordance with Article 4 and it shall be presented in such a way as to provide as accurate a picture as possible of the Community coal market.

Article 3

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) 'coal imports' means any consignment of coal products originating in third countries and entering the customs territory of the Community for purposes other than transit, which is intended for the production of electricity or to supply the coke ovens of a Member State;

(b) 'import price' means the free-at-frontier price of coal products entering the customs territory of the Community, based on tonnes of coal equivalent (tce) in the case of coal intended for power stations and based on a standard grade in the case of coal intended for coke ovens.

Article 4

Any person or undertaking importing one of the coal products referred to in Article 5 from a third country shall provide the Member State, in which that person or undertaking is established, with the relevant information on such imports.

Any imports divided into several batches for transport reasons must be considered as a single import consignment if covered by a single price.

If an import consignment of a given product is declared as having been divided into several batches, each with different prices, a separate declaration shall be made for each batch.

Article 5

1. The data characterising any import of coal products to a Member State must comprise:

(a) the designation of the coal product;

(b) the quantity expressed in metric tonnes, and in addition for steam coal the average low calorific value;

(c) in the case of coal for the production of coke referred to in paragraph (2)(b): ash, moisture, volatile matter and sulphur content;

(d) the price actually paid.

2. Information shall be communicated on the following coal products:

(a) coal for the production of electricity or for combined heat and power generation;

(b) coal for the production of coke to supply steel industry blast furnaces.

3. Member States may request from their Customs Services information necessary to fulfil their obligations under this Regulation.

Article 6

The information which Member States are required to provide to the Commission pursuant to Article 2 shall be communicated within a period of two months from the end of each period not exceeding six months. This information shall be the aggregate result, for each type of coal product, of the data which Member States receive from persons or undertakings. For each of the coal products, the information shall comprise:

(a) the tonnage and characteristics for harmonisation referred to in Article 5(1)(b) and (c);

(b) the import prices.

Article 7

On the basis of the information collected in application of this Regulation, the Commission shall publish in an appropriate form:

(a) each semester, the prices aggregated at Community level, of all coal imports intended for the production of electricity or for combined heat and power generation, excluding duties and taxes;

(b) each semester, the prices aggregated at Community level, of all coal imports intended for the production of coke for blast furnaces, excluding duties and taxes;

(c) during the first quarter of each year, a report on the market in solid fuels in the Community concerning the preceding year together with a market outlook for the current year.

Article 8

Member States and the Commission shall consult each other at regular intervals at the request of a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission. These consultations shall concern in particular the communications referred to in Article 6 and 7.

Consultations shall be organised with international organisations and with third countries that have introduced similar information mechanisms.

Article 9

All information received by the Commission in the application of this Regulation shall be subject to the rules laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents(3).

Member States may refrain from submitting details which relate to individual undertakings.

Article 10

If the Commission finds any anomalies or inconsistencies in the information communicated to it by Member States, it may ask them to provide details of the calculation or evaluation procedures on which the aggregate information is based.

Article 11

The Commission shall adopt the provisions implementing this Regulation relating to the form, content and all other characteristics of the communications referred to in Article 2.

Article 12

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 24 July 2002 and shall expire on 31 December 2010.


This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.