Commission>{JURI}Committee on Legal Affairs</Commission
<Date>{16/10/2013}16.10.2013</Date>
<TitreType>NOTICE TO MEMBERS</TitreType>
(88/2013)
Subject:<Titre>Reasoned opinion by the Austrian Federal Council on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species</Titre>
(COM(2013)0620 – C7-0264/2013 – 2013/0307(COD))
Under Article 6 of the Protocol (No 2) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, any national parliament may, within eight weeks from the date of transmission of a draft legislative act, send the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission a reasoned opinion stating why it considers that the draft in question does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity.
Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure the Committee on Legal Affairs is responsible for compliance with the subsidiarity principle.
Please find attached, for information, a reasoned opinion by the Austrian Federal Council on the above-mentioned proposal.
ANNEX
REASONED OPINION
pursuant to Article 23g, paragraph 1, of the Federal Constitution, in conjunction with Article 6 of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
of the Federal Council’s Committee on EU Affairs of 8 October 2013
COM(2013) 620 final
Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species.
A. Reasoned opinion
The proposal under consideration is incompatible with the principle of subsidiarity.
B. Reason for Action
Invasive alien species are species which are initially transported through human action outside of their natural range across ecological barriers and which then spread, causing environmental and, as a result, economic damage. Although there are currently no rules for dealing with such species throughout the EU, their introduction would certainly be welcome, alongside the existing rules on animal and plant health. Reference is made in this connection to the reasoned opinion of the Austrian Federal Council of 2July2013 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on protective measures against pests of plants.
Although the current proposal is to be welcomed in terms of its aim, excessive regulation is, for reasons of principle, legal issues and expedience, not acceptable, since it runs counter to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Article 10 of the current proposal, for example, recommending the introduction of a regulation for invasive alien species which affect only individual Member States rather than the EU as a whole, goes beyond what is required. Since the issue at stake here is the dispersal of species at national or regional level, it would be better if the Member States themselves were responsible for wiping out or controlling the spread of invasive alien species. The Austrian Federal Council therefore considers that a violation of the subsidiarity principle has taken place. If the monitoring system referred to in Article 12 also applies to studies in national territories or regions, we would also raise concerns about subsidiarity in connection with this article.
Regarding proportionality, the Austrian Federal Council notes that the level of detail in the regulations is too high and thus no longer conforms to the principle of proportionality. The possibility of adopting delegated acts should be investigated in light of the concerns about subsidiarity.
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