(1)

In its first report on the application of Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006, the Commission proposed a number of amendments (2). Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) improved, clarified and simplified the establishment and functioning of the European groupings of territorial cooperation (‘EGTCs’).

(2)

In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006, the Commission is to forward to the European Parliament, the Council and the Committee of the Regions a report on the application of that Regulation, assessing, on the basis of certain indicators, the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, European added value and scope for simplification of that Regulation.

(3)

The indicators should help the Commission form an opinion on the progress made to date. A cut-off date should be introduced for gathering information for the report and progress should be assessed by comparing the situation at a given baseline and the situation at that cut-off date. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators should be used when compiling the report.

(4)

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013, that Regulation applies as of 22 June 2014. In accordance with the transitional provisions in Article 2 of that Regulation, the approval procedure of EGTCs in the process of being established depends on the date of 22 June 2014. The baseline for indicators measuring progress should therefore be the situation on 21 June 2014. The cut-off date for receiving data or information to use the indicator can only be fixed during the preparatory work for the report on the application of the Regulation and should be mentioned in the report.

(5)

The effectiveness indicator should demonstrate how successful Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 has been in achieving its objectives or making progress in achieving them.

(6)

The efficiency indicator considers the relationship between the resources or inputs used and the changes or results generated. With regard to the approval procedure for the establishment of the EGTCs, information on different costs for the establishment of different legal bodies for cooperation may only be generated by the national authorities who have previously approved comparable bodies. In assessing the progress of the EGTCs and indirectly the efficiency of Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 to date, costs for the functioning of those EGTCs should be compared with the costs involved in setting up a different legal body for cooperation. Such a comparison may, however, only be made with the EGTCs that had set up a different legal body for cooperation beforehand.

(7)

The relevance indicator considers the extent to which the objectives and provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 correspond to the needs of the prospective members of EGTCs.

(8)

The sustainability indicator, which is linked to relevance, considers the number of registered EGTC's which are actually not performing any activity.

(9)

The European added value indicator considers whether EGTCs were set up because Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006 was adopted, whereas the EGTC members had not been able to set up legal bodies for territorial cooperation under existing international or national law.

(10)

With regard to the scope for further simplification of Regulation (EC) No 1082/2006, the elements for simplification such as of the procedure to set up new EGTCs including tacit approval by national approval authorities, as introduced by Regulation (EU) No 1302/2013 should be assessed,

(1)

The manufacturer of light-duty vehicles, General Motors Holding LLC, has informed the Commission that the average specific CO2 emissions in 2007, specified for that manufacturer in Annex IV to Commission Regulation (EU) No 63/2011 (2), are not correct.

(2)

The manufacturer has provided detailed evidence demonstrating that the average specific CO2 emissions in 2007 were significantly higher than the value indicated in Regulation (EU) No 63/2011. That value was based on the specific CO2 emissions of vehicles which incorrectly included those of Adam Opel AG, which at the time was connected to General Motors. Those specific CO2 emissions of Adam Opel AG vehicles contributed to a lower average specific CO2 emissions of General Motors in 2007. The error has become evident after the change in ownership of General Motors and Adam Opel, which took place on 1 August 2017.

(3)

The Commission considers that the evidence provided by General Motors Holding LLC proves the incorrectness of the average specific CO2 emissions of that manufacturer in 2007 as indicated in Regulation (EU) No 63/2011.

(4)

Regulation (EU) No 63/2011 should therefore be corrected accordingly,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 the tariff preferences of the general arrangement of the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) are to be suspended in respect of products of a GSP section originating in a GSP beneficiary country when the average value of Union imports of such products over three consecutive years from that GSP beneficiary country exceeds the thresholds listed in Annex VI of that Regulation.

(2)

In accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 and based on trade statistics concerning calendar years 2012-2014, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/330 (2) established the list of product sections for which the tariff preferences were suspended from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2019.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 8(3) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, the Commission is to review that list, every three years, and adopt an implementing act to suspend or re-establish the tariff preferences.

(4)

The revised list should apply for three years as of 1 January 2020. The list is based on trade statistics concerning calendar years 2015-2017 as available on 1 September 2018 and takes into account imports from GSP beneficiary countries listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 as applicable on that date. However, the value of imports from GSP beneficiaries which, as from 1 January 2020, no longer benefit from the tariff preferences under point (b) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 is not taken into account,

(1)

Manufacturers or their authorised representatives, applicants, notified bodies and designated bodies should use harmonised templates for documents that accompany the application for an authorisation for the placing in service of fixed installations or a vehicle authorisation for placing on the market in order to streamline the assessment by the European Union Agency for Railways (‘the Agency’) or a national safety authority of those applications and in order to facilitate the supervision of the Union rail system by national safety authorities.

(2)

There is a need to facilitate the establishment of ‘EC’ declarations provided for in Directive (EU) 2016/797. In particular, there is a need to facilitate the establishment of ‘EC’ declaration of conformity or suitability for use of interoperability constituents, ‘EC’ declaration of verification of subsystems, intermediate statement of verification of subsystems, declaration of conformity to an authorised vehicle type.

(3)

There is also a need to facilitate the establishment of the technical file that is to accompany the ‘EC’ declarations by setting templates for ‘EC’ certificate of conformity or suitability for use of an interoperability constituent, ‘EC’ certificate of verification of a subsystem delivered by a notified body and certificate delivered by a designated body.

(4)

‘EC’ declaration of conformity and ‘EC’ declaration of suitability for use and their accompanying documents should provide evidence that the interoperability constituents have been subject to the procedures laid down in the corresponding technical specifications for interoperability (‘TSI’) for assessing conformity or suitability for use and indicate the references of those TSIs and other relevant Union acts.

(5)

An ‘EC’ declaration of suitability for use of interoperability constituents being issued on the basis of in-service experience should be considered as a supplementary declaration to the ‘EC’ declaration of conformity of interoperability constituent.

(6)

The nature of information to be provided should allow for one template to be used to accommodate both ‘EC’ declaration of the conformity of the interoperability constituent and ‘EC’ declaration of the suitability for use of the interoperability constituent.

(7)

‘EC’ declaration of verification of subsystems and its accompanying documents should provide evidence of the completion of the relevant procedures for verification in accordance with the applicable Union law and relevant national rules, and indicate the references of the Directives, TSIs and other relevant Union acts as well as relevant national rules.

(8)

In order to ensure that a subsystem continues to meet the essential requirements over time the ‘EC’ declaration of verification should reflect any change which affects it and the applicant should have procedures in place to continuously update the ‘EC’ declaration of verification.

(9)

‘EC’ verification procedure for a modified subsystem should be in accordance with Article 15 of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and provisions applicable to existing subsystems and vehicles which are set out in TSIs. Existing subsystems may have been placed in service before ‘EC’ verification procedure was applicable to them and thus without an ‘EC’ declaration of verification. ‘EC’ verification procedure regarding changes to those subsystems placed in service without an ‘EC’ declaration of verification should be limited to the parts of the subsystem that are changed, and their interfaces to the unchanged parts of the subsystem. An ‘EC’ declaration of verification should then cover the changed subsystem.

(10)

One template should be used to accommodate the ‘EC’ declaration of verification and potential changes that could affect its elements during the lifecycle of the subsystem.

(11)

Intermediate Statement of Verification of subsystem, its annex and accompanying documentation should provide evidence of the completion of a stage of the relevant verification procedure of a subsystem, or of a part of a subsystem, in accordance with the applicable Union law and relevant national rules. It should also indicate the references of the Directives, TSIs and other relevant Union acts as well as relevant national rules.

(12)

The nature of information to be provided allows for one template to be used to accommodate ‘EC’ certificate of verification delivered by a notified body for a subsystem, ‘EC’ certificate of conformity delivered by a notified body for an interoperability constituent, ‘EC’ certificate of suitability for use delivered by a notified body for an interoperability constituent as well as certificate delivered by a designated body for a subsystem.

(13)

The annexes to the declaration of conformity to an authorised vehicle type should provide evidence of the completion of the relevant procedures for verification in accordance with the applicable Union law and relevant national rules, and indicate the references of the Directives, TSIs and other relevant Union acts as well as relevant national rules.

(14)

On 19 December 2017, the Agency issued a recommendation on ‘EC’ declaration of verification of subsystems and templates referred to in Article 9(4), Article 15(9) and Article 24(4) of Directive (EU) 2016/797.

(15)

Annexes IV and V to Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) on the content of ‘EC’ declaration of conformity or suitability for use and ‘EC’ declaration of verification are repealed by Directive (EU) 2016/797, the provisions concerned should therefore be replaced.

(16)

Commission Regulation (EU) No 201/2011 (3) should be repealed.

(17)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 51(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/797,

(a)

the template for the ‘EC’ declaration of conformity or suitability for use of an interoperability constituent as referred to in Article 9(2) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

(b)

the details of the ‘EC’ verification procedures of subsystems and the template for the ‘EC’ declaration of verification as referred to in Article 15(9) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

(c)

the template for the Intermediate Statement of Verification of the subsystem as referred to in Article 15(9) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

(d)

the template for the certificates of conformity or suitability for use of an interoperability constituent as referred to in Article 9(2) and the template for the certificates of verification of a subsystem as referred to in Article 15(9) of Directive (EU) 2016/797;

(e)

the model of declaration of conformity to an authorised vehicle type as referred to in Article 24(4) of Directive (EU) 2016/797.

(a)

‘“EC” declaration of conformity’ means the declaration established for an interoperability constituent by the manufacturer or its authorised representative in which the manufacturer or its authorised representative declares on its sole responsibility that the interoperability constituent concerned, which has been subject to the relevant verification procedures, complies with the relevant Union law;

(b)

‘“EC” declaration of suitability for use’ means the supplementary declaration to the ‘EC’ declaration of conformity of the interoperability constituent established for an interoperability constituent by the manufacturer or its authorised representative in which the manufacturer or its authorised representative declares on its sole responsibility that the interoperability constituent concerned, which has been subject to the relevant verification procedures, satisfies the requirements for suitability for use specified in the relevant TSI;

(c)

‘“EC” declaration of verification’ means the declaration established for a subsystem by the applicant in which the applicant declares on its sole responsibility that the subsystem concerned, which has been subject to the relevant verification procedures, satisfies the requirements of the relevant Union law and any relevant national rules;

(d)

‘Subsystem placed in service without an “EC” declaration of verification’ means a subsystem, fixed or mobile, that has been placed in service before ‘EC’ verification procedure was applicable to it in accordance with Council Directive 96/48/EC (4), Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) or Directive 2008/57/EC, and thus without an ‘EC’ declaration of verification.

(e)

‘Intermediate Statement of Verification’ means the document established either by the notified body selected by the applicant, in the case of TSI requirements, or by a designated body, in the case of requirements stemming from national rules, which registers the results of a stage of the verification procedure;

(f)

‘“EC” certificate of conformity’ means the certificate delivered for an interoperability constituent by the notified body of the conformity of an interoperability constituent, considered in isolation, with the Union technical specifications to be met;

(g)

‘“EC” certificate of suitability for use’ means the certificate delivered for an interoperability constituent by the notified body of the suitability for use of an interoperability constituent considered within its railway environment;

(h)

‘certificate of verification’ means the certificate delivered for a subsystem either by the notified body or by the designated body regarding the verification of conformity respectively with relevant TSIs or with relevant national rules from the design stage to the acceptance stage before the subsystem is placed on the market or in service and which covers verification of the interfaces of the subsystem in question with the system into which it is incorporated;

(i)

‘“EC” certificate of verification’ means the certificate delivered for a subsystem by the notified body regarding solely the verification of conformity with relevant TSIs;

(j)

‘declaration of conformity to an authorised vehicle type’ means the declaration established for a vehicle by the applicant in which the applicant declares on its sole responsibility that the vehicle concerned, which has been subject to the relevant verification procedures, conforms to an authorised vehicle type and satisfies the requirements of the relevant Union law and relevant national rules.

(k)

‘ERADIS ID’ means the alphanumeric code used to identify an ‘EC’ declaration of conformity or suitability for use of interoperability constituent or an ‘EC’ declaration of verification of subsystem and which is established in accordance with Annex VII.

(a)

‘EC’ certificate of conformity and, where appropriate, ‘EC’ certificate of suitability for use;

(b)

technical documentation in accordance with Commission Decision 2010/713/EU (6).

(1)

Article 1(2) is replaced by the following:

(2)

The table in the Annex is replaced by the following:

(1)

Point 1 of Section B.IV of Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides that, for the classification of pig carcasses, the lean-meat content has to be assessed by means of grading methods authorised by the Commission and only statistically proven assessment methods based on the physical measurement of one or more anatomical parts of the pig carcass may be authorised. The authorisation of grading methods should be subject to compliance with a maximum tolerance for statistical error in assessment. That tolerance is defined in Part A of Annex V to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 (2).

(2)

By Commission Decision 2005/240/EC (3), the use of eight methods for grading pig carcasses was authorised in Poland. By that Decision Poland was also authorised to provide for a presentation of pig carcasses with the flare fat, kidneys and/or diaphragm.

(3)

Poland has requested the Commission to authorise three new methods for grading pig carcasses in its territory and has presented a detailed description of the dissection trials, indicating the principles on which these methods are based, the results of its dissection trials and the equations used for assessing the percentage of lean meat in the protocol provided for in Article 11(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182.

(4)

Examination of that request has revealed that the conditions for authorising the new grading methods are fulfilled. Those grading methods should therefore be authorised in Poland.

(5)

In accordance with Article 20(t) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 Poland has also requested to be authorised to provide for a presentation of pig carcasses different from the standard presentation defined in Section B.III of Annex IV to that Regulation. Due to current normal commercial practices, pig carcasses are presented in Poland with the flare fat, kidneys and/or diaphragm and without the external auditory canal. Therefore, the recorded weight of the carcasses does not correspond to the weight for standard presentation.

(6)

Examination of that request revealed that the conditions for authorising a different presentation of pig carcasses in Poland are fulfilled. Poland should therefore be authorised to provide for a presentation of pig carcasses with the flare fat, kidneys and/or diaphragm and without the external auditory canal. The weight recorded for the carcasses should be adjusted accordingly to the weight for standard presentation.

(7)

Decision 2005/240/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

Modifications of the apparatus or grading methods should not be allowed, unless they are explicitly authorised by Commission Implementing Decision.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets,

(1)

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

(*1)  Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671)’;"

(2)

Article 2 is replaced by the following:

(3)

the Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.