Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Added(a) financial support;

Added(b) access to finance, including for the purpose of acquiring equipment required to achieve compliance; [Am. 64]

Added(c) specialised management and staff training; [Am. 65]

Added(d) organisational and technical assistance. [Am. 66]

Added3. Member States shall encourage training programmes for the qualification of certifiers’ personnel.

AddedArticle 13 Standardised methodology

Added1. For the purposes of compliance with the obligation referred to in Article 4(7), first subparagraph, point (c), and Annex IVa, a methodology to estimate quantities of losses shall be developed in harmonised standards in accordance with the procedures established by Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. [Am. 67]

Added2. Where no European standardisation organisation accepts the request to draft a harmonised standard or where the Commission considers that the proposed standard does not satisfy the requirements which it aims to cover, the Commission shall establish the methodology referred to in paragraph 1 by means of an Implementing act.

AddedArticle 14 Complaint-handling and access to justice

Added1. Natural or legal persons or organisations regarded under national law as having a sufficient interest or those who consider that their rights were impaired shall be entitled to submit substantiated complaints to competent authorities when they deem, on the basis of objective circumstances, that an economic operator, EU carrier or non-EU carrier is failing to comply with the provisions of this Regulation.

AddedFor the purposes of the first subparagraph, non-governmental entities or organisations promoting human health, environmental or consumer protection and meeting any requirements under national law shall be deemed to have a sufficient interest.

Added2. Competent authorities shall assess the substantiated complaint referred to in paragraph 1 and, where necessary, take the necessary steps, including inspections and hearings of the person or organisation, with a view to verifying those complaints. If the complaint is found to be grounded, the competent authorities shall take the necessary actions in accordance with Article 4(3), Article 9(2) and Article 10(2). [Am. 68]

Added3. Competent authorities shall, as soon as possible, inform the person or organisation referred to in paragraph 1 that submitted the complaint of its decision to accede to or refuse the request for action put forward in the complaint and shall provide the reasons for it.

Added4. Member States shall ensure that a person or organisation referred to in paragraph 1 submitting a substantiated complaint shall have access to a court or other independent and impartial public body competent to review the procedural and substantive legality of any decision on that complaint as well as of the competent authority’s decisions, acts or failure to act under this Regulation, without prejudice to any provisions of national law which require that administrative review procedures be exhausted prior to recourse to judicial proceedings. Those review procedures shall be fair, equitable, timely and free of charge or not prohibitively expensive, and shall provide adequate and effective remedies, including injunctive relief where necessary.

Added5. Member States shall ensure that practical information is made available to the public on access to the administrative and judicial review procedures referred to in this Article.

AddedArticle 15 Penalties

Added1. Without prejudice to the obligations of Member States under Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Member States shall lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are applied. The penalties provided shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Added2. The penalties referred to in paragraph 1 shall include fines proportionate to the turnover of the legal person or to the income of the natural person having committed the infringement. The level of the fines shall be calculated in such a way as to make sure that they effectively deprive the person responsible for the infringements of the economic benefits derived from those infringements. The level of the fines shall be gradually increased for repeated infringements. In the case of an infringement committed by a legal person, the maximum amount of such fines shall be at least 4 3 % of the economic operator’s annual turnover in the Member State concernedUnion in the business year preceding the fining decision. [Am. 69]

Added3. Member States shall ensure that the penalties established pursuant to this Article take due account of the following, as applicable:

Added(a) the nature, gravity and extent of the infringement;

Added(b) the intentional or negligent character of the infringement;

Added(c) the population or the environment affected by the infringement, bearing in mind the impact of the infringement on the objective of achieving a high level of protection of human health and the environment;

Added(d) the financial situation of the economic operator, EU carrier and non-EU carrier held responsible.

Added3a. Member States shall endeavour to ensure that the revenue generated from the penalties referred to in paragraph 1, or its equivalent financial value, is used to support projects aimed at cleaning up areas polluted by plastic before ... [the date of entry into force of this Regulation] and avoiding plastic pellet pollution.

AddedProjects financed by the revenue generated from penalties as referred to in the first subparagraph may contribute to promoting scientific work to study the impact of plastic pellets on human health and the environment, supporting research and development in the area of plastic pellet pollution, implementing awareness programmes, and financing training programmes specifically designed for micro and small enterprises.

AddedBy … [60 months from the entry into force of this Regulation], and every year thereafter, the Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council on how the revenue generated from penalties in the previous year has been used and how such use has contributed to the reduction of plastic pellet pollution, including information on the beneficiaries and the level of expenditure concerning the objectives set out in the first and second subparagraphs. [Am. 70]

AddedArticle 16 Compensation

Added1. Member States shall ensure that, where damage to human health has occurred as a result of a infringement of this Regulation, the individuals affected have the right to claim and obtain compensation for that damage from the relevant natural or legal persons and, where appropriate, from the relevant competent authorities responsible for the infringement.

Added2. Member States shall ensure that, as part of the public concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting the protection of human health or the environment and meeting any requirements under national law are allowed to represent the individuals affected and bring collective actions for compensation. Member States shall ensure that a claim for an infringement leading to a damage cannot be pursued twice, by the individuals affected and by the non-governmental organisations referred to in this paragraph.

Added3. Member States shall ensure that national rules and procedures relating to claims for compensation are designed and applied in such a way that they do not render impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of the right to compensation for damage caused by an infringement pursuant to paragraph 1.

Added4. Where the claim for compensation referred to in paragraph 1 is supported by evidence from which a causal link may be presumed between the damage and the infringement, Member States shall ensure that the onus is on the person responsible for the infringement to prove that the infringement did not cause or contribute to the damage.

Added5. Member States shall ensure that the limitation periods for bringing claims for compensation referred to in paragraph 1 are not shorter than 5 years. Such periods shall not begin to run before the infringement has ceased and the person claiming the compensation knows or can reasonably be expected to know that he or she suffered damage from a infringement pursuant to paragraph 1.

AddedArticle 17 Amendments to Annexes

AddedThe Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 19 to amend Annexes I to IV.IVb in order to take account of the technical progress and scientific developments. [Am. 71]

AddedWhen adopting delegated acts referred to in the first paragraph, the Commission shall take into account:

Added(a) the experience gained from the implementation of obligations set out in Articles 3, 4, 5, 8 and 94 and 5; [Am. 72]

Added(b) relevant international standards;

Added(c) the specificities of the sectors of activity;

Added(d) the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

AddedArticle 17a Review

AddedThe Commission shall monitor the application of this Regulation and relevant developments at the IMO. By ... [8 years from the entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission shall publish a comprehensive report on the overall application of this Regulation and its effectiveness and shall submit, where appropriate, a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation. [Am. 73]

AddedArticle 17b Traceability

AddedBy … [24 months from the entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission shall publish a report on the possibility of introducing chemical traceability of plastic pellets. That report shall at least consider:

Added(a) the technical feasibility of introducing a unique and differentiable, chemical signature which is not harmful to the environment or human health;

Added(b) setting up a Union database of all chemical signatures.

AddedWhere appropriate, the report referred to in the first paragraph shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal. [Am. 74]

AddedArticle 18 Exercise of the delegation

Added1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

Added2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 17 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 5 years from … [OP please insert the date = the first day of the month following the date of entry into force of this Regulation]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

Added3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 17 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Added4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

Added5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Added6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 17 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

AddedArticle 19 Entry into force and application

AddedThis Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

AddedThis Regulation shall apply [OP: please insert the date = 18 months after the entry into force of this Regulation]. However, Article 3(1) shall apply from [OP: please insert the date the date of the entry into force of this Regulation].

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

AddedDone at …,

AddedFor the European Parliament For the Council

AddedThe President The President