(1)

In a series of Ministerial Declarations (in Manchester on 24 November 2005, Lisbon on 19 September 2007, Malmö on 18 November 2009 and Granada on 19 April 2010), ministers invited the Commission to facilitate cooperation among Member States by implementing cross-border and cross-sector interoperability solutions that will enable more efficient and secure public services. Moreover, Member States recognised that better public services need to be delivered with fewer resources, and that the potential of e-government can be boosted by promoting a culture of collaboration and improving the conditions for interoperability in European public administrations.

(2)

In its Communication of 19 May 2010 entitled ‘A Digital Agenda for Europe’ (DAE), one of the flagship initiatives of its Europe 2020 Strategy, the Commission stressed that interoperability is essential for the purpose of maximising the social and economic potential of information and communication technology (ICT) and that, consequently, the digital agenda can be effective only if interoperability is ensured.

(3)

In its Communication of 16 December 2010 entitled ‘Towards interoperability for European public services’, the Commission introduced the European Interoperability Strategy (EIS) and the European Interoperability Framework (EIF).

(4)

Interoperability facilitates successful implementation of policies and offers great potential to avoid cross-border electronic barriers, further securing the emergence of new, or the consolidation of developing, common public services at Union level. The policies described in the following recitals, in particular, rely on interoperability for their effective and efficient implementation.

(5)

In the area of the internal market, Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) requires Member States to offer service providers the possibility of completing electronically and across borders all procedures and formalities needed to provide a service outside their Member State of establishment.

(6)

In the area of company law, Directive 2012/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) requires the interoperability of Member States' central, commercial and companies registers via a central platform. The interconnection of company registers will ensure cross-border exchange of information between registers and will facilitate Union-level access by businesses and citizens to data on companies, thus improving legal certainty in the business environment in the Union.

(7)

In the area of environment, Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) requires the adoption of common implementing rules laying down technical interoperability arrangements. In particular, that Directive requires national infrastructures to be adapted to ensure that spatial data sets and services are interoperable and accessible across borders within the Union.

(8)

In the area of justice and home affairs, enhanced interoperability among European databases is the basis of the Visa Information System (7), the Schengen Information System II) (8), the European dactyloscopy system (9) and the European e-Justice Portal (10). Furthermore, on 24 September 2012, the Council adopted conclusions calling for the introduction of the European Legislation Identifier and highlighting the need for interoperable searching and exchange of legal information published in national official journals and legal gazettes, through the use of unique identifiers and structured metadata. Collaboration between the European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice and the programme established in this Decision could generate synergies that would be beneficial to achieving their respective goals.

(9)

Interoperability within local, national and European public administrations facilitates the achievement of the goals set out by the European Parliament in its resolution of 29 March 2012 on the EU Citizenship Report 2010: Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens' rights.

(10)

Interoperability has been a key factor in the success of customs, taxation and excise duties, in operating trans-European ICT systems across the Member States, and in supporting interoperable business services funded by the Fiscalis 2013 and the Customs 2013 programmes. Those programmes are implemented and operated by the Commission and national administrations. Assets created under the Fiscalis 2013 and the Customs 2013 programmes are available for sharing and re-use in other policy areas. In addition, the Member States and the Commission were invited, in the Council conclusions of 26 May 2014 on the governance reform of the EU customs union, to develop a strategy of commonly managed and operated IT systems in all customs-related areas.

(11)

In the area of health, Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) provides rules for facilitating access to safe, high-quality cross-border healthcare. Specifically, that Directive established the eHealth network to address the interoperability challenge between electronic health systems. The eHealth network can adopt guidelines on the minimum data set to be exchanged across borders in the case of unplanned and emergency care and on ePrescription services across borders.

(12)

In the area of European funds, Article 122 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) requires all exchanges of information between beneficiaries and managing authorities, certifying authorities, audit authorities and intermediate bodies to be carried out by means of electronic data-exchange systems. Those systems are to facilitate interoperability with national and Union frameworks and allow beneficiaries to submit all requisite information only once.

(13)

In the area of public sector information, Directive 2013/37/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (13) stresses that public sector bodies should, where possible and appropriate, make documents available through open and machine-readable formats, together with their metadata, at the best level of precision and granularity, in a format that ensures interoperability, re-use and accessibility.

(14)

In the area of electronic identification, Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14) establishes an interoperability framework for the purposes of the interoperability of national electronic identification schemes.

(15)

In the area of ICT standardisation, Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15) refers to interoperability as an essential outcome of standardisation.

(16)

In the area of research and innovation, Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16), which establishes Horizon 2020, clearly mentions that interoperable solutions and standards in ICT are key enablers for the partnering of industries at Union level. Collaboration around common, open technology platforms with spill-over and leverage effects will allow a wide range of stakeholders to benefit from new developments and create further innovations.

(17)

In public procurement, Directives 2014/23/EU (17), 2014/24/EU (18) and 2014/25/EU (19) of the European Parliament and of the Council require Member States to implement electronic procurement. They provide that the tools and devices to be used for communicating by electronic means, as well as their technical characteristics, must be interoperable with the ICT products in general use. Moreover, Directive 2014/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (20) provides for the development of a European standard on electronic invoicing in public procurement to ensure interoperability between electronic invoicing systems across the Union.

(18)

It is therefore important that policy relating to interoperability and its possible uses should be coordinated at Union level in the manner that is the most effective, and the most responsive to end-users, possible. In order to eliminate fragmentation in the interoperability landscape in the Union, a common understanding of interoperability in the Union and a holistic approach to interoperability solutions should be promoted.

(19)

Interoperability is also a fundamental element of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) established by Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (21) in the area of broadband infrastructure and services. Regulation (EU) No 283/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (22) on guidelines for trans-European networks in the area of telecommunications infrastructure explicitly mentions that one set of the operational priorities for the CEF is the interoperability, connectivity, sustainable deployment, operation and upgrading of trans-European digital service infrastructures and their coordination at Union level. In particular, Regulation (EU) No 283/2014 provides for so-called building blocks, such as e-identification, e-delivery and automated translation, to facilitate cross-border interoperability.

(20)

On a political level, the Council has repeatedly called for even greater interoperability in Europe and for continued efforts to modernise European public administrations. On 24 and 25 October 2013, the European Council adopted conclusions stressing that the modernisation of public administrations should continue through the swift implementation of services such as e-government, e-health, e-invoicing and e-procurement, which rely on interoperability. The commitment of Member States is essential to ensure the rapid deployment of an interoperable e-society in the Union and the involvement of public administrations in encouraging the use of online procedures. Additionally, in order to establish a more effective, simplified and user-friendly e-administration, some adaptation in the European public administrations, with support from Member States, may be necessary. Efficient online public services are crucial to fostering the confidence of businesses and citizens in digital services.

(21)

A single sector interoperability perspective is associated with the risk that the adoption of different or incompatible solutions at national or sectoral levels will give rise to new electronic barriers that impede the proper functioning of the internal market and the associated freedoms of movement, and undermine the openness and competitiveness of markets and the delivery of services of general interest to businesses and citizens. In order to mitigate that risk, Member States and the Union should step up joint efforts to avoid market fragmentation. They should ensure cross-border or cross-sector interoperability in the implementation of legislation, while reducing administrative burdens and costs and improving efficiency, and they should promote commonly agreed ICT solutions while ensuring appropriate governance.

(22)

In the establishment, improvement or operation of common solutions all initiatives should, where appropriate, build on, or be accompanied by, the sharing of experience and solutions and the exchange and promotion of best practices, technological neutrality and adaptability, while principles of security, privacy and protection of personal data should always be applied. In that context, compliance with the EIF, open specifications and standards should be promoted.

(23)

Several successive programmes have sought to ensure the coherent development and implementation of global and sectoral interoperability strategies, legal frameworks, guidelines, services and tools to address requirements under Union-wide policies, such as: (i) the programme for the interchange of data between administrations (1999-2004) (the ‘IDA programme’), established by Decisions No 1719/1999/EC (23) and No 1720/1999/EC (24) of the European Parliament and of the Council; (ii) the programme for interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, businesses and citizens (2005-2009) (the ‘IDABC programme’), established by Decision 2004/387/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (25); and (iii) the programme on interoperability solutions for European public administrations (2010-2015) (the ‘ISA programme’), established by Decision No 922/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (26). The programme established in this Decision should be based on the experience acquired during the course of those programmes.

(24)

Activities under the IDA, the IDABC and the ISA programmes have made important contributions to ensuring interoperability in the electronic exchange of information between European public administrations. In its Resolution of 20 April 2012 on a competitive digital single market — eGovernment as a spearhead, the European Parliament recognised the contribution of the ISA programme and its overarching role in defining, promoting and supporting the implementation of interoperability solutions and frameworks for European public administrations, achieving synergies, promoting the re-use of solutions and translating their interoperability requirements into specifications and standards for digital services.

(25)

Decision No 922/2009/EC expires on 31 December 2015. A new Union programme on interoperability solutions and common frameworks for European public administrations, businesses and citizens (the ‘ISA2 programme’) is therefore needed to develop, maintain and promote a holistic approach to interoperability in order to eliminate fragmentation in the interoperability landscape and avoid electronic barriers in the Union; to facilitate efficient and effective electronic cross-border or cross-sector interaction between European public administrations on the one hand, and between European public administrations and businesses and citizens on the other; to identify, create and operate interoperability solutions supporting the implementation of Union policies and activities; and to facilitate the re-use of interoperability solutions by European public administrations.

(26)

In addition to European public administrations, businesses and citizens are also end-users of interoperability solutions because they use electronic public services provided by public administrations. The principle of user-centricity applies, in particular, to the end-users of interoperability solutions. Business should be understood to include, in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microenterprises, given their valuable contribution to the Union economy.

(27)

Common frameworks and solutions established or operated under the ISA2 programme should, as far as possible, form an interoperability landscape to facilitate interaction between European public administrations, businesses and citizens, and to ensure, facilitate and enable cross-border or cross-sector interoperability.

(28)

It should be possible to implement actions under the ISA2 programme using an ‘iterative methodology’.

(29)

As an increasing number of public services become ‘digital by default’, it is important to maximise the efficiency of public spending on ICT solutions. Such efficiency should be facilitated by ensuring that the provision of such services is planned at an early stage and, where possible, by sharing and reusing solutions in order to maximise the value of public spending. The ISA2 programme should make a contribution to that goal.

(30)

Interoperability and, consequently, the solutions established and operated under the ISA2 programme are instrumental to exploiting the potential of e-government and e-democracy to the full, by enabling the implementation of ‘one-stop shops’ and the provision of end-to-end and transparent public services leading to fewer administrative burdens and lower costs.

(31)

As end-users, businesses and citizens should also benefit from common, re-usable and interoperable front-office services resulting from better integration of processes and exchange of data through the back offices of European public administrations.

(32)

In its activities, the Union should observe the principle of equal treatment. Citizens of the Union should have the right to equal treatment from the Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The Union should take into account requirements linked to the fight against social exclusion. In that regard, accessibility for all should be incorporated into the development of strategies relating to the interoperability of public services across the Union, taking into consideration the most disadvantaged citizens and the most sparsely populated areas in order to combat the digital divide and exclusion, as called for by the European Parliament in its resolution of 20 April 2012 on a competitive digital single market — eGovernment as a spearhead. The implementation of electronic public services by European public administrations requires an inclusive (e-inclusion) approach that, where necessary, will provide technical support and training in order to reduce disparities in the use of ICT solutions and will incorporate multi-channel delivery, including the maintenance of traditional means of access when appropriate.

(33)

Interoperability solutions under the ISA2 programme should be developed having regard to the right of end-users to access and distribute information and content, use and provide applications and services, and use terminal equipment of their choice, irrespective of the end-user's or provider's location or of the location, origin or destination of the information, content, application or service, via their internet access service provided for in Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council (27).

(34)

The ISA2 programme should be an instrument for the modernisation of European public administrations. Modernising European public administrations and increasing their interoperability is an important contribution to the completion of the digital single market to enable citizens to benefit fully from interoperable e-services, from e-government to e-health, prioritising the removal of obstacles such as unconnected e-services. Lack of interoperability often undermines the implementation of digital end-to-end services and the development of one-stop shops for businesses and citizens.

(35)

Interoperability is directly connected with, and dependent on the use of, open specifications and standards. The ISA2 programme should promote and, where appropriate, support the partial or full standardisation of existing interoperability solutions. Such standardisation should be achieved in cooperation with other standardisation activities at Union level, European standardisation organisations and other international standardisation organisations.

(36)

By ensuring interoperability, European public administrations will remain open and flexible enough to evolve and be capable of incorporating new challenges and new areas. Interoperability is a condition for avoiding technological lock-in, enabling technical developments and fostering innovation. By developing interoperable solutions and common frameworks, the ISA2 programme should contribute to interoperability between European public administrations, respecting technological neutrality, in order to avoid lock-in and enable increased competition and innovation, which will boost the global competitiveness of the Union.

(37)

The modernisation of European public administrations is one of the key priorities for successful implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Digital Single Market (DSM). In that context, the Annual Growth Surveys published by the Commission in 2011, 2012 and 2013 show that the quality of European public administrations has a direct impact on the economic environment and is therefore crucial to stimulating productivity, competitiveness, economic cooperation, growth and employment. This is clearly reflected in the country-specific recommendations, which call for specific action aimed at European public administration reform.

(38)

Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 includes a thematic objective of ‘enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and an efficient public administration’. In that context, the ISA2 programme should tie in with other initiatives contributing to the modernisation of European public administrations, in particular in relation to work on interoperability and seek synergies with them.

(39)

Interoperability of European public administrations concerns all levels of administration: Union, national, regional and local. It is therefore important to ensure the widest possible participation in the ISA2 programme and that solutions take into account their respective needs, as well as those of businesses and citizens, where relevant.

(40)

National, regional and local administrations can be supported in their endeavours through specific instruments under the European Structural and Investment Funds, in particular the part concerning the institutional capacity building which includes training of the European public administrations staff where appropriate. Close cooperation under the ISA2 programme should maximise the benefits expected from such instruments by ensuring that funded projects are aligned with the Union-wide interoperability frameworks and specifications such as the EIF.

(41)

This Decision lays down a financial envelope for the entire duration of the ISA2 programme, which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of Point (17) of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (28), for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure.

(42)

Consideration should be given to the possibility of using pre-accession funds to facilitate candidate countries' participation in the ISA2 programme and the adoption and further implementation in those countries of solutions provided thereunder.

(43)

The ISA2 programme should contribute to the implementation of any follow-on initiatives in the context of Europe 2020 and the DAE. In order to avoid any duplication of effort, the ISA2 programme should take account of other Union programmes and initiatives in the field of ICT solutions, services and infrastructures, in particular the CEF, Horizon 2020 and the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015 established in the Commission's Communication of 15 December 2010. The Commission should coordinate those actions when implementing the ISA2 programme and when planning future initiatives which would affect interoperability. For the purpose of rationalisation, the scheduling of the ISA2 programme committee meetings should, as far as possible, take into account the meetings scheduled in relation to other relevant Union initiatives and programmes.

(44)

The principles and provisions laid down in Union law concerning the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, in particular Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (29), Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (30) and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (31), should apply to solutions operated under the ISA2 programme that entail the processing of personal data. Accordingly, those solutions should implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure compliance with data protection requirements in Union law. In particular, by default, personal data should be processed only if they are adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose for which they are collected. When developing and establishing interoperability solutions, due consideration should be given to the impact on the protection of personal data.

(45)

When evaluating the ISA2 programme, the Commission should pay particular attention to whether the solutions created and implemented have a positive or a negative impact on modernising the public sector and facilitating the needs of businesses and citizens, for example by reducing their administrative burden and costs and by enhancing the overall interconnection between European public administrations on the one hand, and between European public administrations and businesses and citizens on the other.

(46)

Procuring external services for the purposes of the ISA2 programme where required is subject to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (32) and to Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU.

(47)

In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Decision, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt a rolling work programme. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (33).

(48)

The Commission should adopt immediately applicable implementing acts where, in duly justified cases relating to the established rolling work programme, such as a risk of interruption in the delivery of services, imperative grounds of urgency so require.

(49)

The objectives of this Decision are to develop, maintain and promote a holistic approach to interoperability; to facilitate efficient and effective electronic cross-border or cross-sector interaction between European public administrations on the one hand, and between European public administrations and businesses and citizens on the other; to identify, create and operate interoperability solutions supporting the implementation of Union policies and activities; and to facilitate the re-use of interoperability solutions by European public administrations. Since those objectives cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting alone because the coordination function at Union level would be difficult and costly to set up at the level of the Member States by Member States themselves but can rather, by reason of their scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,

(1)

‘interoperability’ means the ability of disparate and diverse organisations to interact towards mutually beneficial and agreed common goals, involving the sharing of information and knowledge between the organisations, through the business processes they support, by means of the exchange of data between their respective ICT systems;

(2)

‘interoperability framework’ means an agreed approach to interoperability for organisations that wish to work together towards the joint delivery of public services, which, within its scope of applicability, specifies a set of common elements such as vocabulary, concepts, principles, policies, guidelines, recommendations, standards, specifications and practices;

(3)

‘common frameworks’ means reference architectures, specifications, concepts, principles, policies, recommendations, standards, methodologies, guidelines, semantic assets and similar approaches and documents, taken individually or together in a set;

(4)

‘common services’ means the organisational and technical capacity to deliver a single outcome to European public administrations, including operational systems, applications and digital infrastructures of a generic nature which meet common user requirements across policy or geographical areas, along with their supporting operational governance;

(5)

‘generic tools’ means systems, reference platforms, shared and collaborative platforms, and generic components which meet common user requirements across policy or geographical areas;

(6)

‘interoperability solutions’ means common services and generic tools facilitating cooperation between disparate and diverse organisations, either autonomously funded and developed under the ISA2 programme or developed in cooperation with other Union initiatives, based on identified requirements of European public administrations;

(7)

‘actions’ means projects, solutions already in an operational phase and accompanying measures;

(8)

‘project’ means a time-limited sequence of well-defined tasks addressing identified user needs through a phased approach;

(9)

‘suspended actions’ means the actions of the ISA2 programme for which financing is suspended for a certain period of time, but the objective of which is still valid, and which remain subject to monitoring and evaluation of the ISA2 programme;

(10)

‘accompanying measures’ means:

(11)

‘supporting instruments for public administrations’ means the interoperability tools, frameworks, guidelines and specifications that support European public administrations when designing, implementing and operating interoperability solutions;

(12)

‘European public administrations’ means public administrations at Union, national, regional and local levels;

(13)

‘end-users’ means European public administrations, businesses, including SMEs and microenterprises, and citizens;

(14)

‘key interoperability enablers’ means interoperability solutions that are necessary to enable the efficient and effective delivery of public services across administrations;

(15)

‘European Interoperability Reference Architecture’ or ‘EIRA’ means a generic structure, comprising principles and guidelines applying to the implementation of interoperability solutions in the Union;

(16)

‘European Interoperability Cartography’ or ‘EIC’ means a repository of interoperability solutions for European public administrations provided by Union institutions and Member States, presented in a common format and complying with specific re-usability and interoperability criteria that can be represented on the EIRA.

(a)

the assessment, improvement, operation and re-use of existing cross-border or cross-sector interoperability solutions and common frameworks;

(b)

the development, establishment, bringing to maturity, operation and re-use of new cross-border or cross-sector interoperability solutions and common frameworks;

(c)

the assessment of the ICT implications of proposed or adopted Union law;

(d)

the identification of legislation gaps, at Union and national level, that hamper cross-border or cross-sector interoperability between European public administrations;

(e)

the development of mechanisms that measure and quantify the benefits of interoperability solutions including methodologies for assessing cost-savings;

(f)

the mapping and analysis of the overall interoperability landscape in the Union through the establishment, maintenance and improvement of the EIRA and the EIC as instruments to facilitate the re-use of existing interoperability solutions and to identify the areas where such solutions are still lacking;

(g)

the maintenance, updating, promotion and monitoring of the implementation of the EIS, the EIF and the EIRA;

(h)

the assessment, updating and promotion of existing common specifications and standards and the development, establishment and promotion of new common specifications and open specifications and standards through the Union's standardisation platforms and in cooperation with European or international standardisation organisations as appropriate;

(i)

the maintenance and publication of a platform allowing access to, and collaboration with regard to, best practices, functioning as a means of raising awareness and disseminating available solutions, including security and safety frameworks, and helping to avoid duplication of efforts while encouraging the re-usability of solutions and standards;

(j)

the bringing of new interoperability services and tools to maturity, and maintaining and operating existing interoperability services and tools on an interim basis;

(k)

the identification and promotion of best practices, to develop guidelines to coordinate interoperability initiatives and to animate and support communities working on issues relevant to the area of electronic cross-border or cross-sector interaction between end-users.

(a)

be based on utility and driven by identified needs and programme objectives;

(b)

comply with the following principles:

(c)

be flexible, extensible and applicable to other business or policy areas; and

(d)

demonstrate financial, organisational and technical sustainability.

(a)

the objectives of the ISA2 programme laid down in Article 1(1);

(b)

one or more of the activities of the ISA2 programme laid down in Article 3;

(c)

the general principles of the ISA2 programme laid down in Article 4;

(d)

the financing conditions laid down in Article 11.

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2015/104 (2) lays down quotas for 2015.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2015.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 1367/2014 (2) lays down quotas for 2015.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2015.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2015/104 (2) lays down quotas for 2015.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2015.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 (2) provides for the surveillance of the imports of the products listed in Annex XVIII thereto. That surveillance is to be carried out in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 308d of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (3).

(2)

For the purposes of Article 5(4) of the Agreement on Agriculture (4) concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations and in the light of the latest data available for 2012, 2013 and 2014, the trigger levels for additional duties on certain fruit and vegetables should be amended with effect from 1 November 2015.

(3)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly. For reasons of readability, Annex XVIII to that Regulation should be replaced in its entirety.

(4)

Given the need to ensure that this measure applies as soon as possible after the updated data have been made available, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication,

(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 lists the persons, groups and entities covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources under that Regulation.

(2)

On 14 October 2015, the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decided to amend one entry on the list of persons, groups and entities to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources should apply. On 26 October, 12 November and 25 November 2015, the UNSC decided to delete a total of four entries to that list. Moreover, on 30 November 2015, the UNSC approved the addition of one entry on the said list. Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 should therefore be updated accordingly.

(3)

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, this Regulation should enter into force immediately,

(1)

It is necessary to specify the details of the registration number system for European political parties and European political foundations.

(2)

It is necessary to specify the content and format of the standard extract from the register to be made available on request to third parties. That standard extract should contain the key information related to the concerned European political party or European political foundation.

(3)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 37 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014,

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

Article 11 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 (2) allows the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument within the annual ceiling of EUR 471 million (2011 prices) to allow the financing of clearly identified expenditure which could not be financed within the limits of the ceilings available for one or more other headings.

(2)

After having examined all possibilities for re-allocating appropriations under the expenditure ceiling for heading 3 (Security and Citizenship), it appears necessary to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument to complement the financing in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015 by EUR 66,1 million to finance measures in the field of migration.

(3)

The payment appropriations corresponding to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument are EUR 52,9 million in 2016 and EUR 13,2 million in 2017,

(1)

On 22 July 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/486/CFSP (1) on the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine).

(2)

On 17 November 2014, by means of Decision 2014/800/CFSP (2), the Council decided to launch EUAM Ukraine on 1 December 2014 and to amend Decision 2014/486/CFSP in order to provide EUAM Ukraine with a financial reference amount for the period until 30 November 2015.

(3)

Decision 2014/486/CFSP should be amended to provide for a financial reference amount for the period from 1 December 2015 to 30 November 2016.

(4)

Furthermore, Decision 2014/486/CFSP should be amended to extend the mandate of EUAM Ukraine by one year,

(1)

In Article 14(1), the following subparagraph is added:

‘The financial reference amount intended to cover the expenditure related to EUAM Ukraine for the period from 1 December 2015 to 30 November 2016 shall be EUR 14 400 000.’.

(2)

In Article 19, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 30 November 2017.’.

(1)

The Commission is required, pursuant to Article 8(6) of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011, to confirm or amend each year the average specific emissions of CO2 and the specific emissions target for each manufacturer of light commercial vehicles in the Union. On that basis, the Commission is to determine whether manufacturers and pools of manufacturers formed in accordance with Article 7(1) of that Regulation have complied with their specific emissions targets in accordance with Article 4 of that Regulation.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 the average specific emissions of manufacturers for 2014 are calculated in accordance with the third paragraph of that Article and take into account 70 % of the manufacturer's new light commercial vehicles registered in that year.

(3)

The detailed data to be used for the calculation of the average specific emissions and the specific emissions targets is set out in point 1 of Part A and Part C of Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 and is based on Member States' registrations of new light commercial vehicles during the preceding calendar year.

(4)

Where light commercial vehicles are type-approved in a multi-stage process, point 7 of Part B of Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 requires that the manufacturer of the base vehicle take responsibility for the CO2 emissions of the completed vehicle.

(5)

The 2014 data were submitted to the Commission by the time-limit of 28 February 2015 in accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 by a majority of the Member States. Where, as a result of the verification of the data by the Commission, it was evident that certain data were missing or manifestly incorrect, the Commission contacted the Member States concerned and, subject to the agreement of those Member States, adjusted or completed the data accordingly. Where no agreement could be reached with a Member State, the provisional data of that Member State were not adjusted.

(6)

On 13 May 2015, the Commission published the provisional data and notified 64 manufacturers of the provisional calculations of their average specific emissions of CO2 in 2014 and their specific emissions targets in accordance with Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011. Manufacturers were asked to verify the data and to notify the Commission of any errors within 3 months of receipt of the notification in accordance with the Article 8(5) of that Regulation. 23 manufacturers submitted notifications of errors.

(7)

For the remaining 41 manufacturers that did not notify any errors in the datasets or respond otherwise, the provisional data and provisional calculations of the average specific emissions and the specific emissions targets should be confirmed without adjustments.

(8)

The Commission has verified the corrections notified by the manufacturers and the respective justifications and the datasets have been adjusted as appropriate.

(9)

In the case of records without matching vehicle identification numbers and with missing or incorrect identification parameters, such as type, variant, version code or type-approval number, the fact that manufacturers cannot verify or correct those records should be taken into account. As a consequence, it is appropriate to apply an error margin to the CO2 emissions and mass values in those records.

(10)

The error margin should be calculated as the difference between the distances to the specific emissions target expressed as the specific emissions targets subtracted from the average emissions calculated including and excluding those registrations that cannot be verified by the manufacturers. Regardless of whether that difference is positive or negative, the error margin should always improve the manufacturer's position with regard to its specific emission target.

(11)

In accordance with Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011, a manufacturer should be considered as compliant with its specific emission target referred to in Article 4 of that Regulation where the average emissions indicated in this Decision are lower than the specific emissions target, expressed as a negative distance to target. Where the average emissions exceed the specific emissions target, an excess emission premium are to be imposed in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 510/2011, unless the manufacturer concerned benefits from an exemption from that target in accordance with Article 2(4) or Article 11 of that Regulation or is a member of a pool in accordance with Article 7 of that Regulation and the pool complies with its specific emissions target.

(12)

Following a statement by the Volkswagen Group on 3 November 2015 that irregularities were found when determining type approval CO2 levels of some of their vehicles, the average specific emissions of CO2 and the specific emissions targets should not be confirmed for the Volkswagen pool and its members until further clarification is provided by the Volkswagen Group. As a consequence the Volkswagen pool and its members (Audi AG, Dr Ing. h.c.F. Porsche AG, Quattro GmbH, Seat S.A., Skoda Auto A.S., and Volkswagen AG) should not be subject to this Decision.

(13)

The average specific emissions of CO2 from new light commercial vehicles registered in 2014, the specific emissions targets and the difference between those two values should be confirmed or amended accordingly,

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Avtovaz JSC

Represented in the Union by:

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

FCA US LLC (Chrysler Group LLC)

Represented in the Union by:

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

Dongfeng Motor Corporation

Represented in the Union by:

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(17)

(18)

(19)

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(20)

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation

Represented in the Union by:

(21)

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck Europe S.A.

Represented in the Union by:

(22)

(23)

(24)

GAC Gonow Auto Co. Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(25)

Great Wall Motor Company Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(26)

Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Co., Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(27)

(28)

(29)

Hyundai Motor Company

Represented in the Union by:

(30)

Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.

Represented in the Union by:

(31)

(32)

Hyundai Motor India Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(33)

Isuzu Motors Limited

Represented in the Union by:

(34)

(35)

(36)

KIA Motors Corporation

Represented in the Union by:

(37)

(38)

(39)

(40)

(41)

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

Represented in the Union by:

(42)

Mazda Motor Corporation

Represented in the Union by:

(43)

M.F.T.B.C.

Represented in the Union by:

(44)

(45)

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation MMC

Represented in the Union by:

(46)

(47)

Mitsubishi Motors Thailand Co., Ltd MMTh

Represented in the Union by:

(48)

Nissan International SA

Represented in the Union by:

(49)

(50)

(51)

(52)

(53)

Ssangyong Motor Company

Represented in the Union by:

(54)

Suzuki Motor Corporation

Represented in the Union by:

(55)

Tata Motors Limited

Represented in the Union by:

(56)

(57)

(58)

(59)

(60)

(61)

(62)

(63)

(64)

(65)