29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/1

(1)

The Air Transport Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the United States of America, on the other hand (1) (‘the Air Transport Agreement’), signed by the United States of America and the Member States of the European Community and the European Community on 25 and 30 April 2007, as amended by the Protocol to amend the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America and the European Community and its Member States, signed on 25 and 30 April 2007 (2) (‘the Protocol’), signed by the United States of America, the Member States of the European Union and the European Union on 24 June 2010, explicitly provides for the accession of third countries to the Air Transport Agreement.

(2)

In accordance with Article 18(5) of the Air Transport Agreement, as amended by the Protocol, the Joint Committee established thereunder has developed a proposal for the accession of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway to the Air Transport Agreement, as amended by the Protocol.

(3)

On 16 November 2010 the Joint Committee proposed an Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, of the first part, the European Union and its Member States, of the second part, Iceland, of the third part, and the Kingdom of Norway, of the fourth part (‘the Accession Agreement’).

(4)

The Commission has negotiated an Ancillary Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the first part, Iceland, of the second part, and the Kingdom of Norway, of the third part, on the application of the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, of the first part, the European Union and its Member States, of the second part, Iceland, of the third part, and the Kingdom of Norway, of the fourth part (‘the Ancillary Agreement’).

(5)

The Accession Agreement and the Ancillary Agreement should be signed and applied on a provisional basis, pending the completion of the procedures for their conclusion,

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/25

(1)

By its Decision of 5 June 2003, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing bilateral agreements with an agreement at Union level.

(2)

On behalf of the Union, the Commission has negotiated an Agreement on certain aspects of air services with the United Mexican States (the Agreement) in accordance with the mechanisms and directives in the Annex to the Council Decision of 5 June 2003.

(3)

The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union on 15 December 2010, subject to its conclusion at a later date, in accordance with Council Decision 2011/94/EU (1).

(4)

The Agreement should be approved,

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/26

(1)

The Commission has negotiated on behalf of the Union the Memorandum of Cooperation NAT-I-9406 between the United States of America and the European Union (hereinafter the ‘Memorandum’) in civil aviation research and development.

(2)

The Memorandum was signed on 3 March 2011.

(3)

The Memorandum should be approved by the Union.

(4)

It is necessary to lay down procedural arrangements for the participation of the Union in the Joint Committee established by the Memorandum, and the resolution of disagreements,

—

additional Annexes to the Memorandum and Appendices thereto as referred to in Article III(E), paragraph 2 of the Memorandum,

—

amendments to Annexes to the Memorandum and Appendices thereto, as referred to in Article III(E), paragraph 3 of the Memorandum.

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/27

(1)

By Decision 2011/265/EU, the Council authorised the signature of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part (2) (‘the Agreement’) on behalf of the European Union. Decision 2011/265/EU confirmed the provisional application of the Agreement, subject to its conclusion at a later stage, as provided for in Article 15.10.5 of the Agreement. The date from which the Agreement applies on a provisional basis was set at 1 July 2011.

(2)

For a number of specific products, Annex II(a) to the Protocol attached to the Agreement concerning the definition of ‘originating products’ and methods of administrative cooperation (3) (‘the Protocol’) provides for derogations from the rules of origin set out in Annex II to the Protocol. However, the derogations are limited by annual quotas. It is therefore necessary to lay down the conditions for the application of those derogations.

(3)

In accordance with Annex II(a) to the Protocol, the proof of origin for surimi preparations (CN code 1604 20 05) should be accompanied by documentary evidence that the surimi preparation contains at least 40 per cent fish by weight and that the Alaska Pollack (Theragra chalcogramma) species has been used as the primary ingredient of the surimi base.

(4)

In accordance with Annex II(a) to the Protocol, the proof of origin for dyed woven fabrics of CN codes 5408 22 and 5408 32 should be accompanied by documentary evidence that the undyed fabric used does not exceed 50 per cent of the ex-works price of the product.

(5)

Since the quotas set out in Annex II(a) to the Protocol are to be managed by the Commission on a first-come, first-served basis, they should be managed in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (4).

(6)

Since the Agreement takes effect on 1 July 2011, this Regulation should apply from the same date.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(a)

a declaration signed by the approved exporter certifying that the products concerned satisfy the conditions of the derogation shall be provided upon the release of the products for free circulation within the Union;

(b)

the declaration referred to in point (a) shall contain the following statement in English: ‘Derogation — Annex II(a) of the Protocol concerning the definition of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation’.

(a)

the surimi preparation contains at least 40 per cent fish by weight;

(b)

the Alaska Pollack (Theragra chalcogramma) species has been used as the primary ingredient of the surimi base.

(a)

the amount used of the Alaska Pollack (Theragra chalcogramma) species as a percentage of the fish used for producing the surimi;

(b)

the country of origin of the Alaska Pollack.

(a)

the price in euro of the non-originating undyed fabrics used to make the dyed woven fabrics (CN codes 5408 22 and 5408 32);

(b)

the ex-works price in euro of the dyed woven fabrics (CN codes 5408 22 and 5408 32).

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/30

(1)

Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1670/2006 lays down that the quantities of cereals eligible for the refund are to be the quantities placed under control and distilled, weighted by a coefficient to be fixed annually for each Member State concerned. The coefficient is to express the average ratio between the total quantities exported and the total quantities marketed of the spirit drink concerned, on the basis of the trend noted in those quantities during the number of years corresponding to the average ageing period of the spirit drink in question.

(2)

According to the information provided by the United Kingdom in respect of the period 1 January to 31 December 2010, the average ageing period for Scotch whisky in 2010 was eight years.

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1113/2010 of 1 December 2010 fixing the coefficients applicable to cereals exported in the form of Scotch whisky for the period 2010/2011 (3) has exhausted its effects, as it concerns the coefficients applicable for the year 2010/2011. The coefficients for the period 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012 should therefore be fixed accordingly.

(4)

Article 10 of Protocol 3 to the Agreement on the European Economic Area excludes the grant of refunds in respect of exports to Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. Moreover, the Union has concluded agreements abolishing export refunds with certain third countries. Under the terms of Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1670/2006, this should be taken into account in calculating the coefficients for 2011/2012,

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/32

(1)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors (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 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (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 2008, 2009 and 2010, the trigger levels for additional duties on cucumbers, artichokes, clementines, mandarins and oranges should be adjusted.

(3)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

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

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/34

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/36

(1)

The use of hydrogen peroxide is already subject to restrictions and conditions laid down in Annex III, Part 1 to Directive 76/768/EEC.

(2)

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, which has been replaced by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (hereinafter SCCS) pursuant to Commission Decision 2008/721/EC of 5 August 2008 setting up an advisory structure of Scientific Committees and experts in the field of consumer safety, public health and the environment and repealing Decision 2004/210/EC (2), has confirmed that a maximum concentration of 0,1 % of hydrogen peroxide present in oral products or released from other compounds or mixtures in those products is safe. It should therefore be possible to continue to use hydrogen peroxide in that concentration in oral products, including tooth whitening or bleaching products.

(3)

The SCCS considers that the use of tooth whitening or bleaching products containing more than 0,1 % and up to 6 % of hydrogen peroxide present or released from other compounds or mixtures in these products may be safe if the following conditions are satisfied: an appropriate clinical examination is carried out in order to ensure there are no risk factors or any other oral pathology of concern and that exposure to these products is limited so as to ensure that the products are used only as intended in terms of frequency and duration of application. These conditions should be fulfilled in order to avoid reasonably foreseeable misuse.

(4)

Those products should therefore be regulated in a way that ensures that they are not directly available to the consumer. For each cycle of use of those products, the first use should be limited to dental practitioners, as defined under Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (3) or under their direct supervision if an equivalent level of safety is ensured. Dental practitioners should then provide access to those products for the rest of the cycle of use.

(5)

An appropriate labelling regarding the concentration in hydrogen peroxide of the tooth whitening or bleaching products containing more than 0,1 % of this substance should be provided for in order to ensure the appropriate use of these products. For this purpose, the exact concentration in percentage of hydrogen peroxide present or released from other compounds and mixtures in those products should be clearly indicated on the label.

(6)

Directive 76/768/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

The Standing Committee on Cosmetic Products has not delivered an opinion within the time limit laid down by its Chairman,

29.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/39

(1)

The Digital Agenda for Europe seeks to optimise the benefits of information technologies for economic growth, job creation and the quality of life of European citizens, as part of the Europe 2020 strategy. The digitisation and preservation of Europe’s cultural memory which includes print (books, journals and newspapers), photographs, museum objects, archival documents, sound and audiovisual material, monuments and archaeological sites (hereinafter ‘cultural material’) is one of the key areas tackled by the Digital Agenda.

(2)

The EU’s strategy for digitisation and preservation builds on the work done over the last few years in the digital libraries initiative. The European actions in this area, including the development of Europeana, Europe’s digital library archive and museum, were supported by the European Parliament and the Council, most recently in a Parliament resolution of 5 May 2010 and the Council Conclusions of 10 May 2010. The Workplan for Culture 2011-14, established by the Council at its meeting of 18 and 19 November 2010, highlights the need for a coordinated effort in the area of digitisation.

(3)

On 28 August 2006, the Commission issued a Recommendation to the Member States with a view to optimising, by means of the Internet, the economic and cultural potential of Europe’s cultural heritage. The Member States’ reports on the implementation of the Recommendation of 2008 and 2010 show that progress has been made. However, progress is not consistent across the Member States and is uneven for the different points of the Recommendation.

(4)

Moreover the context for digitisation efforts and for collaboration at European level has changed considerably over the last few years. New elements include the launch of Europeana in November 2008, the publication of the report ‘The New Renaissance’ by the ‘Comité des Sages on bringing Europe’s cultural heritage online’ of 10 January 2011 and the Commission’s proposal for an Orphan Works Directive of 24 May 2011.

(5)

Therefore, an updated set of measures for digitising and bringing cultural heritage online and for digital preservation should be recommended to the Member States. In that context, the development of digitised material from libraries, archives and museums should be further encouraged in order to ensure that Europe maintains its place as a leading international player in the field of culture and creative content and uses its wealth of cultural material in the best possible way. As underlined by the ‘Comité des Sages on bringing Europe’s cultural heritage online’, Europe needs to act now to reap the benefits of digitisation and digital preservation. If Member States do not step up their investments in this area, there is a risk that the cultural and economic benefits of the digital shift will materialise in other continents and not in Europe.

(6)

The online accessibility of cultural material will make it possible for citizens throughout Europe to access and use it for leisure, studies or work. It will give Europe’s diverse and multilingual heritage a clear profile on the Internet, and the digitisation of their assets will help Europe’s cultural institutions to continue carrying out their mission of giving access to and preserving our heritage in the digital environment.

(7)

Moreover, the digitised material can be reused – for both commercial and non-commercial purposes – for uses such as developing learning and educational content, documentaries, tourism applications, games, animations and design tools, provided that this is done with full respect for copyright and related rights. This will give an important input to the creative industries, which account for 3,3 % of EU GDP and 3 % of employment. These industries are faced with a digital transition that is shaking up traditional models, transforming value chains and calling for new business models. Digitising and providing wider access to cultural resources offers enormous economic opportunities and is an essential condition for the further development of Europe’s cultural and creative capacities and of its industrial presence in this field.

(8)

Digitisation is an important means for ensuring greater access to and use of cultural material. Concerted action by the Member States to digitise their cultural heritage would lend greater coherence to the selection of material and would avoid overlap in digitisation. It would also lead to a more secure climate for companies investing in digitisation technologies. Overviews of current and planned digitisation activities and quantitative targets for digitisation would contribute to achieving those objectives.

(9)

The cost of digitising the whole of Europe’s cultural heritage is high and cannot be covered by public funding alone. Private sector sponsoring of digitisation or partnerships between the public and private sectors can involve private entities in digitisation efforts and should be further encouraged. In order to be fair and balanced, these partnerships should comply with a number of key principles. In particular it is necessary to set time limits for the preferential use of the digitised material. The ‘Comité des Sages on bringing Europe’s cultural heritage online’ indicated that the maximum time for preferential use of the material digitised in public-private partnerships should not be longer than 7 years.

(10)

The EU Structural Funds can be and are being used to co-fund digitisation activities as part of projects having an impact on the regional economy. However, such use could be more widespread and systematic. Mass digitisation processes can gain in efficiency due to scale. Therefore, the efficient use of digitisation capacity and, where possible, the sharing of digitisation equipment between cultural institutions and countries should be encouraged.

(11)

Only part of the material held by libraries, archives and museums is in the public domain, in the sense that it is not or is no longer covered by intellectual property rights, while the rest is protected by intellectual property rights. Since intellectual property rights are a key tool to stimulate creativity, Europe’s cultural material should be digitised, made available and preserved in full respect of copyright and related rights.

(12)

On 24 May 2011 the Commission made a proposal for a Directive for orphan works. In order to have its full effect it should be rapidly adopted and implemented to ensure a harmonised approach to the issue of orphan works throughout the EU. For the large-scale digitisation of out-of-commerce works, legislative backing for licensing solutions voluntarily developed by stakeholders may be needed in the Member States, taking into account the need to ensure a cross-border effect. In this context, the approach followed in the stakeholders’ dialogue, sponsored by the Commission, on out-of-commerce books and learned journals, which resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Brussels on 20 September 2011, should be seen as a model for further dialogues to facilitate agreements for the digitisation of as much of the out-of-commerce material as possible. Rights information databases connected at European level can bring down transaction costs for rights clearance. Such mechanisms should therefore be encouraged in close cooperation with all stakeholders.

(13)

In order to allow wide access to and use of public domain content, it is necessary to ensure that public domain content remains in the public domain once digitised. The use of intrusive watermarks or other visual protection measures on copies of public domain material as a sign of ownership or provenance should be avoided.

(14)

Europeana, Europe’s digital library, archive and museum, was launched on 20 November 2008. The further development of the Europeana platform will depend to a large extent on the way the Member States and their cultural institutions feed it with content, and make it visible to citizens. Measures to achieve this effect should be encouraged.

(15)

Currently, Europeana gives direct access to more than 19 million digitised objects. Only 2 % of these objects are sound or audiovisual material. Increasing the content accessible through Europeana, including types of material that are currently underrepresented, will make the site more interesting for the users, and should therefore be encouraged. The overall target of 30 million objects by 2015 is in line with Europeana’s strategic plan, and a stepping stone for getting Europe’s entire cultural heritage digitised by 2025. The availability of all public domain masterpieces (key cultural or historical works and objects, as determined and selected by the Member States) through Europeana will enrich the content of the site, in line with the expectations of the users. Provisions in the Member States ensuring that all material digitised with public funding is made available through Europeana would boost the development of the platform and create a clear framework for the content contribution by cultural institutions, and the introduction of such provisions should therefore be encouraged.

(16)

Digital material has to be managed and maintained, otherwise files may be unreadable when the hardware and software used to store them becomes obsolete, material may be lost when storage devices deteriorate over time, and storage devices could be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new and changing content. In spite of progress made across the EU on the preservation of digital material, in several Member States no clear and comprehensive policies are in place on the preservation of digital content. The absence of such policies poses a threat to the survival of digitised material and may also result in the loss of material produced in digital format (born digital material). The development of effective means of digital preservation has far-reaching implications that go beyond cultural institutions. Questions of digital preservation are relevant for any private or public organisation, which is obliged or which wishes to preserve digital material.

(17)

Digital preservation poses challenges of a financial, organisational, and technical nature and sometimes requires an update of legislative provisions. Several Member States have introduced or are considering legal obligations requiring producers of digital material to make one or more copies of their material available to a mandated deposit body. Efficient provisions and practices for legal deposit can minimise the administrative burden on content holders and deposit institutions alike, and should therefore be recommended. Effective collaboration between Member States is necessary to avoid a wide variation in the rules governing the deposit of digital material and should be encouraged. Web-harvesting is a new technique for collecting material from the Internet for preservation purposes. It involves mandated institutions actively collecting material instead of waiting for it to be deposited, thus minimising the administrative burden on producers of digital material, and national legislation should therefore make provision for it.

(18)

In as far as cinematographic works are concerned the present Recommendation complements the Parliament and Council Recommendation of 16 November 2005 on film heritage and the competitiveness of related industrial activities (1) on a number of aspects,

1.

further develop their planning and monitoring of the digitisation of books, journals, newspapers, photographs, museum objects, archival documents, sound and audiovisual material, monuments and archaeological sites (hereinafter ‘cultural material’) by:

2.

encourage partnerships between cultural institutions and the private sector in order to create new ways of funding digitisation of cultural material and to stimulate innovative uses of the material, while ensuring that public private partnerships for digitisation are fair and balanced, and in line with the conditions indicated in the Annex;

3.

make use of the EU’s Structural Funds, where possible, to co-finance digitisation activities in the framework of regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation;

4.

consider ways to optimise the use of digitisation capacity and achieve economies of scale, which may imply the pooling of digitisation efforts by cultural institutions and cross-border collaboration, building on competence centres for digitisation in Europe;

5.

improve access to and use of digitised cultural material that is in the public domain by:

6.

improve conditions for the digitisation and online accessibility of in-copyright material by:

7.

contribute to the further development of Europeana by:

8.

reinforce national strategies for the long-term preservation of digital material, update action plans implementing the strategies, and exchange information with each other on the strategies and action plans;

9.

make explicit and clear provision in their legislation so as to allow multiple copying and migration of digital cultural material by public institutions for preservation purposes, in full respect of European Union and international legislation on intellectual property rights;

10.

make the necessary arrangements for the deposit of material created in digital format in order to guarantee its long-term preservation, and improve the efficiency of existing deposit arrangements for material created in digital format by:

11.

taking into account developments in other Member States, when establishing or updating policies and procedures for the deposit of material originally created in digital format, in order to prevent a wide variation in depositing arrangements;

12.

inform the Commission 24 months from the publication of this Recommendation in the Official Journal of the European Union, and every 2 years thereafter, of action taken in response to this Recommendation.