1. The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties with regard to decision VII/8f as regards case ACCC/C/2015/128, shall be to not endorse the findings of the Compliance Committee, but instead to acknowledge the concerns and findings of the Compliance Committee and to propose to postpone the adoption of the position on the findings in that case to the next session of the Meeting of the Parties.
2. With a view to justifying the request for such a postponement and proving its readiness to follow-up without delay to the findings of the Compliance Committee in case ACCC/C/2015/128, the Union shall declare that in the context of the legislative procedure concerning the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006, the Commission made a statement by which:
—
it stated that it is currently analysing the implications of the findings and assessing the options available,
—
it committed to complete and publish that assessment by the end of 2022,
—
it committed to come forward, if appropriate, by the end of 2023, with measures to address the issue, in light of the obligations of the Union and its Member States under the Aarhus Convention and taking into account the rules of Union law concerning State aid.
The Commission’s statement shall be made available to the other Parties to the Aarhus Convention and the Compliance Committee ahead of the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties.
3. In the event the other Parties to the Aarhus Convention do not accept the position taken on behalf of the Union in case ACCC/C/2015/128 referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties with regard to decision VII/8f as regards case ACCC/C/2015/128 shall, instead, be to decide separately on the part of decision VII/8f which concerns ACCC/C/2015/128 and to reject the adoption of that part of decision VII/8f with the aim of postponing the decision-making on those findings of the Compliance Committee until the next session of the Meeting of the Parties.
4. If, despite intensive consultations with the Bureau of the Aarhus Convention and the other Parties to the Aarhus Convention, it is not possible to decide separately on the part of decision VII/8f which concerns case ACCC/C/2015/128 and to postpone decision-making on that case, while endorsing those parts of decision VII/8f which concern cases ACCC/C/2008/32, ACCC/C/2013/96, ACCC/C/2014/121 and ACCC/C/2010/54, and the Union comes to the conclusion, in on-the-spot coordination, that all means to that effect have been exhausted, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties with regard to decision VII/8f as regards case ACCC/C/2015/128 shall, as a last resort, be to postpone the adoption of decision VII/8f in its entirety to the next session of the Meeting of the Parties.
