31. 7. 92 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 217/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2157/92 of 23 July 1992 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 on the protection of the Community’s forests against atmospheric pollution THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 130S thereof, : Having regard to the proposal form the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parli- ament (%), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas the declining health of the Community’s forests’ continues to give cause for concern and steps should therefore be taken to prolong and supplement the Community scheme introduced by Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 (%); Whereas precise data should be collected on the extent and development of a number of forest pollutants, to- gether with detailed information on basic ecological para- meters, in order to be able better to pinpoint the cause- and-effect relationships that lead to the declining health of forests; whereas a European network of permanent observation plots for monitoring the forest ecosystem would be the appropriate instrument for this purpose ; Whereas provision should be made, for the purposes of Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86, as amended by this Regu- lation, for a programme lasting 10 years from 1 January 1987; Whereas an amount of ECU 29,4 million is deemed necessary for the implementation of that multiannual programme ; whereas for 1992, in the context of the () OJ No C 312, 3. 12, 1991, p. 6. () Opinion delivered on 10 July 1992 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ No C 106, 27. 4. 1992, p. 1. (9 OJ No L 326, 21. 11. 1986, p. 2. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1613/89 (O] No L 165, 15. 6. 1989, p. 8). present financial perspective, the amount deemed neces- sary is ECU 4,2 million; Whereas the amounts to be committed for financing the programme for the period after the financial year 1992 will have to form part of the Community financial frame- work in force, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 is hereby amended as follows : 1. Article 2 shall be replaced by the following : Article 2 1. The aim of the scheme shall be to help the Member States to: — establish, on the basis of common methods, a peri- odic inventory of damage caused to forests, in particular by atmospheric pollution ; — establish or extend, in a coordinated and harmo- nious way, the network of observation plots required to draw up that inventory ; — conduct intensive, continuous surveillance of forestry ecosystems ; — establish or extend, in a coordinated and harmo- nious way, a network of permanent observation plots required for such intensive, continuous surveillance. 2.  The Member States shall forward to the Commis- sion the data gathered by the network of observation plots and by the network of observation plots for intensive, continuous surveillance referred to in para- graph 1. 3. The detailed rules for the implementation of this Article and in particular those relating to the gathering, type, comparability and transmission of the data collected shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 7.