32000Y0822(01)

Notice on town-twinning grants

(2000/C 238/07)

The town-twinning programme has become one of the foremost schemes for bringing people in Europe closer together, helping to establish close ties between thousands of municipalities. It has given enormous numbers of people the opportunity to gain valuable first-hand experience of the European Union. Meetings to discuss commom problems in an effort find practical solutions and put them into practice are now commonplace.

Indeed, the programme has been so successful that the degree of interest it attracts at local level far exceeds the Community's capacity to provide financial support. In order to handle grant applications with the budget available, the European Commission is having to set a closing date of 15 September for the submission of applications for the year's budget. In any case, applications submitted after 15 September could not be considered, since applications have to be sent in at least three months before the twinning arrangement comes into effect.

The Commission is anxious to improve the quality of the service provided and would like to make the system more efficient and transparent. In future there will be a fixed timetable for the selection of grant applications, which will make the scheduling of work much easier. From 2001 the Commission will issue a call for proposals focusing on priority topics, with clearly defined selection criteria in line with the existing rules for the award of grants. The first call for proposals will be published simultaneously in the Official Journal and on the Europa Internet before the end of the year 2000.