52006PC0542

[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 26.9.2006

COM(2006) 542 final

2005/0041 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision establishing the “Europe for citizens” programme (2007-2013)

2005/0041 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision establishing the “Europe for citizens” programme (2007-2013)

1. BACKGROUND

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council (document COM(2005)116 final – 2005/0041 (COD): | 14 April 2005 |

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: | 26 October 2005 |

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: | 17 November 2005 |

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: | 5 April 2006 |

Date of the political agreement: | 18 May 2006 |

Date of adoption of the common position: | 25 September 2006 |

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The proposed programme is a contribution to addressing a major challenge of the European Union, namely how to bridge the gap between citizens and the European Union. It ensures the continuity of the Civic participation programme established for the period 2004-2006 and opens the way to new activities, providing a degree of flexibility in order to be able to adapt to future developments.

The “Europe for citizens” programme will provide the Union with instruments to promote active European citizenship. It puts citizens in the centre and offers them the opportunity to fully assume their responsibility as European citizens. It responds to the need to improve citizens participation in the construction of Europe and will encourage cooperation between citizens and their organisations from different countries in order to meet, act together and develop their own ideas in a European environment which goes beyond a national vision, respecting their diversity.

It addresses the complex issue of active European citizenship through different and complementary angles, reflected in four different actions. The first action, "Active citizens for Europe" involves citizens directly, either through activities linked to town-twinning or through other kinds of citizens’ projects. The second action, "Active civil society for Europe" is targeted to civil society organisations at European level, receiving either structural support on the basis of their work programme or support to trans-national projects. The third action "Together for Europe" supports high visibility events, studies and information tools, addressing the widest possible audience across frontiers and making Europe more tangible for its citizens. The last action, “Active European Remembrance”, aims at preserving the sites and archives associated with the deportations as well as at commemorating the victims of Nazism and Stalinism.

3. COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

The Common position has been adopted on 18 September 2006 by unanimity. It is largely based on the Commission amended proposal, which itself accepted a large number of the European Parliament’s amendments. The following amendments were indeed accepted, in full, in principle or in part: amendments number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61. The differences between the Commission amended proposal and the Common position of the Council concern the following three main issues:

The first issue concerns designated organisations. The Commission proposed the designation, for the whole duration of the programme, of a total of nine designated organisations, thereby integrating three additional organisations proposed by the European Parliament. However, in view of the difficulties encountered by the Council in reaching a compromise on this issue, the Commission can accept the position of the Council, consisting in the phasing out, after a period of three years, of the nine designated organisations.

The second issue is related to the budget breakdown between the actions. The European Parliament and the Council reviewed the original proposal of the Commission, putting emphasis however on different actions of the programme (on action I for the Council and on action II for the European Parliament). The Commission's amended proposal broadly maintained its initial position, in order to ensure a balance between the different actions. However, in order to facilitate a quick agreement, the Commission can accept any compromise solution within the limits set by the co-legislators (i.e. between 40 and 47 % for action I and between 29 and 38 % for action II).

The third issue regards comitology. The Commission made a declaration, for inclusion in the minutes of the Council, expressing its regrets about the introduction of a further step in the comitology procedure, which will have a negative impact on the beneficiaries. However, the Commission can accept the text of the Common position in order to avoid any delay in the adoption of the programme.

Under those circumstances, the Commission considers the Common position as being an acceptable compromise and recommends to the European Parliament to approve it.

The Commission notes that the equivalent of the financial envelope of EUR 190 million in 2004 prices referred to in the Council common position (article 11 on budgetary resources) is EUR 215 million in current prices.

4. CONCLUSION

Under the current circumstances, the Commission considers that the common position adopted on 18 September 2006 by unanimity is acceptable and recommends to the European Parliament to approve it.

ANNEX

Declaration by the Commission on Comitology (article 8)

The Commission regrets the wish of the Council to introduce into the “Citizens for Europe” Programme Decision a comitology procedure for individual activity selection decisions, in addition to the comitology procedure envisaged in the Commission’s original proposal for defining the priorities and selection criteria.

The Commission notes that this would increase the time applicants have to wait for a decision on their proposals by 2 to 3 months, compared with the original proposal. This runs counter to the principle of simplification and user-friendliness espoused by the Commission, Council and European Parliament at the start of the legislative process. The Commission also notes that the European Parliament, in its First Reading opinion, was not in favour of subjecting individual selection decisions to a comitology procedure.

In implementing the “Citizens for Europe” programme, the Commission will inform the Programme Committee and the European Parliament without delay of all selection decisions that are taken without recourse to a comitology procedure.

The Commission furthermore will continue to seek ways to shorten the selection timetable through increases in administrative efficiency, in particular through use of the new Executive Agency for the implementation of the programme. It notes, however, that the scale of any such time-savings is substantially smaller than the 2 to 3 months that are at stake if recourse is made to a comitology process for individual selection decisions.

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area(s): Education and culture Activit(y/ies): Fostering European Citizenship |

TITLE OF ACTION: EUROPE FOR CITIZENS |

BUDGET LINE(S) + HEADING(S)

15.06.66 Citizens for Europe

15.01.04.66 Citizens for Europe — Expenditure on administrative management

15.01.04.31 Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture — Subsidy for programmes of Heading 3b

04.04.09 Support to the running costs of the Platform of European Social Non-Governmental Organisations

OVERALL FIGURES

Total allocation for action: € 215,000 million for commitment

Period of application:

2007-2013

Overall multiannual estimate of expenditure:

(a) Schedule of commitment appropriations/payment appropriations (financial intervention) (see point 6.1.1)

Cash prices € million ( to 3rd decimal place)

2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013* | Total |

Commitments | 19,959 | 26,970 | 28,620 | 29,070 | 29,070 | 29,340 | 29,620 | 192,649 |

Payments | 14,039 | 24,893 | 28,086 | 27,718 | 28,294 | 28,898 | 40,720 | 192,649 |

* 2013 et seq for payments

(b) Technical and administrative assistance and support expenditure (see point 6.1.2)

Cash prices € million ( to 3rd decimal place)

2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013* | Total |

Commitments | 2,961 | 3,130 | 3,180 | 3,230 | 3,230 | 3,260 | 3,360 | 22,351 |

Payments | 2,961 | 3,130 | 3,180 | 3,230 | 3,230 | 3,260 | 3,360 | 22,351 |

* 2013 et seq for payments

Cash prices € million ( to 3rd decimal place)

Subtotal a + b | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013* | Total |

Commitments | 22,920 | 30,100 | 31,800 | 32,300 | 32,300 | 32,600 | 32,980 | 215,000 |

Payments | 17,000 | 28,023 | 31,266 | 30,948 | 31,524 | 32,158 | 44,080 | 215,000 |

* 2013 et seq for payments

(c) Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure (see points 7.2 and 7.3)

Cash prices € million ( to 3rd decimal place)

2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total |

Commitments/ payments | 1,729 | 1,765 | 1,801 | 1,837 | 1,873 | 1,909 | 1,945 | 12,859 |

Cash prices € million (to 3rd decimal place)

TOTAL a+b+c | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013* | Total |

Commitments | 24,649 | 31,865 | 33,601 | 34,137 | 34,173 | 34,509 | 34,925 | 227,859 |

Payments | 18,729 | 29,788 | 33,067 | 32,785 | 33,397 | 34,067 | 46,025 | 227,859 |

* 2013 et seq for payments

Compatibility with financial programming and financial perspective

Financial impact on revenue:

[X] Proposal has no financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation of a measure)

BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

Type of expenditure | New | EFTA contribution | Contributions form applicant countries | Heading in financial perspective |

Non-comp | Diff | NO | YES | YES | N° 3 b |

Non-comp | Non-Diff | NO | YES | YES | N° 3 b |

LEGAL BASIS

Treaty establishing the European Community, Articles 151 & 308.

DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

See initial proposal.

FINANCIAL IMPACT

Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

Financial intervention

Commitments (cash prices)

Commitments (cash prices)

ACTION N°1: ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR EUROPE | 8959 | 101,134 |

- TOWN TWINNING | Operating & Project Grants | 8671 | 0,011 | 95,384 |

- CITIZENS' PROJECTS AND SUPPORT MEASURES | Project Grants & Service Contracts | 288 | 0,020 | 5,750 |

ACTION N°2: ACTIVE CIVIL SOCIETY IN EUROPE | 566 | 62,425 |

- STRUCTURAL SUPPORT TO "THINK TANKS" | Operating Grants | 76 | 0,180 | 13,596 |

- STRUCTURAL SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS | Operating Grants | 96 | 0,180 | 17,304 |

- CIVIL SOCIETY PROJECTS | Project Grants | 394 | 0,080 | 31,525 |

ACTION N°3: TOGETHER FOR EUROPE | 58 | 20,491 |

- HIGH VISIBILITY EVENTS | Project Grants & Service Contracts | 19 | 0,735 | 13,951 |

- STUDIES | Project Grants & Service Contracts | 6 | 0,230 | 1,400 |

- DISSEMINATION / INFORMATION | Operating Grants & Service Contracts | 33 | 0,155 | 5,140 |

ACTION N°4: ACTIVE EUROPEAN REMEMBRANCE | 246 | 8,600 |

- SUPPORT TO PROJECTS | Project Grants | 246 | 0,035 | 8,600 |

TOTAL | 9828 | 192,649 |

The needs for human and administrative resources shall be covered within the allocation granted to the managing DG in the framework of the annual allocation procedure.

IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

Impact on human resources

Types of post | Staff to be assigned to management of the action using existing and/or additional resources | Total | Description of tasks deriving from the action |

Number of permanent posts 2007 (2013) | Number of temporary posts 2007(2013) |

Officials or temporary staff | A B C | 4 1 6 |

Other human resources DNE/AUX | 1 DNE 3 AUX |

Total | 11 | 4 | 15 |

Overall financial impact of human resources

Type of human resources | Amount (€ million) 2007 | Method of calculation |

Officials Temporary staff | 1.188.000 € | FTE: 11 * 108.000 € |

Other human resources | 223.000 € | 1-A: 87.014 €, 1-B: 51.540 €, 1-C: 40.037 € 1-DNE: 44.316 € |

Total | 1.411.000 € |

The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

Other administrative expenditure deriving from the action

Budget line (number and heading) | Amount € million 2007(2013) | Method of calculation |

Overall allocation (Title A7) |

A0701 – Missions | 42.000 € | 5 persons * 10missions * 825 € (average) |

A07030 – Meetings | 116.000 € | 2meetings * 50persons * (860 € + (2*150 €)) |

A07031 – Compulsory committees 1 | 68.000 € | 3meetings * 25persons * 860€ (Management Committee) |

A07032 – Non-compulsory committees |

A07040 – Conferences | 200.000 € | Annual Conference (approx.) |

A0705 – Studies and consultations |

Other expenditure (specify) |

Information systems (A-5001/A-4300) |

Other expenditure - Part A (specify) |

Total | 426.000 € |

The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

I. Annual total (7.2 + 7.3) II. Duration of action III. Total cost of action (I x II) | € 1.837.000 € 7 years € 12.859.000 € |

FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

See initial proposal.

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

See initial proposal.