Decision No 790/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 21 April 2004
establishing a Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level in the field of youth
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 149(4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee [1],
Having consulted the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [2],
Whereas:
(1) The Treaty establishes citizenship of the Union and provides that Community action in the field of education, vocational training and youth shall be aimed, inter alia, at encouraging the development of youth exchanges and of exchanges of socio-educative instructors.
(2) The Laeken Declaration annexed to the conclusions of the European Council of 14 and 15 December 2001 asserts that one of the basic challenges to be resolved by the European Union is the way in which to bring citizens, and primarily the young, closer to the European design and the European institutions. International non-governmental youth organisations enable young people to become active citizens, develop a sense of responsibility, express their opinions and values and take part in exchanges across national borders; in so doing, these organisations help to bring Europe closer to young citizens.
(3) The Commission's White Paper entitled "A new impetus for European youth" presented on 21 November 2001 argues that participation by young people should be encouraged and advocates strengthening the organisations within which young people can make their voice heard; it also states that information is essential to the development of active citizenship. In its Resolution [3] on the White Paper, the European Parliament also stressed the important role played by international and European youth organisations in enabling young people to participate on a long-term basis in democratic life in Europe.
(4) In its White Paper on European governance [4] the Commission calls for general openness and for representatives of civil society to be consulted and included in the formation of EU policy. It recognises the role of non-governmental organisations in giving voice to the concerns of citizens.
(5) The Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European cooperation in the youth field [5] endorses the thematic priorities as proposed in the White Paper on European Youth, and in particular participation and information, especially with the aim of encouraging participation by young people in the exercise of active citizenship, and proposes mechanisms for implementing the open method of coordination by consulting young people through specific arrangements at national level and consulting the European Youth Forum at European level.
(6) The European Youth Forum represents young people vis-à-vis the European Union and other international institutions. Its action is essential in order to coordinate and relay to the European institutions the views of the non-governmental youth organisations and to relay to these organisations information about European matters which are of interest to them. International Non-governmental Youth Organisations provide non-formal and informal learning, training and information to young people; they constitute networks representing non-profit bodies active in the Member States and other European countries.
(7) Headings A-3023 and A-3029 of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2003 and previous financial years provide support for the European Youth Forum and international non-governmental youth organisations.
(8) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities [6], hereinafter "the Financial Regulation", requires a basic act to be provided to cover these existing support actions.
(9) The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission undertook, at the time of the adoption of the Financial Regulation, to achieve the objective of ensuring that this basic act enters into force as from the financial year 2004.
(10) Provision should be made for the geographic coverage of the programme to extend to the acceding States, and possibly, in the case of some actions, to all European countries, in view of the importance of strengthening links between the enlarged Union and its neighbours on the European continent.
(11) Any non-Community financing from State resources should comply with Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty.
(12) This Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial framework constituting the prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure [7], for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.
(13) Any support granted under this Decision should comply strictly with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality,
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Programme objective and activities
1. This Decision establishes a Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level in the field of youth (hereinafter referred to as the Programme).
2. The general objective of the programme is to support the activities of these bodies. These activities are the ongoing work programme of a body, which pursues an aim of general European interest in the field of youth or an objective forming part of the European Union's policy in this area. In particular, these activities must contribute, or be capable of contributing, to the active participation of young citizens in public life and in society and to the development and implementation of Community cooperation actions in the field of youth in the broad sense. Cooperation with the European Youth Forum contributes to this general objective in so far as the European Youth Forum represents and coordinates non-governmental youth organisations and relays information on youth to the European institutions.
3. The programme shall start on 1 January 2004 and shall end on 31 December 2006.
Article 2
Access to the programme
To be eligible for an operating grant, a body must satisfy the requirements of the Annex and have the following characteristics:
(a) its activities must be in accordance with the principles underlying Community action in the youth policy area and take account of the priorities set out in the Annex;
(b) it must have been legally established for more than one year;
(c) it must operate at European level, either alone or in the form of various coordinated associations, and its structure and activities must have a potential impact throughout the Union or cover at least eight of the countries referred to in Article 3, including the Member States.
Article 3
Participation of third countries
1. Participation in actions under the programme may be opened to bodies established in:
(a) acceding States which signed the Treaty of Accession on 16 April 2003;
(b) the EFTA/EEA countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement;
(c) Romania and Bulgaria, the conditions for participation to be laid down in accordance with the European Agreements, their additional protocols and the decisions of the respective Association Councils;
(d) Turkey, the conditions for participation to be laid down in accordance with the Framework Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Turkey of 26 February 2002 on the general principles for the participation of the Republic of Turkey in Community programmes [8].
2. Participation in this programme may also be open to bodies established in the Balkan countries forming part of the Stabilisation and Association process for countries of South Eastern Europe [9] and to some countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, in accordance with the conditions and procedures to be agreed with these countries [10].
Article 4
Selection of beneficiaries
The programme covers two types of beneficiaries:
(a) group 1: operating grants shall be directly awarded to the beneficiaries referred to in point 2 of the Annex;
(b) group 2: operating grants shall be awarded in accordance with the overall criteria laid down in the Annex by means of a call for proposals to the permanent activities of a body pursuing an aim of general European interest in the field of youth.
Article 5
Award of the grant
Grants under the different actions of the programme shall be awarded in compliance with the provisions set out in the relevant part of the Annex.
Article 6
Financial provisions
1. The financial framework for the implementation of the programme for the period specified in Article 1(3) is hereby set at EUR 13 million.
2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
Article 7
Implementation
The Commission shall be responsible for, and shall regularly inform the European Parliament, the Council and the Member States concerning, the implementation of this programme in accordance with the provisions set out in the annex.
Article 8
Monitoring and evaluation
No later than 31 December 2007, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the achievement of the programme's objectives. This report shall be based, inter alia, on an external evaluation report which must be available no later than the end of 2006 and which shall appraise at least the overall pertinence and coherence of the programme, the effectiveness of its execution (preparation, selection, implementation of the actions) and the overall and individual effectiveness of the various actions in terms of achievement of the objectives set out in Article 1 and in the Annex.
Article 9
Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Strasbourg, 21 April 2004.