DECISION No 854/2005/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 11 May 2005
establishing a multiannual Community Programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 153(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
After consulting the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),
Whereas:
(1)
Internet penetration and the use of new technologies such as mobile phones are still growing considerably in the Community. Alongside this, dangers, especially for children, and abuse of those technologies continue to exist, and new dangers and abuses are emerging. In order to encourage the exploitation of the opportunities offered by the Internet and new online technologies, measures are also needed to promote their safer use and protect the end-user from unwanted content.
(2)
The eEurope 2005 Action Plan, developing the Lisbon strategy, aims to stimulate secure services, applications and content based on a widely available broadband infrastructure. Among its objectives, are a secure information infrastructure, the development, analysis and dissemination of best practices, benchmarking and a coordination mechanism for e-policies.
(3)
The legislative framework being established at Community level to deal with the challenges of digital content in the Information Society now includes rules relating to online services, notably those on unsolicited commercial e-mail in the Directive on privacy and electronic communications (3) and on important aspects of the liability of intermediary service providers in the Directive on electronic commerce (4), and recommendations for Member States, the industry and parties concerned and the Commission, together with the indicative guidelines on the protection of minors, in Recommendation 98/560/EC (5).
(4)
There will be a continued need for action both in the area of content which is potentially harmful to children or unwanted by the end-user and in the area of illegal content, in particular child pornography and racist material.
(5)
Reaching international agreement on legally binding basic rules is desirable but will not be easily achieved. Even if such agreement is reached, it will not be enough in itself to ensure that the rules are implemented or that those at risk are protected.
(6)
The Safer Internet Action Plan (1999 to 2004) adopted by Decision No 276/1999/EC (6) has provided Community financing, which has successfully encouraged a variety of initiatives and has given European added value. Further funding will help new initiatives to build on the work already accomplished.
(7)
Practical measures are still needed to encourage reporting of illegal content to those in a position to deal with it, to encourage assessment of the performance of filter technologies and the benchmarking of those technologies, to spread best practice for codes of conduct embodying generally agreed canons of behaviour, and to inform and educate parents and children on the best way to benefit from the potential of new online technologies in a safe way.
(8)
Action at Member State level involving a wide range of actors from national, regional and local government, network operators, parents, teachers and school administrators is essential. The Community can stimulate best practice in Member States by carrying out an orientation role both within the European Union and internationally and providing support for European-level benchmarking, networking and applied research.
(9)
International cooperation is also essential and can be stimulated, coordinated, relayed and implemented by action through the Community networking structures.
(10)
The measures that the Commission is empowered to adopt under the implementing powers, conferred on it by this Decision, are essentially management measures relating to the implementation of a programme with substantial budgetary implications within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (7). Those measures should therefore be adopted in accordance with the management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that Decision.
(11)
The Commission should ensure complementarity and synergy with related Community initiatives and programmes, including, inter alia, by taking into account the work performed by other bodies.
(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 the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure (8), for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.
(13)
Since the objectives of this Decision, namely to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States owing to the transnational character of the issues at stake and can, therefore, by reason of the European scale and effects of the actions, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
(14)
This Decision respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles reflected in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Articles 7 and 8 thereof,
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Objective of the programme
1. This Decision establishes a Community programme for the period 2005 to 2008 to promote safer use of the Internet and new online technologies, particularly for children, and to fight against illegal content and content unwanted by the end-user.
The programme shall be known as the ‘Safer Internet plus’ programme (hereinafter the programme).
2. In order to attain the aims of the programme referred to in paragraph 1, the following actions shall be addressed:
(a)
fighting against illegal content;
(b)
tackling unwanted and harmful content;
(c)
promoting a safer environment;
(d)
awareness-raising.
The activities to be carried out under those actions are set out in Annex I.
The programme shall be implemented in accordance with Annex III.
Article 2
Participation
1. Participation in the programme shall be open to legal entities established in the Member States.
Participation shall also be open to legal entities established in the candidate countries in accordance with bilateral agreements in existence or to be concluded with those countries.
2. Participation in the programme may be opened to legal entities established in EFTA States which are contracting parties to the EEA Agreement, in accordance with the provisions of Protocol 31 to that Agreement.
3. Participation in the programme may be opened, without financial support by the Community under the programme, to legal entities established in third countries and to international organisations, where such participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the programme. The decision to allow such participation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 4(2).
Article 3
Competences of the Commission
1. The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the programme.
2. The Commission shall draw up a work programme on the basis of this Decision.
3. In the implementation of the programme, the Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, ensure that it is generally consistent with and complementary to other relevant Community policies, programmes and actions, in particular the Community research and technological development programmes and the Daphne II (9), Modinis (10) and eContentplus (11) programmes.
4. The Commission shall act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 4(2) for the purposes of the following:
(a)
adoption and modifications of the work programme;
(b)
breakdown of budgetary expenditure;
(c)
determination of the criteria and content of calls for proposals, in accordance with the objectives set out in Article 1;
(d)
assessment of the projects proposed following calls for proposals for Community funding where the estimated Community contribution is equal to, or more than, EUR 500 000;
(e)
any departure from the rules set out in Annex III;
(f)
implementation of measures for evaluating the programme.
5. The Commission shall inform the Committee referred to in Article 4 of progress with the implementation of the programme.
Article 4
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 5
Monitoring and evaluation
1. In order to ensure that Community aid is used efficiently, the Commission shall ensure that actions under this Decision are subject to prior appraisal, follow-up and subsequent evaluation.
2. The Commission shall monitor the implementation of projects under the programme. The Commission shall evaluate the manner in which the projects have been carried out and the impact of their implementation in order to assess whether the original objectives have been achieved.
3. The Commission shall report on the implementation of the actions referred to in Article 1(2) to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, by mid-2006 at the latest. In this context, the Commission shall report on the consistency of the amount for 2007 to 2008 with the financial perspective. If applicable, the Commission shall take the necessary steps within the budgetary procedures for 2007 to 2008 to ensure the consistency of the annual appropriations with the financial perspective.
The Commission shall submit a final evaluation report at the end of the programme.
4. The Commission shall forward the results of its quantitative and qualitative evaluations to the European Parliament and the Council together with any appropriate proposals for the amendment of this Decision. The results shall be forwarded before presentation of the draft general budget of the European Union for the years 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Article 6
Financial provisions
1. The financial framework for the implementation of the Community actions under this Decision for the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 is hereby set at EUR 45 million, of which EUR 20 050 000 is for the period until 31 December 2006.
For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount shall be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007.
The annual appropriations for the period from 2005 to 2008 shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
2. An indicative breakdown of expenditure is given in Annex II.
Article 7
Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Strasbourg, 11 May 2005.