Decision No 791/2004/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 and support specific activities in the field of education and training
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 149(4) and 150(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 provides that the Community is to contribute to the development of quality education by supporting and supplementing the action of Member States, to implement a vocational training policy which supports and supplements the action of the Member States, and to foster cooperation with third countries.
(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 how to bring citizens closer to the European design and the European institutions.
(3) The detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems in Europe [3], adopted by the Council on 14 June 2002, sets out a programme of activity that requires support at Community level.
(4) The Declaration of the European Union on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Vienna, 10 December 1998, states that the Union should further develop cooperation in the field of human rights, such as education and training activities, in coordination with other relevant organisations, and ensure the continuation of the European Masters Programme in human rights and democratisation, organised by 15 European universities.
(5) The Conclusions of the Cologne European Council of 4 June 1999 stated that, in order to enhance the sustainability and continuity of the European Masters programme in human rights and democratisation, "further attention should be given to the issue of budget security".
(6) Headings A-3010, A-3011, A-3012, A-3013, A-3014, A-3017, A-3022, A-3027, A-3044, B3-1000 and B3-304 of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2003 and previous financial years have proved their worth in the field of education and training.
(7) The College of Europe, providing postgraduate courses in law, economics, politics, social sciences and humanities with a European dimension, the European University Institute, contributing to the development of European cultural and scientific heritage by means of higher education and research, the European Institute of Public Administration, training national and European civil servants in the field of European integration, the Academy of European Law in Trier, providing university-level training of European law professionals and users, the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation, providing a European Masters degree and Advanced Internships and other education, training and research services in promotion of human rights and democratisation, the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, working to improve the quality of education for pupils with special needs and to foster sustainable European cooperation in this field, and the International Centre for European Training, providing teaching, training and research on issues of Europeanisation, globalisation, federalism, regionalism and the transformation of contemporary social structures, constitute bodies pursuing aims of general European interest.
(8) There is an increased need to train national judges in the application of Community law and for such training to be supported by the Community, notably following adoption of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty [4], which increases the power of national courts to apply these Treaty provisions.
(9) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities [5], hereinafter "the Financial Regulation", requires a basic act to be provided to cover these existing support actions.
(10) 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; the Commission undertook to take into account the remarks entered in the budget in the context of implementation.
(11) It is necessary to ensure that the institutions to which the Community has allocated funding support over previous years enjoy an adequate measure of stability and continuity of funding subject to the Financial Regulation and its rules for implementation.
(12) Provision should be made for the geographic coverage of the programme to extend to the acceding Member States, and possibly, in the case of some actions, to the EFTA/EEA countries and the candidate countries.
(13) Any non-Community financing from State resources should comply with Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty.
(14) 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 [6], for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.
(15) 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 in the field of education and training (hereinafter referred to as "the programme"), to support bodies and their activities which seek to extend and deepen knowledge of the building of Europe, or to contribute to the achievement of the common policy objectives in the field of education and training, both inside and outside the Community.
2. The general objective of the programme is to support the activities of bodies in the field of education and training.
The following activities are covered by the programme:
(a) the ongoing work programme of a body operating at European or world level which pursues an aim of general European interest in the field of education and training or an objective forming part of the European Union's policy in this area;
(b) a specific action promoting the European Union's action in this area, providing information on European integration and the objectives pursued by the Union in its international relations or supporting Community action and relaying it at national level.
In particular, these activities must contribute, or be capable of contributing, to the development and implementation of Community cooperation policy and actions in the field of education and training.
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 a grant, a body must satisfy the requirements of the Annex and have the following characteristics:
(a) it must be an independent and non-profit-making legal person primarily active in the field of education and training, with an objective aimed at the public good;
(b) it must have been legally established for more than two years and have had its annual statement of accounts for the two preceding years certified by a registered auditor;
(c) its activities must be in accordance with the principles underlying Community action in the field of education and training and take account of the priorities set out in the Annex.
In exceptional circumstances, the Commission may grant a derogation from the requirement under point (b) of the first paragraph, provided that this would not compromise the protection of Community financial interests.
Article 3
Participation of third countries
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 [7].
Article 4
Selection of beneficiaries
The programme covers two groups of beneficiaries:
(a) group 1: operating grants directly awarded in accordance to the beneficiaries listed by name in point 2 of the Annex;
(b) group 2: support for European associations active in the field of education or training, support for activities in the field of higher education concerning European integration, including Jean Monnet chairs, support for activities contributing to the achievement of the future objectives of education and training systems in Europe and support for training of national judges in the field of European law and for organisations for judicial cooperation. Beneficiaries are selected by means of a call for proposals in accordance with the overall criteria laid down in the Annex.
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 77 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 implementing this programme in accordance with the provisions set out in the Annex.
Article 8
Monitoring and evaluation
1. Not later than 31 December 2007, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council 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 as set out in Article 1 and in the Annex.
The Commission shall moreover report to the European Parliament and to the Council on an annual basis on the implementation of the programme.
2. The European Parliament and the Council shall, in accordance with the Treaty, decide on the continuation of the programme as from 1 January 2007.
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.