[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 12.3.2007

COM(2007) 102 final

2005/0037A (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the specific programme "Fight against violence (Daphne III)" as part of the General programme "Fundamental Rights and Justice"

2005/0037A (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the specific programme "Fight against violence (Daphne III)" as part of the General programme "Fundamental Rights and Justice"

1. BACKGROUND

Date when the proposal was sent to the EP and to the Council(document COM([2006])[230] final - [2005]/[037A]COD): | 24 May 2006: (proposal amended after splitting the "Fight against violence (Daphné III)” and “Drugs prevention and information” programmes. |

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: | 19 January 2006 |

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

Date of adoption of the common position: | 5 March 2007 |

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

DAPHNE III is a financing programme with a financial package of €116.85 million for the period from 2007 to 2013 and pursuing the following objectives:

To prevent and combat all forms of violence occurring in the public or the private domain against children, young people and women by taking preventive measures and by providing support for victims and groups at risk; To promote transnational actions aimed at setting up multidisciplinary networks, ensuring the expansion of the knowledge base, raising public awareness of violence and studying phenomena related to violence, and exploring and addressing the root causes of violence at all levels of society.

3. COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

The Council Common Position preserves the essence of the original Commission proposal and takes the European Parliament’s main amendments at first reading into account.

The discussions between Parliament, the Council and the Commission have produced a compromise text which is the basis for the Council Common Position. The basic differences between the common position and the original Commission proposal are as follows:

The "Daphne III" and "Drugs prevention and information" programmes are split. (The Commission itself proposed splitting them in its amended proposal of 24 May 2006. Articles 2 and 3: the general and specific objectives of the programme have been redrafted for the sake of greater clarity.)

Article 4(b): a proposal for a specific project will be eligible for financing if it involves at least two Member States (instead of three, as originally proposed by the Commission).

Article 4(d): The explicit reference to an operating grant for the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children is deleted.

Article 10: As regards committee procedures, the compromise text adopts the double committee principle (management committee for the adoption of the annual work programme and advisory committee for other questions), while the original Commission proposal envisaged only an advisory committee.

A European Parliament and Council statement calls on the Commission to consider a possible initiative for a European year against violence against children, adolescents and women.

Other Parliamentary amendments concerning drafting changes to improve the text are also taken over.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The Commission accepts the common position, which incorporates the main elements of its original proposal and its amended proposal of 24 May 2006 and the main amendments adopted by the European Parliament.