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 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme of Community action to encourage co-operation between Member States to combat social exclusion

1. Background

The proposal COM(2000)368 final was sent to the European Parliament and the Council on 16 June 2000. The European Parliament gave its opinion in a first reading on 16 November 2000. The Economic and Social Committee adopted its opinion in its plenary session of 19 October 2000 and the Committee of the Regions on 13 December 2000.

Following the opinion of the European Parliament and pursuant to Article 250 (2) TEC, the Commission adopted an amended proposal and sent it to the Council and the European Parliament on 24 November 2000 (COM(2000)796 final).

The Council reached a political agreement on a common position during its session of 27/28 November 2000. The Council adopted its common position on 12 February 2001.

2. Aim of the proposal

The proposal was tabled by the Commission in response to the Conclusions of the Lisbon European Council's conclusions which state that "Policies for combating social exclusion should be based on an open method of co-ordination combining national action plans and a Commission initiative for co-operation in this field to be presented by June 2000" (Paragraph 32 of the Conclusions). It is based on the TEC provisions, in particular Article 136 and Article 137, paragraph 2, subparagraphs 2 and 3 thereof. The proposal provides the legal basis for a 5-year programme of Community action aimed at improving understanding, organising mutual learning within the context of Member States' National Action Plans to combat poverty and social exclusion, supporting participation of all stakeholders and networking at European level. It will contribute to enable the Union and the Member States to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of policies to combat poverty and social exclusion.

3. Commission comments on the Common position

3.1 General comments

p.m.

3.2 How the amendments of the European Parliament have been taken into account

The link with the Lisbon European Council conclusions on combating social exclusion have been reinforced and further references to poverty have been incorporated where possible. A stronger emphasis has been put on improvement of indicators and assessment criteria as a means to support co-operation between Member States in the context of the open method of co-ordination. The role of the Social Protection Committee has been underlined and it is also proposed to reflect progress achieved under the programme in the Commission's Annual Synthesis Report to the Spring European Council.

The involvement of all relevant actors at all levels and the importance of reflecting experience on the ground as well as of people affected by poverty and social exclusion have been stressed while making clear that the programme of Community action will focus on transnational co-operation which is policy-oriented and on supporting networking at EU level only. Provisions to promote consistency and complementarity with other Community policies, instruments and actions have been strengthened.

3.2.1 EP amendments taken into account fully, partly or in spirit in the Council's common position and in the Commission's amended proposal

References to recitals and articles refer to the numbering as used in the Council's common position.

- Recital 1 incorporates part of amendment 2 of the EP by including a wider reference to Article 2 of the Treaty,

- Recital 3 covers amendment 4 of the European Parliament and refers to Council Recommendations 92/441/EEC and 92/442/EEC as well as to the Council conclusions of 17 December 1999 (recital 4 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 5 incorporates amendment 5 of the European Parliament by adding "poverty" to "social exclusion" (recital 6 of the amended proposal),

- Recital 7 quotes the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council on the need to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty by setting adequate targets (ex-amendment 10 of the Committee for Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament which has not been voted in its plenary session) (recital 8 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 11 covers part of amendment 14 of the European Parliament by referring to the drawing up of harmonised surveys and the establishment of common qualitative and quantitative indicators to provide a basis for the development of the open method of co-ordination (recital 12 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 12 covers amendment 27 in spirit and amendment 66 of the European Parliament by mentioning that the fight against social exclusion and poverty requires participation in quality employment and access for all to resources, rights, goods and services (recital 13 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 13 covers amendment 6 of the European Parliament by mentioning that measures to combat social exclusion should aim to make everyone capable of supporting himself or herself by gainful employment or otherwise and of integrating into society (recital 14 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 14 accepts in spirit amendment 23 of the European Parliament on the role given by the Lisbon and Feira European Councils to the Social Protection Committee set up by Council Decision 2000/436/EC (recital 18 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 15 incorporates amendment 17 of the European Parliament by taking into account non-governmental organisations at various levels (local, regional, national and European), local and regional authorities and social partners as having experience and knowledge in fighting social exclusion and therefore being able to make an important contribution at European level to understanding social exclusion and ensuring that the design, implementation and follow-up of the programme take account of the experience of people exposed to social exclusion (recital 15 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 17 incorporates amendment 19 of the European Parliament by ensuring that coherence and complementarity of actions under the programme extends and applies to all other relevant Community instruments, policies and actions, in particular the Structural Funds (recital 17 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Recital 22 incorporates amendment 25 of the European Parliament concerning the promotion of equality between men and women in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty (recital 22 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Article 2 incorporates in spirit amendment 68 of the European Parliament; it merges and rewords 1 with 3 along the same lines as in the amended proposal,

- Article 3 a) incorporates part of amendment 36 of the European Parliament by adding "poverty" to the mention of "social exclusion",

- Article 3 c) incorporates part of amendment 70 of the European Parliament by adding "poverty" and "promoting a dialogue with all those involved",

- Article 4 1 incorporates part of amendment 71 of the European Parliament by adding "the study of quantitative and qualitative indicators" under the first indent and the reference to " the assessment criteria" under the second indent; similar additions have also been incorporated in the amended proposal,

- Article 4 1 third indent incorporates amendment 42 of the European Parliament and refers to promoting support to relevant networking (in the Council common position) /networks (in the Commission's amended proposal); this difference does not appear in the French version of the common position which refers to "réseaux" as does the European Parliament,

- Article 9 incorporates amendment 51 of the European Parliament concerning the regular co-operation that the Commission shall establish with the Social Protection Committee (The same is done in Article 8 of the Commission's amended proposal with some differences in the wording),

- Article 10 incorporates part of amendment 53 of the European Parliament and extends the list of the policies for which consistency and complementarity will need to be ensured with regard to economic, industrial, enterprise policies, and immigration (Article 9 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Article 12 incorporates amendment 46 of the European Parliament concerning the reporting of progress of the programme in the Commission's annual summary report to the spring European Council (Article 11 of the Commission's amended proposal),

- Chapter 1, strand 1 of the annex covers amendment 69 in spirit and amendment 73 in part by raising the importance of (i) reflecting the experience on the ground of persons confronted with social exclusion and poverty, (ii) making use of all relevant sources of information on social exclusion and poverty, including information coming from non-governmental organisations and (iii) paying special attention to the multiple dimensions and the diverse situations of the social groups affected, including child poverty, and of the areas which are exposed to the risks of social exclusion,

- Strand 1, chapter 1 of the annex, incorporates amendment 59 of the European Parliament by adding technical work on indicators to the list of measures which may be supported by the Programme. The same addition is made in the amended proposal of the Commission albeit using slightly different wording,

- Strand 2.1, chapter 1 of the annex, incorporates amendment 74 which adds the possibility for the Programme to support field visits, exchanges of staff and exchanges between national observatories or similar recognises bodies.

3.2.2. EP amendments taken into account fully, partly or in spirit in the Commission's amended proposal but not in the Council's common position

References to recitals and Articles refer to the numbering as used in the amended proposal.

- Amendment 3 of the European Parliament adds a new recital on the revised Social Charter of the Council of Europe (1996). The Commission's amended proposal introduced it as a "having in mind" in recital 3 and wishes to maintain it.

- Amendment 18 in recital 16 on the implementation powers conferred to the Commission adds that this shall be "without prejudice of the powers granted to the Commission by Article 274 of the Treaty". The Commission accepts to withdraw the reference to Article 274 as the financial provisions of the Council's common position do not prejudice the application of Article 274 of the Treaty.

- Amendment 72 in Article 8 1 which also deals with the implementation powers conferred to the Commission, equally adds that this shall be "without prejudice of the powers granted to the Commission by Article 274 of the Treaty". For the same reason as above, the Commission accepts not to mention this addition in Article 8 1.

- Amendment 24 of the European Parliament which refers to the compatibility of the reference amount of the programme with the current financial framework is covered by the new recital 21 of the Commission's amended proposal. The Commission wishes to maintain its position as it secures the compatibility of the budget allocated to the programme with the current financial framework.

- Amendment 37 of the European Parliament which adds "on the basis of common parameters" in Article 3, second indent, is partly taken into account in Article 3, second indent, of the Commission's amended proposal which says "on the basis of comparable parameters". The Commission wishes to maintain "on the basis of comparable parameters" as a compromise between the positions of the Council and the European Parliament. By using "comparable" instead of "common" Member States will be able to better reflect the specificities of their national situation and priorities whilst at the same time maintaining the capacity to compare in a productive manner with other Member States. This will contribute to optimise the European added value of the programme.

- Amendment 65 in chapter 4 of the annex requires that in case of subsidies for joint financing with other sources, "the level of financial assistance by the Commission may not exceed, as a general rule, 90% of the cost of the action subsidised". The Commission's amended proposal takes it partly into account by saying that: "Core funding for European networks under strand 3.1 may exceptionally, when justified by their financial situation, amount to 90 % of their running costs". The Commission wishes to maintain its position. A reserve on the corresponding text of the Council's common position has been placed by the Commission at the Council's meeting of 27-28 November 2000 (declaration attached).

3.3 New provisions introduced by the Council and corresponding Commission's positions

References to recitals and articles refer to the numbering as used in the Council's common position.

At the end of recital 8 the Council's common position adds: "and that the best safeguard against social exclusion is a job". The Commission agrees with the Council as this addition refers to the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council in respect of promoting social inclusion.

A specific recital 18 is included in the Council's common position which says that "Special attention should be paid to social exclusion with a view to enlargement". The Commission agrees with the Council.

A new recital 20 is included in the Council's common position and refers to "the work carried out by other international organisations, in particular the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Labour Organisation and the Council of Europe, which will be of particular interest in implementing this programme". The Commission agrees with the Council.

In Article 4 1 first indent of the Council's common position, the following text: "...including the collection of statistics on the various forms of social exclusion in order to compare this data, the study of quantitative and qualitative indicators ..." replaces "including the collection of comparable statistics, the drawing-up of quantitative and qualitative indicators". The Commission agrees with the Council.

In Article 4 1 second indent of the Council's common position, "policy co-operation" is deleted. As it is taken into account in the objectives laid down in Article 3, the Commission agrees with the Council.

In Article 5 on "Implementation and co-operation with the Member States", the Council's common position adds under b) that "To this end, the Commission shall make useful information available to non-governmental organisations and social partners." As this addition is in line with the basic principles of the programme and those of amendment 44 of the European Parliament, the Commission agrees with the Council.

The Council's common position introduces a new Article 7 on "implementing measures". Referring to Decision 1999/468/EC [1], it lists the measures which should be adopted in accordance with the management procedure and the ones for which the advisory procedure is required. Although the Commission's amended proposal only refers to an advisory procedure, the Commission agrees with the Council.

[1] of 29 June 1999, 'fixant les modalités de l'exercice des compétences d'exécution conférées à la Commission.'

There is also a different partition of the text between Articles 7 and 8 of the amended proposal compared to the corresponding Articles 8 and 9 of the common position which does not change the content. The Commission agrees with the Council.

In the paragraph 1.1. of strand 1 in chapter 1 of the annex, "technical work on indicators" replaces the "establishment of indicators" mentioned in the amended proposal. The Commission accepts the Council's wording.

3.4 Problems met when adopting the common position

NB: official minutes of the Council's meeting of 27/28 November 2000 are not yet available. The following text is based on the minutes prepared by the Commission's SG.

During the Council meeting of 27-28 November 2000 when the Council reached a political agreement on a common position, the Commission placed a reserve on point 3.1 under strand 3 in the annex. This text refers to "core funding for key European networks involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion" which "is subject to an upper limit of 80% of the expenditure eligible for support".

In its amended proposal, at the end of point 4 "Carrying out the actions", the Commission adds that "However, core funding for European networks under strand 3.1 may exceptionally, when justified by their financial situation, amount to 90% of their running costs. This is in line with the decision taken in the anti-discrimination programme and takes partly into account (with a scope exclusively confined to European networks involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion) amendment 65 of the European Parliament. (see declaration attached).

4. Conclusions

The Council's common position maintains the main features of the proposed decision and makes several additions to the text reflecting the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council, the need to develop work on indicators and criteria of assessment and the importance of involving all the stakeholders at various levels. These additions are in line with the European Parliament's amendments and the Commission welcomes them. The Council adds furthermore references in the recitals to enlargement and the work carried out by other international organisations, which the Commission also welcomes. In relation to the implementation of the programme, the Council introduces a management procedure in accordance with Decision 1999/468/EC. The Commission had proposed a consultation procedure only but accepts it because it is compatible with the said Decision and might be interpreted as a sign from Member States to become more strongly involved in the management of the Programme. In this way it can support cooperation between them, in the context of the open method of co-ordination, more effectively.

However the Commission regrets that:

- no reference is made to the revised social Charter of the Council of Europe in the recitals. The Commission suggests that the recitals should now also include a reference to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission jointly signed on 7 December 2001;

- there is no mention in the recitals that the reference amount of the programme is compatible with the current financial framework,

- there is no mention in the objectives of the programme in article 3 that exchanges on policies which are implemented and mutual learning shall be organised on the basis of comparable parameters. Comparability is vital in the context of the open method of co-ordination [2] and for the European added value expected from the programme;

[2] The comparability of parameters and indicators has become even more important after the endorsement by the European Council of Nice of the European-level objectives for combating poverty and social exclusion.

Furthermore, the Commission cannot accept that:

- there would be a less favourable treatment in terms of funding between European networks involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion eligible under this programme and those eligible for funding under the anti-discrimination programme,

and invites the Council to adapt its common position accordingly.

ANNEX

STATEMENT

FOR THE COUNCIL MINUTES

Commission statement

The Commission regrets that the Council has not accepted, as it did for the anti-discrimination programme, the amendment raising to 90% the maximum rate of the financial contribution which may be granted under the programme to cover the operating costs of NGO European networks involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion (core funding). It would point out the important role played by NGOs and their European networks, the difficulties they would experience if their required share of the cofinancing were to exceed what they were actually able to raise and stresses the importance that the European Parliament attaches to this amendment [3].

[3] In accordance with the guidelines of 24 March 1997, this statement will be forwarded to the European Parliament.