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 on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)

2003/0147 (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 of the Council on the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)

1- BACKGROUND

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council (document COM(2003)406 final - 2003/0147(COD)): // 8.7.2003

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: // 11.12.2003

Date of the opinion of the Committee of Regions: // 20.11.2003

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: // 18.11.2003

Date of adoption of the common position by unanimity: // 17.12.2003

2- OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The objective of the Commission proposal is to establish a follow-on programme to the current IDA programme with a view to identifying, supporting and promoting the development and establishment of pan-European eGovernment services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens as well as the underlying telematic networks.

3- COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

3.1 General

The Common Position follows the general lines and objectives of the Commission's amended proposal and reinforces the focus on pan-European eGovernment services. The Common Position has been accepted in Council by unanimity.

3.1.1 Outline of major differences between the Commission's amended proposal and the Common Position

Article 1 has been split into two articles, Article 1 on the scope and Article 2 on the objectives. To the latter a general objective has been added with a view to highlighting the focus on pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying telematic networks.

Article 3 has been deleted because Article 2, as amended, in conjunction with Annex I and II, will allow prioritisation.

Article 6 has been amended to clarify the use of results from other activities with a view to avoiding duplication and speeding up development, and eventually leading to synergies.

Article 8 and Article 9 have been amended to underline the interrelation between paragraph 1 of the two articles and to take account of the budget breakdown per project of common interest and horizontal measure when modifying the work programme. Furthermore, it has been underlined that the work programme is a rolling one.

Article 11 has been amended in order to change the name of the management committee to better reflect the scope of the programme and split into two articles, Article 11 on the committee procedure and Article 12 on annual reporting.

Article 12 (now Article 13) has been amended to bring the evaluation period in line with the current financial perspectives and to further specify evaluation requirements.

Article 15 (now Article 16) has been amended to take into account the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure as well as the fact that the programme go beyond the current financial perspectives.

Annex II has been amended to differentiate between activities relating to the provision of technology/software solutions and activities relating to the provision of cross-sectoral pan-European eGovernment services. This differentiation has triggered terminological changes throughout the proposal.

Four recitals have been added: Recital 13 on a study to be carried out to establish a list of relevant pan-European eGovernment services, Recital 15 on data protection, Recital 21 on the participation of a limited number of member states in actions and Recital 30 on the comitology procedure.

3.2 Amendments introduced by the European Parliament in first reading

The Commission has accepted all five amendments adopted by the European Parliament in first reading and has orally amended its initial proposal accordingly.

Amendment 1 (Recital 4a (new)) has been integrated as Recital 5, with a slightly amended wording in the Common Position.

Amendment 2 (Recital 5a (new)) has been integrated as Recital 7, with a slightly amended wording in the Common Position.

Amendment 3 (Recital 24a (new)) has been integrated as Recital 31, in the Common Position.

Amendment 4 (Article 12, paragraph 3) has been integrated in Article 13, paragraph 4, of the Common Position.

Amendment 5 (Article 15, paragraphs 1 and 2) has been integrated in Article 16, paragraph 1 and 2, with an amended wording in the Common Position, which likewise increases flexibility by setting one common financial framework for both projects and measures.

4- CONCLUSION

The Commission supports the Council Common Position as it is in line with the Commission's amended proposal and clarifies certain elements of the proposal.