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 the Council establishing a Community action programme to promote organisations active at European level in the field of equality for men and women

2003/0109 (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 the Council establishing a Community action programme to promote organisations active at European level in the field of equality for men and women

1. BACKGROUND

The proposal was submitted to the European Parliament and the Council (document COM(2003) 279 final - 2003/0109 (COD)) on 4.6.2003.

The European Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on 10.12.2003.

The European Parliament gave its opinion at the first reading on 20.11.2003.

The amended proposal was submitted to the Council on 16.1.2004

The Council's common position was adopted on 6.2.2004

2. PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION'S PROPOSAL

The purpose of this proposal for a decision adopted by the Commission on 27 May 2003 is to provide a legal basis for awarding grants to organisations active at European level in the field of equality for men and women for the years 2004 and 2005. This decision has been made necessary by the new structure of the Commission's budget under the new Financial Regulation with effect from 2004. As a result, the two current budget headings, namely A-3037 for the European Women's Lobby and A-3046 for other organisations active in the field of equality for men and women, will be converted into budget headings by area of activity requiring a basic instrument.

On the same date of 27 May 2003, the Commission adopted six other proposals for decisions to provide a specific basic instrument, from 2004 onwards, for grants currently funded on the basis of administrative appropriations entered in Part A so as to classify them by area of activity. A Communication from the Commission to the Parliament and the Council of 27 May 2003, COM(2003) 274 final, explains the general and common approach adopted for all the proposals for decisions forming part of this initiative.

This was the background to the Commission's adopting, on 27 May 2003, its proposal for a decision establishing a Community action programme to promote organisations active at European level in the field of equality for men and women. The specific legal basis is Article 13 (2) EC which requires the codecision procedure.

At the plenary session of 20 November 2003, the European Parliament adopted 20 amendments to the Commission's proposal.

3. COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

3.1. Parliament's amendments (first reading)

In its common position, the Council accepted nine amendments adopted by Parliament and rejected eleven.

The nine amendments accepted by the Council were 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 14, 16 and 27, which were also accepted by the Commission in their entirety in its amended proposal for a decision.

As in the Commission's amended proposal, the Council's common position partially accepted amendment 22, on condition that the term "grants for action" was added.

Amendments 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19 and 20 were rejected in the Commission's amended proposal for a decision and in the common position.

The common position rejected Parliament's amendments 13, 17 and 18, which had been accepted by the Commission in its amended proposal.

The Council's common position is therefore closely in line with the Commission's amended proposal, the only difference being with regard to amendments 13, 17 and 18 mentioned above.

The Commission accepts amendment 13 not being included, which means that the term "reconciling" rather than "coordinating" family life and work is kept in the proposal for a decision. "Reconciling" was originally chosen by the Commission because it was the term used in all its documents relating to this sphere. Moreover, the amendment was intended to add, by way of illustration, a series of specific areas where activities could be funded, and it could be dispensed with.

The Commission accepts amendment 17 not being included, as it is intended solely to rectify an error in presentation in the proposal for a decision. Since the Council has changed the layout of the annex in the proposal for a decision by mentioning the provisions relating to organisations active at European Union level in the field of equality in general first and the provisions concerning the European Women's Lobby in particular second, the amendment no longer makes any sense.

The Commission is willing to accept amendment 18 not being included. On the one hand, the addition of the term "non-profit making" is not absolutely necessary, since Article 109(2) of the Financial Regulation provides that grants may not be intended to occasion or result in a profit accruing to the beneficiary. On the other hand, keeping the part of the sentence "an objective which is part of the European Union's policy in the field of gender equality" initially featuring in the Commission's proposal for a decision is more consistent with the general objective of the European Union's policy in this area.

3.2. The new provisions introduced by the Council and the Commission's position thereon

- The common position moves the explicit references to the European Women's Lobby in the body of the proposal for a decision to the annex and specifies that the operating grant is awarded directly to it after approval of its programme of work and budget.

The Commission can accept this approach, which does not call into question the fact that the European Women's Lobby is a designated beneficiary receiving, without any call for proposals, an annual operating grant and which still upholds all the current practical arrangements for awarding the grant.

- The common position moves the provision on the duration of the programme in Article 6 in the proposal for a decision to a new paragraph 3 in Article 1.

The Commission shares the Council's opinion that simply moving key parts of the text of the proposal for a decision makes it more comprehensible.

4. CONCLUSIONS / GENERAL REMARKS

The proposed common position is acceptable to the Commission, subject to inclusion of the transitional clause discussed at the budget conciliation meeting of 24 November 2003.

The transitional clause should be worded as follows:

"For grants awarded in 2004, it will be possible for the period of eligibility of expenditure to start on 1 January 2004, provided that the expenditure does not precede the date on which the grant application was lodged or the date on which the beneficiary's budget year starts.

During 2004, in the case of beneficiaries whose budgetary year starts before 1 March, an exception may be granted to the obligation to sign the grant agreement within the first four months of the start of the beneficiary's budget year, as referred to in Article 112, paragraph 2 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities. In this case, the grant agreement should be signed by 30 June 2004 at the latest".