Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a Community Action Programme promoting non-governmental organisations primarily active in the field of environmental protection"

(2002/C 36/21)

On 11 July 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 175 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Economic and Social Committee appointed Mrs Sánchez Miguel as rapporteur-general to prepare its work on this matter.

At its 385th plenary session on 17 and 18 October 2001 (meeting of 18 October 2001), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 66 votes, with 22 against and 10 abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. From 1 January 1998 until it expires on 31 December 2001, a Community programme promoting European environmental NGOs has been in operation. Its purpose is to provide financial support for activities which contribute to the development and application of Community environmental policy and legislation on the basis of Council Decision 97/872/EC.

Hence it is necessary:

- to assess its importance, in accordance with the Commission's policy;

- to see whether the approach is adequate and incorporates the Commission's new guidelines and objectives;

- to evaluate its operation, with a view to continuing and/or changing this line of approach, i.e. the funding of environmental NGOs' activities.

1.2. The "Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the experience gained in the application of Council Decision 97/872 of 16 December 1997, on the Action Programme promoting European non-governmental organisations primarily active in the field of environmental protection"(1) expresses the Commission's satisfaction with the activities, which are properly accounted for, and with the presentation of the final reports, which clearly specify the results of the work carried out (evaluation of budget line B4-3060). Overall, therefore, this programme has lived up to expectations during its period of operation.

1.3. The Commission now considers that NGOs should play a highly important role in relation to the new forms of European governance, the requirements of the integration process (of environmental protection and sustainable development into all the EU's other policies) and the requirements of the enlargement process. Furthermore, taking into account the survey carried out among recipient NGOs and the opinion of the departments responsible for supervising the programmes, which found shortcomings in the publication, development and management of the programme, the Commission proposes replacing the previous Decision by a new one. This will encompass:

- the systematic involvement of European environmental NGOs in framing and applying Community policy;

- a period of 5 years to adjust to the EU's budgets and political agreements;

- calls for proposals and decisionmaking to be aligned on the calendar year;

- an expanded geographical scope in the light of enlargement and of the association process for the countries of south-east Europe;

- a simplified selection, monitoring and evaluation system based on result/impact-oriented indicators which maintains a balance between geographical areas, small and large NGOs, specialists and generalists, etc.;

- a fixed auditing scheme that ensures sound, transparent and strict management of taxpayers' money.

2. General comments

2.1. European NGOs have shown that they are able to play the role assigned to them by the Commission in relation to both the promotion of new forms of European governance and the framing and application of EU environmental policies, as set out in the section "The challenge of new Governance" in the explanatory memorandum(2). Hence there is every justification for a Community action programme to promote NGOs primarily active in environmental protection.

2.2. The proposed period of five years (2002-2006), with an interim evaluation in 2004, along with the features of this new programme, will make for maximum operational effectiveness in promoting the work of these NGOs. It will also make for more supervision, rigour and transparency in the use of Community funds.

2.3. The budget of EUR 32 million for the action programme represents a significant increase over the previous budget. Taking into account that subsidies for the activities of environmental NGOs have increased year after year at the expense of subsidies for awareness-raising projects, the distribution between the proposed action programme and other budget lines should not unbalance the financial support for the activities of other organisations involved with Community policy priorities: tackling climate change, nature and biodiversity, environment and health, and the sustainable use of natural resources and management of wastes (Sixth Environment Action Programme).

2.3.1. It should be pointed out that environmental NGOs are not well established in some fields, basically those concerned with economic and productive activity, and that other social organisations (trade unions, employers', farmers' and consumers' associations) are better equipped to act in certain matters (climate change, environment and health, waste management, etc.).

2.4. At all events, the policy of financing (a) environmental activities in general and (b) the specific activities of organisations primarily committed to protecting the environment and developing and applying Community policy, has proved its worth.

3. Specific comments

3.1. One of the criteria laid down in the decision - in Article 2 b) especially - is that an NGO must have a structure and activities covering at least three European countries. Although this criterion reinforces the transnational character of these organisations, it limits the number of potential beneficiaries as it is an acknowledged fact that 80 % of the beneficiaries are always the same.

3.1.1. The Committee would recommend that one of the programme's objectives should be to encourage permanent or temporary forms of association between environmental organisations to achieve Community policy objectives over and above those of the programmes for financing activities (LIFE, civil protection and environmental emergencies, etc.).

3.1.2. Furthermore, and despite the fact that the present action programme excludes the applicant countries so as to avoid overlaps in its funding, the European Environmental Networks include them. This, together with permanent or temporary associations with other NGOs, could facilitate their integration into the Community sphere.

3.2. The third step of the selection and award process (Article 5) comprises a comparative assessment of eligible applications against three criteria set out in section 2 of the annex:

- extent to which the application meets the objectives of the programme;

- management and product quality;

- outreach, effectiveness, efficiency.

3.2.1. The three key elements for an assessment of this last point - "general visibility" of the organisation and its activities, external relations, and "appreciation as tracked in the public domain (including the media)" - leave a wide margin for discretion, which may affect the objectives laid down in the programme.

3.2.2. To reduce the margin of discretion it is necessary:

- to focus exclusively on the "visibility of activities" and not on the applicant organisation so as to encourage new organisations or new forms of association;

- to delimit clearly the idea of "appreciation in the media" so as to avoid the image of NGOs being the ultimate determinant of financial support.

3.3. Article 6 lays down the percentages of annual subsidy, between 70 % and 80 % depending on the case, and abolishes "in kind" contributions as expenditure which counts towards a subsidy, in accordance with the arguments put forward by the Commission in point 2.6.4 of its report(3), on account of the EU's financial control regulations.

3.3.1. The smaller and less "professionalised" NGOs regard the restrictions on unpaid work and in kind gifts as "unbearable". By not taking this aspect into account at all, the formula presented in the document would strengthen the "professional" environmental organisations to the detriment of NGOs which survive on the voluntary work of their members and the support of civil society through contributions which are not necessarily monetary.

3.3.2. It is therefore reasonable to seek for formulas which, although they may complicate management, allow in kind contributions to be incorporated in some form into the expenditure eligible for subsidy. This would make the application of the regulations more flexible when there is a demonstrable need to maintain the voluntary element in NGOs.

3.4. In the event that irregularities, mismanagement or fraud are detected, one or several administrative measures or penalties can be imposed in proportion to the severity of the case.

3.4.1. Because of the seriousness of one of the measures, namely exclusion from the relevant dialogue mechanisms of the Commission, it would be advisable, to avoid arbitrariness or improper use of this penalty, to delimit clearly under what circumstances an NGO may be prevented from taking part in democratic processes of consultation and participation.

4. Special comment

4.1. It should be noted that, in order to achieve these new forms of governance set out in the Commission Communication on Strategic Objectives 2000-2005 "Shaping the new Europe"(4), along with protection of the environment and sustainable development - which are the objectives of Community policy despite the ever present economic difficulties - it is necessary to encourage and finance the activities and environmental commitment of other NGOs representing European citizens in their capacity as workers, entrepreneurs, farmers or consumers and whose role in carrying through environmental policies is vitally important.

4.1.1. For instance, meeting Europe's Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the use and danger of chemicals and implementing the framework directive on water are unthinkable without the cooperation and action of workers and employers at the workplace. At present, the failure to utilise organisations representing workers and employers to boost the awareness and environmental commitment of their members is a major shortcoming.

4.1.2. The same can be said of the highly important role of farming organisations in reducing and eliminating the use of pesticides and consumers' organisations in implementing the policies for reducing and recycling urban waste.

4.1.3. A study should be made of the possibility of developing a Community action programme, parallel and supplementary to the programme under consideration here, enabling permanent and regular support for the activities of social organisations whose help is essential for implementing European environmental policy, although they are not primarily active in environmental protection.

Brussels, 18 October 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) COM(2001) 337 final (volume I).

(2) COM(2001) 337 final - 2001/0139(COD) (volume II).

(3) COM(2001) 337 final (volume I).

(4) COM(2000) 154 final (OJ C 81 of 21.3.2000) and CES 1198/2000 (OJ C 14 of 16.1.2001).