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f-4 COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(91) 408 final - SYN 364 
Brussels, 30 October 1991 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the adoption of an action plan for the exchange of 
national officials between Member State administrations 
who are engaged in the enforcement of Community legislation 
required to build the Single Market 
(presented by the Commission) 
5B4Hin 
PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON THE ADOPTION OF AN 
ACTION PLAN FOR THE EXCHANGE OF NATIONAL OFFICIALS 
BETWEEN MEMBER STATE ADMINISTRATIONS WHO ARE 
ENGAGED IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF COMMUNITY LEGISLATION 
REQUIRED TO BUILD TIIE SINGLE MARKET 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
Introduction 
1. The proposed Action Plan has its origins in the Commission's White Paper 
on completing the internal market, published in 1985. The approximation of 
the Member States' legislation and the mutual recognition of standards by 
Member States in certain key areas forms one of the basic tenets of the 
White Paper objective. 
2. More than three-quarters of the White Paper measures have been finally 
adopted by the Council. However, it is not enough to merely adopt these 
measures. Enforcement of Community legislation in the Member States has 
become a crucial part of the internal market programme. 
3. The Communication entitled "Implementation of the Legal Acts required to 
build the Single Market", published by the Commission in September 1989 
(1) highlighted the need for Member States to enforce Community legislation 
on schedule and as a matter of priority. Since then, as a means of 
monitoring the pace of incorporation of Community legislation into national 
law, Communications have been published by the Commission on a regular 
basis (2). 
4. In its first Communication, the Commission outlined several steps it intended 
to take to make certain that the objective of ensuring correct and timely 
incorporation into national law be attained. One of these included the 
commitment to promote the exchange of national officials, between Member 
State administrations, who are engaged in the enforcement of Community 
legislation with a view to enhancing administrative cooperation. The 
experience already gained in the pilot phase of the MATTHAEUS (3) 
exchange programme for Community customs officials had shown the 
effective nature of such initiatives. The INTERFISC programme, currently 
underway (4), which provides for the exchange of national indirect taxation 
officials together with the programme for the exchange of officials 
competent for veterinary matters (5) also encouraged the launching of such 
an action plan. 
5. On the basis of the desired administrative cooperation, which is an essential 
part of mutual trust since it facilitates the exchange of experience and 
information, the concept of "subsidiarity" can be applied in such a way as to 
enable Member States to involve both national and local administrations 
together with the private bodies they employ in carrying out the task of 
enforcing Community law and thereby conferring this responsibility as 
widely as possible. It can also contribute in a concrete way t the consistent 
enforcement of Community law. 
(1) COM(89)422 
(2) SEC(89)2098, COM(90)473 
(3) Council Decision 91/3412 of 20/6/91, OJ L 187 of 14/5/91 
(4) Pilot phase for 1991 
(5) Commission Decision 91/280 of 14/5/91, OJ L 142 of 6/6/91 
6. Certain key areas have been identified wherein the strengthening of mutual 
trust and cooperation should enable national officials to learn about the 
administrative practicalities of other Member States in enforcing Community 
legislation These areas include the enforcement of the "new approach" in 
standards policy with regard to certification and good laboratory practices, 
the placing on the market of pharmaceutical products and the mutual 
recognition of diplomas. Other areas where measures have been adopted in 
the context of the completion of the internal market will come within the 
scope of the Action Plan in due course. 
Objective 
7. The objectives of the Action Plan are : 
to encourage a certain homogeneity of approach in the enforcement of 
Community legislation. 
to make officials in national administrations aware of the European 
dimension of their work, the scope of Community legislation and the level of 
its importance 
to permit cross-fertilisation of ideas between national administrations on the 
way in which Community legislation can best be enforced 
to involve officials at middle management level so as to guarantee maximum 
dissemination of the results both now and in the future 
to utilise the results of the exchanges in such a way as to contribute to the 
objective of homogeneity of approach 
Nature of the Action Plan 
8. The Action Plan is intended to reach all those involved in the enforcement 
of Community law in the internal market domain whether they be 
employed by national or local administrations or by the private bodies 
engaged by the administrations to carry out the enforcement tasks. The 
initiative will be made up of the following stages : 
the exchange of officials, between Member State administrations, from 
national and local levels together with those designated from the 
private sector by the responsible administrations, for a minimum stay 
of 2 months 
a short seminar, maximum 4 days duration, will be held at the end of 
each phase in order to allow participants to assess the usefulness of the 
exchange 
an end of stay report will be compiled on the basis of the experience 
gained during the exchange 
language courses will be provided, where necessary, in order to enable 
participants to gain optimum benefit from the exchange 
training seminars will be organised which will deal with the European 
Communities and their foundations, common policies and recent 
developments in order to contribute towards a greater awareness of the 
Communities' activities and relevance to national administrations 
throughout the Member States. 
9. Candidates upon taking up duty will be expected to participate in the day to 
day routine work of the host administration and will be bound by the same 
rules of professional secrecy as national officials 
10. Exchange officials, for the duration of their stay, will be accorded the same 
legal status as national officials 
Organisation of the Action Plan 
11. Candidates will forward their applications to the Commission's services 
where an assessment will be made of eligibility. Selection will be made on 
the basis of professional background, activities in the enforcement of 
Community rules in the chosen field and suitable linguistic ability. 
12. The names of successful applicants will be forwarded to Liaison Officers in 
the individual Member State administrations who will be charged with the 
responsibility of setting up the exchange. 
13. Upon completion of the exchange the official will take part in the end of stay 
seminar as outlined above. 
14. Each year the Commission will submit a report which will be discussed by a 
Committee made up of representatives from the Member States. The 
Committee will assist the Commission in the identification of annual 
priorities in line with the deadlines for entry into force of Community 
legislation. The Member States will be called upon to appoint a co-ordinator 
in charge of the management of the Action Plan in their respective 
administrations. 
Preparation 
15. In a first step towards setting up the initiative, the Commission took 
contact with the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in 
Maastricht in order to launch a pilot phase. Three officials - British, 
Spanish and Danish - took part. The British official was posted to France 
whilst the Spanish and Danish officials were both posted to the United 
Kingdom. The areas chosen were certification, construction and 
pharmaceutical products. An evaluation of the pilot phase, based on the 
experience of the candidates, has been drawn up and demonstrates the 
worthwhile nature of the initiative. The officials were uniform in their 
approval of the exchange initiative which gave them the opportunity to see, 
at close range, how officials in other Member State administrations 
approach the whole question of the enforcement of Community legislation. 
Finance 
16. The costs of each exchange will be distributed equally between the 
Commission and the Member States. Application forms for the programme 
include a clause whereby the signatory authority concerned confirms that its 
administration will finance its share or the costs involved. 
17. It is difficult for the Commission to organise strict twinning of exchanges in 
this instance. However, the aim is that each administration will host an 
exchange official even if the nationality of that official does not correspond 
to the subsequent destination of officials from the host service. 
18. From 1992 onwards, it is planned that financial provision for the initiative 
will come under budget line B 5 - 3000 in the Community budget. This is 
designed to ensure the continuation of the Action Plan which will be of a 
multiannual nature. The number of officials expected to participate will be 
500 if the initiative extends to all internal market domains. 
19. A financial memorandum outlining the estimated total costs of the 
programme on the basis of 50 participants in 1992 can be found at Annex I. 
Scope of the Action Plan 
20. The Action Plan will relate to exchanges in the internal market domain 
except where specific measures have been launched, e.g. the 
MATTHAEUS, INTERFISC and Veterinary programmes. 
The legal base 
21. Article 100A has been chosen as the legal base for this Decision. Article 
100A has as its objective the establishment and functioning of the internal 
market. This legal base is chosen since the objective of the proposed 
Decision is to improve the enforcement of Community legislation required to 
build the single market. Furthermore, the recent Court of Justice ruling in 
the dioxide case (6)which states that any measure linked to the completion of 
the internal market may use Article 100A, gives credence to this choice of 
legal base. 
(6) Case Number C 300/89, 11 June 1991 
35" 
m. PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON THE ADOPTION OF ÂH 
ACTION ELAN FOR THE EXCHANGE OF NATIONAL OFFICIALS 
BETWEEN MEMBER STATE ADMINISTRATIONS WHO A502 
ENGAGED M THE ENFORCEMENT OF COMMUNITY LEGISLATION 
REQUIRED TO BUILD THE SINGLE MARKET 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and in 
particular Article 100A thereof 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1) 
In cooperation with the European Parliament (2) 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3) 
Whereas the establishment and functioning of the internal market requires uniform 
application of Community legislation in the Member States 
Whereas such a uniform application cannot be achieved withcut closer cooperation 
and the building of mutual confidence between national administrations 
Wnereas an Action Plan for the exchange of national officials engaged in the 
enforcement of Community legislation in the internal market domain would s ;sm an 
appropriate measure in the pursuit of these objectives 
I 
Whereas the Action Pian will consist of exchanges between Member State 
administrations, wherein the officials will take part in the day to day running of the 
host service 
Whereas the provision of language training courses in the home administrations? 
especially the less widely spoken languages, should become an integral part of the 
Action Plan 
Whereas the Action Plan will also include the organisation of training seminars 
designed to acquaint officials with the foundations of the Community and the on­
going policies and objectives 
% Whereas this Action Plan shall run concurrently with, but independently of, other 
fç exchange programmes for national officials 
Whereas the legal status of the exchange officials will be the same as that of 
^ national officials where, in performing their duties, their civil liability is put at issue 
[fE by a third party 
M; 
m Whereas exchange officials will be bound by the same rules of professional secrecy 
K as national officials given that the exchange official will take part in the routine 
|§ work of the administration to which he or she is seconded 
|i| Whereas the cost of financing the Action Plan will be shared by the Commission 
12^ and the Member States 
m, 
4: 
Whereas, from 1992 onwards, a specific budget line will be included in the 
Community budget to ensure the Community contribution to the financing of the 
programme 
Whereas it is necessary to ensure the uniform application of this Decision and, for 
that purpose, to provide for a Community procedure for the enactment of 
implementing rules; whereas a Committee should be set up to provide a forum for 
close and effective cooperation between the Member States and the Commission in 
this field 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION : 
Article 1 
This decision establishes the Community's Action Plan for the exchange of national 
officials between Member State administrations who are engaged in the enforcement 
of Community legislation required to build the Single Market. 
Article 2 
This Action Plan does not affect exchanges and training programmes in the customs 
and fiscal areas which may be decided by the Council from time to time such as the 
MATTHAEUS Programme for the exchange of customs officials. 
Article 3 
For the purpose of this decision : 
(a) the term "exchange official'' shall mean a national official of a Member State 
required to perform the duties entrusted to him in the host service which is 
engaged in the enforcement of Community legislation in the internal market 
domain at national, regional or local level in public administration or private 
bodies 
(b) "host service" shall mean the national administration in which the exchange 
official is required to perform his duties 
Article 4 
rrhe objectives of the Action Plan are as follows : 
a) to develop a convergent approach in the enforcement of Community 
legislation in the single market domain 
b) to make national officials aware of the European dimension of their work 
and to build mutual confidence between the national administrations in 
charge of the enforcement of Community law 
c) to permit cross-fertilisation of ideas between national administrations on the 
way in which Community legislation can best be enforced 
Article 5 
rrhe Action Plan will function as follows 
the exchange of officials employed in the enforcement of Community law 
will be arranged through a designated officer in the home administration and 
4k-
5è will involve officials at middle management level in order to ensure 
maximum benefit from the programme 
a training seminar providing basic information on the origins of the 
Community and its on-going policies and objectives will be provided for 
those officials accepted for the Action Plan or wishing to take part in the 
Action Plan at a future date 
the exchange, between the Member State administrations, will last for a 
minimum of 2 months 
at the end of the exchange, a seminar will take place at which participants 
will be given an opportunity to assess the Action Plan and point out any 
perceived shortcomings 
the provision of language courses will be arranged, within the Member State 
administrations, before the commencement of the exchange, so as to ensure 
optimum benefit to the participant from the measure 
Article 6 
1. Member States shall take the necessary steps to enable exchange officials to 
be operational in the host service; to this end exchange officials shall be 
authorised to carry out the formalities relating to the duties entrusted to them 
2. During the period of the exchange, the civil liability of the exchange official 
during the performance of his duties shall be assimilated to that of the 
national officials in the host service 
3. Exchange officials shall be bound by the same rules of professional secrecy 
as national officials 
Article 7 
In order to facilitate the organisation of the exchanges, the Member States will 
designate a service responsible, in their adminstrations, for the management of the 
initiative. 
Article 8 
1. Member States shall establish language training for their officials who are 
likely to participate in the exchange 
2. The training should cover all official Community languages. 
Article 9 
The cost of each exchange will be shared between the Member State administration 
Hr and the Commission, the Commission contributing towards travel, daily allowances, 
2T- organisational costs, seminars and meetings 
Si Article 10 «**• 
**• 
In carrying out its tasks, the Commission shall be assisted by a Committee of an 
^ advisory nature composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by 
"*" the representative of the Commission. 
££: 
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the 
measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a 
time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the 
matter, if necessary by taking a vote. 
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall 
have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes. 
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the 
Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has 
been taken into account. 
Article U 
1. The Action Plan shall l>e multiannual. 
2. The Commission shall submit an annual report on the implementation of the 
Action Plan to the European Parliament and the Council. 
Article 12 
Before 1 July 1993, the Commission shall submit a report on the experience 
acquired in implementing the Action Plan to the European Parliament and to the 
Council accompanied, if appropriate, by a proposal for its adaptation. 
Article 13 
This Decision shall be applicable from 
Article 14 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States 
Done at Brussels, (date) 
For the Council 
The President 
3 
ANNEX \ 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
SECTION 1: FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 
1. Action plan for the exchange of national officials between 
Member State administrations engaged in the enforcement of Community 
law in the internal market domain. 
2. Budget heading involved: B 5-3000. 
3. Legal basis: Article 100a of the EEC Treaty. 
4. Objectives, duration and beneficiaries of the proposed measure: 
4.1 Objectives 
- to encourage a uniform approach in the future enforcement of 
Community legislation; 
- to make officials in national administrations aware of the 
European dimension of their work, the scope of Community 
legislation and its importance; 
- to permit cross-fertilization of ideas between national 
administrations on the way in which Community legislation can 
best be enforced; 
- to involve officials at middle management level so as to 
guarantee maximum dissemination of the results both now and in 
the future; 
- to use the results of the exchanges in such a way as to 
contribute to the objective a uniform approach. 
4.2 Durât ion 
- the action plan, which is a specific measure, is intended to be 
multiannual and each exchange is planned to last for a minimum 
period of two months. 
4.3 Beneficiaries of the measure 
Officials employed by Member State administrations, from national 
and local levels, together with those designated from the private 
sector by the responsible administrations. 
5. Classification of expenditure or revenue 
5.1 Non-compulsory expenditure on operations. 
5.2 Differentiated appropriations. 
5.3 N/A. 
/O 
Type of expenditure or revenue 
Expenditure will relate to travel, daily allowances, organizational 
costs, training seminars and the projected end-of-exchange meeting. 
6.2 The Initiative will be co-financed by the Commission and the 
Member State administrations concerned. 
7. Financial impact on appropriations for operations 
(part B of the budget) 
7.1 On the basis of the participation of 50 officials in 1992, the 
total cost will be ECU 642 980. 
Operational costs 
- 50 officla is on a two-month exchange: 189 875 
- End-of-exchange seminar: 18 875 
TOTAL : 208 750 
7.2 Proportion of mini-budget in total cost of operation: 
- Training seminars held in Member States on aspects of Community 
poI icy: 
3x7 150, including interpreting: 21 450 
- 3 experts on the internal market, working in house: 144 000 
- 2 category C staff working In house under contract 
(back-up for the 3 experts and inputting technical and 
administrative data for the department): 82 280 
Infrastructure 
5 x (in house) 15 700: 78 500 
- Meetings of the Advisory Committee: 
12 X 9 000: 108 000 
TOTAL: 434 230 
7.3 For 1992: 
Commitments Payments 
ECU ECU 
642 980 642 980 
8. Anti-fraud measures (monitoring, possibility of an audit, 
obligations of the contractor under Commission contracts with 
outside suppliers) are provided for in the contract between the 
Commission and the beneficiaries of the operation. 
M 
SECTION 2: ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (part A of the budget) 
No impact on the Commission's staff complement. 
SECTION 3: ELEMENTS OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS 
1. Objectives and coherence with financial programming: 
1.1 The main objective of the action plan is to ensure the proper 
enforcement of Community legislation in the context of completion 
of the internal market. This objective was included in the 
Commission's communication of September 1989 concerning 
implementation of Community legislation and is currently included 
in the Commission's work programme for 1991. 
1.2 The operation is incorporated in DG Ill's financial programming. 
1.3 Completion of the internal market. 
2. Grounds for the operation: 
All the budgetary requirements are strictly necessary if the 
Commission is to discharge its institutional duty to ensure that the 
rules laid down by the Council are Implemented satisfactorily. Any 
neglect of the Commission's duty would be liable to render the 
legislation inoperative. 
3. Monitoring and evaluation of the operation: 
3.1 See point 3.2. 
3.2 An end-of-exchange seminar will take place at which participants 
will assess the experience gained; meetings with the 
Advisory Committee; annual report to be submitted by the 
Commi ss i on. 
3.3 This operation responds to a need voiced by Member States. The 
only uncertainty lies in the number of officials interested in 
taking part. 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(91) 408 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 01 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-447-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-76572-0 
Office for GfScial Publications of the European Communities 
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