Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Council Regulation extending the programme of incentives and exchanges for legal practitioners in the area of civil law (Grotius - civil)"

(2001/C 116/21)

On 2 October 2000 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 14 November 2000. The rapporteur was Mr Cavaleiro Brandão and the co-rapporteurs were Ms Florio and Mr Hernández Bataller.

At its 377th plenary session (meeting of 29 November 2000), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 112 votes in favour and two abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Grotius programme was adopted in 1996 on the basis of Article K.3 of the EU Treaty. The programme was to run from 1996 to 2000, so is due to expire at the end of this year.

1.2. The programme is designed to facilitate judicial cooperation between Member States by fostering mutual knowledge of legal and judicial systems. It is aimed at legal practitioners, and provides funding for training, exchange and work-experience programmes, organisation of meetings, studies and research, and the distribution of information.

1.3. With the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, judicial cooperation in the areas of civil and criminal law now has two separate legal bases (Title IV of the EC Treaty and Title VI of the EU Treaty respectively). The present regulation only concerns the extension of the part of the Grotius programme relating to judicial cooperation in civil matters ("Grotius-civil"), which is explicitly covered by Article 61 of the EC Treaty.

1.4. The Commission has been considering the future of the Grotius-civil programme, and particularly its relations with the Robert Schuman project to raise awareness of Community law among members of the legal profession. This project expires at the end of 2001.

1.5. The Commission proposes to continue the civil law strand of the Grotius programme for a further year, allocating it EUR 650000.

1.6. Grants will be available for five types of activity: training in languages and in comparative law, work experience and visits abroad, organisation of conferences, coordination of research on subjects relevant to judicial cooperation, and dissemination of information on foreign law and judicial cooperation.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee endorses the aims of the Grotius programme and its intended linkage with the Robert Schuman project. It therefore also approves the proposal to extend the programme for a year.

2.2. Consolidation of the European Union presupposes development of a common judicial area that is increasingly mutually supportive, cooperative and harmonised. The Committee supports steps to further this goal.

2.3. The contribution which the charter of fundamental rights should make here cannot be over-emphasised.

2.4. The Committee believes that the future linkage of the Grotius programme and the Robert Schuman project will be beneficial. However, the distinctive objectives and independent status of the two schemes must be preserved.

2.5. Lastly, the Committee reiterates(1) the view that priority should be given to training and information schemes which bring together different categories of legal professional (e.g. judges and lawyers), as such schemes can make a specific contribution to improving the cohesion of national and European legal systems.

2.6. The Committee would also like the programme to be more open in future to the possible participation of the candidate countries, especially in the field of labour law.

Brussels, 29 November 2000.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) ESC opinion on the Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing an action programme to improve awareness of Community law for the legal professions (Robert Schuman project) - OJ L 196 of 14.7.1998.