Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending Decision 92/481/EEC of 22 September 1992 on the adoption of an action plan for the exchange between Member State administrations of national officials who are engaged in the implementation of Community legislation required to achieve the internal market (Karolus programme)'
Date: 1997-12-10
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU law, action programme, approximation of laws, civil servant, single market

9.3.98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 73/49

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a European Parliament
and Council Decision amending Decision 92/481/EEC of 22 September 1992 on the adoption
of an action plan for the exchange between Member State administrations of national officials
who are engaged in the implementation of Community legislation required to achieve the
internal market (Karolus programme)’

(98/C 73/14)

On 27 November the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee under
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for External Relations, Trade and Development Policy, which was responsible
for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion unanimously on
25 November 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Walker.

At its 350th plenary session (meeting of 10 December 1997) the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 113 votes to two, with two abstentions.

1.

Introduction

The action plan for the exchange between Mem-
1.1.
ber State administrations of national officials engaged
in the implementation of Community legislation
required to achieve the internal market, called the
Karolus programme, has its origins in the 1985 Com-
mission White Paper on completing the internal market,
one of the principal objectives of which was to bring
more closely into line legislation and mutual recognition
of standards in a number of key fields.

1.2.
In order to improve cooperation and promote
mutual confidence between national administrations,
thereby encouraging uniform application of Community
internal-market legislation, the action plan was adopted
by means of Council Decision 92/481/EEC of 22 Septem-
ber 1992 to run for five years from 1 January 1993.

1.3.
The Karolus programme is designed for all
persons involved in implementing community legis-
lation, whether they be employees of central or local
government or of a private-sector organization entrusted
with that responsibility.

The programme comprises:

— the exchange, between Member States, of central or
local government employees and of persons working
for private-sector organizations designated by the
competent authorities; each exchange lasts approxi-
mately two months;

— a training seminar before each exchange;

— an assessment seminar at the end of each exchange.

— to make Member State officials aware of the Euro-
pean dimension of their work, and of the scope and
importance of Community legislation;

— to permit cross-fertilization of ideas between Mem-
ber State officials on the ways in which Community
legislation can best be implemented;

— to encourage participation by middle management
so that the experience gained through the exchanges
is disseminated as widely as possible;

— to ensure that the experience gained is applied
in such a way as to attain the uniformity of
implementation sought.

The Community institutions have since con-
1.4.
firmed, on several occasions, the importance of adminis-
trative cooperation for the effective operation of the
Single Market. Moreover, of the thirteen Member State
administrations for which an assessment of participation
in the programme is available, nine rate Karolus as very
good, two as excellent and two as beneficial. Since the
implementation of Community legislation still differs
widely from one Member State to another, participating
administrations wish to see the programme extended
beyond 1997.

1.5.
The Karolus programme is due to end on
31 December 1997. However, the programme’s oper-
ation and the results achieved through the exchanges
undertaken during the first two years are such that the
Commission has presented a proposal for a Parliament
and Council decision extending the programme in a
modified and expanded form.

1.3.1.

The objectives of the programme are:

— to promote a relatively uniform approach to the

implementation of Community legislation;

1.5.1.
This extension would not entail an increase in
the financial resources estimated as necessary in the
1992 Council Decision, since that amount has not been
used up in the first five years.

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2. The Commission’s proposals

The programme should be extended for a further

2.1.
period of two years.

2.2.
The programme should be opened to partici-
pation by the central and eastern European countries
(CEEC), in accordance with the terms laid down in the
European Agreements, or in the Additional Protocols
annexed to them, regarding participation in Community
programmes.

2.2.1.
The programme should also be opened to
participation by those EFTA countries which are EEA
members and by Cyprus, the latter on the basis of
additional funds, subject to the same rules as those
applying to those countries, in accordance with pro-
cedures to be agreed with Cyprus.

The arrangements for this participation should
2.2.2.
be agreed between the parties concerned at the appropri-
ate time.

During these two years, which should be regarded
2.3.
as a transitional period, the Commission will conduct
consultations on the creation of a revised Karolus
programme in a new formula.

2.3.1.
These consultations will range around pro-
posals for extending the scope of the programme to
include, in addition to the individual training measures
such as exchanges of officials between Member State
administrations, a range of joint training measures such
as:

— general seminars, to be arranged by the Commission
regularly in each Member State, on administrative
cooperation and the implementation of internal
market rules;

— joint sectoral seminars, open to all Member State
officials working in the specific sector(s) concerned,
to be arranged on the Commission’s or the Member
States’ initiative;

— national seminars, to be arranged by each Member
State exclusively for its own officials, with guest
speakers from the other Member States and from
the Commission;

— joint monitoring visits.

2.3.1.1.
These various measures are designed to
enable more people to take part in the programme at
less cost per participant.

reiterated its unequivocal support for all measures which
will improve its functioning or remove the remaining
barriers to its completion.

3.2. Moreover,
it has frequently established that
differences in interpretation and application of legis-
lation create more problems for businesses than any
other factor.

3.3.
As the 1996 evaluation report on the working of
the Karolus programme says, ‘The potential benefits of
improved administrative cooperation are thus enor-
mous, in terms of savings for European businesses and
especially SMEs, who suffer more from administrative
and regulatory trade barriers than large companies. The
costs of “non-Europe” run into billions of ecus so any
reduction in trade barriers will be worth a considerable
amount.’ The report stresses that the costs of the
programme are relatively low compared with its results.

3.4.
The ESC accepts that the impact of the Karolus
programme to date has been beneficial and endorses the
proposal to extend it without any substantive changes
by way of a two-year transitional period during which
time consultations can take place in the form of an
extended programme.

3.4.1.
It also endorses the extension of the programme
to those countries listed in the Commission’s proposal
during the transitional period.

3.5.
The ESC regrets that the level of take-up of
the programme to date has been below the original
expectations and notes that this is attributed primarily
to linguistic problems, budgetary constraints and staff
cut-backs in Member State administrations. The ESC
shares the disappointment of other European institutions
at this development.

3.5.1.
The ESC believes that it is essential for the
realization of the Single Market that full advantage
should be taken of the potential of programmes such as
Karolus and feels that more effort is required to expand
participation. This can only be achieved in practical
terms if the project is adequately resourced at Member
State and Commission level.

3.6.
The ESC also endorses the proposal to examine
the possibility of extending the scope of the programme,
as outlined in the Commission’s proposals, and with
regard to EU’s equal opportunities policy. It particularly
approves the objective of enabling more participants to
take part in the programme at less cost per participant.

3. General comments

4. Conclusions

The ESC, which has the responsibility of acting
3.1.
as an Observatory for the Single Market, has repeatedly

The Economic and Social Committee endorses
4.1.
without reservation the Commission’s proposals to

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C 73/51

extend the Karolus programme for a two-year tran-
sitional period, to widen its application during that
period to other specified states and to develop a modified
programme with a wider scope, and with possible

participation of the workers, to take the place of the
existing programme at the end of the transitional period.
The ESC would wish to be consulted on the form and
content of the modified programme in due course.

Brussels, 10 December 1997.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC) applying the special incentive arrangements concerning labour rights and environmental
protection provided for in Articles 7 and 8 of Council Regulations (EC) Nos 3281/94 and
1256/96 applying the scheme of generalized tariff preferences in respect of certain industrial
and agricultural products originating in developing countries’

(98/C 73/15)

On 14 November 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for External Relations, Trade and Development Policy, which was responsible
for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 25 November
1997. The rapporteur working alone was Mr Etty.

At its 350th plenary session (meeting of 10 December 1997), the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion by 112 votes to one with 11 abstentions.

1. General comments

2. Specific Comments

In its opinion on the Proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC) applying a three-year scheme of generalized tariff
preferences (1995-1997) in respect of certain industrial
products originating in developing countries and the
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) extending into
1995 the application of Regulations (EEC) No 3833/90,
(EEC) No 3835/90 and (EEC) No 3900/91 applying
generalized tariff preferences in respect of certain
agricultural
developing
countries (CES 1159/94), the Committee had already
expressed its support for the special incentive arrange-
ments which the Commission has now translated into
concrete proposals. The Committee strongly welcomes
the Commission’s proposals as providing most adequate
and effective provisions for positive measures to
promote respect for labour and environmental stan-
dards in GSP beneficiary countries.

originating

products

in

As regards the measures proposed to stimulate
2.1.
compliance with certain international labour standards,
the Committee welcomes the strong emphasis given by
the Commission in Articles 3, 4 and 5 that as a
prerequisite for access to improved preferences, potential
beneficiary countries will have to demonstrate that both
their law and their practice provide a framework within
which freedom of association and abolition of child
labour can realistically be guaranteed, as well as to
the importance of strict monitoring and cooperation
procedures, on-the-spot checks and effective technical
assistance to develop suitable administrative and techni-
cal monitoring infrastructures (Articles 6 and 7).

In this context, we would emphasize the importance of
reference to the reports of the competent UN authorities
in these areas, namely the Committee on Freedom of
Association of the ILO, the Committee of Experts on the
Application of Conventions and Recommendations of
the ILO and the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child.