Falcone Programme Annual programme and call for applications for projects for 1998
Date: 1998-05-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, cooperation policy, exchange of information, organised crime, vocational training

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III

(Notices)

COMMISSION

FALCONE  PROGRAMME

Annual  programme  and  call  for  applications  for  projects  for  1998

(98/C  165/09)

and 

training 

On  19  March  1998  the  Council  of  the  European  Union
the  multiannual  Falcone  programme  of
adopted 
exchanges, 
for  persons
responsible  for  action  to  combat  organised  crime(cid:216)(˛).
This  programme  focuses  on  activities  contributing  to  the
implementation  and  monitoring  of  the  action  plan  to
combat  organised  crime,  adopted  by  the  Council  on
28  April  1997(cid:216)(ˇ).

cooperation 

-(cid:217)to  encourage  the  exchange  of  experience  acquired  in

the  field,

-(cid:217)to  facilitate  the  organisation  of  joint  projects,

-(cid:217)to  assess  requirements  in  terms  of  cooperation  and

legislation  for  implementing  the  action  plan,

The  programme  covers  the  period  1998(cid:220)2002  and  has  a
proposed  financial  reference  amount  of  ECU  10  million.
The  1998  budget  is  ECU  2(cid:216)000(cid:216)000.

-(cid:217)to  involve  the  applicant  countries  in  transnational

projects.

1.(cid:217)Aims

The  Falcone  programme  is  intended,  through  a  multidis(cid:220)
ciplinary  approach  to  prevention  and  enforcement,  to
support  projects  of  benefit  to  the  European  Union  and
involving  participants  from  more  than  one  Member
State.  In  particular  it  will  support  training  measures  and
exchanges,  research  and  studies  and  other  ways  of
improving  skills,  with  the  aim  of  strengthening  and  facili(cid:220)
tating  the  struggle  against  organised  crime  and  reducing
such  obstacles  as  may  exist  to  cooperation  between  the
Member  States.

2.(cid:217)Content  of  the  programme

The  Falcone  programme  provides  financial  support  for
projects  in  the  following  areas  as  defined  in  Article  1(3)
of  the  Joint  Action  adopted  on  19  March  1998:

-(cid:217)training,

-(cid:217)joint  projects 

improve  skills  and  operational
methods  in  cooperation  in  the  fight  against  organised
crime,

to 

The  programme  supports  the  following  specific  aims:

and  seminars,

-(cid:217)programmes  of  traineeships,  organisation  of  meetings

-(cid:217)to 

improve  knowledge  of 

the  phenomena  of

organised  crime,

-(cid:217)research,  specialised  studies, 

including  operational

feasibility  studies,  and  assessment,

-(cid:217)to  improve  the  professional  skills  of  those  responsible
for  combating  organised  crime  by  improving  their
knowledge  of  the  procedures  and  legislation  in  force
in  the  various  European  countries,

-(cid:217)dissemination  and  exchange  of  information,

-(cid:217)all  other  measures  that  may  promote  the  implemen(cid:220)
tation  of  the  action  plan  to  combat  organised  crime.

(˛)(cid:217)Joint  Action  98/245/JHA  (OJ  L  99,  31.3.1998).
(ˇ)(cid:217)OJ  C  251,  15.8.1997.

These  measures  are  directed  towards  those  responsible
for  the  fight  against  organised  crime,  as  defined 
in
Article  1(2)  of  the  Joint  Action,  namely  judges,  public

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including 

fight  against 

prosecutors,  police  and  customs  departments,  civil
servants,  public  tax  authorities,  authorities  responsible
for  the  supervision  of  financial  establishments  and  public
procurement, 
fraud  and
the 
corruption,  and  representatives  of  professional  circles
who  may  be  involved  in  the  implementation  of  some  of
the  recommendations  in  the  action  plan,  as  well  as  the
academic  and  scientific  world.  The  projects  may  involve
those  responsible  in  the  applicant  countries,  with  a  view
to  helping  them  prepare  for  accession,  or 
in  other
non(cid:220)member  countries  where  it  serves  the  aims  of  the
projects.

3.(cid:217)Scope  of  the  Falcone  programme  in  relation  to  other

programmes

The  Falcone  programme  has  been  set  up  alongside  the
other  Commission  programmes  under  Title  VI  of  the
Treaty  on  European  Union,  namely:

-(cid:217)Oisin  (programme  for  the  exchange  and  training  of,
law  enforcement  auth(cid:220)

and  cooperation  between, 
orities)  (OJ  L  7,  10.1.1997),

-(cid:217)Grotius  (programme  of  incentives  and  exchanges  for

legal  practitioners)  (OJ  L  287,  8.11.1996),

-(cid:217)Odysseus  (programme  of  training,  exchanges  and
cooperation  in  the  field  of  asylum,  immigration  and
crossing  of  external  borders)  adopted  on  19  March
1998  (OJ  L  99,  31.3.1998),

-(cid:217)STOP 

(incentive  and  exchange  programme 

for
persons  responsible  for  combating  trade  in  human
beings  and  the  sexual  exploitation  of  children)  (OJ
L  322,  12.12.1996).

these  programmes, 

To  avoid  duplication  with 
the
Commission  will  ensure,  within  the  relevant  committees,
that  the  annual  priorities  of  these  programmes,  starting
in  1998,  will  exclude  measures  relating  specifically  to  the
implementation  of 
for  combating
organised  crime;  this  will  ensure  that  such  projects  are
normally  financed  only  through  the  Falcone  programme.

the  action  plan 

Applicants  are  recommended,  when  drawing  up  their
projects  and  before  submitting  a  plan  to  the  Falcone
programme, 
these  other
programmes  and  their  annual  priorities  to  ensure  that
they  have  made  the  right  choice.

take  account  also  of 

to 

Financial  support  under  the  Falcone  programme  may  not
from  other  programmes
be  combined  with  grants 
financed  out  of 
the
exception  of  Community  programmes  specifically  aimed
at  supporting  the  efforts  of  applicant  countries  for
accession  to  the  European  Union.

the  Community  budget,  with 

Specific  projects  touching  upon  Community  fields  can  be
financed  via  Falcone  when  they  cover  complementary
aspects  relating  to  the  fight  against  organised  crime
mentioned  in  the  action  plan.

4.(cid:217)Selection  criteria

Projects  will  be  selected  according  to  the  following
criteria:

-(cid:217)compatibility  of  the  project  with  work  undertaken  or
planned  under  the  Council’s  priorities  in  the  field  of
in  particular  the
combating  organised  crime,  and 
priorities  of  the  action  plan  to  combat  organised
crime,

-(cid:217)input  towards  the  framing  or 

implementation  of

instruments  adopted  or  to  be  adopted  in  this  field,

-(cid:217)European  dimension  of  the  project 

content 
(minimum  of  two  Member  States),

and  participation 

in  terms  of
by  Member  States

-(cid:217)operational  purpose  and  practical  value, 

the
is  placed  on  passing  on
extent  to  which  stress 
knowledge  of 
in  carrying  on  the
professional  activity  concerned,  without  overlooking
the  need 
thorough  consideration  of  any
obstacles  to  cooperation,

immediate  use 

for  a 

i.e. 

-(cid:217)number  and  nature  of  the  departments  or  categories
of  persons  targeted  and  the  number  of  professionals
likely  to  derive  some  benefit  from  the  project,  either
directly  or  through  contact  between  those  who  have
taken  part  and  those  who  have  not  had  the  oppor(cid:220)
tunity  to  participate,

-(cid:217)the  accessibility  of  the  project,  i.e.  the  approach  taken
the  organisational
existing

and 
arrangements  make 
participants’ 
knowledge  and  for  professional  constraints,

allowance  which 

the 

for 

-(cid:217)the  degree  of  preparation  and  the  standard  of  organi(cid:220)
sation,  as  well  as  clarity  and  precision  as  regards  the
objectives,  design  and  planning  of  the  project,

-(cid:217)the 

involvement  of  different  entities  and 

combined  use  of  their  particular  expertise 
organisation  of  the  project,

the
in  the

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-(cid:217)the  openness  to  practitioners  from  different  Member
States  and  disciplines  and  the  opportunity  for  them  to
benefit  from  each  other’s  experience,

-(cid:217)the  extent  to  which  the  projects  complement  each
other,  the  way  in  which  they  contribute  to  creating  a
forward  momentum  rather  than  merely  juxtaposing
isolated  operations,

-(cid:217)scope  for  drawing  on  results  achieved  in  order  to

reinforce  cooperation  between  Member  States.

5.(cid:217)General  guidelines

-(cid:217)added(cid:220)value,  particularly  in  the  case  of  multidisci(cid:220)
plinary  projects,  will  be  evaluated  in  terms  of  quality,
not  quantity,  and  attention  will  be  given  on  how  the
contributions  of  the  various  professional  categories  fit
into  a  single  project,

-(cid:217)linked  projects  described  as  being  complementary,
will  have  to  be  presented  with  clearly  separated
link  between  different
budgets  and  to  show  the 
components, 
in  order  to  determine  whether  they
should  be  supported  individually  or  in  groups,

-(cid:217)a  high  degree  of  interaction  between  the  project
organisers  and  the  participants  will  be  regarded  as  a
positive  feature.

The  following  guidelines,  based  on  the  above  criteria,
should  be  of  assistance  to  applicants:

6.(cid:217)Priority  topics  and  themes  for  1998

-(cid:217)ambitious  schemes,  schemes  of  long  duration  or  those
for  which  a  large  grant  is  being  applied  for  should  be
supported  by  pilot  projects  or  studies  that  justify  and
demonstrate  their  feasibility,

-(cid:217)any  plan  for  setting  up  a  documentation  network,
databases,  etc.,  should  state  in  detail  the  sources,  the
field  of  investigation,  the  methodological  approach,
the  frequency  of  updates  and  the  intended  users  of
the  information,  etc.,

-(cid:217)research  projects  should  not  be  limited  to  studies
based  purely  on  written  material  but  should  be  based
on  practical  experience  and  aim  to  produce  usable
conclusions,

-(cid:217)the  knock(cid:220)on  effect  of  a  project  will  be  assessed  on
the  basis  of  the  number  of  participants  and  their
status  and  capacity  to  disseminate  the  results  of  the
project,

-(cid:217)justification  will  have  to  be  shown  as  to  the  benefits
likely  to  be  derived  from  very  small  projects,  the
organisation  of  traineeships  or  exchanges  for  a  small
number  of  participants.  Projects  likely  to  benefit  only
the  applicant  organisation  will  not  be  considered,

-(cid:217)meetings  between  institutions  responsible  for  basic  or
continuing  training  should  be  considered  only  where
they  aim  at  a  well(cid:220)defined  purpose  in  relation  to  a
particular  project  or  policy,

-(cid:217)the  standard  of  preparation  will  be  assessed  both
objectively,  as  regards  project  design  and  planning,
and  subjectively,  as  regards  the  experience  and  repu(cid:220)
tation  of  the  applicant  organisation.  Previous  records
will  be  given  attention  if  other  applications  have  been
Initiatives
received 
submitted  by  organisations  or  associations  having
neither  well(cid:220)established 
significant
human  and  financial  resources  will  be  disregarded,

same  organisation. 

structures  nor 

from 

the 

the  Falcone  programme  and 

The  following  topics  and  themes,  based  on  the  Joint
Action  etablishing 
the
recommendations  of  the  action  plan  to  combat  organised
crime,  are  put  forward  as  being  of  particular  interest;  the
participation  of  applicant  countries  in  the  projects  will
also  be  encouraged.

(a) Comparability  and  circulation  of  information

-(cid:217)feasibility  studies  on  the  collection  of  data  and
the  creation  of  computer  records  on  organised
crime,

-(cid:217)definition 

of 

methodology  for 
collection  and  analysis,

common 
and
identifying  phenomena,  data

standards 

-(cid:217)mobilisation  of  data  via  networks  involving  in
particular  criminology  departments  and  univer(cid:220)
sities,

-(cid:217)dissemination  of 

the  persons
information 
responsible  as  defined  in  Articles  1(cid:220)2  of  the  joint
action.

to 

(b) Studies,  analyses  and  strategies

specialised 

research  and 

-(cid:217)activities  in  the  field  of  scientific,  technical  or
comparative 
studies
dealing  with  the  various  areas  of  activity  which
could 
to  combat  criminal
organisations,  such  as  public  procurement,  public
fraud,
subsidies 
counterfeiting,  vulnerable  professions,  money
laundering,  urban  crime,  new  technologies,  etc.,

involve  measures 

corruption, 

licences, 

and 

-(cid:217)analyses  and  conferences  to  promote  general
understanding  and  study  the  international  scope
of 
crime,
particularly  its  economic  dimension,

phenomenon  of  organised 

the 

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improving 

cooperation  on 

-(cid:217)studies  on  strategies,  legislation  and  regulations
for 
prevention,
enforcement  and  prosecution,  and  in  particular
the  possibility  of  drawing  up  common  policies
and  identifying  areas  of  possible  convergence  or
harmonisation  which 
a
long(cid:220)term  objective  of  the  European  Union,

constitute 

could 

These  joint  projects,  of  limited  duration,  may  be
organised  for  the  categories  of  person  referred  to  in
Article  1(2)  of  the  Joint  Action  establishing  the
the  Convention  has
Falcone  programme.  Once 
the
entered 
Europol  Drugs  Unit  and  Europol  when 
these
projects  fall  within  their  sphere  of  responsibility.

they  may  also 

include 

force, 

into 

-(cid:217)feasibility  studies  on  the  setting  up  of  multidisci(cid:220)

plinary  information  networks.

7.(cid:217)General  financing  rules  and  1998  budget (ˇ)

(c) Training  and  exchanges

-(cid:217)preparation  and  implementation  of  programmes

of  in(cid:220)service  training  and  exchanges,

-(cid:217)organisation 
conferences,

of  meetings, 

seminars 

and

-(cid:217)preparation  of  teaching  modules  and  manuals

with  a  view  to  promoting:

-(cid:217)reciprocal  knowledge  of 

regulations  and
legislation  on  prevention  and  enforcement,
and  procedures  applicable  to  the  different
fight
aspects  and  actors 
against  organised  crime(cid:216)(˛);

involved 

the 

in 

-(cid:217)reciprocal  knowledge  of 

and
methods  for  prevention,  detection, 
investi(cid:220)
gation  and  prosecution  of  the  various  forms
of  organised  crime,  employed  by 
those
responsible  for  combating  it.

practices 

These  events  and  measures  may  be  concerned  either
with  general  and  multidisciplinary  questions  relating
to  organised  crime  or  with  specific  aspects(cid:216)(˛).

(d) Joint  projects  to  improve  skills  and  operating  methods

-(cid:217)Preparation  and 

implementation  of 

innovative
joint  projects  designed  to 
improve  skills  and
operating  methods  in  the  field  of  cooperation  in
the  fight  against  organised  crime.

(˛)(cid:217)With  the  exception  of  specific  aspects  addressed 

in  the
STOP  Programme  (trafficking  in  human  beings)  and  the
Odysseus  Programme 
falsified
documents).

immigration  and 

(illegal 

Up  to  80(cid:216)%  of  expenditure  arising  directly  from  the
implementation  of  the  project  and  committed  during  the
period  laid  down  in  the  contract  may  be  met.

Expenditure  contracted  before  the  committee  meeting  at
which  the  financing  decision  is  taken  is  not  eligible.

Any  project  for  which  financing  is  provided  out  of  the
Community  budget 
for  1998  must  have  made  a
significant  start  on  its  work  before  the  end  of  1998.  All
projects  must  be  finalised  within  twelve  months  of  the
date  of  dispatch  of  the  letter  confirming  the  granting  of
the  subsidy.

Applicants  should  note  that,  owing  to  the  payment
procedures  of  the  Commission,  pre(cid:220)financing  of  projects
is  presumed;  the  pace  of  instalments  will  not  enable
applicants  to  cover  expenditure  directly  from  the  grant
paid  under  the  Falcone  programme.

Project  organisers  may  be  public  authorities  or  insti(cid:220)
tutions  or  private  operators,  notably  in  the  field  of  initial
or  continuing  training  and  research.

Projects  submitted  by  private  individuals  are  not  eligible
under  this  programme.

The  projects  can  include  persons  and  institutions  in  the
candidate  countries  for  accession,  which  are  responsible
for  the  fight  against  organised  crime  in  order  to  famil(cid:220)
iarise  them  with  the  policies  of  the  European  Union  and
to  facilitate  their  accession  as  well  as  persons  and  organi(cid:220)
sations  in  other  third  States,  if  this  lies  in  the  interest  of
the  project.  It  needs  to  be  stressed,  however,  that  it  is  not
the  purpose  of  the  Falcone  programme  to  give  assistance
the
the  Central  and  Eastern  European  States, 
to 
financing  of  which  falls  under  the  Phare  programme.

(ˇ)(cid:217)This  programme  is  sent  to  the  European  Parliament  who  on
the  basis  of  which,  will  decide  on  the  transfer  of  the  amount
foreseen  for  the  year  1998,  currently  entered  in  Chapter
B(cid:220)0(cid:220)40.

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The  budget  for  1998  is  ECU  2(cid:216)000(cid:216)000  and,  as  a  guide,
could  be  distributed  as  follows:

Forms  may  be  requested  from  the  above  address  by  post
or  by  fax  (32(cid:220)2)  29(cid:216)50(cid:216)174  or  by  electronic  mail  from
jean(cid:220)jacques.nuss-sg.cec.be

-(cid:217)information

-(cid:217)studies

-(cid:217)training

-(cid:217)joint  projects

-(cid:217)evaluation  of  the  programme

150(cid:216)000

400(cid:216)000

750(cid:216)000

600(cid:216)000

100(cid:216)000

Total(cid:217)(cid:217)

2(cid:216)000(cid:216)000

8.(cid:217)How  to  apply

Applications  for  grants  must  be  submitted  by  15  August
1998  to  the:

European  Commission,
Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Task  Force,
(for  the  attention  of  Mr  Jean(cid:220)Jacques  Nuss),
N  9(cid:220)6/23A,
Rue  de  la  Loi/Wetstraat  200,
B(cid:220)1049  Brussels,

using  the  application  form  and  in  one  of  the  eleven
European  Union  languages.  A  translation  may  be  added
in  a  second  working  language.

The  original  application,  duly  signed,  must  be  submitted
in  real  time  (not  by  fax),  together  with  a  brief  outline  of
the  project  not  exceeding  two  to  three  pages.  Incomplete
applications  will  not  be  considered.  The  purpose  of  the
project  must  be  described  as  briefly  and  accurately  as
possible.

The  application  must  be  accompanied  by  a  detailed  and
comprehensive  budget  estimate  in  ecus.  The  budget  must
show  the  expected  overall  cost  of  the  project.  The  grant
applied  for  may  not  exceed  80(cid:216)%  of  the  final  cost.  The
grant  actually  awarded  may  be  for  a  lower  amount  than
the  percentage  requested.  The  running  costs  of  an
organisation  are  not  eligible.

Beneficiaries  of  Community  financing  are  required  to
state  in  all  advertising,  publications  or  programmes  that
the  project  is  in  receipt  of  financial  support  from  the
Falcome  programme  and  the  European  Union.  Within
three  months  of  the  completion  of  the  project,  recipients
must  submit  to  the  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Task  Force
a  report  on  the  execution  of  the  project,  the  results
the
obtained,  obstacles  encountered,  assessments  by 
participants,  the  dissemination  of  the  results  and  the
conclusions  drawn  from  the  project.