Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives and exchanges, training and cooperation for legal practitioners (Grotius II — General and Criminal) (COM(2000) 828 final — 2000/0339(CNS))
Date: 2001-03-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, enlargement of the Union, fight against crime, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, legal profession

C 96 E/336

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.3.2001

Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives and
exchanges, training and cooperation for legal practitioners (Grotius II (cid:151) General and Criminal)

(2001/C 96 E/31)

COM(2000) 828 final (cid:151) 2000/0339(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 14 December 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular Article 34(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission of . . .
2000,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union states that the
Union’s objective is to provide citizens with a high level of
safety within an area of freedom, security and justice by
developing common action among the Member States in
the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal
matters.

(7) The Grotius general and criminal programme must be
opened up further to the applicant countries by facilitating
their participation in the projects
supported by the
programme.

(8) In accordance with Article 2 of Council Decision
1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures
for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the
Commission (2),
this
Decision as referred to in Article 3(1) and the second
subparagraph of Article 3(4)
should be adopted in
accordance with the advisory procedure laid down in
Article 3 of Decision 1999/468/EC.

the measures needed to implement

subparagraph of Article 6(3)

(9) Since the measures needed to implement this Decision as
referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(4) and the
are management
first
measures within the meaning of Article 2 of Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999, these measures
should be adopted in accordance with the management
procedure provided for in Article 4 of the latter Decision,

(2) The conclusions of the Tampere European Council call for
cooperation in the fight against crime to be stepped up in
order to achieve a genuine European area of justice.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

(3) The Grotius programme, set up by Joint Action 96/636/JAI
of 29 October 1996 (1), has helped step up cooperation
between the Member States’
judiciaries and improve
mutual understanding of their legal and judicial systems.

(4) The renewal of the programme, expressly provided for by
Joint Action, would enable this cooperation to be

that
improved.

(5) The entry into force of

the Amsterdam Treaty brings
judicial cooperation in civil matters under Article 61 of
the Treaty establishing the European Community and,
consequently, support
for cooperation activities in this
field has become the subject of a separate Commission
initiative on the renewal of the Grotius (cid:145)Civil(cid:146) programme.

(6) It is desirable to ensure continuity for the general and
criminal projects supported by the Grotius programme
and to renew the programme for a second phase of two
years.

Article 1

Establishment of the programme

This Decision establishes,
second phase of

for general and criminal
1.
matters,
cooperation
the Grotius
programme set up by Joint Action 96/636/JAI of 29 October
1996.

the

2.
The programme is hereby renewed for the period from
1 January 2001 to 31 December 2002 and may be extended
beyond the latter date.

Article 2

Programme objectives

1.
The programme shall contribute to the general objective
of providing citizens with a high level of protection in an area
of freedom, security and justice. Within this framework, it is
intended to stimulate mutual knowledge of legal and judicial
systems and to facilitate general
judicial and criminal coop-
eration between the Member States.

(1) OJ L 287, 8.11.1996, p. 3.

(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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2.

The specific objectives of the programme are:

(cid:151) Training;

(cid:151) preparation of projects in the field of criminal

judicial

(cid:151) Exchanges and work experience placements;

cooperation;

(cid:151) help in implementing the instruments adopted;

(cid:151) support for better mutual understanding on general topics

of shared interest for the Member States;

(cid:151) local ad hoc projects with the aim of improving coop-

eration on the ground;

(cid:151) setting up networks between certain organisations and

professions.

3.
The applicant countries may participate in projects in
order to familiarise themselves with the Union acquis in this
area and help them prepare for accession. Other third countries
may also participate where this serves the aims of the projects.

Article 3

Access to the programme

1.
The programme shall co-finance projects submitted by
the institutions and public or private organisations, including
professional organisations, research institutes and legal and
judicial
legal practi-
tioners.

training institutes

training/further

for

this Decision,

For the purposes of

judges, public prosecutors,

2.
(cid:145)legal practitioners(cid:146)
means
law officials,
inter-
criminal
preters, other professionals associated with the judiciary and
researchers.

investigation officers, bailiffs, experts, court

lawyers,

least

To be eligible for co-financing, the projects must involve
3.
at
three Member States, or two Member States and
one applicant country, and have the objectives mentioned in
Article 2.

4.

The programme may also finance:

(cid:151) specific projects of particular

the
programme’s priorities or cooperation with the applicant
countries;

in terms of

interest

(cid:151) complementary measures such as seminars, meetings of
experts or other activities to disseminate the information
obtained under the programme.

(cid:151) Studies and research;

(cid:151) Meetings and seminars;

(cid:151) Dissemination of the results obtained within the framework

of the programme.

Article 5

Financing the programme

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

1.
budgetary
perspective.

The co-financing of a project by the programme shall be
financing by another programme

2.
exclusive of any other
financed by the budget of the European Communities.

3.
Financing decisions shall be followed by grant contracts
between the Commission and the organisers. The financing
decisions and contracts arising therefrom shall be subject to
financial control by the Commission and to audits by the Court
of Auditors.

The proportion of financial support from the Community

4.
budget shall not exceed 70 % of the cost of the project.

the

However,

and complementary
specific projects
5.
measures mentioned in Article 3(4) can be financed to
100 %, up to a ceiling of 10 % of the total financial package
allocated annually to the programme for each of
the two
categories.

Article 6

Implementation of the programme

The Commission shall be responsible for the management
in cooperation with

1.
and implementation of the programme,
the Member States.

2.
The programme shall be managed by the Commission in
accordance with the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977
applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.

3.

To implement the programme, the Commission shall:

Article 4

Activities under the programme

(cid:151) prepare an Annual Work Programme comprising specific
if necessary, a list of

objectives, thematic priorities and,
specific projects and complementary measures;

The programme shall comprise the following types of project
which apply to all
judicial cooperation with the
exception of judicial cooperation in civil matters:

fields of

(cid:151) evaluate and select the projects presented by the organisers

mentioned in Article 3.

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submit

The Commission shall

to the Committee
4.
mentioned in Article 7 the draft measures to be taken to
implement the project. Examination of the drafts presented
by the organisers and of the complementary measures shall
in accordance with the advisory procedure
be carried out
mentioned in Article 8. Examination of
the Annual Work
Programme and the specific projects shall be carried out in
accordance with the management procedure mentioned in
Article 9.

The Commission shall

5.
submitted by the organisers on the basis of
criteria:

evaluate and select projects
the following

(cid:151) conformity with the programme’s objectives;

(cid:151) European dimension of the project and scope for partici-

pation by the applicant countries;

(cid:151) compatibility with the work undertaken or planned within
the framework of the European Union’s political priorities
on judicial cooperation in general and criminal matters;

(cid:151) complementarity with other past, present or future coop-

eration projects;

(cid:151) ability of the organiser to implement the project;

(cid:151) inherent quality of the project in terms of its conception,

organisation, presentation and expected results;

(cid:151) amount of the subsidy requested under the programme and

proportionality with the expected results;

(cid:151) impact of
objectives.

the

expected results on the programme’s

Article 7

Committee

The Commission may invite representatives from the
the

to information meetings

after

3.
applicant
Committee’s meetings.

countries

Article 8

Advisory procedure

If reference is made to this Article, the advisory procedure
provided for
in Article 3 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall
apply,
in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of
that Decision.

Article 9

Management procedure

If reference is made to this Article,

the management
1.
procedure provided for in Article 4 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of
that Decision.

The period specified in Article 4(3) of Decision

2.
1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 10

Evaluation

1.
The Commission shall undertake each year an evaluation
of the actions carried out in implementing the programme for
the previous year.

The Commission shall report each year to the European
2.
Parliament and the Council on the implementation of
the
programme. The first report shall be presented before 31 July
2002.

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee entitled
1.
(cid:145)Grotius (cid:151) General and Criminal(cid:146), consisting of representatives
of
the Member States and chaired by the Commission’s
representative.

This Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure on a
2.
proposal by the chair and in accordance with the conditions
specified in Article 7(1) of Council Decision 1999/468/EC.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.