Proposal for Council Decision establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives, exchanges, training and cooperation for law enforcement authorities (Oisin II) (COM(2000) 828 final — 2000/0340(CNS))
Date: 2001-03-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, cooperation policy, fight against crime, legal profession, vocational training

27.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 96 E/339

Proposal for Council Decision establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives,
exchanges, training and cooperation for law enforcement authorities (Oisin II)

(2001/C 96 E/32)

COM(2000) 828 final (cid:151) 2000/0340(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 field of police and judicial cooperation.

(2) The conclusions of the Tampere European Council call for
closer cooperation between the authorities responsible for
combating crime.

(3) The Oisin programme, set up by Joint Action 97/12/JAI of
20 December 1996 (1), has helped step up cooperation
law enforcement authorities.
between the Member States’

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

that
improved.

(5) It

is desirable to ensure continuity for

the projects
supported by the Oisin programme and to renew the
programme for a second phase of two years.

(6) The Oisin programme must be opened up further to the
applicant countries by facilitating their participation in the
projects supported by the programme.

(7) 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),
the measures needed to implement this

(1) OJ L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 5.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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.

subparagraph of Article 6(3)

(8) 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,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Establishment of the programme

1.
This Decision establishes the second phase of the Oisin
cooperation programme set up by Joint Action 97/12/JAI of
20 December 1996.

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

The programme shall contribute to the general objective
1.
of providing citizens with a high level of protection in an area
of freedom, security and justice. Within this framework, it is
intended to encourage cooperation between the Member States’
law enforcement authorities and provide such authorities with
their
into the working methods of
a greater
counterparts
in other Member States and constraints by
which they may be bound.

insight

2.
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.

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Article 3

Access to the programme

1.
The programme shall co-finance projects submitted by
the law enforcement authorities of the Member States of the
European Union with the aim of achieving the objectives
referred to in Article 2.

For the purposes of this Decision, (cid:145)law enforcement auth-
2.
orities(cid:146) means the public bodies in the Member States which
are responsible under national
law for preventing, detecting
and combating criminal offences.

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.

Financing decisions shall be followed by grant contracts
3.
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,

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

(cid:151) Training;

(cid:151) Exchanges and work experience placements;

(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

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

mentioned in Article 3.

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
be carried out
in accordance with the advisory procedure
the Annual Work
mentioned in Article 8. Examination of
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

Financing the programme

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

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

1.
budgetary
perspective.

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

pation by the applicant countries;

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.

(cid:151) compatibility with the work undertaken or planned within
the framework of the European Union’s political priorities
on police and customs cooperation;

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

eration projects;

in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of

apply,
that Decision.

(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 shall be assisted by a Committee,
1.
entitled (cid:145)Oisin(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.

The Commission may invite representatives from the
the

to information meetings

after

3.
applicant
Committee’s meetings.

countries

Article 8

Advisory procedure

Article 9

Management procedure

If reference is made to this Article,

1.
the management
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.

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.

If reference is made to this Article, the advisory procedure
in Article 3 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall
provided for

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.