Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a Community Action Programme promoting non-governmental organisations primarily active in the field of environmental protection
Date: 2001-06-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, action programme, environmental protection, financial aid, non-governmental organisation

25.9.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 270 E/125

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a Community
Action Programme promoting non-governmental organisations primarily active in the field of
environmental protection

(2001/C 270 E/18)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 337 final (cid:151) 2001/0139(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 22 June 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) The Treaty provides

and the
implementation of a Community environment policy
and sets out the objectives and principles, which guide
that policy.

the development

for

(5) NGOs are essential

to co-ordinate and channel to the
Commission information and views on the new and
emerging perspectives, such as on nature protection and
transboundary environmental problems, which cannot be,
or are not being, fully dealt with at the Member State or
subordinate level. Through their contacts with the public
at large down to the very grassroots level, NGOs are
believed to know well the concerns and opinions of (cid:145)the
man in the street(cid:146) and can thus promote these views and
channel them back to the Commission.

in
(6) Environmental NGOs participate in experts groups,
the
preparatory and implementation committees of
to
Community institutions, providing important
Community policies, programmes and initiatives and
necessary balance in relation to the interests of other
actors in the environment,
including industry/business,
trade unions and consumer groups.

input

(2) [The

a

for

recognises

Sixth
Environment Action
Proposal
Programme] (1)
the need for empowering
citizens and the measures proposed include extensive
and wide-ranging dialogue with stakeholders in environ-
In order to enable their partici-
mental policy-making.
pation in such a dialogue the [Proposal
for a Sixth
Environment Action Programme] makes provisions for
continuous funding to non-governmental organisations
(NGOs).

(3) The Action Programme introduced by Council Decision
97/872/EC of 16 December 1997 on a Community
Action Programme promoting non-governmental organi-
sations primarily active in the field of environmental
protection (2) comes to an end on 31 December 2001.
That Decision should
repealed. The
Programme has been evaluated by the Commission and
present and previous beneficiaries, revealing a strong
support for its renewal/revision.

therefore

be

(4) NGOs active in the field of environmental protection have
already demonstrated that
they can contribute to the
environment policy of the Community, as laid down in
in
Article 174 of
concrete
and in
environmental protection measures
activities to increase the general awareness of the need
for the protection of the environment.

the Treaty, by active involvement

(1) COM(2001) 31 final.
(2) OJ L 354, 30.12.1997, p. 25.

(7) NGOs with a

capacity

to stimulate

exchange of
perspectives, problems and possible solutions related to
environmental problems with a Community dimension,
involving stakeholders at national,
regional and local
level, should be promoted. For this purpose only NGOs
active at a European level will be targeted. Their structure
and activities
three European
countries.

should cover at

least

(8) The

for

the

Programme

geographical

expansion of

is
necessary in order
to include Candidate Countries’
NGOs in light of
their importance in gaining public
and
acceptance
the
strengthening its implementation and for furthering the
democratisation process. The changes
in the Balkans
have also revealed a tremendous need for direct support
towards citizens’ organisations and initiatives in order to
support democracy and the building of an environ-
mentally sustainable future.

environmental

(cid:145)acquis(cid:146)

(9) In light of the experience gained in the first three years of
the
this Decision, an assessment of
the Programme should be undertaken in

implementation of
operation of
order to decide on its continuation.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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(10) This Decision establishes a financial framework for the
entire duration of
the Programme which is to be the
principal point of reference for the budgetary authority,
within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional
Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European
Parliament,
the Commission on
budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary
procedure (1),

the Council

and

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

A Community Action Programme promoting environ-
is hereby

1.
mental non-governmental organisations
established.

(NGOs)

The general objective of

2.
this Programme shall be to
promote NGOs, which are primarily active in the field of
environmental protection at a European level and which
contribute, or have the ability to contribute,
to the devel-
opment and implementation of Community environmental
policy
regions of Europe. The
Programme shall also promote the systematic involvement of
NGOs at all stages of the Community environmental policy-
making process, by ensuring relevant representation in stake-
holder consultation meetings and public hearings.

and legislation in all

(b) the Associated Countries (2)

in accordance with the
conditions established in the Europe Agreements, in their
additional protocols and in the decisions of the respective
Association Councils;

(c) Cyprus, Malta and Turkey in accordance with conditions

and procedures to be agreed with those countries;

(d) the Balkan countries forming part of the Stabilisation and
Association process
South Eastern
Europe (3) in accordance with conditions and procedures
to be agreed with those countries.

countries of

for

Article 4

1.
The Commission shall publish a Call for Proposals in the
Official Journal of the European Communities by 30 September
each year at the latest, for grants in the following calendar year.

The Call

2.
the eligibility,
selection and award criteria and the application, assessment
and approval procedure.

for Proposals

set out

shall

Article 2

In order to qualify for a grant, an NGO shall have the following
characteristics:

(a)

it must be an independent and non-profit-making legal
person primarily active in the field of environmental
protection, with an environmental objective aimed at the
public good;

After assessing the proposals,

3.
the Commission shall
decide which organisations are to receive financing in the
following year, by 31 December each year, save for a delay
in the adoption of the Community budget. The decision shall
give rise to an agreement between the Commission and the
beneficiary,
the
modalities of payment, the control and monitoring measures
and the objectives to be achieved by the grant.

fixing the maximum amount of

the grant,

(b) it must be active at a European level, with a structure
(membership base) and activities covering at least three
European countries;

Article 5

The selection and award process shall be carried out in four
steps:

(c)

the principles underlying [the
its activities must meet
proposal
for a Sixth Environment Action Programme]
and be in line with the priority areas identified in part 1
of the Annex to this Decision;

(d) it must have been legally constituted for more than two
years and have had its annual statement of accounts for the
two preceding years certified by a registered auditor.

Article 3

requirements

(a) elimination of applications, which do not comply with the
technical/administrative
submitting a
request for funding under this Programme. In particular,
insufficiently detailed applications, or
incomplete or
applications which have not been filled in according to
the instructions given on the application form or which
have been submitted after the publicised deadline, shall be
ineligible under this Programme;

for

The Programme shall be open to the participation of NGOs
established in either:

(b) elimination of applications, which do not comply with the

eligibility criteria as outlined in Articles 2 and 3;

(a) the Member States;

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

(2) Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,

Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

(3) Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia.

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(c) comparative
applications
which are further specified in point 2 of the Annex:

assessment
evaluated against

remaining
following

the

the

of

eligible
criteria,

(i) extent to which the application and more specifically
the proposed work programme meets the objectives of
the Programme as described in Article 1;

(ii) management and product quality;

(iii) outreach, effectiveness and efficiency.

the eligible expenses, the final payment shall be reduced or, if
necessary, the excess amount shall be recovered accordingly.
Pursuant to Article 256 of the Treaty, recovery orders shall
be enforceable.

the Commission

In order to ensure the effectiveness of

the grants to
5.
environmental NGOs,
the
take
necessary measures to verify that a selected organisation still
satisfies
for being awarded the grant
throughout
the grant year. Notably, a systematic reporting
scheme in order to monitor the beneficiaries’ performance
during the grant year, as well as an ex-post performance
evaluation, shall be put in place.

requirements

shall

the

Comparative score values will be assigned to each retained
applicant.

Article 7

This Programme shall start on 1 January 2002 and shall

1.
end on 31 December 2006.

(d) fixing the set of applications, which will enter into the
award procedure by retaining only those who have
received score values above thresholds defined by the
Commission.

Article 6

1.
A grant shall not exceed 70 % of the applicant’s average
audited annual eligible expenses during the preceding two
years, in the case of NGOs based in the Community, or 80 %
in the case of NGOs based in the Candidate Countries and the
Balkans, nor 80 % of the applicant’s eligible expenses for the
current year.

The amount shall be determined annually according to a fixed
weighting system, which takes into account the score values
resulting from the assessment described in Article 5 and the
relative size of the NGOs as outlined in part 3 of the Annex.

2.
A beneficiary under this Programme shall be free to use
the grant to cover eligible expenses of the organisation, as it
deems appropriate, over the grant year. All expenses incurred
by the beneficiary during the grant year shall be considered
eligible, except for those specified in point 4 of the Annex.

3.
The amount of the grant shall not become final until after
the audited financial statement has been accepted by the
Commission.

The final payment shall be reduced accordingly if the total of
Community grants exceeds 80 % of
the audited eligible
expenses of the beneficiary for the year.

2.
The financial reference amount for the implementation of
this Programme for the period 2002 to 2006 shall be EUR 32
million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

3.
budgetary
perspective.

Article 8

In order to protect the European Communities’ financial
1.
interests against fraud and other irregularities, the Commission
may carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections under this
Programme in accordance with Council Regulation (Euratom,
EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996. In addition, investi-
gations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
are governed by Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of
the
European Parliament and of the Council.

The beneficiary of a grant shall keep available for the
2.
including the
Commission all
audited financial statement,
regarding expenditure incurred
during the grant year for a period of five years following the
last payment.

the supporting documents,

Article 9

1.
Failure to meet expected results, as evidenced by obli-
gatory reports, may lead to ineligibility for funding under
this Programme in the following year.

4. Moreover, if the audited financial statement of the grant
year shows that the total revenues of
the beneficiary, save
revenues regularly earmarked for ineligible expenses, exceed

2.
If an NGO becomes the subject of a recovery order due
to intentional irregularities, irregularities caused by negligence
or fraud, it will automatically be excluded from funding under
the remaining years of the Programme.

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If

the Commission discovers

irregularities, misman-
3.
agement or fraud in relation to a grant, either by audits or
on-the-spot checks, the beneficiary will be subject to one or
several of the following administrative measures and penalties
in proportion to the severity of the case:

(cid:151) annulment of the grant agreement;

(cid:151) payment of a fine of up to 50 % of the amount of the

recovery order;

(cid:151) exclusion from other Community funding opportunities;

(cid:151) exclusion from the relevant dialogue mechanisms of the

Commission.

Article 11

By 31 December 2004 at the latest, the Commission shall
submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council
on the achievement of the objectives of this Programme during
the first three years and shall, if appropriate, make proposals
for any adjustment to be made with a view to continuing or
not continuing the Programme. This Report shall be based on
the reports concerning beneficiaries’ performance and assess, in
particular, their effectiveness in contributing to the objectives
stated in Article 1 and the Annex.

The European Parliament and the Council, in accordance with
the Treaty, shall decide on the continuation of the Programme
as from 1 January 2007. Before putting forward proposals to
this end, the Commission shall conduct an external evaluation
of the results achieved by the Programme.

Article 10

Article 12

A list of the beneficiaries to be financed under this Programme,
together with the amount allocated, shall be published each
year in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of
its publication in the Official
the European
Communities.

Journal

of

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ANNEX

1. Priority areas identified in the Proposal for a Sixth Environment Action Programme

Given the importance for sustainable development and for the health and quality of life of European citizens, the
proposed Programme targets selected priority issues that have been grouped under four main headings

(cid:151) Limiting climate change

(cid:151) Nature and bio-diversity (cid:151) protecting a unique resource

(cid:151) Health and environment

(cid:151) Ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources and wastes

If adopted, the [Sixth Environment Action Programme] will be subject to a review in 2005 and revised and updated,
as necessary, to take account of new developments and information.

In addition to the above-mentioned areas, implementation and enforcement of Community environmental legislation
shall also be priority.

2. Characteristics against which applicants will be assessed

Applicants having successfully passed the first two selection steps accounted for in Article 5 shall be measured
against the following criteria.

(cid:151) Extent to which the application meets the objectives of the Programme. Characteristics of the applicant, including

his proposed work programme, which will be evaluated, shall include:

(cid:151) Political relevance (in relation to the Proposal for a Sixth Environment Action Programme, a new European
Governance, Sustainable Development, Enlargement, the Stabilisation and Association process for countries
of South Eastern Europe, the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Integration, Gender Main-
streaming).

(cid:151) Relevance and size/potential

impact of

involvement

in Community environmental policy shaping and

implementation.

(cid:151) Representativity as to voicing the public’s concerns in all regions of Europe and as to feeding in these ideas

and proposals for the solution of environmental problems.

(cid:151) Relevance in environment awareness raising and knowledge enhancement activities both in general and in

relation to Community environmental policies.

For each of the above characteristics, consideration shall be given to the strength of the applicant with regards to
fulfilling the associated NGO roles indicated in points 5-7 of the preamble.

(cid:151) Management and product quality. Characteristics to be assessed include:

(cid:151) Organisational structure, adequacy in staffing and management of human resources.

(cid:151) Internal decision-making process, relationship with members.

(cid:151) Strategic approach, goal orientation, planning practices.

(cid:151) Administration, budget control and financial management.

(cid:151) Reporting practices (internal and external).

(cid:151) Self-assessment and quality control, feedback of experience (learning).

(cid:151) Technical/scientific competence

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(cid:151) Outreach, effectiveness, efficiency. Characteristics to be assessed include:

(cid:151) General visibility of the organisation and its activities

(cid:151) External relations (with other actors in the field of the Environment, such as local and regional authorities,

business and industry, consumer groups, trade unions, other non-governmental organisations, etc).

(cid:151) Appreciation as tracked in the public domain (including the media).

3. Determination of Grants

The grant is calculated on the applicant’s forecasted total eligible expenses for the grant year, taking explicitly into
account his average audited expenses over the preceding two years, according to the following principles:

1. When all other parameters are equal, larger NGOs (as measured by the average of their preceding two years’
audited annual expenses and the forecasted total eligible expenses for the grant year) will receive higher amounts
than smaller ones. However, the larger the NGO, the relatively smaller this size advantage will be;

2. When all other parameters are equal, NGOs getting higher comparative assessment scores will receive larger

amounts than lower scoring applicants;

3. When an NGO has requested a specified amount, under no circumstances shall the grant awarded exceed that

amount.

4. Ineligible expenses

Payments made by the beneficiary and contracts awarded to third parties, which comprise of elements of the
categories below:

(cid:151) Criminal/illegal activities

(cid:151) Private costs/use

(cid:151) Entertainment, hospitality, unnecessary or ill considered expenses

(cid:151) Expenses clearly outside the agreed work programme of the beneficiary for the grant year

(cid:151) Debt reimbursements, interests owed, carried over deficits

(cid:151) Costs related to the capital employed,

investments (1) or reserves set aside to strengthen the assets of the

beneficiary

(cid:151) Contributions in kind

(1) Only the proportion of depreciation of the item corresponding to the duration of the agreement may be taken into account by the

Commission.