Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Codification of the Acquis communautaire
Date: 2001-11-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community acquis, EU Official Journal, EU publication, accession to the European Union, codification of EU law, translation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 21.11.2001
COM(2001) 645 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Codification of the Acquis communautaire

Contents

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM ....................................................................................... 3

1.

1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

2.4.

2.5.

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 6

Political framework...................................................................................................... 6

Definition ..................................................................................................................... 6

Policy background........................................................................................................ 7

Overview of current developments and institutional tasks of the institutions and
services involved.......................................................................................................... 9

Inter-institutional agreements ...................................................................................... 9

The role of the Commission under the agreements.................................................... 10

Legislative acts adopted by the Commission itself.................................................... 10

Identification of the acquis ........................................................................................ 10

Preparations of the EU Candidate Countries regarding the Translation of the acquis
into their languages .................................................................................................... 11

2.6.

Accession-related responsibilities of the Commission .............................................. 12

3.

4.

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

4.4.

5.

6.

6.1.

6.2.

7.

8.

Objectives of the Codification Project ....................................................................... 12

Elements and Phases of the Codification Project....................................................... 13

The Codification Project ............................................................................................ 13

Updating and Maintaining the List of the Directory of Legislation in Force............ 14

Legislative acts adopted by the Commission itself.................................................... 14

Establishing the Special Edition of the Official Journal with the Acquis in the
languages of the Candidate Countries........................................................................ 15

Follow-up to the Codification Project - a basis for a more structured recourse to the
technique of recasting ................................................................................................ 15

Organisation of the Codification Project ................................................................... 16

Time Frame ................................................................................................................ 16

Resources Needs ........................................................................................................ 17

Risk Assessment ........................................................................................................ 18

Conclusions................................................................................................................ 19

2

1.

2.

1

2

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

the  Lisbon  European  Council  foresee 

The  Presidency  conclusions  of 
the
establishment  by  the  European  Union  of  a  regulatory  environment  which  is  clear,
effective  and  workable  in  a  rapidly  changing,  global  market  place.  Following  the
submission  of  an  interim  report  to  the  Stockholm  European  Council1,  the
Commission  presented  its  White  Paper  on  European  Governance  in  July  2001,  in
which,  inter  alia,  it  outlines  its  coordinated  strategy  to  simplify  the  regulatory
framework within the European Union, as part of a set of recommendations on how
to enhance democracy and increase the legitimacy of its institutions. 

The  codification  of the  Community’s  secondary  legislation  forming  part  of  what  is
known  as  the  acquis  communautaire  complements  the  Commission's  governance
strategy  and  is  totally  in  line  with  its  spirit.  It  will  allow  citizens  and  the  business
sector,  in  both  the  EU  and  the  Candidate  Countries  seeking  membership  to  benefit
from  a  more  accessible  and  transparent  legislative  framework.  The  codification  of
that acquis will clarify the law by bringing together in a single new legal act all the
provisions of the basic act and its subsequent amendments. This process also renders
the law more accessible by the deletion of obsolete provisions and the harmonization
of the terminology used. It enables the mass  of  the  legislation  to  be  reduced  whilst
maintaining its substance, yet facilitating its readability.

Since the foundation  of the  European  Communities,  the  acquis communautaire  has
never  been  the  subject  of  a  comprehensive  review  of  its  organisation,  structure  or
presentation.  As  a  rule,  new  or  amending  legislation  was  added  to  existing  texts.
According  to  Commission  estimates,  the  total  acquis  communautaire  (secondary
legislation) currently comprises about 80 000 pages, with about 2 500 new pieces of
legislation generated each year; the codification of existing legislation would reduce
the acquis by about 30 000 to 35 000 pages.

The  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh  European  Council  of  1992  provide  the  political
mandate  for  codifying  the  acquis2.  Further,  the  inter-institutional  Task  Force  on
Administrative  Preparations  for  Enlargement  recommended  in  its  final  report  of
January  2001  that  the  codification  of  the  acquis  be  accelerated  in  view  of  the
accession  of  new  Member  States.  This  recommendation  was  endorsed  by  the
Secretaries General of the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament at
their  meeting  of  24  February  2001,  and  by  the  meeting  of  Directors  General  on
administrative preparations for enlargement of 6 April 2001.

Based  on  the  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh  European  Council,  the  European
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  concluded  an  inter-institutional
Agreement on an Accelerated Working Method for Official Codification in December
1994.  Since  then,  out  of  about  2400  legal  families,  27  codified  texts  have  been
adopted (replacing 280 pre-existing acts) and a further 11 are in the pipeline.

COM(2001)130 final
In Section II of Annex 3, under the heading of making existing Community legislation more accessible,
it  is  stated  (i)  that  it  is  possible  to  make  Community  legislation  more  accessible,  concise  and
comprehensible, by having recourse more quickly and in a more structured fashion to consolidation and
codification  (two  operations  which  must  proceed  in  parallel),  and  (ii)  that  codification  provides  legal
security as regards the law applicable at a given moment to a given subject-matter and that it should be
carried out on the basis of priorities proposed by the Commission. 

3

                                                
3.

The  Codification  Project  submitted  by  this  Communication  aims  to  accelerate  and
strengthen  codification  activities  already  underway,  with  a  view  to  establishing  a
simple, readable and transparent acquis in all Community languages. In the context
of  EU  enlargement,  the  Project  would  contribute  to  facilitating  the  administrative
preparations  for  enlargement,  in  particular  for  future  accessions  following  the
completion  of  the  Codification  Project,  by  reducing  the  number  of  pages  to  be
translated, revised and published in the languages of the new Member States.

On the basis of the existing working hypothesis used by the Commission for internal
planning purposes, ten countries could accede on 1 January 2004, with the requisite
number  of  new  official  languages.  However,  given  the  existing  constraints  under
heading  5  (Administration)  of  the  Financial  Perspectives,  the  Codification  Project
will be completed only by the end of 2005.

Consequently,  this  Communication  contains  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  resources
needed to carry out and complete the codification of the acquis by the end of 2005.
In summary, 67 million € will have to be allocated under the 2002 to 2006 budgets,
which  would otherwise have accrued at later stages.  In  this  context,  17.8  million  €
have already been included in the Commission’s Preliminary Draft Budget for 2002.

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing  scenario,  financial  savings  amount  to  17  million  €.
However, any change in this scenario, in particular as regards the acceleration of the
Project, a later accession date or a reduction in the number of countries acceding to
the  European  Union  in  the  next  wave  (so  that  more  accede  at  a  later  stage)  would
increase savings. 

Savings for the Commission will be possible in the following areas:

(i)

linguistic  revision  of  the  acquis  communautaire  translated  by  the  Candidate
Countries:  those  countries  which  are  more  advanced  in  this  task  will  have
already  translated  a  major  portion  of  the  acquis.  As  regards  these  languages,
savings  will  be  small.  However,  for  countries  which  are  at  a  less  advanced
stage  and  for  those  which  will  not  form  part  of  the  next  accession  wave,
savings will be realised to a much higher degree;

(ii)

legal  revision  of  the  acquis  communautaire:  the  situation  is  the  same  as  for
linguistic revision;

(iii) proof-reading  prior  to  the  publication  of  the  acquis  communautaire  in  the
Special  Edition  of  the  Official  Journal:  as  above,  savings  will  be  possible  in
those areas and languages where codification precedes accession;

(iv) printing of the Special Edition of the Official Journal: the situation is the same

as for the proof reading of the acquis;

(v)

consolidation  of  the  acquis  in  the  languages  of  the  new  Member  States:  no
such consolidation will be necessary in those areas which are already codified
by the date of accession.

4.

On  the  basis  of  the  existing  enlargement  scenario,  a  large  number  of  acts  will  be
codified  only  once  the  next  enlargement  has  taken  place,  in  the  current  11  official
languages plus the languages of the countries acceding on that occasion. In order to
synchronize codification between these two groups of languages, legislation which is

4

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

adopted  during  the  pre-accession  period  but  after  the  cut-off  date  (nine  months
before the date of accession) will not be codified prior to enlargement. Whilst it will
still  form  part  of  the  acquis  and,  as  such,  will  be  translated  into  the  Candidate
Countries’  language  versions  and  published  in  the  Special  Edition  of  the  Official
Journal, its codification will be completed only after enlargement.

The  Legal  Service  of  the  Commission  is  responsible  for  the  legal  examination  and
reworking  of  the  legal  texts  to  be  submitted  and  proposed  for  codification,  in
conjunction with the relevant Directorate General. 

In order to ensure the smooth fast-track implementation of the Codification Project, it
will  be  crucial  to  ensure  that  all  three  EU  institutions  directly  involved  allocate
sufficient  resources  to  the  implementation  of  the  Project  and  work  together  to
accelerate  existing  procedures,  in  parallel  and  on  the  basis  of  a  joint  co-ordination
effort, adapting where necessary their specific internal administrative procedures to
the objective pursued.

long-term  benefit  of  a  simple,  readable  and 

The  full 
transparent  acquis
communautaire will also be facilitated by a more structured recourse to the technique
of  recasting,  the  detailed  rules  for  which  are  contained  in  an  inter-institutional
agreement  to  be  adopted  before  the  end  of  2001  and  due  to  enter  into  force  at  the
beginning of 2002. Advantage will be taken of this in the course of the Codification
Project but more particularly as a follow-up thereto. 

It is proposed that the monitoring and co-ordination of activities be organised along
the following lines:

–  a high-level Trilateral Steering Committee reporting to the Secretaries General of
the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission  will be  set up by  the
latter for the joint management and monitoring of the Project; 

–  within  the  area  of  competence  of  the  Commission,  its  Legal  Service  will  be
responsible for the implementation of the Project, assisted by a Working Group on
the Codification of the Acquis reporting to the Commission representative on the
Trilateral Steering Committee.

In  its  risk  assessment,  this  Communication  concludes  that  the  Codification  Project
allows for savings in the context of enlargement, given the substantial increase in the
number  of  Community  languages  to  be  expected  in  the  near  future.  However,  any
delays in the implementation of the Codification Project would reduce the potential
benefits of the Project.

In conclusion, it is requested,

(1) 

(2) 

that the Legal Service of the Commission be charged with the implementation
of this Communication; and

that  the  Communication  be  sent  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the
Council.

5

Codification of the Acquis communautaire

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Political framework

The Presidency conclusions of the Lisbon European Council foresee the establishment by the
European  Union  of  a  regulatory  environment  which  is  clear,  effective  and  workable  in  a
rapidly  changing,  global  market  place.  Against  this  background,  in  July  2001,  the
Commission presented its White Paper on European Governance which, inter alia, outlines its
coordinated strategy to simplify the regulatory framework within the European Union, as part
of a set of recommendations on how to enhance democracy and increase the legitimacy of its
institutions.  The  codification  of  Community  secondary  legislation  forming  part  of  what  is
known as the acquis communautaire complements the Commission's governance strategy and
is totally in line with its spirit. It will allow citizens and the business sector, of both the EU
and  Candidate  Countries  seeking  membership  to  benefit  from  a  more  accessible  and
transparent legislative framework. 

1.2.

Definition

In order to simplify the existing legislative framework and render it more accessible, recourse
may be made to the following instruments.

In  order  for  legislation  to  be  codified,  it  must  first  be  consolidated.  Consolidation  means,
according  to  the  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh  European  Council,  the  regrouping  of  the
diverse  fragments  of  legislation  governing  a  given  matter  without  affecting  the  validity  of
those  fragments  and  without  the  regrouping  having  any  legal  effect.  It  is  therefore  a
mechanical process whereby the provisions of the basic act governing a particular matter, and
all its amendments are brought together, without any examination or alteration of the text and
without the recitals. The resulting consolidated text is for information only and has no legal
status.  Consolidation  of  Community  law  is  currently  undertaken  by  the  Office  for  Official
Publications (OPOCE) and provides the raw material for its codification. As such it is vital for
the codification of the acquis.

Codification  is,  according  to  point  1  of  the  Interinstitutional  Agreement  of  20  December
1994, the procedure whereby the acts to be codified are repealed and replaced by a single act
containing  no  substantive  change  to  those  acts.  It  therefore  involves  the  reworking  of  the
consolidated text into a coherent and comprehensible new single legal act formally replacing
the  basic  act  and  all  its  amendments.  This  process  includes  the  deletion  of  all  obsolete
provisions, the harmonization of the terminology used in the new act and the determination of
its  recitals.  It  is  this  process  which  enables  the  mass  of  the  legislation  to  be  reduced  whilst
maintaining the substance of the legislation.

A recast is, according to point 2 of the draft Interinstitutional Agreement to be adopted before
the end of 2001, a new legal act which incorporates in a single text both the amendments it
makes to the previous act and the provisions of that previous act which remain unchanged, the
new legal act replacing and repealing the previous act. The new legal act therefore amounts to
a  codification  of  the  pre-existing  basic  act  and  all  its  amendments,  but  at  the  same  time  it
provides for changes to the law, which are not possible in the case of a codification. Save as
otherwise stated in this Communication, recasts do not fall within its ambit. 

6

1.3.

Policy background

Since  the  foundation  of  the  European  Communities,  the  acquis  communautaire  has  never
been the subject of a comprehensive review of its organisation, structure or presentation. As a
rule,  new  or  amending  legislation  was  added  to  existing  texts.  According  to  Commission
estimates, the total acquis  communautaire (secondary legislation) currently  comprises  about
80 000 Official Journal pages (all acts regardless of the institution adopting them). With about
2 500  new  pieces  of  legislation  (representing  some  5 000  Official  Journal  pages)  generated
each  year, this  figure will increase to some  90 000 pages  in  2003, if  the  existing  legislative
procedures are maintained. 

According  to  Commission  estimates,  it  would  be  possible  to  reduce  the  acquis  by  about
30 000  to  35 000  pages  if  it  were  codified.  Some  70 000  pages  of  the  acquis  could  benefit
from this operation (some 10 000 pages never having been amended and therefore not being
codifiable).  Its  systematic  and  comprehensive  codification  would  render  the  acquis
communautaire  more  transparent,  readable  and  simple  and  it  would  also  strengthen  legal
security for both the European citizen and the business community. 

Against this background, in its final report of January 2001, the inter-institutional Task Force
on  Administrative  Preparations  for  Enlargement,  recognising  the  clear  case  in  favour  of  a
policy of systematic review of the acquis, analysed the existing options in the overall context
of enlargement. In particular, it considered the question of using simply the consolidated texts
produced  by  OPOCE  and  validated  in  the  new  languages  by  annexation  to  the  Accession
Treaty. However, this  approach does  not  provide  the  necessary  legal  certainty  and  does  not
ensure a level playing field between existing Member States and those acceding in the coming
years, unlike the replacement of existing legislation by a new legal act.

Overall,  the  codification  of  the  acquis  will  facilitate  the  accession  of  the  EU  Candidate
Countries  and  the  familiarisation  of  their  citizens  and  business  community  with  the  new
legislative  framework.  There  is  also  scope  for  administrative  savings  on  the  side  of  the
Commission,  if  the  codification  is  carried  out  prior  to  accession.  Indeed,  in  view  of  the
expected  doubling  of  the  currently  11  official  Community  languages  the  corresponding
additional cost could be considerably cut down in the areas of translation, legal revision and
publication of the acquis, in particular if the acquis were codified prior to the next accession
wave. This reinforces the argument for a comprehensive codification. 

Savings for the Commission are possible in the following areas:

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

linguistic  revision  of  the  acquis  communautaire  translated  by  the  Candidate
Countries:  those  countries  which  are  more  advanced  in  this  task  will  have  already
translated a major portion of the acquis. As regards these languages, savings will be
small. However, for countries which are at a less advanced stage and for those which
will  not  form  part  of  the  next  accession  wave,  savings  will  be  realised  to  a  much
higher degree;

legal revision of the acquis communautaire: the situation is the same as for linguistic
revision; 

proof-reading  prior  to  the  publication  of  the  acquis  communautaire  in  the  Special
Edition of the Official Journal: as above, savings will be possible in those areas and
languages where codification precedes accession;

7

(iv)

(v)

printing of the Special Edition of the Official Journal: the situation is the same as for
the proof reading of the acquis;

consolidation  of  the  acquis  in  the  languages  of  the  new  Member  States:  no  such
consolidation will be necessary in those areas which are already codified by the date
of accession.

Based  on  the  enlargement  scenario  which  the  Commission  uses  for  internal  administrative
purposes, ten Candidate Countries could join the European Union on 1 January 2004, with the
requisite  number  of  new  languages.  In  that  event,  the  full  potential  of  enlargement-based
saving  can  be  realised  only  for  Bulgaria  and  Rumania,  the  two  countries  aiming  at  a  later
accession  date.  Table  I  shows  the  potential  savings  by  country,  if  codification  is  concluded
prior to accession.

Table I: Savings per country where codification is concluded prior to accession 

Item

Main issue/Comments 

Revision  of
translations
(Translation
Service)

Savings  would  allow  the  establishment  of  smaller  pre-
accession  translation  antennae:  reduction  of  translation
A-auxiliaries  from  15  to  11  per  country  and  from  5
support  staff  down  to  4,  over  2  years  (144  000  €  per
language per year)

Total savings: 10 man/years of local agents = 288 000 €

Cost
savings
(estimated)
in €

288 000

Assumption: 1 A auxiliary revises 2 500 pages per year:

1 070 784

12 man/years x 89 232 €

Assumption: 1 B auxiliary reads 10 000 pages per year:

157 456

3 man/years x 52 452 €

General  estimate:  2  Mio  €  per  30 000  pages  per
language

Consolida-
tion
(OPOCE)

Cost  of  consolidating  the  backlog  in  the  new  language
versions which would fall away with codification of the
complete backlog

2 000 000

1 200 000

This figure will be considerably lower for the languages other than Bulgarian and Rumanian.
On  the  basis  of  the  existing  enlargement  scenario  and  the  resources  allocations  under  the
Preliminary  Draft  Budget  for  2002,  about  20%  of  the  potential  benefits  could  be  realised.
Table  II  shows  that  the  likely  benefits  of  the  Codification  Project  as  presented  in  this
Communication would amount to about 17 million €.

Total:

4 716 240

8

Legal
revision
(Legal
Service)

Proof
reading
(OPOCE)

Printing
(OPOCE)

Table II: Estimated savings under the current baseline scenario3

Item

Main issue/Comments 

Bulgaria/Rumania

Full savings on the basis of Table I

Revision of
translations
(Translation
Service)

Legal revision
(Legal Service)

Proof reading
(OPOCE)

20% of Table I (x 8 languages)

20% of Table I (x 8 languages)

20% of Table I (x 8 languages)

Printing (OPOCE)

20% of Table I (x 8 languages)

Consolidation
(OPOCE)

20% of Table I (x 8 languages)

Cost
savings
(estimated)
in €

9 432 480

460 800

1 713 254

251 930

3 200 000

1 920 000

If  the  scenario  were  to  change,  either  by  the  adoption  of  a  later  accession  date  and/or  a
reduction in the number of countries acceding in 2004, benefits would increase accordingly. 

Total:

16 978 464

2.

OVERVIEW  OF  CURRENT  DEVELOPMENTS  AND  INSTITUTIONAL  TASKS  OF  THE
INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES INVOLVED 

2.1.

Inter-institutional agreements

On the basis of the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council of 19924, the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission launched a new approach to codification in the
framework  of  which  the  Commission  is  mandated  to  establish  and  adopt  proposals  for
codified acts to be approved and adopted by Council and the European Parliament. Given the
scale of this comprehensive task, a simplified and accelerated procedure is applied, as agreed
between  the  three  institutions  on  20  December  1994  (Inter-institutional  Agreement  on  an
Accelerated  Working  Method  for  Official  Codification5).  Under  the  accelerated  procedure,
provided the Commission confines itself to a straightforward codification without substantive
changes,  the  European  Parliament  operates  a  simplified  procedure  and  the  proposal  is
examined by a single committee and in the Council it is examined by a single working party
and the “I/A items” procedure operates for COREPER. Since the adoption of the Agreement,
out  of  about  2400  legal  families,  27  codified  texts  have  been  adopted  (replacing  280  pre-
existing acts) and a further 11 are in the pipeline.

A further inter-institutional Agreement on a more structured use of the recasting technique for
legal acts has been elaborated and is currently being examined by the three institutions. This

3

4

5

Cost savings based on the assumption of ten additional languages.
Annex 3, Section II
OJ C 102, 4.4.1996, p. 2-3.

9

                                                
Agreement is due to be adopted before the end of 2001 and come into force at the beginning
of 2002.

2.2.

The role of the Commission under the agreements

OPOCE is, since 1 September 1998, mandated to carry out the consolidation of Community
legislation under the control of the inter-institutional Working Group on Consolidation.  The
process  of  consolidating  that  legislation  reached  cruising  speed  in  2000.  So  far,  more  than
40% of the acquis exists in consolidated form.

In the context of preparing proposals for the codification of acts of the other institutions, the
Commission  has  various  tasks,  including  the  examination  and  appraisal  of  the  text,  the
weeding out of provisions no longer in force, and checking for overlaps, inconsistencies and
errors.  Its  Legal  Service,  in  conjunction  with  the  competent  Directorate  General,  is
responsible  for  the  legal  examination  and  reworking  of  the  consolidated  legal  texts  to  be
submitted  and  proposed  for  codification.  Based  on  the  consolidated  text  established  by
OPOCE,  the  Legal  Service  elaborates  a  Master  Copy  of  the  draft  codified  text  in  one
Community language. 

The conversion of the consolidated text into a codified text in the other languages is carried
out, on the basis of the Master Copy, by the College of Bruges, which is subcontracted for this
task by OPOCE. Final control remains with the Legal Service of the Commission which also
undertakes the legal revision of the text in all language versions. 

2.3.

Legislative acts adopted by the Commission itself

Legislative  acts  adopted  by  the  Commission  do,  of  course,  not  require  the  more  complex
structures for the adoption of European Parliament and Council acts. The procedure for their
codification  is  correspondingly  simpler  and  does  not  fall  within  the  inter-institutional
agreements,  but  it  requires  the  same  legal  input  and  such  acts  are  nonetheless  subject  to
formal adoption by  the  Commission.  In  addition,  they  must  be  approved  by  the  appropriate
(management,  regulatory  or  advisory)  committee.  Such  codification  is  carried  out  by  the
Directorates General in consultation with the Legal Service. In fact, the Directorates General
are already under an obligation, by virtue of a Commission decision of 1 April 1987, to codify
an act at the latest after it has been amended ten times.6 

2.4.

Identification of the acquis

Whenever a candidate country is seeking accession to the EU, it is necessary to establish a list
of all the secondary legislation forming part of the acquis communautaire. In the past this has
proved  a  difficult  task  for  the  Council  and  the  Commission  but  this  list  is  essential  as  it
provides  the  basis  for  the  work  programme  for  the  consolidation  and  codification  of  the
acquis, and for the translation of the acquis into the languages of the candidate countries. In
order  to  address  effectively  concerns  regarding  a  lack  of  legal  security  and  a  lack  of
transparency, this list needs to be reviewed and updated.

A  new  database  and  management  system  for  the  "Legislation  in  Force  -  Codification  and
Translation"  will  be  established  to  allow  national  administrations  and  Commission
Delegations  in  Candidate  Countries  direct  on-line  access  via  internet.  It  will  be  organised
along the lines of the chapters to be negotiated with EU Candidate Countries.

6

See the minutes of the Commission’s meeting, COM(87) PV 868 final, dated 14 April 1987, point X.

10

                                                
2.5.

Preparations  of  the  EU  Candidate  Countries  regarding  the  Translation  of  the
acquis into their languages 

The  acquis  as  it  stands  at  present  has  been  communicated  in  its  entirety  to  the  Candidate
Countries,  forming  as  such  the  basis  for  the  accession  negotiations.  Since  1998,  Candidate
Countries have launched major efforts to translate the acquis into their languages. As of July
2001,  the  approximate  number  of  pages  translated  ranged  between  14 000  and  60 000,
depending on the country. Table III provides an overview of the current state of affairs. 

Table III :Estimated number of pages of acquis translated by Candidate Countries

August
1998

October
1999

November
2000

Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Slovak Republic
Slovenia

346
2 283
458
1 280
62
1 190
3 574
205
782
400

3 856
18 000
12 094
21 000
8 659
18 965
21 663
5 080
22 206
13 410

13 308
45 000
24 748
36 000
19 498
21 866
29 200
10 132
39 006
27 917

July
2001

14 000
50 000
40 000
60 000
33 000
29 000
33 000
21 000
49 000
31 000

Note: Figures relate to pages that have been translated but not necessarily fully revised

Negotiations with all twelve Candidate Countries have reached more or less advanced stages.
To what extent codification can contribute to costs savings for the Commission administration
will  depend  on  a  variety  of  factors,  in  particular  the  pace  of  codification,  when  the  next
enlargement takes place and the number of countries acceding to the EU at that date. 

In this pre-accession period, it will be of prime concern for the Commission not to create any
additional hurdle for enlargement. This means in particular that the legal reference framework
for  current  negotiations  must  remain  transparent  and  accessible.  Consequently,  during  a
period of nine months prior to the next accession date no codified texts will be adopted and
published, although technical work preparing proposals for codification will continue with a
view to publication in the official languages after accession. In the legislative field, this will
ensure a level playing field between the Member States of the enlarged EU, once the Special
Editions of the Official Journal in the new languages are published. 

As regards those countries which will not be part of the next group of acceding countries, cost
savings will be considerable.

Candidate  Countries  will  benefit  from  the  Codification  Project  in  various  ways.  In  general
terms,  they  will  share  with  the  existing  Member  States  the  benefits  of  a  more  transparent,
readable,  codified  acquis.  Indeed,  as  new  Member  States  unaccustomed  to  Community  law
this benefit will be all the greater for the Candidate Countries than for the existing Member
States  who  are  already  subject  to  the  myriad  of  rules  which  it  is  proposed  to  codify.
Furthermore, as the Candidate Countries will have to undertake a massive effort to replicate
and  distribute  the  acquis  communautaire  following  accession,  a  reduction  in  pages  will
translate into substantial savings. Finally, as initial translation and revision of Community law
texts  is  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Candidate  Countries  themselves,  there  will  be
immediate savings where legislation is codified prior to its translation.

11

2.6.

Accession-related responsibilities of the Commission 

The Translation Service  of the Commission scrutinises  and  revises  the translated legal texts
submitted. Once the texts are completed, legal revision and final control is carried out by the
EU (Legal Services of both the Commission and the Council). 

As  regards  preparations  preceding  accession,  OPOCE  prepares  the  texts  of  the  founding
Treaties  and  all  primary  legislation  of  the  acquis,  including  the  technical  adaptations  to  the
secondary  legislation,  by  the  date  of  signature  of  the  Accession  Treaty.  All  secondary
legislation is to be published in the Special Edition of the Official Journal on the occasion of
accession of the country in question. 

3.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CODIFICATION PROJECT

The overarching objective of the Codification Project is, 

a)

b)

to  establish  a  simple,  readable  and  transparent  acquis,  as  regards  secondary
legislation, in all Community languages;

in  the  context  of  enlargement,  to  facilitate  the  administrative  preparations  for
accession by reducing the number of pages to be translated into the languages of the
new  Member  States  and,  as  a  longer-term  aim,  to  facilitate  accession  negotiations
with those Candidates Countries where negotiations take place after the Master Copy
is finalised.

Operational objectives of the Codification Project are, 

c)

d)

e)

f)

g)

h)

i)

as a technical preparation for codification, to consolidate the acquis communautaire
in all Community languages by the middle of 2003;

to complete the Master Copy of the draft codified acquis by the spring of 2005;

to  complete  the  submission  of  that  part  of  the  draft  codified  acquis  subject  to
approval  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to  those  institutions,  in  all
Community languages, by the summer of 2005, thereby allowing the proposals to be
adopted by them by the end of 2005;

to  ensure  the  adoption  by  the  Commission  of  that  part  of  the  draft  codified  acquis
which it alone is competent to adopt, by the end of 2005; 

to have recourse where appropriate to the technique of recasting in accordance with
the  inter-institutional  agreement  once  it  is  adopted,  either  within  the  framework  of
the Project or as a follow-up thereto, as appropriate;

to  ensure  the  publication  of  any  future  Special  Edition  of  the  Official  Journal  in  a
new  Community  language,  after  completion  of  the  Project,  on  the  basis  of  the
codified version of the acquis;

through  the  Translation  Antennae  being  set  up  by  the  Commission’s  Translation
Service  in  the  Candidate  Countries,  to  support  these  countries  in  establishing  draft
codified legislation in line with the Master Copy established or under elaboration. 

12

4.

ELEMENTS AND PHASES OF THE CODIFICATION PROJECT

4.1.

The Codification Project

Based  on  the  Presidency  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh  European  Council  1992  and  in  line
with  the  2000  Lisbon  Strategy,  the  Commission  is  proposing  a  Codification  Project  to  the
European Parliament and the Council taking advantage of the existing accelerated procedure
for codification whilst ensuring that measures are taken in the context of the codification of
the acquis communautaire so as to render it truly fast-track given the limited time-scale of the
Project. 

On  the  basis  of  the  inter-institutional  Agreement  on  an  Accelerated  Working  Method  for
Official Codification, the codification of legal texts can be proposed on the basis of specific
legal  families  of  secondary  legislation.  Once  the  Commission  has  adopted  a  proposal  for  a
Council  act  or  one  of  the  European  Parliament  and  Council,  the  document  is  submitted  to
those institutions for their approval. Under  that Agreement, the  institutions  concerned  apply
an  accelerated  procedure.  Final  adoption  of  the  codified  legislation  remains  with  the
competent institutions (European Parliament and Council or Council alone) under the general
rules. 

As  regards  this  Project,  a  rapid  adoption  on  a  broad  scale  of  the  codified  acquis  seems
possible  if  and  provided  that  the  proposal  remains  limited  in  principle  to  a  simple
codification. Once the inter-institutional Agreement on a more structured use of the recasting
technique  for  legal  acts  has  been  adopted,  it  will  be  possible  to  take  advantage,  where
appropriate,  of  the  procedures  thereby  provided  for,  but  without  bringing  into  question  the
completion of the Project within the time limits set.

It  is  essential  that  the  three  institutions  involved  ensure  in  parallel  and  on  the  basis  of  a
common  understanding  and  a  joint  co-ordination  effort  that  the  Codification  Project  can  be
executed smoothly and rapidly, in particular with regard to the functioning of the Consultative
Group of the Three Legal Services which has the task of vetting the Commission proposal and
assuring the European Parliament and the Council that the proposal is a true codification and
that  the  Commission  has  not  introduced  any  changes  of  substance.  In  order  to  ensure,
facilitate  and  monitor  coordination  between  the  three  Legal  Services  a  Trilateral  Steering
Committee for the Codification of the Acquis should be set up at a high level. It will monitor
progress  at  regular  intervals,  supervise  the  timely  and  effective  implementation  of  the
Codification Project and will intervene  in the  case of technical or procedural  obstacles. The
Committee will also submit six-monthly reports to the Secretaries General on progress in the
implementation of the Project. 

With  regard  to  the  acts  falling  within  the  competence  of  the  Commission  alone,  its  Legal
Service will be assisted by a Working Group on the Codification of the Acquis composed of
representatives of all Directorates General (based on the network of legislative coordinators)
reporting to their Directors General. In addition to monitoring progress in the implementation
of the Project and supervising its timely completion, the Working Group will be responsible,
in close  cooperation  with,  in  particular,  the  Enlargement  Directorate  General,  the  Personnel
and  Administration  Directorate  General  and  OPOCE,  for  setting  the  codification  priorities
(thereby  replacing  the  Codification  Inter-Service  Group)  and  ensuring  that  any  action  plan
embodying those priorities is executed in good time.

13

4.2.

Updating and Maintaining the List of the Directory of Legislation in Force 

The existing Directory of Legislation in force, administered by OPOCE and published twice a
year, provides for a comprehensive common reference list of the acquis. This list is the result
of an inter-institutional decision taking into account the positions of Member States, some of
which  have  adopted  the  same  classification  at  their  national  levels.  It  is  an  off-print  of  the
CELEX  data  base  and  has  the  merit  of  guaranteeing  a  stable  framework  of  reference,
representing  as  far  as  possible  all  existing  secondary  Community  law  in  force,  at  a  given
moment, in a rapidly evolving environment. 

However, the Directory needs to be comprehensively reviewed and updated. Many acts are no
longer  applicable,  but  not  de  jure  repealed.  This  entails  a  lack  of  legal  transparency  if  not
uncertainty throughout the European Union and exerts a similar but accentuated effect on the
accession preparations in Candidate Countries. 

Therefore,  the  Council,  the  Commission  and  the  European  Parliament  should  allocate  the
necessary resources for the Directory to be reviewed and updated so that action can then be
taken by the competent authorities to formally repeal outdated legislation.

A  new  database  and  management  system  for  the  "Legislation  in  Force  -  Codification  and
Translation"  will  have  to  be  established  in  order  to  match  the  technical  requirements  in
particular with a view to extending on-line access via internet to national administrations and
Commission Delegations in Candidate Countries. In this context, the existing database of the
Enlargement Directorate General (specifically TAIEX), set up to provide Candidate Countries
with guidance on the acquis to be translated, will be analysed with regard to possible synergy
effects and/or cost savings. 

4.3.

Legislative acts adopted by the Commission itself

Whilst the cooperation and assistance of the Directorates General is necessary, as hitherto, for
the  adoption  of  those  codification  proposals  which  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  other
institutions  for  final  adoption,  the  codification  of  legislative  acts  which  do  not  have  to  be
submitted  to  them  is  carried  out  under  the  responsibility  of  the  competent  Directorates
General.

Since  acts  to  be  adopted  by  the  Commission  form  a  significant  part  of  the  acquis
communautaire those Directorates  General  should  assign  appropriate  priority  to  this  Project
within their legislative programme, if necessary by reassigning some staff. The Legal Service
will facilitate and support the work of the Directorates General in particular by providing the
legal  input  in  the  preparation  of  the  codified  text  on  the  basis  of  the  consolidated  text
furnished by OPOCE.7 The precise modalities for this cooperation are to be defined bilaterally
with  the  Directorate  Generals  concerned,  in  particular  with  the  aim  of  establishing  work
schedules and staffing needs, by the end of 2001.

In close cooperation with the Legal Service, provision should be made for the Working Group
on the Codification of the Acquis to coordinate the process of codifying Commission acts.

7

In particular with regard to the identification of the recitals to be included in the codified text.

14

                                                
4.4.

Establishing  the  Special  Edition  of  the  Official  Journal  with  the  Acquis  in  the
languages of the Candidate Countries 

Candidate Countries are to be encouraged to follow the codification process closely in order
to  keep  track  of  the  process,  in  particular  in  view  of  the  potential  savings  involved.  At  the
same time, as a matter of administrative prudence, Candidate Countries should avoid the risks
of taking short-cuts by translating the acquis in its consolidated version prior to its adoption
as new Community legislation as there are no guarantees that the codified legislation will be
adopted prior to their accession. To monitor the process effectively, close co-operation with
the Candidate Countries will be maintained and, where appropriate, intensified. 

In order to have the Special Edition of the Official Journal available at the date of accession,
OPOCE launches its printing activities ideally 18 months prior to a definite accession date. As
in  the  past,  accession  preparations  in  this  field  require  the  close  co-operation  of  all  actors
involved, with all tasks being processed iteratively and continuously.

Candidate Countries need to have translated the complete acquis in such a way as to allow for
its  publication  by  the  date  of  accession.  Therefore,  given  the  time  required  for  translation,
revision  and  publication  of  the  acquis  in  the  Special  Edition  of  the  Official  Journal,  new
proposals  for  codified  legislation  will  not  be  taken  into  consideration  beyond  nine  months
prior to a definitive accession date, unless compatible with the work plan of OPOCE.

This Project will further ensure that the accession process of the Candidate Countries will not
be prejudiced by enhanced codification activities inside the European Union and that they can
continue  to  concentrate  translation  efforts  on  the  acquis  not  yet  translated.  For  the  new
languages the Translation Service will convert the texts which have already been translated by
Candidate  Countries  into  the  codified  acts  so  as  to  align  them  with  the  texts  resulting  from
this Project. This work would form an integral part of the linguistic revision of the translations
submitted.  It  would  be  carried  out  by  the  Translation  Antennae  being  set  up  in  each  of  the
Candidate Countries by the middle of 2002.

Following  the  pre-accession  cut-off  date  applicable  to  proposals  for  codified  texts,  OPOCE
will  take  up  consolidation  in  the  new  languages,  alongside  the  existing  11  Community
languages.  As  a  consequence,  the  amending  acts  will  be  available  in  translation  at  the
accession date, ready for codification. 

5.

FOLLOW-UP TO THE CODIFICATION PROJECT - A BASIS FOR A MORE  STRUCTURED
RECOURSE TO THE TECHNIQUE OF RECASTING

In  order  to  realise  the  full  long-term  benefit  of  a  simple,  readable  and  transparent  acquis
communautaire, its  regular  maintenance and  update  in  line  with  legal  developments  will  be
indispensable,  in  particular  in  view  of  ever  shorter  cycles  of  legislation  in  many  Member
States  by  virtue  of  the  rapid  pace  of  change  in  society,  in  technology  and  in  the  global
economy. 

Therefore,  in  the  future,  in  submitting  draft  legislation  for  approval,  a  more  structured
recourse to the technique of recasting, made possible by the inter-institutional Agreement to
be  adopted  before  the  end  of  2001,  will  complement  the  Codification  Projet.  Following  the
codification of the acquis, the technique of recasting will make it possible for that legislation
to  be  continuously  accessible  and  transparent  to  all  citizens  of  the  Union.  Moreover,  it  is

15

integral  to  the  philosophy  behind  this  Project  that  once  legislation  has  been  codified  any
amendment thereto should be made systematically by means of a recast.8 

Once this  new  approach  is comprehensively  applied,9  future  pre-accession  preparations  will
benefit  substantially  from  the  availability  of  a  simplified,  readable  and  transparent  acquis,
notably in terms of transposition costs and the organisation of accession negotiations.

The future inter-institutional Agreement on a more structured use of the recasting technique
for  legal  acts  will  provide  the  framework  for  streamlined  administrative  and  legislative
procedures on recasting. Its adoption is therefore vital to the new approach outlined above, as
is  the  completion  of  the  technical  work  for  the  development  of  the  IT  tool,  “Legiswrite
Codification/Refonte”,  by  the  Informatics  Directorate  of  the  Personnel  and  Administration
Directorate General.

6.

ORGANISATION OF THE CODIFICATION PROJECT

6.1.

Time Frame 

The  more  official  Community  languages  exist  within  the  EU,  the  more  costly  will  be  the
codification of the acquis. Immediate savings are possible in the context of current accession
preparations, to the extent that codification advances prior to the accession of the Candidate
Countries.

Therefore, operational targets of the Codification Project are driven by the existing scenarios
for  accession  by  the  Candidate  Countries.  Within  the  constraining  framework  of  limited
budgetary resources under heading 5 of the Financial Perspectives, it is the aim of the Project
to  complete  codification  as  early  as  possible.  Based  on  and  constantly  extrapolating  the
resources  allocated  under  the  Preliminary  Draft  Budget  (PDB)  2002,  it  is  expected  that  the
Codification  Project  will  be  completed  in  all  (currently  11)  Community  languages  by
31 December 2005. According to the budget requested in the PDB 2002, it will be possible to
complete  the  consoldation  of  the  acquis  for  the  current  11  Community  languages  by  the
middle of 2003.

Human  resources  for  codification  will  have  to  be  spread  over  4  years,  based  on  the
assumption  that  human  resources  allocations  earmarked  under  the  PDB  2002  will  also  be
available in the following three years (2003, 2004 and 2005). On this basis, the Master Copy
of the draft codified acquis will be available by the spring of 2005 (for acts to be adopted by
the European Parliament and the Council or by the Council alone) and by the autumn of 2005
(for acts to be adopted by the Commission). 

8

9

In this connexion the Legal Service is preparing a new Commission decision to replace that of 1 April
1987  (referred  to  in  point  2.3.  above)  with  the  aim  of  ensuring  the  integrated,  structured  and
comprehensive  use  of  all  legislative  techniques  which  allow  for  greater  accessibility  of  Community
legislation, namely codification, recasting and amendment with simultaneous updating. The intention is
to have this decision adopted as soon as the inter-institutional Agreement on a more structured use of
the recasting tecnique for legal acts has been signed.
Greater  recourse  to  recasts  following  the  adoption  of  the  inter-institutional  Agreement  on  a  more
structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts, and the systematic recourse to recasts envisaged
as  a  follow-up  to  the  codifications  carried  out  within  the  framework  of  this  Project  will  increase  the
workload  of  the  Legal  Service’s  Codification  Group  to  a  considerable  extent,  with  the  result  that  the
Group’s permanent staff will need to be strengthened by 3 Grade A posts and one Grade C post.

16

                                                
As regards the languages of the Candidate Countries, there will be a close monitoring and co-
ordination of the parallel processes of codification and accession preparations. The objective
is to ensure a legislative level playing field for all languages as of the date of accession and to
avoid any codification-generated negative effects on the accession negotiations. In due course
prior  to  the  relevant  accession  date,  the  Trilateral  Steering  Committee  will  have  to  take  a
decision about the practical options and consequences.

Further, national administrations in Candidate Countries need a clear and precise orientation
on  the  acquis  to  be  taken  over.  Against  this  background,  the  list  of  the  acquis  should  be
updated  as  soon  as  possible.  OPOCE  will  establish  the  database  on  Legislation  in  Force
Translation and Codification within six months. 

6.2.

Resources Needs

So far, OPOCE has consolidated about 40% of the currently existing acquis communautaire.
Given  the  ambitious  targets  set  by  the  Codification  Project,  it  intends  to  accelerate  its
consolidation activities in order to finalise them by the middle of 2003. OPOCE has requested
10 million € (of which 5 million € are additional funds in the PDB 2002) for the funding of
this activity. This provides a sound basis for proof reading, correction and codification once
the necessary resources are allocated and available. 

The elaboration of  the Master  Copy  of  the  draft  codified  acquis  will  involve  an  increase  in
costs of some € 4 million (44 man/years of A auxiliary staff) for legal preparation of the text
by  the  Legal  Service’s  Codification  Group.  The  corresponding  appropriations  have  been
allocated  under  the  PDB  2002  together  with  additional  appropriations  for  support  auxiliary
personnel  (3  C  Grade  posts  and  1  B  Grade  post).  For  completion  of  the  Project  the  same
temporary reinforcement of the Group will be required in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

As  regards  the  codification  of  those  acts  which  are  adopted  by  the  Commission  alone,  the
Legal  Service’s  Codification  Group  will  provide  assistance  to  the  Directorates  General,  in
particular  to  those  where  the  codification  effort  will  be  the  greatest,  in  line  with  the
procedures set out in point 4.3 above. 

For the legal revision of the codified acquis in the 11 existing languages the Legal Service’s
Lawyer-Linguists Group  is  to be strengthened by 11  LA  posts redeployed temporarily from
the  Commission’s  Translation  Service.  This  is  in  addition  to  its  requirements  in  connection
with  the  revision  of  the  translations  of  the  acquis  into  the  languages  of  the  Candidate
Countries (20 LA posts, 10 C posts and 3 B posts, including one post at Grade LA3) which
will be covered by internal redeployment of LA posts (14) and an ad hoc reinforcement with
auxiliary personnel (whose annual cost is estimated at 200,000 €).

The  College  of  Bruges  is  contracted  by  OPOCE  to  prepare  the  remaining  10  Community
language versions from the Codification Master Copy. To speed up this exercise, the contract
needs  to  be  reinforced  by  an  estimated  6  million  €  in  2002  and  2003,  covering  the  cost  of
about 120 man/years to be managed by the College. 

Further,  the  acceleration  of  codification  under  this  Project  will  entail  additional  publication
costs for the Official Journal in the years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. These amount in total to
33 million € (3 million € per language).

An additional cost accruing in the context of the Codification Project, namely the creation of
the  database  and  management  System  for  the  “Legislation  in  Force  -  Codification  and
Translation" amounts to 0.4 million € for which resources will be reallocated in 2001. 

17

In conclusion, additional short-term costs amount to an estimated 67 million €. However, all
costs would also accrue without the Codification Project, though at later stages. 

7.

RISK ASSESSMENT

The  early  completion  of  the  Codification  Project  and  the  possibility  of  a  more  structured
recourse to the technique of recasting will ensure that future translations of the acquis can run
smoothly, with the minimum input of human and financial resources on the basis of a much
more  readily  identifiable  acquis.  Codification  is  a  technical  legal  process  of  which  the
institutions already have experience and with which they are familiar. With recasting there is
a risk that deliberations by the legislator with regard to those parts which are new could delay
adoption. The future adoption of the Interinstitutional Agreement should reduce this risk but
in  the  interests  of  completing  the  Project  in  good  time,  the  option  of  a  recast  should  be
focused on those texts where it is appropriate and represents added value. One advantage of
the  codification  of  the  acquis  will  be  to  identify  those  texts  where  a  recast  would  be
appropriate and to state the legal problems to be addressed in such a recast.

Whereas the long-term benefits of the Project are obvious and without risk, it remains to be
seen  to  what  extent  the  full  potential  of  the  possible  benefits  will  be  realised.  Therefore,  it
remains an objective to increase human resources for codification to the extent possible. The
risk is, however, that budgetary constraints under heading 5 of the Financial Perspectives will
further  affect  the  implementation  of  the  Codification  Project.  This  would  have  a  negative
impact on the extent of the benefits of the Project. 

Given  the  overlapping  processes  of  administrative  accession  preparations  and  codification,
close  co-ordination  with  Candidate  Countries  will  be  necessary  to  prevent  codification
activites having any adverse effect on accession negotiations. In view of the advanced state of
accession preparations on the part of some Candidate Countries, there is a certain risk that the
Codification  Project  will  not  be  completed  in  time  so  as  to  allow  the  full  potential  of  the
Project’s benefits to be realised for those countries. The earlier accession takes place and the
higher  the  number  of  countries  acceding  on  the  conclusion  of  the  current  round  of
negotiations, the more important is the timely implementation of the Project, but equally the
greater is the risk that only part of the acquis will have been codified.

Nevertheless, all interested parties, namely existing Member States, Candidate Countries who
accede  on  the  conclusion  of  the  current  round  of  negotiations,  and  all  future  Candidate
Countries  will  benefit  from  the  completion  of  the  Project  regardless  of  the  timing  of  any
particular  accession,  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  the  Project  will  provide  all  citizens  with  an
accessible, transparent and efficient legislative framework. Whilst that framework will evolve
continually, the possibility of having recourse to recasting will help to keep it up-to-date. 

Finally,  effective  inter-institutional  co-operation  between  the  Commission,  the  European
Parliament and the Council is a pre-condition for the smooth functioning of the Codification
Project.  The  risk  of  failure  to  meet  the  deadlines  foreseen  is  being  addressed  through  the
establishment  of  the  two  co-ordination  mechanisms  proposed  in  this  Communication,  at
operational  level  and  at  the  level  of  Secretaries  General.  Further,  a  regular  exchange  of
information  is  to  be  maintained  in  the  follow-up  to  the  final  report  of  the  inter-institutional
Task Force on Administrative Preparations for Enlargement.

18

8.

CONCLUSIONS

The Codification Project allows for considerable cost savings if implemented and concluded
in line with the stipulations of this Communication. The codification of secondary legislation
forming part of the acquis provides substantial benefits in terms of transparency,  readability
and  simplicity.  The  Project  complements  Administrative  Reform  and  facilitates  future
accessions to the EU. 

The Commission therefore calls on the European Parliament and the Council,

to  endorse  the  actions  envisaged  in  this  Communication  and  to  authorize  the  related
demands contained in the 2002 Preliminary Draft Budget,

(1) 

and

(2) 

to join the Commission in a concerted joint effort,

–  to carry out the codification of the acquis within the period set, including, where

necessary, the amendment of their internal procedures,

–  to prepare the ground for a more structured recourse to all legislative techniques,
and  in  particular  that  of  recasting,  once  the  codification  of  the  acquis  has  been
completed. 

19

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

Policy area(s): Administrative Reform/Administrative Preparation for Enlargement

Activity: Codification of the acquis communautaire

TITLE OF ACTION: CODIFICATION OF THE ACQUIS COMMUNAUTAIRE 

1.

BUDGET LINE(S) + HEADING(S)

Article A-340, article A-342, article A-343 and article A-700.
Article A-270 (Council)

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

2.4.

OVERALL FIGURES

Total allocation for action (Part B): € million for commitment nil

Period of application:

2002 – 2005

Overall multiannual estimate on expenditure:

Compatibility with the financial programming and the financial perspective

(cid:1) Proposal compatible with the existing financial programming

(cid:2) This  proposal  will  entail  reprogramming  of  the  relevant  heading  in  the

financial perspective

(cid:2) This  may  entail  application  of  the  provisions  of  the  Interinstitutional

Agreement.

2.5.

Financial impact on revenue:

(cid:1) No financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation

of a measure)

3.

BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

Type of expenditure

New

EFTA
participation

Participation
applicant
countries

Heading
Financial
Perspective

Non-Comp

Non-Diff 

 YES

NO

NO

 V

4.

LEGAL BASIS 

Autonomous action.

20

Based  on  the  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh  European  Council  of  1992,  the  European
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  concluded  on  20  December  1994  an  Inter-
institutional  Agreement  on  an  Accelerated  Working  Method  for  Official  Codification.  The
Inter-institutional  Agreement  on  a  more  structured  use  of  the  recasting  technique  for  legal
acts, expected  to be adopted  by  the  end of  2001  and  to  enter  into  force  at  the  beginning  of
2002, will provide the framework for streamlined administrative procedures on recast.

5.

DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

5.1.

Need for Community intervention 

5.1.1. Objectives pursued 

According  to  Commission  estimates,  the  total  acquis  communautaire  currently  comprises
about  80 000  pages,  with  about  2 500  new  pieces  of  legislation  generated  each  year.
According  to  Commission  estimates,  the  codification  of  the  70 000  pages  of  existing
legislation capable of being codified will reduce the acquis by about 30 000 to 35 000 pages.

Currently, out of about 2 400 legal families, 27 codified texts have  been  adopted (replacing
280 pre-existing acts) and a further 11 are in the pipeline. More than 40% of the acquis has
already been established in its consolidated version (but not yet legally reviewed).

Measurable objectives pursued by the Codification Project are:

a) 

b) 

to complete the consolidation of the entire acquis in all Community languages by the
middle of 2003;

to complete the codification of the entire acquis in all Community languages by the
end of 2005.

5.1.2. Measures taken in connection with ex ante evaluation

The  current  status  of  consolidation  has  been  established  by  the  Office  for  Official
Publications (OPOCE). The Working Group on Consolidation, established in 1999, monitors
progress in consolidation at regular intervals. The minutes of their meetings can be consulted
in order to measure progress.

Figures on the current status of codification were provided by the Codification Group of the
Commission’s Legal Service. Codified legal acts are published in the Official Journal which
can be consulted in order to measure progress.

An ad hoc working group consisting of representatives of the Commission services involved
and  representatives  of  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  administrations  was
established  in  order  to  design  and  set  up  the  Codification  Project.  Major  bottlenecks
hampering  smooth  and  swift  progress  were  identified  and  appropriately  addressed.  Main
weaknesses identified were:

a) 

b) 

c) 

in general: lack of political commitment to attach sufficient priority to the matter;

Commission: lack of financial and human resources;

European  Parliament:  administrative  procedures  which  could  be  improved  or
accelerated;

21

d) 

Council: lengthy deliberation of proposals for codified legislation.

The  conclusion  drawn  by  the  three  institutions  was  that,  if  swift  and  smooth  adoption  of
codification proposals was to be viable, self-discipline would have to be shown by all persons
involved in the process and a major effort would have to be made to address the weaknesses
identified:

a) 

b) 

c) 

d) 

in the context of administrative enlargement preparations, the inter-institutional Task
Force  on  administrative  preparations  for  enlargement  recommended  that  the
codification of the acquis be carried out prior to the next accessions;

through this Communication, and the budgetary requests submitted in the context of
the  PDB  2002,  the  Commission  addresses  the  problem  of  financial  and  human
resources;

the European Parliament’s representatives have indicated their readiness to underline
the  need  to  allocate  additional  human  resources  in  order  to  streamline  internal
administrative  procedures  and  draw  the  necessary  internal  attention  to  the  swift
processing of proposals submitted by the Commission;

the Council has indicated its readiness to draw the necessary internal attention to the
swift processing of proposals submitted by the Commission. 

5.1.3. Measures taken following ex post evaluation

– not applicable – 

5.2.

Actions envisaged and arrangements for budget intervention

General  objective:  The  Codification  Project  submitted  by  this  Communication  aims  at
intensifying  codification  activities  already  underway,  in  view  of  establishing  a  simple,
readable  and  transparent  acquis  in  all  Community  languages.  It  thus  contributes  to  the
Administrative Reform of the Commission and the EU institutions in general. In the context
of EU enlargement, it facilitates the administrative preparations for accession by reducing the
number of pages to be translated, revised and published in the languages of the new Member
States. It will facilitate accession negotiations with future accession candidates.

Action  1:  Full  consolidation  of  the  acquis  by  OPOCE  by  the  middle  of  2003,  thereby
providing the basis for codification. To achieve this objective, current ongoing efforts will be
intensified through additional financial and human resources. 

Resource requirements: 9 million € on the 2002 budget and 1 million € on the 2003 budget.
(10 million € in total)

Action 2: Creation by OPOCE of the database and management system for the “Legislation
in Force – Codification and Translation”, thereby providing a photographic overview of the
current acquis.

Resource requirements: 0.400 million € in 2001/2002.

Action  3:  Elaboration  of  the  Master  Copy  of  the  codified  acquis,  providing  the  basis  for
transfer of the codified acquis into all Community languages by the end of 2005. 

22

Resource requirements: 44 person-years of A category, 4 person-years of B category and 12
person-years  of  C  category  auxiliaries  amounting  to  4.8  million  €,  spread  evenly  over  the
2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 budgets. The annual cost is estimated at 1.2 million €.

Action  4:  Strengthening  the  capacity  of  the  Legal  Service’s  Lawyer  Linguists  Group  in  its
legal revision of the acquis in the existing official languages. 

Resource  requirements:  the  Group  is  to  be  strengthened  by  the  temporary  redeployment  of
11 LA category posts. (Annual cost: 1.2 million € over 4 years) 

Action 5: Preparation, on the basis of the Master Copy, of the codified text in the remaining
10  Community  languages,  to  be  carried  out  by  OPOCE’s  contractor  for  legal  expertise
services by the autumn of 2005.

Resource requirements: 12 million €, spread over the 2002 and 2003 budgets. 

Action 6: Supervision of the Project and submission of the whole of the codified acquis to the
competent  institutions  for  adoption  (Commission,  Council  or  European  Parliament  and
Council) by the autumn of 2005.

Resource requirements: 3 A category officials and 1 C category official for an annual cost of
€ 432,000 over four years (1.7 million €) 

Action 7: Publication of the fully adopted codified acquis by the end of 2005. 

Resource requirements: 33 million €, spread over 2003-2006. This cost is to be borne by the
Council and the Commission: the exact percentage for each institution will depend upon the
number of autonomous acts for which the Commission is solely responsible. OPOCE will also
require more people to publish the Official Journal (6 B category outside personnel more or
less for 2 years, for a total of some € 650,000) but considers that the bulk of this requirement
can be met by redeploying existing resources.

5.3.

Methods of implementation

Core  actions  are  to  be  carried  out  by  the  Legal  Service  and  OPOCE.  Overall  project
management  and  supervision  will  be  carried  out  directly  by  the  Legal  Service  of  the
Commission and OPOCE. The transfer of the Master Copy of the acquis into the remaining
Community languages will be carried out by OPOCE’s contractor for legal expertise services
(Action  5).  Temporary  needs  for  additional  human  resources  will  be  covered  through
auxiliary  personnel,  managed  by  the  Legal  Service  under  Action  3.  There  are  no  long-term
decentralisation effects as the project is clearly limited in scope and time. 

5.4.

Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

None

23

6.

IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE 

6.1.

Impact on human resources

Types of post

Staff to be assigned to management
of the action using existing and/or
additional resources

Number of
permanent posts

Number of
temporary posts

Total

Permanent
officials 

3  A  and  1  C
(permanent
officials)

A

B

C

Permanent officials

11 LA

Other 
resources

human

Other 
resources

human

auxiliary
15 
personnel  (11A,
1B, 
3C
category)

6  B  category
outside
personnel

Total

15

21

4

11

15

6

36

Description of tasks deriving
from the action

Preparation of Master Copy,
training and supervision of new
temporary staff and
corresponding secretarial tasks

Legal  revision  of  the  acquis  in
the existing official languages

Elaboration  of  the  Master  Copy
of the codified acquis 

OPOCE:  Proof  reading  for  the
publication of codified acquis in
the Official Journal

24

6.2.

Overall financial impact of human resources

Type of human resources

Amount €

Method of calculation * 

Officials

Temporary staff

1.620 mio

15 x € 108,000

1.2 mio

Other human resources

Budget line 700

21 outside personnel (11 A, 3 C,
7  B)  by  corresponding  average
cost (A category: € 92,000; B: €
54,000;  C:  €  42,000)  with  the
redeployment of 6 B

Total 2.820 mio

The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months .

6.3.

Other administrative expenditure deriving from the action

Budget line

(number and heading)

Amount €

Method of calculation

is  based  on 

Actions  1  and  2  are  based  on
existing  contract  and  experience
a
Action  3 
reinforcement  of 
the  current
College  of  Bruges  contract
Action  4  is  based  on  30  000
pages at 100 € per page for each
language 
published
(current  price  per  page  of  the  L
series)

be 

to 

Information systems (A-5001/A-4300)

-

Other expenditure - Part A 

A-343 - Consolidation by OPOCE (Action 1)

9 mio

A-342 - Creation of database (Action 2)

0.400 mio

A-343  -  Preparation  of  language  versions  by
OPOCE subcontractor (Action 5)

6 mio 

A-340 and A-270 (Council) - Publication in the
OJ (Action 7) 

8. 250 mio

The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

Total 23.650 mio

25

I.

II.

Annual total (7.2 + 7.3)

Duration of action

Total cost of action (NB: Some actions have a
III.
duration shorter than 4 years - see section 5 above, and
actions  relating  to  publication  may  have 
to  be
completed in 2006)

€ 26.470 mio

4 Years

€ 66.700 mio

7.

FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

7.1.

Follow-up arrangements

The  monitoring  and  co-ordination  mechanism  and  the  reporting  mechanism  provided  for  in
section  4.1  of  the  Communication,  will  ensure  that  progress  is  examined  regularly.
Publication of the codified texts in the Official Journal will provide an unambiguous indicator
of successful implementation in the time frame established.

7.2.

Arrangements and schedule for the planned evaluation

Regular  meetings  of  the  Working  Group  on  Consolidation  at  operational  level  already  take
place. The  Working Group on the Codification of  the Acquis will report twice  a  year to  the
Trilateral  Steering  Committee  to  be  set  up  by  the  Secretaries  General  of  the  European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

An  interim  evaluation  is  foreseen  for  March  2003,  with  a  view  to  assessing  the  scope  for
publishing  the  whole  of  the  codified  acquis  in  the  languages  of  those  Candidate  Countries
acceding  to  the  European  Union  on  1  January  2004  (insofar  as  a  decision  is  taken  to  this
effect). 

8.

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

Activities will be carried out under the direct control and supervision of the Legal Service of
the  Commission  and  OPOCE.  Internal  financial  circuits  and  auditing  procedures  can  be
expected to sufficiently address any risk of fraud or irregularity.

26