Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing a programme of Community action to promote organisations active at European level in the area of culture
Date: 2004-01-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU aid, action programme, cultural heritage, cultural organisation, cultural policy, financial aid

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 9.1.2004
COM(2004) 3 final

2003/0115 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty

concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and
Council Decision establishing a programme of Community action to promote
organisations active at European level in the area of culture

EN

  EN

2003/0115 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty

concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and
Council Decision establishing a programme of Community action to promote
organisations active at European level in the area of culture

1.

BACKGROUND

Date on which the proposal was sent to the EP and the Council
(document COM(2003) 275 final – 2003/0115 (COD)):

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions:

5 June 2003

renounced

Date of the European Parliament's opinion at first reading:

6 November 2003

Date of Council political agreement (by unanimity):

24 November 2003

Date of adoption of the common position:

22 December 2003

2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

Based on Article 151 of the Treaty, this Decision is intended, following the implementation of
the  new  Financial  Regulation  applicable  to  the  budget  of  the  European  Communities,  to
establish a basic act for awarding grants to promote organisations active at European level and
support specific activities in the area of culture.

This programme would cover certain former budget lines in Part A, Chapter 30 of the budget,
particularly those aimed at supporting the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages  and
Mercator,  protecting  the  sites  of  Nazi  concentration  camps  as  historical  monuments,  and
awarding grants to organisations of European cultural interest.

3.

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

3.1.

General remarks

The text of the Common Position is largely acceptable to the Commission, which in particular
has  accepted,  in  a  spirit  of  compromise,  the  reduction  in  the  duration  of  the  programme  as
requested by Parliament and the Council. The Commission is also in a position to confirm the
agreement  reached  at  the  budgetary  conciliation  on  24  November  2003  on  “earmarking”,
gradual reduction and clauses derogating from the Financial Regulation.

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The Commission nevertheless attaches importance to the  coherent application of the  criteria
of  Article  2  of  the  Council  Decision  on  committee  procedures  (1999/468/EC),  the
implications of which were highlighted in the judgment of the Court of 21 January. Bearing in
mind  the  budget  laid  down  in  the  proposal,  the  criteria  of  this  Article  would  not  be  met.
Without  maintaining  its  reservation,  the  Commission  therefore  presented  a  unilateral
declaration on this subject (see annex).

3.2.

Examination of the amendments proposed by the Parliament at first reading

Amendments incorporated in full in the Commission’s amended proposal and in the common
position: 2, 8, 9, 12, 16.

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Amendment  2  introduces  into  recital  11  a  reminder  of  the  negotiation  of  the
Financial Regulation;

Amendment 8 provides for an annual report on the implementation of the programme
by the Commission;

Amendment  9  adds  to  the  list  of  activities  supported  that  of  "cultural  ambassador"
promoting the common cultural heritage;

Amendment  12  adds  two  evaluation  criteria  to  grant  applications  (exchange  of
experiences  in  promoting  cultural  diversity,  and  mobility  of  arts  and  artists)  and
provides for the advertising of grants;

Amendment 16 provides in Article 1 (3) for the duration of the future programme to
be three years (2004–2006) rather than five years.

Amendments  incorporated  in  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal  and  not  in  the  common
position: 17, 18.

– 

– 

Amendment 17 provided in Article 5 (1) for an amendment to the budget for a period
of three years (2004–2006) to 22.764 million euro.

Amendment 18 identified two possibilities for selecting beneficiaries in strand 2 (call
for proposals and "earmarking").

There is therefore a high degree of convergence between the Commission’s amended proposal
and the common position with regard to the European Parliament’s amendments. Among the
amendments  not  adopted  by  the  Council,  amendment  17  concerned  the  amount  of  the
programme budget, which has since been the subject of budgetary conciliation (see point 3.3
below). Amendment 18, on the method for selecting beneficiaries in strand 2, was relatively
close to the initial proposal. However, the Commission considers the compromise reached at
Council level to be acceptable.

3.3.

Main  divergences  between  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal  and  the
common position

With  regard  to  the  programme  budget  over  the  period  2004–2006,  at  the  budgetary
conciliation  meeting  on  24  November  2003  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission
agreed on an amount of 19 million euro. This is therefore the amount, already accepted by the
Commission, which figures in the common position.

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On  strand  2  of  the  programme,  the  Council’s  common  position  provides  for  a  system  of
designated beneficiaries in the annex for 2004, then the establishment of a system of calls for
proposals  for  2005  and  2006.  The  agreement  reached  at  the  budgetary  conciliation  meeting
provides for an extension of the system of designated beneficiaries in 2005. The Commission
confirms its agreement with this position.

4.

CONCLUSIONS

The Commission considers the text of the common position a good basis for a Decision of the
European Parliament and of the Council. However, the Decision should reflect the agreement
reached between the co-legislators on 24 November 2003, namely:

– 

– 

extension of the system of designated beneficiaries until 2005;

given  that  the  Decision  will  only  be  adopted  during  2004,  inclusion  of  two
derogations from the Financial Regulation worded as follows:

"For  grants  awarded  in  2004,  it  will  be  possible  for  the  period  of  eligibility  of
expenditure  to  start  on  1  January  2004,  provided  that  the  expenditure  does  not
precede the date on which the grant application was lodged or the date on which the
beneficiary’s budget year starts.

During  2004,  in  the  case  of  beneficiaries  whose  budgetary  year  starts  before
1 March, an exception may be granted to the obligation to sign the grant agreement
within the first four months of the start of the beneficiary’s budget year, as referred
to in Article 112, paragraph 2 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002
on  the  Financial  Regulation  applicable  to  the  general  budget  of  the  European
Communities. In this case, the grant agreement should be signed by 30 June 2004 at
the latest".

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Declaration by the Commission

The  Commission  notes  the  Council’s  decision  to  introduce  in  Article 6  an  appeal  to  the
Management  Committee  of  the  Culture 2000  programme  relating  to  various  measures  for
implementing  the  programme  of  Community  action  to  promote  organisations  active  at
European  level  in  the  area  of  culture.  It  would  nevertheless  point  out  the  importance,  in  its
view,  of  a  consistent  application  of  the  criteria  in  Article 2  of  Council  Decision
No 1999/468/EC  (the  implications  of  which  have  been  highlighted  by  the  judgment  of  the
Court of Justice of 21 January 2003). Bearing in mind the budget laid down in this particular
case, the Commission considers that the criteria in Article 2 are not met.

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