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 Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)
Date: 2004-01-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European citizenship, electronic government, provision of services, public administration, type of business

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 12.1.2004
COM(2004) 13 final

2003/0147 (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 Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment
services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)

EN

  EN

2003/0147 (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 Decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment
services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)

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BACKGROUND

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council
(document COM(2003)406 final – 2003/0147(COD)):

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social
Committee:

8.7.2003

11.12.2003

Date of the opinion of the Committee of Regions:

20.11.2003

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading:

18.11.2003

Date of adoption of the common position by unanimity:

17.12.2003

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OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The  objective  of  the  Commission  proposal  is  to  establish  a  follow-on  programme  to  the
current  IDA  programme  with  a  view  to  identifying,  supporting  and  promoting  the
to  Public
development  and  establishment  of  pan-European  eGovernment  services 
Administrations, Businesses and Citizens as well as the underlying telematic networks.

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3.1

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

General

The Common Position follows the general lines and objectives of the Commission’s amended
proposal  and  reinforces  the  focus  on  pan-European  eGovernment  services.  The  Common
Position has been accepted in Council by unanimity.

3.1.1

Outline  of  major  differences  between  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal  and  the
Common Position

Article  1  has  been  split  into  two  articles,  Article  1  on  the  scope  and  Article  2  on  the
objectives.  To  the  latter  a  general  objective  has  been  added  with  a  view  to  highlighting  the
focus on pan-European eGovernment services and the underlying telematic networks.

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Article 3 has been deleted because Article 2, as amended, in conjunction with Annex I and II,
will allow prioritisation.

Article 6 has been amended to clarify the use of  results from other activities with a view to
avoiding duplication and speeding up development, and eventually leading to synergies.

Article 8 and Article 9 have been amended to underline the interrelation between paragraph 1
of  the  two  articles  and  to  take  account  of  the  budget  breakdown  per  project  of  common
interest  and  horizontal  measure  when  modifying  the  work  programme.  Furthermore,  it  has
been underlined that the work programme is a rolling one.

Article 11 has been amended in order to change the name  of  the management  committee to
better  reflect  the  scope  of  the  programme  and  split  into  two  articles,  Article  11  on  the
committee procedure and Article 12 on annual reporting.

Article 12 (now Article 13) has been amended to bring the evaluation period in line with the
current financial perspectives and to further specify evaluation requirements.

Article  15  (now  Article  16)  has  been  amended  to  take  into  account  the  Interinstitutional
Agreement on budgetary discipline and  improvement of  the  budgetary  procedure  as  well  as
the fact that the programme go beyond the current financial perspectives.

Annex  II  has  been  amended  to  differentiate  between  activities  relating  to  the  provision  of
technology/software  solutions  and  activities  relating  to  the  provision  of  cross-sectoral  pan-
European  eGovernment  services.  This  differentiation  has  triggered  terminological  changes
throughout the proposal.

Four  recitals  have  been  added:  Recital  13  on  a  study  to  be  carried  out  to  establish  a  list  of
relevant pan-European eGovernment services, Recital 15 on data protection, Recital 21 on the
participation  of  a  limited  number  of  member  states  in  actions  and  Recital  30  on  the
comitology procedure.

3.2

Amendments introduced by the European Parliament in first reading

The  Commission  has  accepted  all  five  amendments  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  in
first reading and has orally amended its initial proposal accordingly.

Amendment  1  (Recital  4a  (new))  has  been  integrated  as  Recital  5,  with  a  slightly  amended
wording in the Common Position.

Amendment  2  (Recital  5a  (new))  has  been  integrated  as  Recital  7,  with  a  slightly  amended
wording in the Common Position.

Amendment 3 (Recital 24a (new)) has been integrated as Recital 31, in the Common Position.

Amendment 4 (Article 12, paragraph 3) has been integrated in Article 13, paragraph 4, of the
Common Position.

Amendment 5 (Article 15, paragraphs 1 and 2) has been integrated in Article 16, paragraph 1
and 2, with an amended wording in the Common Position, which likewise increases flexibility
by setting one common financial framework for both projects and measures.

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CONCLUSION

The  Commission  supports  the  Council  Common  Position  as  it  is  in  line  with  the
Commission’s amended proposal and clarifies certain elements of the proposal.

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