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 common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a multiannual Community programme to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable
Date: 2004-10-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, Internet, access to information, dissemination of information, information technology, innovation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 8.10.2004 
COM(2004) 659 final 

2004/0025 (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 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision of the European 
Parliament and of the Council establishing a multiannual Community programme to 
make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable 

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2004/0025 (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 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision of the European 
Parliament and of the Council establishing a multiannual Community programme to 
make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2004) 96 final– 2004/0025 COD): 

13 February 2004. 

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

29 April 2004. 

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

22 April 2004. 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

30 April 2004. 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

24 September 2004. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The  proposed  programme  aims  at  improving  the  conditions  for  reuse  of  European  digital 
content. It targets sectors of the digital content market where development has been slow and 
market  forces  alone  have  not  been  enough  to  secure  optimal  results  in  terms  of  economic 
growth,  job  creation,  innovation  and  consumer  choice.  These  sectors  include  public  sector 
information – in particular geographic data, and educational material and cultural content.  

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

3.1. 

General remarks  

The  Commission  notes  that  the  Council  has  reached  an  agreement  by  unanimity.  The 
Council’s  common  position  takes  up  in  essence  the  amendments  made  by  Parliament.  It 
proposes a number of additional changes to the Commission’s original proposal, including a 
change in the budget amount of the Programme. 

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3.2. 

Response to Parliament’s amendments adopted at first reading 

Parliament adopted 16 amendments all accepted by the Commission.  

3.2.1.  Amendments accepted by the Commission and included in the common position 

The common position has taken up the following amendments by Parliament, some of them as 
formulated by Parliament, others in a modified form: 

The  Amendment  1  clarifies  the  reference  to  digital  content  stakeholders.  The  Council’s 
position stresses the importance of SMEs. 

The  Amendments  2,  3,  4,  5,  11,  12,  13,  14,  15,  16  clarify  the  text  related  to  the  specific 
objectives.  The  Council’s  position  adds  further  useful  editorial  clarifications  increasing  the 
precision of the text. 

The Amendments 6, 8, 9, 10 propose a revised text in order to ensure the consistency of the 
annual  appropriations  with  the  financial  perspectives.  In  addition,  as  reported  in  the  next 
section, the Council’s position anticipates to mid-2006 the report on the implementation of the 
Lines of Action.  

The Amendment 7 proposes that the Commission forwards the results of the quantitative and 
qualitative  evaluations  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  -  together  with  any 
appropriate proposals for the amendment of the Decision - before the presentation of the draft 
general budget of the European Union for the years 2007 and 2009 respectively. 

3.3. 

New provisions introduced by the Council 

The following changes have been introduced by the Council in its common position: 

3.3.1.  Recitals 

Recitals 2, 8, 10: minor wording changes. 

Recitals  5,  6:  editorial  changes  to  stress  the  importance  of  the  participation  of  SMEs  and 
adding an explicit reference to people with special needs.  

Recital  9:  with  this  additional  recital  the  Council  repeats  the  importance  of  solid  business 
models  for  greater  economic  return  from  services  based  on  access  and  re-use  of  digital 
content.  

Recital  14:  editorial  changes  have  been  introduced  to  bring  the  recital  in  line  with  the 
proposed changes in Article 4. 

Recital  16:  inserts  a  footnote  pointing  to  a  recent  amendment  of  the  Interinstitutional 
agreement referred to in the text. 

3.3.2.  Articles 

Article 1: useful editorial clarifications. 

Article 2: increased legal precision of the text. 

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Article 3: the Council repeats the importance of implementing the programme in co-operation 
with  the  Member  States  and  in  co-ordination  with  other  relevant  Community  policies.  The 
Council  proposes  to  refer  to  the  Programme  Committee  for  the  assessment  of  the  projects 
with  an  estimated  amount  of  the  Community  contribution  equal  to  or  more  than  EUR  1 
million.  

Article 4: a management committee is proposed.  

Article  5:  the  Council’s  position  includes  some  editorial  changes  and  proposes  that  the 
Commission  shall  report  on  the  implementation  of  the  Lines  of  Action  by  mid-2006  at  the 
latest instead of January 2007 as proposed by the Parliament.  

Article 6: the Council proposes to set the financial framework for the implementation of the 
programme to EUR 135 million.  

3.3.3.  Annex I 

The Council proposes some editorial changes in line with the amendments listed above.  

3.3.4.  Annex III  

The Council proposes a slight redistribution in the indicative breakdown of expenditure.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission considers that the Council’s common position does not substantially modify 
the objectives and scope of the Commission’s proposal. 

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