2005/56/EC: Commission Decision of 14 January 2005 setting up the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency for the management of Community action in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture in application of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003
Date: 2005-01-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, European Commission, action programme, audiovisual communications policy, cultural policy, delegation of power, education policy, operation of the Institutions

27.1.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 24/35

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 14 January 2005

setting up the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency for the management of
Community action in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture in application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 58/2003

(Only the German, French and English texts are authentic)

(2005/56/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

which do not
entail political decision-making and
requires a high level of technical and financial expertise
throughout the project cycle.

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19
December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies
to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of
Community programmes (1), and in particular Article 3(1)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 empowers the Commission
to set up executive agencies in accordance with the
general statute laid down by that Regulation and to
entrust them with certain management tasks relating to
one or more Community programmes; this decision does
not affect the scope of that Regulation.

The purpose of empowering the Commission to set up
executive agencies is to allow it to focus on core activities
and functions which cannot be outsourced, without relin-
quishing control over, or ultimate responsibility for,
activities managed by the said executive agencies.

Management of certain centralised strands of a number
of programmes in the fields of education, audiovisual and
technical projects
culture involves implementation of

(1) OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1.

(4)

(5)

(6)

The delegation, to an executive agency, of tasks related to
programme implementation is possible with a clear
the project
separation between, on the one hand,
funding
programming stages
decisions, which should
the
by
Commission, and, on the other hand, project implemen-
tation, which should be entrusted to the executive
agency.

adoption of
carried out

and the
be

The setting up of the executive agency affects neither the
delegation by the Council to the Commission of the
the
management of certain phases of action under
different programmes nor the delegation of management
tasks to national agencies regarding certain programmes.

A cost-benefit analysis carried out for that purpose has
shown that using an executive agency to manage certain
centralised strands of programmes
in the fields of
education, audiovisual and culture is the most advan-
tageous of the options available, both in financial and
in non-financial terms.

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Official Journal of the European Union

27.1.2005

(7)

(8)

The measures provided for by this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Committee for
Executive Agencies.

(a)

the second phase of the Community action programme in
the field of education ‘Socrates’ approved by Decision No
253/2000/EC of
the
Council (2);

the European Parliament and of

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1653/2004 of 21
September 2004 establishes a standard financial regu-
lation for the executive agencies pursuant
to Council
Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 laying down the statute
for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks
in the management of Community programmes (1),

(b)

the second phase of the Community vocational training
approved by
action programme
Council Decision 1999/382/EC (3);

‘Leonardo da Vinci’

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Establishment of the Agency

An executive agency (hereinafter

the
1.
for the management of Community action in the
Agency)
fields of education, audiovisual and culture,
the statute and
main operating rules of which are laid down in Regulation
(EC) No 58/2003, is hereby established.

referred to as

The name of the Agency shall be the Education, Audio-

2.
visual and Culture Executive Agency.

Article 2

Location

The Agency shall be located in Brussels.

Article 3

Term

(c)

the ‘Youth’ Community action programme approved by
Decision No 1031/2000/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council (4);

(d)

the ‘Culture 2000’ programme approved by Decision No
508/2000/EC of
the
Council (5);

the European Parliament and of

(e)

the programme to encourage the development, distribution
and promotion of European audiovisual works (MEDIA
Plus — Development, Distribution and Promotion) (2001
to 2005) approved by Council Decision 2000/821/EC (6);

(f)

the training programme for professionals of the European
audiovisual programme industry (MEDIA-Training)
(2001
to 2005) approved by Decision No 163/2001/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council (7);

The Agency is established for a period beginning on 1

1.
January 2005 and ending on 31 December 2008.

(g)

2.
An evaluation of the operation of the Agency, including a
cost-benefit analysis as referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 58/2003, shall be drawn up by the Commission in
2006, with a view to the possible revision or extension of the
tasks of the Agency in the framework of the new generation of
programmes in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture.

Article 4

Objectives and tasks

The Agency shall be responsible for the management of

1.
certain strands of the following Community programmes:

(1) OJ L 297, 22.9.2004, p. 6.

the programme for the enhancement of quality in higher
education and the promotion of intercultural understanding
through cooperation with
(Erasmus
Mundus) approved by Decision No 2317/2003/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council (8);

countries

third

(2) OJ L 28, 3.2.2000, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Council

Regulation (EC) No 885/2004 (OJ L 168, 1.5.2004, p. 1).

(3) OJ L 146, 11.6.1999, p. 33. Decision as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(4) OJ L 117, 18.5.2000, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Council

Regulation (EC) No 885/2004.

(5) OJ L 63, 10.3.2000, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Council

Regulation (EC) No 885/2004.

(6) OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 82. Decision as last amended by Council

Regulation (EC) No 885/2004.

(7) OJ L 26, 27.1.2001, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Council

Regulation (EC) No 885/2004.

(8) OJ L 345, 31.12.2003, p. 1.

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(h)

(i)

(j)

the multiannual programme (2004 to 2006)
effective integration of
technologies (ICT)
Europe
2318/2003/EC of
Council (1);

the
information and communication
in education and training systems in
No
by
the

the European Parliament and of

(e-Learning)

approved

Decision

for

the Community action programme to promote active
European citizenship (civic participation), approved by
Council Decision 2004/100/EC (2);

the Community action programme to promote bodies
active at European level
in the field of youth, approved
by Decision No 790/2004/EC of the European Parliament
and the Council (3);

(k)

the Community action programme to promote bodies
active at European level and support specific activities in
the field of education and training, approved by Decision
No 791/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council (4);

(l)

the Community action programme to promote bodies
active at European level in the field of culture, approved
by Decision No 792/2004/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council (5);

(m) projects in the field of higher education which could be
funded under the provisions on aid for economic co-
operation with
in Asia,
developing
approved under Council Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 (6).

countries

the

contracts in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture
and is adopted by the Commission, or on the basis of
specific funding decisions adopted by the Commission,
and the necessary checks to that end, by adopting the
relevant decisions where the Commission has empowered
it to do so;

(b) adopting the instruments of budget

implementation for
revenue and expenditure and carrying out, where the
Commission has empowered it to do so, some or all of
the
the operations necessary for
those linked
Community programmes and,
to the award of grants and contracts;

the management of
in particular,

(c) gathering, analysing and passing on to the Commission all
the information needed to guide the implementation of the
Community programmes.

The Agency may be empowered by the Commission, after
3.
receiving the opinion of the Committee for Executive Agencies
established under Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, to
carry out tasks of the same type under Community programmes
in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture, within the
meaning of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, other
than those referred to in paragraph 1.

4.
The Commission decision delegating authority to the
Agency shall set out in detail all the tasks entrusted to it and
shall be amended should any additional tasks be entrusted to
the Agency. It shall be forwarded, for information purposes, to
the Committee for Executive Agencies.

2.
The Agency shall be responsible for the following tasks
for the management of the Community programme strands
referred to in paragraph 1:

Article 5

Organisational structure

The Agency shall be managed by a Steering Committee

1.
and a Director appointed by the Commission.

(a) managing, throughout their duration, the projects entrusted
implementation of Community
to it
programmes, on the basis of the annual work programme
which serves as a funding decision with regard to grants and

in the context of

(1) OJ L 345, 31.12.2003, p. 9.
(2) OJ L 30, 4.2.2004, p. 6.
(3) OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 24.
(4) OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 31.
(5) OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 40.
(6) OJ L 52, 27.2.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 807/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36).

2.
The members of
appointed for two years.

the Steering Committee

shall be

The Director of the Agency shall be appointed for four

3.
years.

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Article 6

Grants

The Agency shall receive a grant entered in the general budget
of the European Union and taken from the funds allocated to
the programmes referred to in Article 4(1) and, where appro-
priate,
allocated to other Community
programmes the implementation of which has been entrusted
to the Agency by virtue of Article 4(3).

from the

funds

the arrangements and at
instrument of delegation.

the

intervals

stipulated in the

Article 8

Implementation of the operating budget

The Agency shall implement its operating budget in accordance
with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1653/2004.

Article 7

Done at Brussels, 14 January 2005.

Supervision and reporting requirement

The Agency shall be subject to supervision by the Commission
and shall report regularly on progress in implementing the
programmes for which it is responsible in accordance with

For the Commission

Viviane REDING
Member of the Commission