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 Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a European grouping for territorial co-operation (EGTC)
Date: 2006-06-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU body for police and judicial cooperation, cross-border cooperation, economic and social cohesion, local authority, regional authority

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.6.2006 
COM(2006) 308 final 

2004/0168 (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 Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on establishing a European grouping for territorial co-
operation (EGTC) 

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2004/0168 (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 Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on establishing a European grouping for territorial co-
operation (EGTC) 

1- 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2004) 496 final – 2004/0168(COD)): 

15 July 2004 

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

6 April 2005 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: 

18 November 2004 

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

6 July 2005 

Date of transmission of the modified proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2006) 94 final – 2004/0168(COD)): 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

7 March 2006 

12 June 2006 

2- 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

Member  States  and  regional  and  local  authorities  have  experienced  important 
difficulties in carrying out and managing actions of cross-border, trans-national and 
inter-regional  co-operation,  within  the  framework  of  differing  national  laws  and 
procedures.  The  existing  instruments,  such  as  the  European  economic  interest 
grouping  on  Community  level  or  bi-  or  multilateral  agreements  between  Member 
States have proven ill-adapted to organising a structured co-operation for economic 
and social cohesion in the meaning of Article 158 of the Treaty and in particular of 
structural  fund  programmes  within  the  INTERREG  initiative  during  the  2000-2006 
programming period. This calls for appropriate measures at the Community level in 
order to reduce the difficulties of cross-border, trans-national and inter-regional co-
operation. 

The proposal is subject to the co-decision provisions (Article 251 of the Treaty). 

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The purpose of the Commission’s proposal is to introduce a co-operation instrument 
at  the  Community  level,  which  allows  the  creation  of  co-operative  groupings 
between  local  and  regional  authorities  in  the  Community,  invested  with  legal 
personality, called “European groupings of territorial co-operation” (EGTC).  

The  tasks  delegated  to  it  must  be  defined  by  its  members,  in  a  convention  of 
European  territorial  co-operation.  The  EGTC  shall  be  able  to  act,  either  for 
implementing co-operation programmes co-financed by the Community, notably by 
the  Structural  Funds,  or  for  carrying  out  any  other  co-operation  action  at  the  sole 
initiative of the regional and local authorities, with or without financial contribution 
by the Community. 

3- 

GENERAL  COMMENTS  ON  THE  COMMON  POSITION  AND  NEW 
PROVISIONS  COMPARED  WITH  THE  COMMISSION  MODIFIED 
PROPOSAL 

The  Commission  welcomes  the  common  position  adopted  unanimously  because  it 
maintains  the  essential  objectives  of  the  Commission’s  revised  proposal  (following 
the EP first reading). It introduces a certain number of changes which complete the 
text  with  regards  to  the  applicable  rules  and  procedures.  Several  Parliament’s 
amendments  in  first  reading  are  present  in  the  common  position,  even  though  with 
drafting changes to ensure the legal consistency of the text and technical workability 
of  the  EGTC.  These  include  the  definition  of  territorial  cooperation,  the  need  to 
specify the Member States’ financial liability, the applicable law and the provision to 
publish and/or register the statutes of the EGTC. 

The  most  significant  changes  introduced by the common position are outlined here 
below. 

The first significant change concerns the ex-ante control by the Member States when 
their regions or local authorities intend to set up an EGTC. Article 4(3) foresees that 
a Member State agrees to the proposed member’s participation in an EGCT, unless it 
considers that such participation is not in conformity with the Regulation or national 
law  (more  or  less  corresponding  to  the  Commission’s  modified  proposal)  or  is  not 
justified  for  reasons  of  public  interest  or  public  policy  (ordre  publique)  of  that 
Member State. An appropriate justification of refusal shall always be provided.  

The  second  significant  change  concerns  the  scope  of  the  Regulation.  The  common 
position of the Council has added in Article 7(3) that Member States may limit the 
tasks EGTCs may carry out without a Community financial contribution. However, 
this limitation cannot concern the core actions of territorial co-operation. 

The system of financial liability of the EGTC as such and of its members has been 
reshaped: Concerning the organs, Article 10(3) states that the EGTC shall be liable 
for the acts of its organs towards third parties, even where such acts do not fall within 
the tasks of the EGTC. The liability of the EGTC in general and the residual liability 
of its members in case the assets of the EGTC are insufficient to meet its liabilities 
are  now  covered  by  Article  12(2).  In  principle  the  members  have  an  unlimited 
residual  liability.  However,  the  national  law  may  exclude  or  limit  the  liability  of 
members formed under it. 

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4- 

4.1 

COMMISSION DETAILED COMMENTS 

Amendments accepted by the Commission and incorporated in full or in part in 
the common position 

Amendments  1,  2,  4,  5,  7,  9,  14,  15,  16,  19,  23,  25,  27,  30  and  35  The  common 
position  agrees  to  call  the  instrument  “European  Grouping  of  Territorial  Co-
operation”  (EGTC)  in  order  to  clarify  that  not  only  cross—border,  but  also  trans-
national or inter-regional co-operation are covered.  

Amendment 3 The definition of “territorial co-operation” as covering the three forms 
of co-operation, namely “cross-border”, “trans-national” and “inter-regional”, has not 
been taken up in Recital 7, but in Article 1(2). 

Amendment 6 Recital 5 covers agreements between Member States and/or regional 
and local  authorities  and  clarifies  that the Regulation is not intended to circumvent 
other frameworks for co-operation. 

Amendments  8  21  and  24  The  common  position  has  deleted  this  Recital,  but 
Article 7(5) states that the members of an EGTC may empower one of the members 
to execute its tasks. 

Amendment 12 The decision-making procedures are covered by Article 9(2)(b), but 
not in Recital 14. 

Amendment 13 The common position re-formulates the Subsidiarity Clause (Recital 
15). 

Amendment  17  The  right  of  supervision  in  respect  of  the  EGTC’s  management  of 
public funds is being covered by Article 6. However, going beyond the amendment, 
Article  6(4)  clarifies  that  the  management  of  Community  funds  shall  respect  the 
relevant legislation. 

Amendment  20  The  common  position  defines  the  “local  bodies”  of  the  original 
proposal as “bodies governed by public law in the meaning of Article 1(9), 2nd sub-
paragraph  of  Dir  2004/18/EC.  This  may  cover  “bodies  acting  on  a  not-for-profit 
basis, in which regional/local authorities and Member States participate” as asked for 
by the amendment. However, the common position’s wording has the advantage of 
using a pre-existing definition in Community law. 

Amendment 22 Article 7 defines only “tasks” to be executed by an EGTC, whereas 
the  “competences”  of  the  members  remain  with  them.  The  EGTC  has  no  genuine 
competences. 

Amendment 24 The common position has split up the amendment. Article 7(2) states 
that  the  EGTC  shall  act  within  the  confines  of  the  tasks  given  to  it,  whereas  the 
delegation of the execution of its tasks to one of its members is covered by Article 
7(5). The legal capacity accorded to an EGTC is covered by Article 1(4). 

Amendment 26 Article 12(3) concerns the financial liability of Member States. 

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Amendment 28 Article 8(1) states that the EGTC shall be the subject of a convention 
concluded unanimously by its members, adding the need for an unanimous decision 
and referring to the ex-ante control procedure laid out in Article 4(3). 

Amendment  29  The  common  position  has  split  up  the  amendment.  According  to 
Article  8(2)(c)  the  convention  specifies  the  tasks  of  the  EGTC,  whereas  Article 
9(2)(a) covers the operating provisions. 

Amendment 31 Article 9(2)(e) and (f) state that the statutes cover the responsibilities 
of the members with respect to the EGTC and with respect to third parties. However, 
a new article on liability has been introduced (Article 12). 

Amendment  32  Article  2(1)  defines  that  where  matters  are  not,  or  only  partly, 
regulated by the Regulation, the laws of the Member State where the EGTC has its 
“registered office” apply.  

Amendment  33  The  right  of  supervision  in  respect  of  the  EGTC’s  management  of 
public funds is being covered by Article 6. In line with the Parliament’s amendment, 
the  modalities  of  mutual  recognition  in  the  field  of  control  are  regulated  by  the 
Regulation.  However,  the  practical  arrangements  for  mutual  recognition  shall  be 
covered by the convention (Article 8(2)(f)). 

Amendment 34 The common position defines the law that applies to matters not, or 
only partly, regulated by the Regulation (Article 2). However, the common position 
does not specify that the national law is the one “governing national groupings of a 
similar  nature  and  purpose”  (amended  proposal  of  the  Commission)  or  “governing 
the way in which associations operate” (proposal of the Parliament’s amendment). 

Amendment 36 The Commission had only accepted the convention’s notification to 
the Member States and the Committee of the Regions. That part has been kept in the 
common position (Article 5(1)). 

Amendment  37  The  common  position  foresees  an  assembly  and  a  director 
(Article 10(1)). 

Amendment  38  Article  8,  concerning  the  convention,  covers  the  essential  issues  of 
the  EGTC,  whereas  Article  9,  concerning  the  statutes,  covers  the  more  operational 
aspects of the EGTC. Consequently, the modalities of the dissolution are covered by 
Article 9(2)(c) and not by Article 8. 

Amendment 39 The EGTC acquires legal personality and the capacity to act on the 
day of its registration or publication (Article 5(1)). Consequently, this issue could be 
deleted in Article 9 concerning the statutes. 

Amendment  41  Article  5  distinguishes  between  the  registration/publication  of  the 
statutes  according  to  national  law  and  the  obligation  to  send  a  request  to  publish  a 
notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Concerning none of the legal 
bodies on EU level a publication of the statutes in the OJ is foreseen. 

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4.2 

Amendments accepted by the Commission and not incorporated in the common 
position 

There are no such amendments. 

4.3 

Amendments  rejected  by  the  Commission  yet  incorporated  in  the  common 
position 

Amendment  10  The  Commission  had  rejected  this  amendment  as  it  referred  to  a 
proposed Additional Protocol to the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier 
Co-operation, as a reference to a text not yet adopted was not acceptable. However, 
Recital 5 mentions the Council of Europe acquis. 

Amendment  40  The  Commission  had  rejected  to  delete  Article  10  concerning  the 
organs. The common position fixes a set of compulsory organs (Article 10) allowing 
to  provide  for  additional  organs  in  the  statutes.  Consequently,  Article  10  has  been 
kept. 

4.4 

Amendments rejected by the Commission and not incorporated in the common 
position  

Amendment  18  As  the  tasks  of  an  EGTC  are  defined  by  the  members,  no  specific 
examples  should  be  given  in  the  articles.  However,  Article  6  of  the  ERDF-
Regulation  has  a  quite  large  scope  and  actions  to  promote  reconciliation  are  not 
excluded when respecting the criteria for cross-border co-operation projects. 

Amendment  36  Neither  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal  nor  the  common 
position  have  stated  that  the  convention  is  notified  to  the  Commission  and  that  the 
Commission  shall  enter  the  convention  in  a  public  register  of  all  conventions  of 
EGTCs. 

Amendment  37  Neither  the  Commission’s  amended  proposal  nor  the  common 
position  have  added  an  executive  committee  or  a  secretariat  as  compulsory  organ. 
However, the statutes may provide for additional organs (Article 10(2)). 

4.5 

Amendments concerning only one language version of the Regulation 

Amendment 11 This amendment has not affected the English version of the original 
proposal. 

5- 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission welcomes the fact that a new legal Community instrument to foster 
co-operation between regional and local authorities within the Community will come 
into  force  and  considers  that  the  common  position  adopted  on  12th  June  2006  by 
unanimity largely follows the aims and approach of its proposal and so can support 
it. 

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