REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the impact of the European Parliament and Council Decisions modifying the legal bases of the European Programmes in the areas of Lifelong Learning, Culture, Youth and Citizenship
Date: 2010-07-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European citizenship, continuing education, cultural policy, vocational training, youth policy

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 30.7.2010 
COM(2010)411 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the impact of the European Parliament and Council Decisions modifying the legal 
bases of the European Programmes in the areas of Lifelong Learning, Culture, Youth 
and Citizenship 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the impact of the European Parliament and Council Decisions modifying the legal 
bases of the European Programmes in the areas of Lifelong Learning, Culture, Youth 
and Citizenship 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

On  16  December  2008,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  adopted  four  decisions 
amending  the  legal  bases  of  the  programmes  in  the  area  of  lifelong  learning,  culture,  youth 
and citizenship1. 

These  decisions  removed  from  the  advisory  procedure  described  in  Council  Decision 
1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  certain  selection  decisions  taken  by  the  Commission  for  the 
award  of  grants  within  those  programmes.  The  purpose  was  to  simplify  the  procedures  and 
shorten  the  time  required  for  making  decisions  affecting  directly  the  beneficiaries,  in  the 
interests of a quicker and more efficient implementation of the programmes.  

Under the original legal bases, it had been compulsory to consult within restrictive delays the 
European Parliament and the programme committees before the Commission could make the 
formal award decisions. Sometimes recess periods would add to the scrutiny periods, causing 
further delays in the implementation. 

With the entry into force of the amending decisions, the advisory procedure has been replaced 
by an information procedure. The Commission has now the obligation to inform the European 
Parliament and the programme committees within two working days of the selection decisions 
it has taken. The information needs to include a description and an analysis of the applications 
received, a description of the assessment and of the selection procedure, and lists of both the 
projects proposed for funding and those rejected. 

The Commission is required by the amending decisions to report to the European Parliament 
and the Council on their impact within 18 months of their coming into force.  

In  addition  to  these  decisions,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  also  adopted  on 
16 December  2008  Decision  n°1298/2008/EC  establishing  the  Erasmus  Mundus  2009-2013 
action  programme,  which  gives  the  Commission  the  same  obligation  to  inform  within  two 

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Decision  n°1357/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 December  2008 
amending Decision n°1720/2006/EC establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning 
Decision  n°1352/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 December  2008 
amending Decision n°1855/2006/EC establishing the Culture programme (2007 to 2013) 
Decision  n°1349/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 December  2008 
amending Decision n°1719/2006/EC establishing the 'Youth in Action' programme for the period 2007 
to 2013 
Decision  n°1358/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16 December  2008 
amending Decision n°1904/2006/EC establishing for the period 2007 to 2013 the programme ‘Europe 
for Citizens’ to promote active European citizenship 

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working  days  the  European  Parliament  and  the  programme  committee  of  the  selection 
decisions it has taken.  

Although the decision establishing the Erasmus Mundus action programme does not contain a 
reporting requirement, the Commission has decided, in the interest of transparency, to include 
in  this  report  the  impact  of  the  new  information  procedure  on  the  implementation  of  this 
programme as well. In this way, a single report covers the impact of all five decisions. 

Methodology 

This report presents for each programme the information procedure that was implemented in 
2009  and  compares  it  with  the  advisory  procedure  that  was  previously  applied.  The  report 
considers  the  impact  of  the  new  information  procedure  on  the  management  of  grants,  in 
particular in terms of the time taken by the selection procedure, from the submission deadline 
to  the  notification  of  beneficiaries.  The  report  also  takes  into  account  the  impact  on  the 
administrative burden and the reactions or complaints about the information transmitted or the 
information procedure itself. 

2. 

THE SELECTION DECISIONS TAKEN UNDER THE NEW INFORMATION PROCEDURE  

The  information  procedure  was  applied  in  30  selection  decisions  in  2009,  for  27  of  them  a 
comparison can be made with decisions taken under the advisory procedure, as shown in the 
tables in the annex2.  

Seven selection decisions were made in 2009 within the Lifelong Learning programme. Of 
these, five are fully comparable with those made in 2007 and 2008. No comparison is possible 
for the grants awarded in the framework of the Transversal program Key Activity 1 (ECET) 
since  the  first  selection  was  held  in  2009  already  under  the  new  procedure,  while  grants 
awarded  to  develop  and  implement  the  European  Qualification  Framework  can  only  be 
compared with those awarded in 2008 (no selection was held in 2007). 

In the Culture programme the new information procedure was applied in 2009 to selections 
for  four  actions,  which  can  be  compared  with  those  taken  in  2008  and  in  20063  under  the 
previous  Culture  programme.  No  selection  decisions  were  taken  through  the  advisory 
procedure in 2007. 

For the Youth in Action Programme a total of seven selection processes took place in 2009. 
There  are  no  comparable  data  for  the  grants  awarded  in  the  framework  of  Action  4.6 
"Partnerships" because  the  first selection was made in 2009. Grants awarded for Action 4.4 
"Projects encouraging creativity and innovation in the youth sector" can only be compared to 
those awarded in 2007 (there was no selection procedure in 2008), while those awarded for 
Action 4.1 "Support for bodies active at European level in the field of youth" and for the first 
centralised selection round can only be compared to 2008, because the consultation procedure 
was not applied to those awarded in 2007. 

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Tables  are  included  in  the  annex  for  the  Lifelong  Learning,  Culture,  Youth  in  Action;  Europe  for 
Citizens and Erasmus Mundus Programmes.  
Under  the  previous  programme:  Decision  No  508/2000/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 14 February 2000 establishing the Culture 2000 programme 

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The  new  information  procedure  was  also  applied  in  2009  to  ten  actions  of  the  Europe  for 
Citizens programme (concerning the action 1.1 Town Twinning – Phase 2 and the action 2.7 
Support  to  projects  initiated  by  civil  society  organisations,  no  comitology  procedure  was 
applied in 2007, making a comparison impossible) and to the grants awarded for the Erasmus 
Mundus  post-graduate  scholarships  and  programmes.  ;  In  the  case  of  the  latter  the  only 
possible comparison is with 2007 since no selection was held in 2008 due to the transition to 
the new programme. 

3. 

THE IMPACT OF THE NEW INFORMATION PROCEDURE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
THE PROGRAMMES 

For all programmes, the time taken for the selection process from the submission deadline to 
the  adoption  of  the  grant  award-decision  and  the  notification  of  the  beneficiaries  has  been 
considerably shortened. 

In addition, it should be noted that for all programmes - except Erasmus Mundus - and prior 
to  the  entry  into  force  of  the  information  procedure,  a  shortened  right  of  scrutiny  had  been 
agreed  with  the  European  Parliament  for  selection  decisions  falling  under  the  advisory 
procedure in the second half of 2008. In no case, however, were the gains under the shortened 
right  of  scrutiny  greater  than  the  ones  resulting  from  the  introduction  of  the  information 
procedure. 

As for the Lifelong Learning programme, in 2009 grant award decisions in the actions that 
can be compared were notified to the beneficiaries on average 123 days after the submission 
deadline, with an average gain was of 37 days in comparison to 2008 and of 32 in comparison 
to  2007.  In  one  case  (Leonardo  de  Vinci  –  Transfer  of  Innovation),  the  period  in  2009  was 
slightly  longer  than  in  2008  due  to  the  need  to  examine  thoroughly  a  specific  case  that 
involved the protection of the financial interests of the EU. 

In  the  case  of  the  Culture  programme,  notification  in  2009  occurred  on  average  152  days 
after the submission deadline, with an average gain of 54.5 days when in comparison to 2008 
and of 117 in comparison to 2007.  

Within  the  Youth  in  Action  programme,  the  average  time  gain  was  of  more  than  40  days 
compared to 2008 and of more than 75 in comparison with 2007. Grant-award decisions and 
the  subsequent  notification  of  beneficiaries  occurred  at  the  latest  3.5  months  after  the 
submission  deadline,  whereas  under  the  consultation  procedure,  the  average  selection  time 
was of 5.5 months.  

In  the  case  of  the  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  the  gain  was,  on  average,  of  22  days 
compared to 2008 and 12 days compared to 2007. However, two actions present an exception: 
no time was saved for actions 1.4 and 1.5 between 2009 and 2008. These projects ("Citizens' 
projects  and  "Support  measures")  are  more  complex  and  larger  in  scale  than  other  more 
traditional  projects  such  as  town  twinning.  However,  this  had  no  impact  on  beneficiaries  as 
they were notified of the result of the selection in time for the projects to start as scheduled.  

For the Erasmus Mundus scholarships, the reduction was of 27 days in comparison with the 
2007 scholarships and of 10 in comparison with 2008. For the joint programmes the reduction 
was of 74 days, despite the fact that 2009 was also the first year in which, in addition to the 
Masters'  courses,  PhDs  were  funded  by  the  programme.  In  all  cases  the  information  to  the 

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European  Parliament  and  programme  committees  was  provided  within  the  set  delay  of  two 
working  days.  The  amount  of  information  transmitted  has  not  changed  compared  to  the 
comitology  procedure,  but  the  removal  of  the  formalities  associated  with  the  advisory 
procedure,  concerning  for  example  the  launch  of  written  procedures  and  the  upload  in  the 
registry, has resulted nonetheless in a significant reduction of the administrative burden. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  information  procedure  replacing  the  formal  advisory  procedure  under  the  Comitology 
Decision  has  been  successfully  implemented  in  all  five  programmes.  All  the  necessary 
information required in the decisions has been systematically transmitted by the Commission 
to the European Parliament and the programme committees within the compulsory deadline of 
two working days. 

The Commission has not received any reactions or complaints from the European Parliament 
or  the  programme  committees  on  the  information  transmitted  or  on  the  procedure  itself. 
Several beneficiaries have instead expressed their satisfaction with the reduced time taken for 
selection decisions as a result. 

Regarding the impact of the decisions on the management of the programmes and the grants 
awarded to beneficiaries, the substantial shortening of the delays has increased the efficiency 
of  the  programmes  by  enabling  the  applicants  to  be  informed  on  the  selection  decisions 
further in advance, with positive effects on the sustainability of the partnerships implementing 
the projects, and therefore on the quality of the projects themselves. For all programmes, the 
new procedure has enabled the increased effectiveness of project management.  

It  can  therefore  be  concluded  that  the  new  information  procedure  meets  the  principle  of 
simplicity and proximity that must guide the implementation of the programmes in the interest 
of European citizens. 

In  that  light,  the  Commission  is  committed  to  continue  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the 
management of its programmes by shortening the process leading to the selection decisions, 
in particular by reducing as much as possible the time taken for the evaluation of applications.  

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Lifelong Learning Programme 

ANNEX  

Selection Decisions 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2007 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2008 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2009 

Difference 
2009-2008 

Difference 
2009-2007 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Jean  Monnet  programme  (Key 
activity  3:  European  associations 
active  at  European  level  in  the  field 
of  education  and  training)  of  the 
action  programme  in  the  field  of 
lifelong learning 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Jean  Monnet  programme  (Key 
Activity 1) of the action programme 
in the field of lifelong learning 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Comenius,  Erasmus,  Leonardo 
sub-
da  Vinci  and  Grundtvig 
programmes 
the  Lifelong 
Learning Programme 2009  

of 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Leonardo  da  Vinci  - Transfer  of 
Innovation  of  the  Lifelong  Learning 
Programme 2009 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Transversal  Programme/Key 
activities  of  the  Lifelong  Learning 
Programme 

to 
Grants  awarded 
develop 
the 
European  Qualifications  Framework 
– EQF 

for  Actions 
implement 

and 

Grants awarded in the framework of 
the  Transversal  Programme  Key 
Activity  1  ("Support  for  European 
Cooperation 
and 
Training  –  ECET")  of  the  Lifelong 
Learning Programme.  

in  Education 

147 

171 

105 

66 

42 

147 

171 

136 

35 

11 

175 

159 

131 

28 

44 

166 

140 

152 

-12 

14 

177 

214 

128 

86 

49 

/ 

/ 

113 

90 

23 

/ 

94 

/ 

/ 

/ 

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Culture Programme 

Selection Decisions 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2006 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2008 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2009 

Difference 
2009-2008 

Difference 
2009-2007 

 Support for bodies active at 
European level in the field of 
Culture - Annual operating 
grants- Strand 2 

269 

218 

129 

89 

140 

Cooperation projects - Strand 
1.2.1 

269 

268 

217 

51 

52 

Literary translations - Strand 
1.2.2 

269 

219 

166 

Third countries - Strand 1.3.3 

269 

121 

96 

53 

25 

103 

173 

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Youth in Action Programme 

Selection Decisions 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2007 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2008 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2009 

Difference 
2009-2008 

Difference 
2009-2007 

Action 4,1 - Support to NGOs 

Round 1 - Programme Guide 

Round 2 - Programme Guide 

/ 

/ 

/ 

195 

106 

145 

108 

164 

109 

Round 3 - Programme Guide 

150 

106 

90 

Action 3,2 - Youth in the World 

189 

119 

112 

Action 4,4 - Projects encouraging 
innovation and quality 

159 

Action 4,6 - Partnerships 

/ 

/ 

/ 

69 

147 

89 

37 

55 

16 

7 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

60 

77 

90 

/ 

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Europe for Citizens Programme 

Selection Decisions 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2007 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2008 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2009 

Difference 
2009-2008 

Difference 
2009-2007 

Action 1.1. Town Twinning - 
Phase 1a) 

/ 

142 

Action 1.1. Town Twinning - 
Phase 2 

83 

118 

Action 1.1. Town Twinning - 
Phase 3 

107 

122 

Action 1.1. Town Twinning - 
Phase 4 

Action 1.1. Town Twinning - 
Phase 1/2010 

88 

95 

143 

91 

Action 1.2. Networks of twinned 
towns 

124 

142 

94 

79 

97 

64 

78 

94 

48 

39 

/ 

4 

25 

10 

79 

24 

13 

17 

48 

30 

Action 1.4. Citizens'projects 

Action 1.5. Support measures 

/ 

/ 

126 

149 

-23 

76 

107 

-31 

/ 

/ 

Action 2.7. Support to projects 
initiated by civil society 
organisations 

106 

131 

110 

21 

-4 

Action 4.1. Remembrance projects 

99 

96 

96 

0 

3 

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Erasmus Mundus Programme 

Selection Decisions 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2007 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2008 

Days needed for 
the selection 
procedure - 2009 

Difference 
2009-2008 

Difference 
2009-2007 

Action 1.1 Scholarships relating to 
the academic year 2009/2010 

85 

68 

Action 1.2 Joint programmes 

151 

/ 

58 

77 

10 

/ 

27 

74 

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10 

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