CELEX: 51997PC0596
Language: en
Date: 1997-11-07
Title: Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing an action programme to improve awareness of Community law for the legal professions (Robert SCHUMAN Project)

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                  Brussels, 07.11.1997
                                                  COM(97) 596 final
                                                  96/0277 (COD)
                            Amended proposal for a
       EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
 establishing an action programme to improve awareness of Community law
                            for the legal professions
                           (Robert Schuman Project)
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On 24 October 1997 the European Parliament delivered its opinion at first reading under
the codecision procedure on the proposal for a Decision establishing an action
programme to improve awareness of Community law for the legal professions
(Robert Schuman Project).
The Commission has accepted all the amendments, with an adjustment to the wording of
Amendment 19.
The amendments reflect Parliament's concern to increase the importance of the proposal
with regard to the application of Community law and to specify the professions and
institutions to benefit from the Project.
Amendment 19, concerning Article 6(2), contains a relaxation of the obligation to ensure
continuity. This amendment, while acceptable in substance, requires further definition of
application criteria.
 ---pagebreak---                                         Amended proposal for a
                 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
          establishing an action programme to improve awareness of Community law
                                         for the legal professions
                                       (Robert Schuman Project)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee2,
Acting in compliance with the procedure laid down by Article 189b of the Treaty3,
           ORIGINAL PROPOSAL                                    AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                       (unchanged unless mentioned below)
(1) Whereas Declaration (No 19) on the
implementation of Community law annexed
to the Final Act of the Treaty on European
Union and adopted by the Conference of
Representatives of the Governments of the
Member States on 7 February 1992 stresses
that it is essential for the proper functioning
of the Community that the measures taken
by the different Member States should
result in Community law being applied with
the same effectiveness and rigour as in the
application of their national law;
(2) Whereas the completion of the internal
i—•:'•.: has required a considerable
legislative effort involving, inter alia, the
          OJNoC378, 13.12.1996
          OJ No C 206, 7.7.1997
          Opinion of the European Parliament of 24 October 1997, OJ n° C, Common position of the
          Council of..., Decision of the European Parliament of
 ---pagebreak--- approximation of national laws with a view
to creating an area without frontiers;
(3) Whereas the effective and uniform
application of the Community rules in
 question represents a new priority which is
 essential to the smooth functioning of the
 internal market;
                                             (3 a) Having regard to the fundamental role
                                             of the effective and uniform application of
                                             Community law in the administration of
                                             justice (understood in its broad sense), given
                                             that the body of case-law, which is built up
                                             on the basis of each legal ruling, is, in the
                                             final analysis, a source of law itself;
(4) Whereas those Community rules on the
freedoms of the internal market which are
directly applicable may be invoked before
any national court in accordance with the
procedures defined by national law;
whereas citizens, consumers and enterprises
should be able to rely on the proper
application of Community law and to
benefit from the rights and guarantees
available in each Member State; whereas
legal certainty and the credibility of the
internal market are at stake as is, more
generally, citizens' confidence in European
integration;
(5) Whereas citizens, consumers and          (5) Whereas citizens, consumers and
enterprises will be unable to enforce all    enterprises will be unable to enforce all their
their rights under the Community legal       rights under the Community legal system
system before any national court within the  before any national court within the Union
Union unless those members of the legal      unless those members of the legal
professions most directly involved in        professions most directly involved in the
implementing Community law, i.e. judges      administration of justice, i.e. judges,
and lawyers, are sufficiently informed and   prosecutors and lawyers are sufficiently
 trained to do so;                            informed and trained to do so;
 ---pagebreak--- (6)       Whereas        the       Commission (6)      Whereas        the     Commission
communication to the Council of               communication to the Council of
22 December 1993 "Making the most of the      22 December 1993 "Making the most of the
 internal market: strategic programme"4       internal market: strategic programme"4
emphasises the importance, to persons         emphasises the importance, to persons
subject to legal proceedings and to the       subject to legal proceedings and to the
smooth functioning of the internal market,    smooth functioning of the internal market,
of national courts being in a position to     of national courts being in a position to
resolve a larger proportion of cases          resolve a larger proportion of cases
concerning the conformity of rules or         concerning the conformity of rules or
behaviour with Community law and, to that     behaviour with Community law and, to that
end, the need to improve awareness of         end, the need to improve the awareness of
Community law within the legal profession;    Community legal professionals involved in
                                              the administration of justice;
(7) Whereas, in its Resolution of
 13 February 1996 on the Commission's
Twelfth Annual Report on monitoring the
application of Community law,5 the
European        Parliament        asked   the
Commission to put forward a programme
for the purposes of training and informing
the legal professions in the field of
Community law with a view to making the
application of Community law by national
courts more uniform and effective;
(8) Whereas raising awareness of              (8) Whereas raising awareness of
Community law among judges and lawyers        Community law among those involved in
in the Member States is likely to improve     the activities of the courts of the Member
the Cupertino between the national courts     States is likely to improve the Cupertino
and the Court of Justice that is an inherent  between the national courts and the Court of
part of the Community legal system;           Justice that is an inherent part of the
                                              Community legal system;
(9) Whereas, in compliance with the
principle of subsidiarity and by virtue of
Article 127 of the Treaty, it is not for the
European Community to assume the role of
the Member States in determining the
organisation or content of training for
jvù^~s and lawyers;
(10) Whereas it is within the European (10) Whereas it is within the European
         COM(93) 632.
         OJ No C 65, 4.3.1996, p. 37.
 ---pagebreak--- Community's remit to propose establishing     Community's remit to propose establishing
support arrangements designed to help         support arrangements designed to help
Member States to remedy a lack of training    Member States to remedy a lack of training
and information wherever this may affect      and information where this directly affects
the correct application of Community law      the correct application of Community law
necessary for the smooth functioning of the   necessary for the smooth functioning of the
internal market;                              internal market;
                                              (10a)     Whereas the activities of the
                                              professionals referred to have a direct
                                              impact on the application of Community
                                              law as a result of the part played by each
                                              one of them in the proceedings under the
                                              procedural laws, since they contribute,
                                              through each ruling handed down, to the
                                              creation of the body of case- law;
 (11) Whereas the objective of making legal   (11) Whereas the objective of making legal
practitioners more aware of Community         professionals involved in the administration
law must form part of overall arrangements    of justice, i.e. judges, prosecutors and
which, from checks on the correct             lawyers, more aware of Community law
transposai into national legislation of       must form part of overall arrangements
Community law to the penalties applicable    which, from checks on the correct
in the event of this law being breached, are transposai into national legislation of
designed to ensure the effective and         Community law to the penalties applicable
uniform application of internal market       in the event of this law being breached, are
rules;                                       designed to ensure the effective and uniform
                                             application of internal market rules;
(12) Whereas achieving this objective        (12) Whereas achieving this objective
entails using specific resources adapted to  entails using specific resources adapted to
the requirements and constraints of          the requirements and constraints of
professional practice; whereas the creation  professional practice; whereas the creation
of a specific instrument whose objective is  of a specific instrument whose objective is
to raise awareness of Community law          to raise awareness of Community law
among judges and lawyers in the European     among legal professionals involved in the
Union complements, for a target public,      administration of justice, i.e. judges
existing Community programmes and            prosecutors and lawyers in the European
initiatives,                                 Union complements, for a target public,
                                             existing Community programmes and
                                             initiatives,
 ---pagebreak--- HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
                   Article 1
  Creation of the Robert Schuman Project
1. This Decision sets up the programme       1. This Decision sets up the programme
known as the "Robert Schuman Project" for    known as the "Robert Schuman Project" for
the period from 1 January 1997 to            the period :_LL to ... . The project is
31 December 1999.                            intended to contribute to the effective and
                                             uniform application of Community law with
                                             a view to improving the functioning of the
                                             internal market.
2. By means of this financial support        2. By means of this financial support
 instrument the European Union shall         instrument the European Union shall
 encourage and support initiatives designed  encourage and support initiatives designed
to raise awareness of Community law          to raise awareness of Community law
 among judges and lawyers within the         among legal professionals involved in the
 Member States of the Union.                 administration of justice, i.e. judges
                                             prosecutors and lawyers, within the Member
                                             States of the Union.
                   Article 2
  Objectives of the Robert Schuman Project
 1. The Robert Schuman Project shall:
(a) encourage the launch of practical        (a) encourage the launch of practical
training initiatives in Community law in the training initiatives in Community law in the
Member States (initial or continuing         Member States (initial or continuing
training) by bodies responsible for training training) by bodies responsible for training
judges and lawyers or future judges and      legal professionals involved in the
lawyers;                                     administration of justice, i.e. judges
                                             prosecutors and lawyers, or those training
                                             for this;
(b) encourage the development, in the        (b) encourage the development, in the
Member States, of information resources      Member States, of information resources
(traditional or based on new communication   (traditional or based on new communication
and information technology) in Community     and information technology) in Community
law forjudges and lawyers;                   law for legal professionals involved in the
                                             administration of justice, i.e. judges
                                             prosecutors and lawyers;
 ---pagebreak---  (c) support initiatives likely to facilitate
 implementation of the above two forms of
 support, complement them or enhance their
 impact.
 2. The Robert Schuman Project shall
 support and complement training and
 information work on Community law
 undertaken by the Member States while not
 encroaching on their responsibility for
 defining course content and organising
 vocational train
                   Article 3
   Instrument of Community intervention
 1.     The Robert Schuman Project is
designed to provide financial support to
initiatives launched in the Member States
with a view to achieving the objectives
referred to in Article 2.
2. Each of those objectives corresponds to
a specific sub-part of the Robert Schuman
project:       "training",      "information"
"accompanying initiatives ".
                   Article 4
                   Eligibility
1. The institutions responsible in the 1. The institutions responsible in the
Member States - at local, regional or Member States - at local, regional or
national level - or at Community level for: national level - or at Community level for:
- continuing vocational training of judges or - continuing vocational training of legal
lawyers                                        professionals involved in the administration
                                               of justice, i.e. judges prosecutors and
                                               lawyers
Or                                             Or
- initial vocational training of future judges - initial vocational training of those training
or lawyers                                     to take part in the administration of justice,
shall be considered eligible for financial shall be considered eligible for financial
support under the Robert Schuman Project. support under the Robert Schuman Project
                                               as established under Article 1(1).
2.       The institutions concerned are:
 ---pagebreak--- (a) the courts;
(b) bar associations and equivalent
professional bodies;
(c) the Ministries of Justice, Judicial
Service Commission or equivalent bodies;
(d) approved professional schools or          (d) approved professional schools or
educational institutes responsible for the    educational institutes responsible for the
initial or continuing training of judges or   initial or continuing training of legal
lawyers;                                      professionals involved in the administration
                                              of justice, i.e. judges prosecutors or lawyers;
(e) universities providing initial         or (e) universities.
continuing training of judges or lawyers.
                    Article 5
           Project selection criteria
 1. Eligible institutions shall apply for
 financial support under the Robert Schuman
 Project by submitting a training,
 information or accompanying project to the
 competent Commission departments.
 2. Projects shall be selected, and financial
 support awarded, on the basis of the
 following criteria:
 (a) Practical use
 The measures envisaged shall enable the
 target groups to acquire knowledge adapted
 to, and immediately useful in, the
 day-to-day practice of their profession.
 (b) Accessibility                             (b) Accessibility
 The measures envisaged shall raise           The measures envisaged shall raise
 awareness among the greatest possible        awareness among the greatest possible
 number of judges and lawyers and, in         number of legal professionals involved in
 particular, shall benefit those who have not the administration of justice and, in
 yet become acquainted with Community         particular, shall benefit those who have not
 law.                                         yet become acquainted with Community
                                              law.
 (c) Adjustment to            comtrwnis    of
professional practice
 ---pagebreak---   The way in which the measures envisaged
  are implemented shall reflect the needs of
  professional practice (particularly in terms
  of planning and geographical proximity).
  (d) Cost-effectiveness
  When assessing projects submitted under
  the Robert Schuman Project, the
  Commission shall work on the basis of the
 principles laid down by the relevant
  financial regulations, in particular the
 principles of sound financial management,
  economy and cost-effectiveness.
 Costs entailed by the measures envisaged
  shall be consistent with their objectives.
 Cost-effectiveness may be improved by
 partnerships involving several eligible
 institutions which pool their resources.
 3. Complementary optional criteria:
 The following optional assessment criteria
 shall also be taken into account:
 (a) inter-professional dimension of (a) inter-professional dimension of
 measures (targeted on or involving both measures both targeted on and involving
judges and lawyers);                           those concerned;
 (b) cross-border dimension of measures
 (targeted on or involving nationals of more
 than one EU Member State).
                    Article 6
            Support arrangements
1. Financial support under the Robert
Schuman Project, which is designed to
encourage, complement and support the
work of the institutions referred to in
Article 3 above, shall be provided in
addition to local or national funds and shall
be used to realise projects. Financial
support thus awarded may not, therefore,
entail the realisation of direct or indirect
profits.
                                                                              10
 ---pagebreak--- 2. So as to ensure continuity, recipients of 2. Financial support under the Robert
Robert Schuman Project grants shall Schuman Project shall be awarded for one
undertake to continue their work without or two years.
support from the Commission as from the
date on which grants cease, for a period
equivalent to that for which they were
given.
Recipients undertake to repay all amounts
disbursed if they fail to meet this obligation.
3. Financial support under the Robert 3. So as to ensure continuity, recipients of
Schuman Project shall be awarded for one Robert Schuman Project grants shall
or two years.                                   undertake to continue their work without
                                                support from the Commission as from the
                                                date on which grants cease, for a period
                                                equivalent to that for which they were
                                                given.
                                                Exceptionally a derogation from that
                                                obligation may be granted if the nature of a
                                                project prevents its continuation or if the
                                                recipient is confronted by circumstances
                                                that prevent the project from being
                                                continued.
                                                Recipients undertake to repay all amounts
                                                disbursed if they fail to meet this obligation.
4. Financial support provided under the
Robert Schuman Project shall be awarded
in accordance with Commission's rules
governing grants. Compliance with these
rules shall be monitored by the Commission
and the Court of Auditors.
                                                4a.The financial support accorded by        the
                                                EU budget shall be linked to                the
                                                appropriations       accorded       by      the
                                                budgetary authority in keeping with         the
                                                financial perspectives.
                                                                                             11
 ---pagebreak---                    Article 7
                Implementation
 1. The Commission shall determine the
 arrangements for implementing this
 programme.
 2. A call for expressions of interest shall be
 published each year in the Official Journal
 of the European Communities to inform
 potential applicants of the Robert Schuman
 Project's    objectives    and conditions
 governing the award of grants.
                   Article 8
       Cohesion of Community action
 1. The Commission shall be responsible,         1. The Commission shall be responsible,
together with the Member States, for             together with the Member States, for
ensuring overall cohesion between this           ensuring overall cohesion and budgetary
programme and other Community training           complementarity between this programme
or information initiatives.                      and other Community training or
                                                information initiatives.
2. The Robert Schuman Project shall             2. The Robert Schuman Project shall
complement action carried out under other       complement action carried out under other
Community programmes, in particular the         Community programmes, in particular the
Leonardo da Vinci programme for the             Leonardo da Vinci programme for the
implementation of a European Community          implementation of a European Community
vocational training policy, the Jean Monnet     vocational training policy, the Jean Monnet
Project to promote teaching on European         Project to promote teaching on European
integration at university level, or the         integration at university level, or the Grotius
Grotius programme of incentives and             programme of incentives and exchanges for
exchanges for legal practitioners (joint        legal practitioners (joint action adopted on
action adopted on the basis of Article K.3 of   the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on
the Treaty on European Union).                  European Union) and shall operate in
                                                synergy with them.
                                                                                            12
 ---pagebreak---                   Article 9
        Assessment and monitoring
1. The Commission, acting in conjunction
with the Member States, shall be
responsible for assessing and monitoring
the programme on a periodic basis with a
view to effecting any adjustments deemed
necessary in the course of its operation.
2. The Commission shall submit an          2. The Commission shall submit an
assessment report on implementation of the assessment report on implementation of the
programme to the European Parliament, the  programme and on the prospects for its
Council, the Economic and Social           extension to the European Parliament, the
Committee and the Committee of the         Council, the Economic and Social
Regions by 31 December 1999 at the latest. Committee and the Committee of the
                                           Regions by 11L at the latest. A list of the
                                           beneficiaries of the Robert Schuman
                                           Project shall be published in an annex
                                           to the report.
                 Article 10
              Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force with
effect from 1 January 1997.
                                                                                    13
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(97) 596 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                06 04 01
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-606-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-27462-3
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