24.3.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 79/1
DECISION NO 456/2005/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 9 March 2005
establishing a multiannual Community programme to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 157(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
After consulting the Committee of the Regions,
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),
Whereas:
(1) The evolution of the information society and the emergence of broadband will influence the life of every citizen in the European Union by, inter alia, stimulating access to knowledge and new ways of acquiring knowledge, thus increasing the demand for new content, applications and services.
(2) Internet penetration in the Community is still growing considerably. The opportunities offered by the Internet should be exploited in order to enable every individual and organisation in the Community to enjoy the social and economic benefits of sharing information and knowledge. The stage has now been set in Europe to exploit the potential of digital content.
(3) The conclusions of the European Council held in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000 stressed that the shift to a digital, knowledge-based economy, prompted by new goods and services, will be a powerful engine for growth, competitiveness and jobs. On that occasion the role of the content industries in creating added value by exploiting and networking European cultural diversity was specifically recognised.
(4) The eEurope 2005 Action Plan, developing the Lisbon strategy, calls for actions to stimulate the emergence of secure services, applications and content over broadband networks and thus to provide a favourable environment for private investment, for the creation of new jobs, to boost productivity, to modernise public services and to give everyone the opportunity to participate in the global information society.
(5) The demand for quality digital content in Europe, with balanced access and user rights, by a broad community, be they citizens in society, students, researchers, SMEs and other business users, or people with special needs wishing to augment their knowledge, or ‘re‐users’ wishing to exploit digital content resources to create services, is increasingly apparent.
(6) Digital content stakeholders are content providers (including public and private organisations and institutions that create, collect or own digital content) and content users (including organisations and enterprises that are end-users that reuse and/or add value to digital content). Particular attention should be given to the participation of SMEs.
(7) The eContent Programme (2001 to 2004) adopted by Council Decision 2001/48/EC (3), favoured the development and use of European digital content on the Internet and the linguistic diversity of European websites in the information society. The Commission Communication of 10 October 2003 concerning the mid-term evaluation of the eContent Programme reaffirms the importance of acting in this field.
(8) Technological advances offer the potential to add value to content in the form of embedded knowledge and to improve interoperability at the service level, which is fundamental to accessing and using and distributing digital content. This is particularly relevant to those areas of public interest to be addressed by this programme.
(9) Fostering of solid business models will enhance the continuity of the projects initiated under this programme, and will thus improve the conditions for greater economic return from services based on access to, and reuse of, digital content.
(10) A legislative framework has been defined to deal with the challenges of digital content in the information society (4)
 (5)
 (6).
(11) Different practices among Member States continue to pose technical obstacles impeding wide access, use, reuse and exploitation of public sector information in the Community.
(12) Where the digital content involves personal data, Directives 95/46/EC (7) and 2002/58/EC (8) should be respected and the technologies used should respect and, where possible, enhance privacy.
(13) Community actions undertaken concerning the content of information should promote the Community's multilingual and multicultural specificity.
(14) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (9).
(15) The Commission should ensure complementarity and synergy with related Community initiatives and programmes, in particular those related to education and culture and to the European interoperability framework.
(16) This Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial framework constituting the prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure (10), for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.
(17) Since the objectives of the proposed action, namely aiming at making digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States due to the transnational character of the issues at stake and can therefore, by reason of the European scope and effects of the actions, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,
Objective of the Programme
1.   This Decision establishes a Community programme for the period 2005 to 2008 to make digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable, facilitating the creation and diffusion of information, in areas of public interest, at Community level.
The programme shall be known as the‘eContentplus’ programme (hereinafter the Programme).
2.   In order to attain the overall aim of the Programme, the following lines of action shall be addressed:
(a) facilitating at Community level access to digital content, its use and exploitation;
(b) facilitating improvement of quality and enhancing best practice related to digital content between content providers and users, and across sectors;
(c) reinforcing cooperation between digital content stakeholders and awareness.
The activities to be carried out under those lines of action target areas of public sector information, spatial data and educational, cultural and scientific content as set out in Annex I. The Programme shall be implemented in accordance with Annex II.
Participation
1.   Participation in the Programme shall be open to legal entities established in the Member States. It shall also be open to participation of legal entities established in the candidate countries in accordance with bilateral agreements in existence or to be concluded with those countries.
2.   Participation in the Programme may be opened to legal entities established in EFTA States which are contracting parties to the EEA Agreement, in accordance with the provisions of that Agreement.
3.   Participation in the Programme may be opened, without financial support by the Community, to legal entities established in third countries and to international organisations, where such participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the Programme. The decision to allow such participation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 4(2).
Competences of the Commission
1.   The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the Programme.
2.   The Commission shall draw up a work programme on the basis of this Decision.
3.   In the implementation of the Programme, the Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, ensure general consistency and complementarity with other relevant Community policies, programmes and actions that impinge upon the development and use of European digital content and the promotion of linguistic diversity in the information society, in particular the Community research and technological development programmes, IDA, eTEN, eInclusion, eLearning, Modinis and Safer Internet.
4.   The Commission shall act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 4(2) for the purposes of the following:
(a) adoption and modifications of the work programme;
(b) determination of the criteria and content of calls for proposals, in line with the objectives set out in Article 1;
(c) assessment of the projects proposed under calls for proposals for Community funding of an estimated amount of Community contribution equal to, or more than, EUR 1 million;
(d) any departure from the rules set out in Annex II.
5.   The Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 4 of progress with the implementation of the Programme.
Committee
1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.
2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
3.   The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Monitoring and evaluation
1.   In order to ensure that Community aid is used efficiently, the Commission shall ensure that actions under this Decision are subject to prior appraisal, follow-up and subsequent evaluation.
2.   The Commission shall monitor the implementation of projects under the Programme. The Commission shall evaluate the manner in which the projects have been carried out and the impact of their implementation in order to assess whether the original objectives have been achieved.
3.   The Commission shall report on the implementation of the lines of action referred to in Article 1(2) to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions by mid-2006 at the latest. In this context, the Commission shall report on the consistency of the amount for 2007 to 2008 with the financial perspective. If applicable, the Commission shall take the necessary steps within the budgetary procedures for 2007 to 2008 to ensure the consistency of the annual appropriations with the financial perspective. The Commission shall submit a final evaluation report at the end of the Programme.
4.   The Commission shall forward the results of its quantitative and qualitative evaluations to the European Parliament and the Council together with any appropriate proposals for the amendment of this Decision. The results shall be forwarded before presentation of the draft general budget of the European Union for the years 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Financial framework
1.   The financial framework for the implementation of the Community actions under this Decision for the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 is hereby set at EUR 149 million, of which EUR 55,6 million is for the period until 31 December 2006.
2.   For the period following 31 December 2006, the amount shall be deemed to be confirmed if it is consistent for this phase with the financial perspective in force for the period commencing in 2007.
3.   The annual appropriations for the period from 2005 to 2008 shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective. An indicative breakdown of expenditure is given in Annex III.