Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2018)384 - Justice programme - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2018)384 - Justice programme. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2018)384  |
| date | 30-05-2018 |
This proposal provides for a date of application as of 1 January 2021 and is presented for a Union of 27 Member States, in line with the notification by the United Kingdom of its intention to withdraw from the European Union and Euratom based on Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union received by the European Council on 29 March 2017.
• Reasons and objectives
The European Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.
The Union is a community of law and its values constitute the very basis of its existence. Article 2 of the Treaty of the EU states that the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and the respect for human rights, including the rights of the persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society where pluralism, non -di scri mination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail . These values underpin the rights enjoyed by those living in the Union. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights brings together in a single text all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by people in the EU.
Article 3 TEU states that the ‘Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples’ and that ‘it shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced’. The Commission’s reflection paper on the future of EU finances1 states that ‘the EU budget supports this aim, working together with national budgets and complementing other efforts at European and national level’.
The Union’s values encompass in particular fundamental rights, non-discrimination and equality, anti-racism and tolerance, respect for human dignity, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, cultural diversity, a vibrant civil society, freedom of expression and citizens’ participation in democratic life. A working European area of Justice and effective national justice systems are necessary for a flourishing internal market and for upholding the common values of the Union.
This Commission has set a Union of democratic change as one of its ten political priorities and is working in that context to engage citizens about what the EU does and the way it functions and to build trust in the Union.
EU finances can provide value added and help in in upholding common European values.
To promote common European values and rights, the EU has combined several instruments in a policy mix of legislation, policies and funding. In particular, the following funding programmes have had a strong societal focus and are clearly related to European values: the Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme, the Europe for Citizens programme and the Justice programme.
These programmes have led to real progress in promoting values and implementing the rights that EU legislation grant to people across the Union. To give some examples, people are more aware of their rights, common history and culture, more women are in work, children’s rights have been promoted and protected, justice systems are more effective with legal practitioners knowing how and when to apply EU acquis and with a thriving cross-border cooperation,
there is more democratic and civic participation at Union level, and a deeper understanding of and respect for different memories, cultures and traditions.
Under Union law, people can rely on a set of rights, independent and effective justice systems, and respect for the rule of law. The EU has shown its firm commitment to combatting violence against women and children, fighting all forms of discrimination, promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, and supporting a vibrant and strong civil society in the EU.
Despite the progress achieved under the current programmes, several gaps persist in the policy areas in question and new challenges have emerged that need to be tackled. The common challenges faced by the EU in the area of justice, rights and values are twofold:
– The Union’s vocation to be a community based on shared values and rights, a shared historical and cultural heritage and people’s involvement, is hampered by some emerging movements which challenge the idea of open inclusive, cohesive and democratic societies where civic participation and the enjoyment of rights make it possible to build a tolerant way of living together.
– The fragmented nature and limited resources of current EU funding programmes dedicated to values, rights, citizenship and justice limits the EU’s capacity to respond to existing and new challenges. ‘Lack of budget of the programmes to satisfy demand’ is a main obstacle that the respondents to the public consultation say could prevent the current programmes from achieving their objectives.
A more detailed analysis shows that:
– People still do not fully enjoy their rights: inequalities and discrimination on the grounds of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation still exist. Violence is still a reality in the daily lives of many women, children and other people at risk;
– There is more to be done to make sure that citizens are aware of the values of the EU and the benefits of EU citizenship, and to encourage a higher level of political and societal participation and better understanding of the Union, its history, cultural heritage and diversity;
– The rights stemming from EU citizenship — on free movement, consular protection and electoral rights — are still not fully known and implemented, thus hindering citizens’ political and societal participation.
– Economic crises, persisting inequalities and challenges such as of migration have led some to question the fundamental rights and the values on which the European Union is founded. In some cases, the rule of law, access to justice, space for civil society and the independence of the judiciary are also being challenged.
– Judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters is insufficient and access to justice across Member States is still difficult. Tools for collecting comparative information about the quality, independence and efficiency of Member States’ justice systems need to be improved. A major obstacle to mutual recognition and judicial cooperation is a lack of trust in other Member States’ judicial systems.
The consequences of not addressing these challenges could be serious as confidence in democracy and support for upholding values and fundamental rights would be weakened.
These challenges are common to all Member States and have cross-border dimensions. While action at national level is important, individual Member States do not have sufficient leverage to tackle these challenges.
Promoting and defending EU values and rights has profound implications for the political, social, cultural, judicial and economic life of the Union and contributes to the EU having a tangible impact on people’s day-to-day lives. EU-level action at in this area needs to be sustained and stepped up in order to address persisting gaps and new challenges, and ensure the promotion, effective protection and respect of rights and values; this will also help to complete the internal market and foster prosperity and cohesion in the EU. It will also allow the EU to play a key role in defending and promoting its values at global level and contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals.
The new Justice programme will support the further development of a European area of justice based on the Union’s values, the rule of law, and mutual recognition and trust, in particular by facilitating access to justice and promoting judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and the effectiveness of national justice systems.
Together with the Rights and Values programme, this new programme will form part of a new Justice, Rights and Values’ Fund, helping to sustain open, democratic, pluralist and inclusive societies. It will also help to empower people by protecting and promoting rights and values and by further developing an EU area of justice.
Consistency
with existing policy provisions
The Justice Rights and Values Fund contributes directly to several of the European Commission s priorities , in particular the creation of an area of justice and fundamental rights based on mutual trust, a deeper and fairer internal market, a capital markets union, a connected digital single market, and a Union of democratic change, growth and jobs.
• Consistency with other Union policies
The Justice, Rights and Values fund and its two underlying funding programmes will help to strengthen and uphold EU values and the respect of the rule of law and to sustain the open, democratic, inclusive and creative societies which Europeans expect. Already under current rules, Member States are required to show that their rules and procedures for financial management of EU money are robust and funding is sufficiently protected from abuse or fraud. Only an inde pend ent jud iciary that upholds the rule of law and legal certainty in all Member States can ultimately guarantee that money from the EU budget is sufficiently protected.
On the basis of Article 322 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Commission has proposed a Regulation on the protection of the Unions budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States. The new Regulation will complement the instruments aiming at upholding EU common values, including this programme.
The programme will have close synergies with several policies and their funding programmes, in particular:
– employment, social and education policies
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Effective justice and enforcement capacity, e.g. through the training of legal practitioners;
external, development cooperation and enlargement policies
The promotion of values and rights in the EU is mirrored by their promotion at global level, including through linkages with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this respect, synergies should be developed, in particular with the EU's external action at multilateral level but also in development cooperation aid and in enlargement policy, to ensure coherence in the promotion, for instance, of access to justice and the rule of law.
Synergies should also be strengthened with external action instruments that may support cross-border cooperation with priority non-EU countries in areas of importance for a safe and secure Europe.
single market
By financing activities on company law, contract law and anti-money laundering, the future single market programme will complement the Justice programme and contribute directly to the implementation of EU policy in the field of justice and the creation of an EU area of justice, and will follow the policy lines in this area. The same applies as regards consumer policy;
strategic infrastructure
Synergies relating to digitalisation and the interconnection of IT systems will be developed further under the Digital Europe programme;
research and Innovation
The Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation includes activities addressing an Inclusive and Secure Society, including justice and consumer matters, and societally relevant technologies including cybersecurity or artificial intelligence and other key enabling technologies. Cross-fertilisation with the aim of deepening the understanding of advanced technologies in society, democracy and the judicial system, and how to focus on their benefits will be explored.
migration, border management and security policy
The Justice programme and other EU funds covering migration, border management and especially security will dovetail by targeting different phases of the activities and procedures required to establish a European area of security and justice. Given the intrinsic connections between security and justice on the ground, there will be particular synergies in terms of providing adequate protection to crime victims, funding joint investigation teams and judicial training, ensuring interoperability with the European criminal records information system, improving detention conditions and inter-agency cooperation in the fields of justice and security, including via justice-related agencies such as Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
environmental policy
Contents
- The Justice
- 1. Europe for Citizens programme and/or
- 2. Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme and/or
- 3. Creative Europe programme and/or
- programmes/funds from achieving their objectives are very similar regardless of the
- The impact assessment was prepared to analyse a possible proposal for a European Culture, Rights and Values programme merging the 2014-2020 Rights, Equality and Citizenship
- Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and
programme has the potential to support measures aimed at combatting
environmental crime and, amongst others, contribute to implementation of the Environmental Crime Directive3. Measures to support judicial co-operation in civil and criminal matters will complement and reinforce a separate programme for the
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training of judges and prosecutors in the field of environmental law and the possibility of funding projects on access to justice in environmental matters set out in the LIFE Regulation4. They will also contribute to ensuring that national justice systems can deliver effective access to justice under the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters5.
Climate mainstreaming
The Commission proposal for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework set a more ambitious goal for climate mainstreaming across all EU programmes, with an overall target of 25% of EU expenditure contributing to climate objectives. The contribution of this programme to the achievement of this overall target will be tracked through an EU climate marker system at an appropriate level of disaggregation, including the use of more precise methodologies where these are available. The Commission will continue to present the information annually in terms of commitment appropriations in the context of the annual draft budget.
To support the full utilisation of the potential of the programme to contribute to climate objectives, the Commission will seek to identify relevant actions throughout the programme preparation, implementation, review and evaluation processes.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The proposal is based on Article 81(1) and i and Article 82(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Article 81(1) TFEU provides that the Union shall develop judicia cooperation in civil m atters having cross-border implications. Article 81 i TFEU provides for the adoption of measures aimed at ensuring the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments; the cross-border service of judicial and extrajudicial documents; effective access to justice and support for the training of the judi c ia ry and judicial staff.
Article 82 i TFEU provides for measures to promote judicial cooperation in criminal m atters.
The combination of Articles 81 and 82 TFEU allows for a comprehensive approach in supporting the development of judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, especially cross-cutting issues affecting both fields.
• Subsidiarity (for non - e xcl usive competence)
The proposed funding activities respect the principles of European added value and subsidiarity. Funding from the Union budget concentrates on objectives that cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone, where Union intervention can add value. Activities covered by this Regulation contribute to the effective application of the acquis by developing mutual trust between Member States, increasing cross-border cooperation and networking, and ensuring correct, coherent and consistent application of Union law across the
Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the establishment of a programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 614/2007 Text with EEA relevance
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Union. The Union is better placed than Member States to address cross-border situations and to provide a European platform for mutual learning. A sound analytical basis for the support and development of policies will be supported. Union intervention allows for these activities to be pursued consistently across the Union and brings economies of scale.
• Proportionality
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle in that it does not go beyond the minimum required in order to achieve the stated objective at European level.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Retrospective evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
The mid-term evaluation of the 2014-2020 Justice programme shows that it has delivered high European added value. Member States acting alone would not be able to achieve the same results in terms of size and scope. This is true both for the general objective of the programme, i.e. the development of a European area of justice based on mutual recognition and trust, and for its specific objectives. Beneficiaries agree that providing judicial training at European level is essential to the creation of a European area of justice and for the smooth and coordinated enforcement of EU law. In turn, the action fostered by the judicial training specific objectives is considered sustainable, since it fosters the acquisition of lasting legal knowledge and competences, while providing for networking opportunities and trust-building among judicial staff from diff erent Member States.
The types of activity funded by the programme and the project outcomes are effective in improving knowledge of Union law and policies. The performance of the Justice programme is perceived as an improvement on the predecessor programmes, in terms both of policy targeting and involving the right stakeholder groups while the distribution of efforts amongst Programme objectives could be balanced in the future. Efforts are still needed to reach all target groups in all Member States and communication activities could be strengthened.
The nature of the programme has made it possible to ensure operational flexibility, allowing the Commission to adapt the annual work programmes to emerging needs in the field of justice policy. Overall, the programme is highly relevant and aligned to the needs of selected target groups but a more systematic analysis of the sta keholder needs could be considered. In particular, it has the key ability to adapt its priorities to emerging needs in the area of justice policy, in order to address the most relevant issues. This is a product of the broad specific objectives of the programme; as it incorporated a number of programmes from the previous programming period. Such flexibility in terms of policy and agenda-setting is the key to the good results of the programme. . The Programme presents a good level of coherence and complementarity with other EU instruments, programmes and actions. Coordination and information exchange with other EU programmes and projects would be instrumental to further the coherence.
The implementation of the Justice programme has been satisfactory as regards action grants and operational grants, but the forward planning of procurement actions should be improved.
There is little scope for using alternative funding instruments such as innovative financial instruments. Beneficiaries consider the current instruments (action grants, operating grants and procurement activities) suitable for the needs of the programme. However, there is scope for streamlining and simplifying certain reporting requirements in the context of the grants, while ensuring the necessary control on spending public resources.
The programme-specific indicators are suitable for monitoring progress towards the programme objectives, but are sometimes difficult to measure due to a lack of adequate tools (i.g. satisfaction survey).
Participants’ capacity was deemed a key factor influencing the performance of funded activities as limited (administrative, financial, organisational) capacity could be a reason for limited participation in the programme’s activities (especially in certain Member States). Capacity-building and technical assistance may therefore be required.
There is no clear scope for further simplification as regards the management mode of the programme. The current direct management mode is appropriate for a programme of this size, while alternative modes (such as shared management) would probably result in resources being too thinly spread, reducing the programme’s capacity to concentrate resources on common priorities and emerging issues. Simplification could be sought, according to beneficiaries, with regard to the drafting and provision of necessary administrative and financial capacity information when participating in calls for proposals.
Further, there is scope for tailoring the Participants Portal to the needs of the various types of organisation that typically apply to the programme (such as training institutions). In this regard, the trend towards gradual digitalisation was viewed as clearly positive and should be continued.
• Stakeholder consultations
The consultation strategy supporting the preparatory work for the new Justice programme included a public consultation in the framework of the proposal for the post-2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF) in the area of values and mobility, public consultations in the framework of the mid-term evaluation of the current funding programmes, and several ad hoc consultations organised by the Commission in the form of roundtable discussions with stakeholders, conferences and seminars on the issues covered by the impact assessment, which largely builds on the outcome of these consultations.
Open public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility
Consultations have taken place in the context of evaluations of existing EU financial programmes covering several policy areas and notably looked at current performance and future challenges. The purpose of the public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility was to collect the views of all interested parties on how to make the most of every euro of the EU budget. The public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility was open from 10 January 2018 to 9 March 2018 in 23 official EU languages.
In response to the online public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility, the Commission received a total of 1 839 replies from all over Europe. Of these, 52% were from respondents with experience of Erasmus+ and 43% were from respondents with experience of the Creative Europe programme.
There was at least one response from each Member State, The country of residence with the most contributions overall was Germany (24.4%), followed by France (8.7%), Belgium (7.7%) and Spain (5.4%).
Of the 1 839 contributions received via the online questionnaire, 65.2 % (1 199) were from organisations and 34.8 % (640) from individuals.
A wide range of stakeholders shared their opinions: of the 1 199 contributions from organisations, 355 (19.3%) were from non - gover nm ental organisations, platforms or networks, 270 (14.7%) from private enterprises (mainly micro and small businesses) and 127 (6.9%) from researchers and academics.
The analysis summed up below focuses on the respondents with experience of the following EU programmes:
4. Justice programme.
Below are some of the main results:
- According to the respondents, ‘Promoting European identity and common values’ and ‘promoting rights and equality’ are important common policy challenges (among the
first four challenges mentioned) to be addressed in each of the four programmes.
‘Supporting active citizenship, democratic participation in society and the rule of law’ and ‘Promoting social inclusion and fairness’ also appear to be important challenges to
be addressed in the relevant programmes but to a lesser extent in the Creative Europe programme, for which economic challenges and cultural diversity are more im portant.
- ‘Supporting innovation’, ‘Fostering European cultural diversity and cultural heritage’, ‘Promoting European identity and common values’ are considered policies that
address fully or fairly well the challenges faced by half or more of the respondents with experience of the four programmes concerned. Also, 52 % of the respondents with experience of the Creative Europe programme consider that the policy to
‘Support competitiveness of European cultural and creative sectors’ addresses the
challenges fully or fairly well.
– Around 80 % of the respondents with experience of the four EU programmes
mentioned above agree that these programmes add value to a large extent or to a fairly good extent to what Member States could achieve at national, regional and/or local level .
– The main obstacles identified by the respondents that could prevent the current
programme concerned: ‘Lack of budget of the programmes to satisfy demand’; ‘Insufficient support provided to small-scale stakeholders’; ‘Lack of support to first-time applicants’ are identified as the main three obstacles.
– Respondents with experience of one or more of the four EU programmes agree that
‘the use of more simplified application forms’, ‘facilitating structured network and partnerships’, ‘facilitating funding for actions cutting across the sectors of action’ and ‘better coordination between different programmes/funds’ are the main steps to be
taken to simplify and reduce the admini strative burden for beneficiaries.
• Im pact assessment
The impact assessment was prepared to analyse a possible proposal for a European Culture, Rights and Values programme merging the 2014-2020 Rights, Equality and Citizenship
programme, the Europe for Citizens programme and the Creative Europe programme ----- and
the Justice programme. The Commission decided to have a self-standing Creative Europe programme and to create a Justice, Rights and Values Fund with two underlying funding programmes: the Justice programme and the Rights and Values programme. The impact assessment remains valid in underpinning all these initiatives.
On 20 April 2018, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board gave a positive opinion on the accompanying impact assessment. The Board included a recommendation to further improve the report, some key aspects of this being full exploitation of the evaluation results and findings outcomes, a better design of the future priorities and clarification of the expected impacts of the changes in delivery mechanisms. These aspects were strengthened in the final version of the impact assessment. The impact assessment compiled the lessons learned from the Creative Europe programme, the Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme, the Europe for Citizens programme and the Justice programme and proposed a new structure. It also explored delivery mechanisms that will promote EU values and culture while achieving the objectives of efficiency, flexibility, synergies and simplification set for the next multiannual financial framework. The results of the mid-term evaluation have been duly taken into account. All the programmes evaluated have shown clear added value. With the new cl usteri ng, it will be possible to further exploit the potential of current programmes to promote EU values and increase EU added value.
Three main scenarios were analysed:
– The status quo of maintaining four funding programmes under the ‘values sub-cluster
of the EU budget, namely the Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme, the Justice programme, the Creative Europe programme and the Europe for Citizens programme.
– As an alternative to the current situation and baseline scenario, the second scenario proposed developing synergies among the current programmes and combining them to form a single political chapeau on EU values with two underlying funding programmes: the European Culture, Rights and Values programme and the Justice programme.
– A third scenario involved the creation of one single funding programme covering all four funding programmes listed above.
The baseline scenario: the status quo with four funding programmes and a proportional 15 % budgetary cut
Analysis of the baseline scenario with a possible 15 % cut in the available funding shows that there would be negative consequences for policy implementation. In particular:
A 15 % reduction in funding for the REC programme would result in an annual prioritisation, i.e. concentration of funding in some policy areas in one year and promotion of other policy areas in the following years, in contradiction with the increasing needs in the field. This reduction would also mean cutting back on studies, data collection, awareness-raising campaigns etc., all necessary to have sound, evidence-based policy and legislation.
For the Europe for Citizens programme, a budgetary cut of 15 % would reduce the baseline budget to €157 million which is insufficient for the Commission’s commitment to put citizens at the centre of the European process. The critical mass of participants and the geographical coverage of activities necessary to achieve the intended impact would no longer be reached. A stable budgetary allocation (based on the 2017 budget) would allow continuity but still have limited impact.
A decrease of 15 % in funding for the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe would inevitably mean streamlining and concentrating on a limited number of actions. A reduction in funding would disproportionately impact lower production countries and/or countries with a restricted geographic/linguistic area. It would also reduce the number of training activities for audio visual professionals and the number of EU co-productions, which are works that travel better across borders. Reducing the scope of the network of cinema operators would negatively impact the access of EU citizens, notably from Central and Eastern European countries, to non-national European content.
A decrease of 15 % for the Culture sub-programme of Creative Europe would not make it possible to reach a critical mass to respond to the needs of the cultural and creative sectors. This would imply in particular less European added value and therefore a reduced impact on cultural diversity, fewer opportunities for cross-border cooperation, fewer market opportunities and fewer career possibilities for practitioners from the cultural and creative sectors. The societal impact would be reduced, and the international opening of the programme might need to be limited to its pre-2014 level and the participation of key EU neighbouring partner countries abandoned.
The Financial Guarantee for the cultural and creative sectors could be put at risk, which would be detrimental to the Cultural and Creative Sectors, especially for Eastern countries in whose financial markets are less developed and where therefore there are therefore fewer possibilities to access to finance.
Discarded alternative in the impact assessment: one programme
For reasons related to the legal basis, the alternative proposed in the third scenario of a single instrument/programme has been discarded. Indeed, most of the activities and policies are based on articles that provide for an ordinary legislative procedure except for the current
Europe for Citizens programme. Currently, the main focus of the Europe for Citizens programme is on civic participation and is therefore based on Article 352 TFEU (unanimity). After analysis, the objectives of the corresponding activities could, if their focus was modified to a certain degree, be adapted to fit with the new approach of a broader programme; in such case, they would fall within the scope of Article 167(1) and i TFEU, which provides for the ordinary legislative procedure. However, given the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland on the area of freedom, security and justice and the position of Denmark as laid down in Protocols 21 and 22 annexed to the Treaties, the Justice programme, while also commanding the ordinary legislative procedure, needs to remain a separate instrument.
Proposed alternative in the impact assessment: an EU Values framework with two funding programmes
The analysis shows that there is room for improvement in relation to the current situation of four funding programmes. Therefore, as an alternative to the current situation and baseline scenario, it is proposed that synergies be developed among the current programmes and prerogative lines and combined into a single political chapeau on EU values with two underlying funding programmes: the European Culture, Rights and Values programme and the Justice programme, as presented below:
The new architecture of the future funding as an alternative to the baseline scenario aims at:
– developing synergies among policies, finding a common ground for action, while respecting their specific features;
– reducing overlap and fragmentation;
– ensuring flexibility in the allocation of funds, while ensuring a certain degree of predictability of funding dedicated to each policy;
– fostering cross-sectoral and innovative actions;
– ensuring a critical mass of resources to promote values, taking also into account the needs of each policy.
Retained
alternative
The Commission decided to have a self-standing Creative Europe programme and to create a Justice, Rights and Values Fund including two programmes: the Justice programme and the Rights and Values programme. The impact assessment remains valid in underpinning these initiatives. This decision is reflected in the post-2020 MFF proposal package that the Commission presented on 02 May 20186.
• Simplification
Simplification measures, e.g. lump sums, flat rates and unit costs, will be sought in the implementation of the Justice programme.
The complexity and heterogeneity of the funding rules for the current programmes represent an obstacle for applicants. The use of a single entry point for external users to participate in the grants lifecycle (the participant portal), including an overall grant management system, has an im portant role to play in simplifying access to the programme. The Justice programme will continue to be managed through the Commission s IT corporate system developed currently on the basis of H2020.
• Fundamental rights
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The programme objectives are closely linked to the promotion of fundamental rights and are in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. In pa rticul a r, the Justice programme (and the Rights and Values programme) will be part of a Justice, Rights and Values Fund of the EU budget aimed at sustaining open, democratic and inclusive societies, empowering people by protecting and promoting rights and values, and developing further an EU area of justice.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The financial envelope for the implementation of the Justice programme for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 will be [EUR 305 000 000] (current prices).
5. OTHERELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
The Commission will continue to manage the Just ice programme directly for both grants and procure m ents.
An implementation plan will be developed to specify the arrangements for the running of the programme.
A monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed to specify how actions are to be carried out in practice, and under what data strategy. The programme will be monitored both continuously (e.g. to respond in a timely manner to unforeseen events and exceptional needs) and on a regular basis (to report on key events such as calls for proposals, project reviews, coordination and dissemination events) and, where relevant, the monitoring will feed into the key programme indicators. The monitoring reports will subsequently feed into:
— a mid-term evaluation (no later than four years after the start of programme implementation), combined with the final evaluation of the predecessor programmes; and
— a final evaluation (no later than four years after the end of the programming period).
These evaluations will be carried out in line with paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 20167, where the three institutions confirmed that evaluations of existing legislation and policy should provide the basis for impact assessments of options for further action. The evaluations will assess the programmes effects on the ground on the basis of programme indi cators/ta rgets and a detailed analysis of the degree to which the programme can be deemed relevant, effective and efficient, provides enough EU added value and is coherent with other EU policies. They will include lessons learnt for addressing any shortcomings/problems identified or any potential to improve actions or results further and for maximising their exploitation/impact.
The Commission will report to the European Parliament, Council and all other relevant EU institutions through monitoring and evaluation reports and a public scoreboard of the key programme indicators.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
The aim of the proposed approach is to combine the simplification of funding procedures, as requested by all involved parties, with a more results-oriented approach.
Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and
The proposal sets out the general and specific objectives of the programme (Article 3) and the types of activity to be funded (Annex I). The general and specific objectives define the scope of the programme (policy areas), while the types of activity are funding-oriented, apply to all policy areas concerned and provide a cross-cutting definition of possible outputs. At the same time, the types of activity show where funding can really add value in achieving the policy objectives.
In implementing this Regulation, the Commission will establish annually the funding priorities in the respective policy areas. Participation is open to all legal entities legally established in a Member State or in a participating non-EU country, with no further restrictions on access to the programme.
This structure allows for simplification and for the programme to be more closely geared to policy needs and developments. Moreover, it provides a stable context for evaluation, as the specific objectives are directly linked to indicators that will remain consistent for the duration of the programme and will be monitored and evaluated regularly. For the sake of flexibility and better implementation, it is not proposed that specific amounts be reserved for individual specific objectives within the programme.