Annexes to COM(2007)127 - Follow-up to the Green Paper 'European Transparency Initiative' - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2007)127 - Follow-up to the Green Paper 'European Transparency Initiative'. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2007)127  |
| date | March 21, 2007 |
2.3.2. Practical implementation
The introduction of provisions in the relevant legislation is only the first step in what will necessarily be a complex undertaking, requiring significant cooperation with a wide range of implementing bodies across the EU as well as a step-by-step approach.
Certain comments received in the context of the Green Paper consultation process point to the desirability of a searchable, centralised database, managed by the Commission, containing all relevant information on beneficiaries.
However, the reality is that the data on beneficiaries are collected by the implementing bodies in the Member States to whom management is delegated. In the field of CAP direct aid and market measures, data are sent to the Commission under the responsibility of these bodies and the Commission has no way of checking the reliability of every single data information received. However, the Commission has just adopted a proposal amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 in order to oblige Member States to publish this data including rural development expenditure. In the field of structural funds, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006, which sets out the rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 on Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, clearly puts the responsibility for collecting and publishing data of beneficiaries on the Member States and the Commission does not even receive the relevant data sets. Moreover, the Commission is making determined efforts to obtain a positive "Statement of Assurance" from the European Court of Auditors, as required by Article 248 EC. This requires determined efforts by the Commission, in particular with regard to direct management, but Member States will have a crucial role to play in addressing the shortcomings noted by the Court in the area of shared management. The Commission would therefore like to stress the importance of the Member States' responsibilities for the implementation of the measures under shared management.
To achieve the goal of publishing the data as of 2008, the following procedure, in cooperation with the European Data Protection Supervisor, therefore seems the most appropriate:
Step 1: Publishing the data in their current form
In accordance with the provisions of the amended Financial Regulation and the applicable sector specific legislation, those Member States who have not yet done so will grant public access to data, through national websites and other means they see fit, for all shared management programmes.
The Commission will host a central web portal with links to the relevant websites in Member States. This site will, in turn, be linked to the website on EU funds under direct management launched by the Commission in 2006. This will ensure equality of treatment as between direct and shared management programmes.
Step 2: Ensuring the comparability and 'searchability' of data
The Commission fully acknowledges the need for searchable and comparable data and, as a further step, will in autumn 2007 propose a common standard for the publication of data on shared management, so as to enable interested parties to carry out consistent analyses across the EU, accessing the data published by the Member States through the central Commission portal. This common standard will take into account the specific features of the various policies under shared management.
3. Conclusions
As a follow-up to its Green Paper on the 'European Transparency Initiative', the Commission will:
· Create and launch in spring 2008, a new voluntary register for interest representatives with an "alert" function (the existing CONECCS database will be wound down);
· Increase transparency through reinforced application of the Commission's consultation standards based, in particular, on a standard website for internet consultations, and including scrutiny of the participants. This tool would be linked to the register;
· Draft a Code of Conduct to be discussed with stakeholders in 2007. The Code will be a requirement for entry in the register and will be monitored by the Commission;
· Reinforce the application of the Commission's consultation standards by means of a series of practical, in-house measures (see under 2.2.);
· Pursue and implement its policy on the publication of the beneficiaries of EU funds.
ANNEX
Beneficiaries of EU Funds – Amendment of Legal Acts
1. Amendment of the Financial Regulation
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006, which amends Financial Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, says in its introduction:
"Whereas:
(6) In order to ensure the transparency of the use of funds deriving from the budget, it is necessary to make available information on the beneficiaries of these funds within certain limits necessary to protect legitimate public and private interests and taking into account the particular accounting period for the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund."
A new paragraph 3 in Article 30 requires the publication of information on beneficiaries under all types of programme management modes:
"The Commission shall make available … information on the beneficiaries of funds as provided by the entities to which budget implementation tasks are delegated under other modes of management.
This information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of confidentiality, in particular the protection of personal data as laid down in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, and of the requirements of security, taking into account the specificities of each management mode referred to in Article 53 and where applicable in conformity with the relevant sector-specific rules."
A new Article 53b specifies the frequency of publication and the fact that the practical arrangements are to be fixed in the relevant sector specific regulations:
"Article 53b
1. Where the Commission implements the budget by shared management, implementation tasks shall be delegated to Member States. That method shall apply in particular to the actions referred to in Titles I and II of Part Two.
2. Without prejudice to complementary provisions included in relevant sector-specific regulations, and in order to ensure in shared management that the funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules and principles, the Member States shall (…)
(d) ensure, by means of relevant sector-specific regulations and in conformity with Article 30(3), adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget."
Under the terms of a specific transitional provision the beneficiaries of aids from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) will only be disclosed as of payments charged to the 2008 budget:
"Article 181
4. Article 30(3) shall apply to the fund mentioned in Article 148(1) for the first time in respect of the payments charged to the 2008 budget."
2. Sector legislation
2.1. European Fisheries Fund (EFF)
The EFF Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 was adopted on 27 July 2006. The obligation of the managing authority for organising the publication of a list of beneficiaries, the names of operations and the amount of public funding allocated to the operation is clearly mentioned in the draft implementing regulation (Article 31), which is expected to be adopted by the Commission by the end of March 2007. However, there is already political agreement from the Member States in the EFF Committee.
2.2. Structural Funds – ERDF, European Social Fund and Cohesion Fund
Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 lays down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006 of 8 December 2006, which sets out the rules for the implementation of the Council Regulation for the three funds, specifies in its Article 7.2.d that the managing authority shall be responsible for organising… "the publication, electronically or otherwise, of the list of beneficiaries, the names of the operations and the amount of public funding allocated to the operations. Participants in an operation of the ESF shall not be named".
2.3. Common Agricultural Policy (direct aid and market measures; rural development)
A proposal to amend Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, which sets out rules for the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy, both in terms of direct payments, market measures and of rural development, has just been adopted by the Commission in order to include a provision making publication of the names of beneficiaries compulsory. Once approved by Council, the Regulation will need to be supplemented by the relevant implementing rules.
BUDGETARY IMPACT STATEMENT
(cf. Article16 of the Internal Rules)
Policy area: Commission's policy coordination and legal adviceActivity: Relations with civil society, openness and information |
|
Work programme for: 2007-2008 |
1. BUDGET HEADINGS CONCERNED AND TITLE
– 25.02.04.02 General publications
– and budget line covering auxiliary and contract staff.
2. LEGAL BASIS
Tasks resulting from the Commission's prerogatives at institutional level.
3. OVERALL FIGURES FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR (in Euros)
◘ 3.a – Current year: 2007
| | CA |
Initial appropriation for the financial year (budget) | | 2 200 000 |
Transfers | | --- |
Additional appropriation | | --- |
Total appropriation | | 2 200 000 |
Appropriations already set aside by another work programme | | 2 200 000(POP 2007) |
Balance available | | |
Amount for the action proposed | | 75 000 (already included in POP 2007)+300 000 |
◘ 3.b – Carry-overs
| | CA |
Carry-overs | | --- |
Appropriations already set aside by another work programme | | --- |
Balance available | | --- |
Amount for the action proposed | | --- |
◘ 3.c – Next financial year: 2008
Amount to be included in the preparation of the 2008 PDB
| | CA |
Initial appropriation for the financial year (budget) | | PDB 2008 to be prepared |
Transfers | | |
Additional appropriation | | |
Total appropriation | | |
Appropriations already set aside by another work programme | | |
Balance available | | |
Amount for the action proposed | | 450 000 |
4. DESCRIPTION OF THE action
On 3 May 2006, the Commission adopted a Green Paper – COM(2006) 194 - in order to drive forward its "European Transparency Initiative" (ETI). The objective was to launch a broad public consultation in particular on the need for a more structured framework for the activities of interest representatives (lobbyists). Following this consultation, the Commission will create a new voluntary register for lobbyists, with an alert function.
This action generates two types of costs:
· Costs under budget line 25.02.04.02 to cover the production of the register (on the internet) and its maintenance.
· Costs for two A level equivalent contractual agents. This is an additional cost not yet covered by appropriations allocated to the Secretariat General.
– One agent to support the design, coordination and monitoring tasks of the overall project.
– One professional for all the specific IT-related tasks of the project
5. METHOD OF CALCULATION ADOPTED (in Euros)
Personnel |
2007 | 8 months | 2 agents | 84 376 |
2008 | Full year | 2 agents | 127 104 |
2009 | | 1 for 6 months, 1 for 12 months | 95 328 |
Preparation and development of the Register |
2007 | Analysis, vision document, feasibility study, etc 1 contract | 75 000 |
| Development of management module, dissemination module: First phase | 300 000 |
2008 | Development Second phase (incl. production of version 1 and preparation of version 2): contract | 450 000 |
2009 and after | Maintenance costs | 50 000 per year |
TOTAL |
Year | Agents | Development |
2007 | 84 376 | 375 000 |
2008 | 127 104 | 450 000 |
2009 | 95 328 | 50 000 |
6. PAYMENT SCHEDULE (in Euros)
Heading | Appropriations | Payments |
| | | 2007 | 2008 |
25.02.04.02 | 2007 | 375 000 | 375 000 | |
| 2008 | 450 000 | | 450 000 |
| Total | 825 000 | 375 000 | 450 000 |
Agents | 2007 | 84 376 | 84 376 | |
| 2008 | 127 104 | | 127 104 |
| Total | 211 480 | 84 376 | 127 104 |
The needs for human and administrative resources shall be covered within the allocation granted to the managing service in the framework of the annual allocation procedure.
Given the fact that the budget 2007 and APS2008 have already been adopted, the new human resources needs have to be covered by redeployment or seizing on the existing appropriations for external staff.
[1] COM(2006) 194.
[2] COM(2005) 1300.
[3] COM(2002) 704.
[4] http://eesc.europa.eu/sco/events/11_07_06_transparency/minutes-en.pdf
[5] http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/eti/index_en.htm
[6] CESE 1373/ 2006.
[7] CoR 235/2006.
[8] COM(2002) 704.
[9] Contributions are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/eti/contributions.htm
[10] Without prejudice to possible measures necessary for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of the provision of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community Institutions and Bodies.
--------------------------------------------------