Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f1,

Whereas:

The European Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union^f2, bearing in mind its status and scope and the accompanying explanations, reflects the rights as they result, in particular, from the constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the Member States, the Treaty on European Union, the Community Treaties, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the social charters adopted by the Community and by the Council of Europe and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and of the European Court of Human Rights.

In November 2004 the European Council recognised the importance of communication to bring all persons close to the European project by encouraging an active citizenship.

In its Communication of 15 October 2003 to the Council and the European Parliament on Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, the Commission underlined the importance of the role that civil society plays both in protecting and promoting fundamental rights; the Commission therefore should establish an open, transparent and regular dialogue with civil society.

According to The Hague Programme, strengthening mutual cooperation requires an explicit effort to improve mutual understanding among judicial authorities and different legal systems. European networks of national public authorities should deserve special attention and support in this respect.

The Conference of the European Constitutional Courts and the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union contribute, in particular by maintaining relevant databases, to an exchange of views and experience on matters concerning the case-law, organisation and functioning of their Members in the performance of their judicial and advisory functions with regard to Community law. It ought to be possible to co-finance the activities of the Conference and the Association to the extent that the expenditure is incurred in pursuing an objective of general European interest. However, such co-financing should not imply that a future programme would cover such networks, nor should it prejudice other European networks from benefiting from support to their activities in accordance with this Decision.

It is appropriate to stress the importance of information and communication with respect to the rights that citizenship of the Union confers on its citizens to improve their awareness of their rights and to provide them with easy access to reliable information.

Fostering an interfaith and multicultural dialogue at the level of the European Union would contribute to preserving and strengthening peace and fundamental rights.

The objectives of the programme should be complementary to those of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights established by Regulation (EC) No 168/2007^f3, and should focus on those areas where European added-value can be engendered. Appropriate coordination should be undertaken to these ends.

With a view to achieving complementarity and guaranteeing the best possible use of resources, it should be ensured that any duplication between the actions supported by the programme and the activities of international organisations competent in the field of fundamental rights, such as the Council of Europe, is avoided, while permitting joint activities for the achievement of the objectives of the programme. Appropriate coordination should be undertaken to these ends.

According to the principle of opening the Community programmes to the candidate countries and to the countries of the Western Balkans, as enshrined in the Thessaloniki Agenda, the programme should be open to the participation of the acceding countries, candidate countries and the Western Balkan countries. Such participation should necessitate fulfilling the general conditions of bilateral agreement and contribution to the programme budget. When it serves the objectives of the action concerned, it should also be possible for authorities, bodies or non-governmental organisations of countries not participating in the programme to be associated to individual actions as partners, without however them being the main beneficiaries of the project.

Appropriate measures should also be taken to prevent irregularities and fraud and the necessary steps should be taken to recover funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used in accordance with Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests^f4, Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission^f5 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)^f6.

Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities^f7, hereinafter ‘the Financial Regulation’, and Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002^f8, which safeguard the Community’s financial interests, should be applied taking into account the principles of simplicity and consistency in the choice of budgetary instruments, a limitation on the number of cases where the Commission retains direct responsibility for their implementation and management, and the required proportionality between the amount of resources and the administrative burden related to their use.

The Financial Regulation requires a basic act to be provided to cover operating grants.

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^f9, measures for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted, with a distinction being made between those measures which are subject to the management committee procedure and those which are subject to the advisory committee procedure, the advisory committee being in certain cases, with a view to increased efficiency, the more appropriate.

The objectives of the programme, namely support to civil society associations, the fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, the protection of fundamental rights and the protection of the Rights of the Citizen, through an interfaith and multicultural dialogue cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or impact of the programme, 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 to achieve those objectives.

The Treaty does not provide, for the adoption of this Decision, powers other than those under Article 308.

In order to ensure the effective and timely implementation of the programme, this Decision should apply from 1 January 2007.

The Economic and Social Committee has delivered an opinion^f10,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: