(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal (COM(2005)0124)(1),

–   having regard to Article 34(2)(c) of the EU Treaty,

–   having regard to Article 39(1) of the EU Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0242/2005),

–   having regard to Rules 93 and 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0389/2006),

1.  Approves the proposal as amended;

2.  Considers that the indicative financial reference amount indicated in the legislative proposal must be compatible with the ceiling of heading 3 A of the new multi-annual Financial Framework and points out that the annual amount will be decided within the annual budgetary procedure in accordance with the provisions of point 38 of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management of 17 May 2006;(2)

3.  Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty;

4.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament again if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

5.  Calls on the Council to consult Parliament if it intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

6.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Text proposed by the Commission   Amendments by Parliament Amendment 1 Recital 1 (1)  The Union's objective of providing citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice shall be achieved, as provided for in the fourth indent of Article 2, and in Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union, by preventing and combating crime, organised or otherwise. (1)  The Union's priority objective of providing citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice shall be achieved, as provided for in the fourth indent of Article 2, and in Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union, by preventing and combating crime, organised or otherwise. Amendment 2 Recital 2 (2)  To protect the freedom and security of our citizens and society from criminal activities, the Union must take the necessary measures to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute all forms of crime efficiently and effectively, most particularly in cases with a trans-border element. (2)  To protect the freedom and security of our citizens and society from criminal activities, the Union must take the necessary measures to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute all forms of crime efficiently and effectively, most particularly in cases of organised crime. Amendment 3 Recital 5 (5)  It is necessary and appropriate to extend the possibilities for funding of measures aiming at the prevention of and the fight against crime, and to review the modalities in the interest of efficacy, cost-efficiency and transparency. (5)  It is necessary and appropriate to extend the possibilities for funding of measures aiming at the prevention of and the fight against crime. Efforts will be made in particular to make the best possible use of the relevant agencies by means of a capacity-building approach focusing on directly operational aspects. The provisions of this programme should, furthermore, enable a review to be made of the modalities in the interest of efficacy, cost-efficiency and transparency. Amendment 4 Recital 9 (9)  Since the objectives of the action to be taken, particularly the prevention of and the fight against organised and transborder crime, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or impact of the initiative, be better achieved at the Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set up in Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community. 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. (9)  Since the objectives of the action to be taken, particularly the prevention of and the fight against organised and transborder crime, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or impact of the initiative, require action at the Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set up in Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community. 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. Amendment 5 Recital 11 (11)  The expenditure of the programme should be compatible with the ceiling under Heading 3 of the financial perspective. It is necessary to foresee flexibility in the definition of the programme to allow for eventual adjustments in any envisaged actions, in order to respond to the evolution of needs in the course of the period 2007-2013. The decision should, therefore, be limited to the generic definition of envisaged actions and their respective administrative and financial arrangements. (11)  The expenditure of the programme should be compatible with the ceiling under Heading 3 A of the financial framework. It is necessary to foresee flexibility in the definition of the programme to allow for eventual adjustments in any envisaged actions, in order to respond to the evolution of needs in the course of the period 2007-2013. Amendment 6 Article 3, paragraph 1, points (a) and (b) (a) law enforcement (b) crime prevention and criminology (a) crime prevention and criminology (b) law enforcement aimed at countering criminal activity and preventing criminals from enjoying the proceeds of their criminal activities Amendments 7 and 8 Article 3, paragraph 2, point (a) (a) to promote and develop coordination, cooperation and mutual understanding among law enforcement agencies, other national authorities and related Union bodies; (a) to promote and develop coordination, cooperation and mutual understanding among law enforcement agencies, other national, regional and local authorities, and related Union bodies, inter alia, by rationalising their work, enhancing their interoperability, fostering an increase in the number of Joint Investigation Teams coordinated by Europol and of counter-terrorism training and awareness-raising exercises based on cooperation between Cepol and Europol; Amendment 9 Article 3, paragraph 2, point (b) (b) to stimulate, promote and develop horizontal methods and tools necessary for strategically preventing and fighting crime, such as public-private partnerships, best practices in crime prevention, comparable statistics and applied criminology, and (b) to stimulate, promote and develop horizontal methods and tools and the standardisation of the procedures necessary for strategically preventing and fighting crime, such as public-private partnerships (in strict compliance with current and future provisions in areas as sensitive as data retention and protection), best practices in crime prevention, comparable statistics and applied criminology, inter alia through the development of an independent benchmarking tool, and Amendment 10 Article 3, paragraph 2, point (c) (c) to promote and develop best practices for the protection of crime victims and witnesses. (c) to promote and develop best practices for the protection of crime victims and witnesses, inter alia by laying the foundations for a permanent compensation fund over and above the various national systems, to provide a guaranteed common minimum level of protection and compensation; Amendment 11 Article 3, paragraph 2, point (c a) (new) (ca) to promote, within suitable projects, the concept of "citizens" involvement" and to foster initiatives based on the active involvement of civil society and its actors in improving overall security. Amendment 12 Article 3, paragraph 3 3.  The programme does not deal with judicial cooperation. However, it may cover actions aiming at cooperation among judicial authorities and law enforcement authorities. 3.  The programme does not deal with judicial cooperation. However, it may cover actions aiming at cooperation among judicial authorities and law enforcement authorities and involving, inter alia, the establishment under the cooperation arrangements between Europol and Eurojust of a permanent emergency legal assistance unit responsible for determining, on the basis of the situation leading to the referral, which legal basis may be used to extend police and/or security service operations in full compliance with the law. Amendment 26 Article 5, paragraph 1 1.  The programme is destined for law enforcement agencies, other public and/or private bodies, actors and institutions, including local, regional and national authorities, social partners, universities, statistical offices, media, non-governmental organisations, public-private partnerships and relevant international bodies. 1.  The programme is destined for law enforcement agencies, other public and/or private bodies, actors and institutions, including local, regional and national authorities, social partners, universities, statistical offices, media, non-governmental organisations, relevant international bodies and public-private partnerships, provided that the latter are restricted to the context of the thematic areas referred to in Article 3, paragraph 1, points (b) and (c), and are subject to strict control from the point of view of respect for fundamental rights, including the right to personal data protection. Amendment 13 Article 6, paragraph 1 1.  Union financial support may take the following legal forms: (a)  Grants, (b)  Public procurement contracts. 1.  Union financial support may take the following legal forms within the meaning of Articles 108 and 88 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002, (hereafter "the Financial Regulation"): (a)  Grants, (b)  Public procurement contracts. Amendment 14 Article 6, paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Access to funding shall be facilitated by the application of the principle of proportionality as regards the documents to be supplied and by the creation of a database for the submission of applications. Amendment 15 Article 3, paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. The Commission shall, as far as possible, simplify procedures and ensure that calls for proposals provided for in this programme do not entail a bureaucratic burden for promoters of the projects proposed. Calls for proposals may, where appropriate, be organised in two stages, the first of which would only require information that was strictly necessary for a proper assessment of the project to be sent. Amendment 16 Article 7, paragraph 5, point (d) (d) geographic impact of the activities carried out; (d) geographic and social impact of the activities carried out; Amendment 17 Article 9 1.  Where reference is made to this Article, the representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the Chair may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote. 2.  The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; each Member State may request that its position be recorded in the minutes. 3.  The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which the opinion has been taken into account. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 3 and 7 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC. Amendment 18 Article 14, paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. The Commission shall ensure that the actions provided for under this Decision are subject to ex ante evaluation, monitoring and ex post evaluation. It shall ensure that the programme is accessible and is implemented in a transparent manner. Amendment 19 Article 14, paragraph 2 2.  The Commission shall ensure regular, independent and external evaluation of the programme. 2.  The Commission shall ensure regular, independent and external evaluation of the programme. It shall also hold regular exchanges of views with programme beneficiaries on the design, implementation and follow-up of the programme. Amendments 20 and 21 Article 14, paragraph 3 3.  The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council: 3.  The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the national parliaments: (-a) succinct yearly reports including such information as is necessary to measure the programme's success in quantitative terms; (a) an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of this programme no later than 31 March 2010; (a) three years after adoption of this Decision, an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of this programme; (b) a Communication on the continuation of the programme no later than 31 December 2010; (b) four years after adoption of this Decision, a Communication on the continuation of the programme; (c) an ex-post evaluation report no later than 31 March 2015. (c) no later than 31 March 2015, a detailed ex-post evaluation report on the implementation and outcome of the programme after its completion. Amendment 22 Article 14 a (new) Article 14a Equal treatment Organisations in receipt of an operating grant by virtue of this programme may take part in calls for proposals for other programmes, without however being entitled to preferential treatment vis-à-vis other organisations financed from budgets other than that of the EU. Amendment 23 Article 14 b (new) Article 14b Acknowledgement of funding All institutions, association or activities in receipt of a grant under this programme have the obligation to acknowledge the support granted by the European Union. To this end the Commission shall lay down detailed visibility guidelines. Amendment 24 Article 14 c (new) Article 14 c Dissemination of results With a view to fostering the dissemination of results, the tools generated by the projects funded under this programme and relating in particular to crime statistics and data shall be made available to the public free of charge by electronic means. Amendment 25 Article 14 d (new) Article 14d Publication of projects Each year, the Commission, together with the Member States, shall publish a list of the projects financed under this programme, with a short description of each project.

(1) Not yet published in OJ. (2) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.