PURPOSE: To replace Council Decision 97/872/EC on the promotion of non-governmental organisations in the field of environmental protection with a more updated, flexible European Parliament and Council Decision.
CONTENT: Initial EU funding for environmental NGOs was agreed in 1997 under Council Decision 97/872/EC. Justification for EU funding was based on the principle that environmental NGOs represent an insight into European public opinion.
The 1997 Decision requests the European Commission to prepare a report, every three years, on the success or not, of the programme.
Following extensive research as well as consultation with interested parties, the European Commission proposes replacing the previous Council Decision by a new European Parliament and Council Decision. The essence of the new Decision will remain the same but will incorporate changes deemed necessary in light of past experience.
The main features of the new programme are:
- A provision to promote the systematic involvement of European environmental NGOs in EU environmental policy;
- An expanded Programme period from 4 to 5 years;
- An earlier call for proposals and earlier Commission decision;
- An expanded geographical scope to include Central and Eastern Europe;
- A simplified selection, monitoring and evaluation system;
- The introduction of selection criteria;
- The introduction of a funding scheme, which refers to the audited expenses of the beneficiaries;
- The introduction of a fixed auditing scheme.
The New Action programme should be in place from 1 January 2002 and run for five years. An interim evaluation is scheduled for 31 December 2004. The budget envisioned for this five-year period is EUR 32 Million�