Financing
1. The co-financing of activities under this general framework shall be exclusive of any other financing by another programme financed by the general budget of the European Union.
2. The actions referred to in Article 3(1), on the one hand, and Article 3(2) and (3), on the other hand, shall receive an equitable share of the annual amount.
3. The proportion of financial support from the general budget of the European Union may not, in principle, exceed 60 % of the costs for actions referred to in Article 3(2) or (3). However, under exceptional circumstances, financial support may amount to 80 %.
Implementation
1. The Commission shall publish each year, if possible before 30 June, an annual work programme:
(a) setting out the priorities in terms of objectives and types of activities for the following year;
(b) giving a description of the actions referred to in Article 3(1), which the Commission intends to take; and
(c) including a description of the selection and award criteria and the procedures for submission and approval of proposals for actions referred to in Article 3(2) and (3).
2. The Commission shall adopt the annual work programme in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(2).
3. The Commission shall pay particular attention to the following criteria when evaluating and selecting proposals:
(a) ability to contribute to the objectives in Article 2;
(b) problem-solving orientation;
(c) European dimension;
(d) measures planned to ensure dissemination of results;
(e) complementarity with other past, present or future activities; and
(f) size of the action, in particular in terms of economies of scale and cost-effectiveness.
4. The Commission shall examine each of the draft actions submitted to it, as referred to in Article 3(2) and (3). Decisions relating to these actions shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).
Financing decisions
1. The Commission's financing decisions under Article 3(2) and (3) shall be followed by grant agreements between the Commission and the beneficiaries.
2. The financing decisions and grant agreements arising therefrom shall be subject to financial control by the Commission and to audits by the Court of Auditors.
Monitoring
1. The Commission shall ensure the regular monitoring and supervision of the implementation of the actions financed by the Community. Monitoring and supervision shall be done on the basis of reports using procedures agreed between the Commission and the beneficiary. These may include checks in situ by means of sampling.
2. Beneficiaries shall submit a report to the Commission for each action within three months of its completion. The Commission shall determine the form of this report, including the type of information that must be included in it.
3. Beneficiaries of financial support shall keep at the Commission's disposal all the documentary evidence of expenditure for a period of five years from the last payment concerning an action.
Dissemination of information
1. The Commission shall ensure the yearly publication of a list of the beneficiaries and of the activities financed under this general framework, including an indication of the amount of the support.
2. Where projects financed under Article 3(2) do not provide for dissemination of results and where this would contribute to one of the objectives in Article 2, measures may be taken by the Commission.
3. At the beginning of each year, the Commission shall provide the Article 12 Committee with information on the activities undertaken under Article 3(1) in the previous year.
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee (the "Article 12 Committee").
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Management Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee (the "Article 13 Committee").
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.
The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Sanctions
1. Sanctions shall be regulated in grant agreements in accordance with this Regulation.
2. The Commission may terminate a grant agreement concluded under the general framework if it detects irregularities, or if obligations under the grant agreement are not met.
If irregularities are detected or if obligations under a grant agreement are not met, the Commission may suspend payment of the balance of the financial support. The Commission shall ask the beneficiary to explain or rectify the situation within a reasonable period set by the Commission.
If the reply is not satisfactory or if the situation is not rectified, the Commission may terminate the grant agreement and ask for the sums already disbursed to be refunded, with payment of default interest.
3. If some of the obligations under the agreement are not met, the Commission may reduce the balance of financial support and ask for part of any sum already disbursed to be refunded, with payment of default interest.
Reporting and evaluation
1. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council by 30 June 2004 at the latest on the implementation of this general framework, including the results of the control, the reports and the monitoring of the activities.
2. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation report on this general framework to be available in time for a possible renewal of the general framework or by 31 December 2005 at the latest. This report will include an evaluation of cost-effectiveness and an assessment, based on performance indicators, of whether the objectives have been achieved.
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.
Done at Luxembourg, 25 April 2002.
For the Council
The President
M. Rajoy Brey
(1) OJ C 213E, 31.7.2001, p. 271.
(2) Opinion delivered on 12 March 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ C 36, 8.2.2002, p. 77.
(4) OJ C 19, 23.1.1999, p. 1.
(5) OJ C 12, 15.1.2001, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 287, 8.11.1996, p. 3.
(7) OJ L 43, 14.2.2001, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 196, 14.7.1998, p. 24.
(9) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
