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European Year for Development (2015)

2013/0238(COD)

PURPOSE: to establish a European Year of Development (2015).

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 472/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Year for Development (2015).

CONTENT: this Decision establishes 2015 as the ‘European Year for Development’. The motto of the European Year shall be ‘Our world, our dignity, our future’.

Objectives: the objectives of the European Year shall be:

  • to inform Union citizens about the Union's and the Member States' development cooperation, highlighting the results that the Union, acting together with the Member States, has achieved as a global actor and that it will continue to do so in line with the latest discussions on the overarching post-2015 framework;
  • to foster direct involvement, critical thinking and active interest of Union citizens and stakeholders in development cooperation including in policy formulation and implementation; and  to raise awareness of the benefits of the Union's development cooperation not only for beneficiaries of the Union's development assistance but also for Union citizens and to achieve a broader understanding of policy coherence for development, as well as to foster among citizens in Europe and developing countries a sense of joint responsibility, solidarity and opportunity.

Union measures: the measures taken to achieve the objectives of the European Year shall include the following measures, which may be organised at Union, national, regional or local levels, as set out in the Annex, and in partner countries:

  • communication campaigns to disseminate key messages targeted at the general public and more specific audiences, in particular young people and other key target groups, including through social media;
  • the organisation of conferences, events and initiatives with all relevant stakeholders, to promote active participation and debate, and to raise awareness at all levels;
  • concrete measures in the Member States aimed at promoting the objectives of the European Year, in particular through development education, the exchange of information and sharing of experience and good practices among national, regional or local administrations and other organisations;
  • undertaking studies and surveys and disseminating their results.

The characteristics of these measures are detailed in the Annex of the Decision.

Coordination of actions: the Commission shall invite the Member States to appoint each a national coordinator to be responsible for organising the involvement of that Member State in the European Year. The national coordinators shall, in close coordination with the Commission, consult and cooperate with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, national parliaments, social partners and, where appropriate, the national agencies, the federal State or sub-national government level, including regional and local authorities and, where applicable, associated Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

The Commission, together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), shall cooperate closely with the European Parliament, the Council and the Member States, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the bodies and associations active in development issues at Union level. The Commission shall convene meetings of the national coordinators to coordinate the implementation of the European Year and to exchange information on implementation at Union and national levels. The Commission may invite representatives of civil society and regional and local authorities and members of the European Parliament to attend those meetings as observers.

The Commission shall make the European Year a priority in the communication activities of its Representations in the Member States and of EU Delegations in partner countries. With a view to their participation in activities related to the European Year, whether those activities take place in the Union or in third countries, development partners in third countries shall be supported through EU Delegations while OCTs shall be supported through appropriate institutional channels.

The EEAS and EU Delegations shall make the European Year an integral part of their ongoing information and communication activities.

Work programme: the Commission shall invite the Member States to transmit to it, by 1 September 2014, their work programme, which shall set out details of the national activities planned for the European Year, in accordance with the details of the measures set out in this Decision.

Participation: participation in the activities of the European Year to be financed by the Union shall be open to the Member States and candidate countries benefiting from a pre-accession strategy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in Union programmes.

Implementation: the Commission shall implement this Decision at Union level, in particular by adopting the necessary financing decisions in accordance with the Regulations establishing the instruments for financing external action relevant to the actions concerned, namely the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI).

Consistency and complementarity: the measures provided for in this Decision shall be consistent with any other Union, national and regional measures that help attain the objectives of the European Year, and fully complement the existing Union, national and regional measures.

Financial provisions: financial provisions are laid down as such:

measures which are Union-wide in nature (Part A of the Annex) shall lead to a procurement procedure or the award of grants financed by the Union;

measures which are Union-wide in nature (Part B of the Annex) may be co-financed by the Union (high-visibility events on a Union scale that aim to raise awareness of the objectives of the European Year may receive a Union grant of up to 80% of the final costs of the activities).

The Commission may award co-financing to each national coordinator.

Reporting and assessment: by 31 December 2016, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the measures provided for in this Decision in order to consider appropriate follow-up.

Annex: the Decision includes an annex outlining the types of eligible measures.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 29.05.2014.