European youth: grants to bodies active at European level, 2004-2006 action programme

In its common position, the Council has approved the Commission's proposal in principle, while making certain amendments which it thought desirable. The Council adopted in full, in part or in essence 13 of the 20 amendments adopted by the Parliament at first reading. Concerning the amendments made by the Council to the Commission's proposal, these concern: - the budget has been set at EUR 13 million by the budgetary authority; - a standard article has been introduce to clarify the Commission's role in the implementation of the programme, which also refers to regular reporting by the Commission to the Council and the Parliament; - the specification of the beneficiaries : this section of the annex has been restructured to distinguish more clearly the two categories of beneficiaries: i) the European Youth Forum, which is a body pursuing an aim of general European interest and the recipient of a grant to support its permanent activities and ii) bodies pursuing an aim of general European interest in the field of youth which receive grants to support operational and administrative costs selected on the basis of calls for proposals. The Council has introduced other modifications or clarifications, as appropriate: - application of the Financial Regulation and its rules for implementation; - participation of countries outside the Union. In addition to the amendments not adopted by the Commission, and which were not accepted by the Council, the Council did not accept the amendments concerning: - financial provisions : since, in the case of this proposal, the final decision on the financial framework falls within the competence of the budgetary authority, this amendment was not accepted; - percentage of resources allocated to the European Youth Forum. The Council did not accept this amendment which modifies the percentage allocated to the European Youth Forum since this is linked to the overall budget of the programme; - degressivity and international youth organisations : the Council has not accepted that the principle of gradual reduction (degressivity) should not be applied to international youth organisations. The Council considers that its common position constitutes a balanced text, which will provide the necessary support for the activities of bodies in the field of youth over the period concerned, also in view of future Community action in this area.�