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

The Council's common position, adopted unanimously, accepts 5 of the 15 amendments approved at first reading by the European Parliament. In particular, amendments incorporated in full in the Commission's amended proposal and in the common position concern the following : - provides for an annual report on the implementation of the programme by the Commission; - adds to the list of activities supported that of "cultural ambassador" promoting the common cultural heritage; - adds two evaluation criteria to grant applications (exchange of experiences in promoting cultural diversity, and mobility of arts and artists) and provides for the advertising of grants; - provides for the duration of the future programme to be three years (2004-2006) rather than five years. On the other hand, the Council failed to accept the following amendments: - provides for an amendment to the budget for a period of three years (2004-2006) to 22.764 million euro. - identifies two possibilities for selecting beneficiaries in strand 2 (call for proposals and "earmarking"). With regard to the programme budget over the period 2004-2006, at the budgetary conciliation meeting on 24 November 2003 Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed on an amount of 19 million euro. This is therefore the amount, already accepted by the Commission, which figures in the common position. On strand 2 of the programme, the Council's common position provides for a system of designated beneficiaries in the annex for 2004, then the establishment of a system of calls for proposals for 2005 and 2006. The agreement reached at the budgetary conciliation meeting provides for an extension of the system of designated beneficiaries in 2005. On strand 2 of the programme, the Council's common position provides for a system of designated beneficiaries in the annex for 2004, then the establishment of a system of calls for proposals for 2005 and 2006. The agreement reached at the budgetary conciliation meeting provides for an extension of the system of designated beneficiaries in 2005. With regard to the implementing measures and committee procedures, the common position introduces a standard article to clarify the Commission's role in the implementation of the programme. In this connection a reference to annual reporting by the Commission to the Council and the Parliament has also been added. The Council has introduced other modifications or clarifications, as appropriate: - reference to the Council resolution of 19 December 2002 on how European added value of cultural actions can be identified and evaluated; - reference to a requirement to submit a workplan and budget to the Commission; - co-financing requirement was increased to 20 percent under part 1.�