Daphne Programme 2000-2003: action relating to violence against children, young persons and women

The Council's common position incorporates, in whole or in part, 19 of the 26 amendments accepted by the Commission in its amended proposal (out of a total of 36 put forward by the European Parliament at first reading). This is the case in particular for the amendments that seek to establish the programme in the context of the fight against violence against women, adolescents and children within a multidisciplinary framework; emphasis on research into the social well-being of victims; ensuring a balance between the two target groups of the programme (women and children). The Council did not, on the other hand, retain the amendments seeking to: - extend the definition of acts of violence to include a 'breach of their (womens' and childrens') right to life, safety, freedom, dignity and physical and emotional integrity'; - make reference to the definition of 'health' in the constitution of the WHO; - limit the type of NGOs and public bodies that can participate in the programme (in particular, NGOs active in the fields of education and development); - refer to certain specific Community public health programmes with a view to making DAPHNE complementary to these various initiatives; - provide in the Annexes for specific actions focusing on exchange of best practice. The Council also deleted all references to 'protection against' sexual exploitation introduced by the European Parliament, preferring instead the use of the word 'prevention'. The Council also made some changes to the Commission's proposal as follows: 1) Duration of the programme: the programme period, which was originally planned for 5 years, will now be for 4, and the evaluation report will be presented at the end of the second year (and not the third year) of the programme; 2) Funding: the budget has been set at 20 million euros, i.e. 5 million euros per year; 3) Comitology: the Council has opted for a Committee procedure of the 'mixed' type (advisory and management, depending on the matter under discussion), involving Procedures IIb and I; the consultation of the Member States will be necessary for the implementation of the programme; 4) Role of NGOs: the Council considered that public bodies, as well as NGOs, play an important role in the fight against violence and that they too should be eligible for support under DAPHNE. The Council also specified that the Community contribution should vary according to the nature of the action and that it may not exceed 80% of the total cost of the action. The Council has also made the stipulation that 'a significant number of Member States' shall be involved in actions.�