L 186/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 7.7.2001 COUNCIL DECISION of 28 June 2001 establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives, exchanges, training and cooperation for law enforcement authorities (Oisin II) (2001/513/JHA) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in partic- ular Articles 30(1), 31(a) and 34(2)(c) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Whereas: (1)  Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union states that the Union's objective is to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice by developing common action among the Member States in the field of police and judicial cooperation. (2)  The conclusions of the Tampere European Council call for closer cooperation between the authorities respon- sible for combating crime. (3)  The Oisin programme, set up by Council Joint Action 97/12/JHA of 20 December 1996 providing a common programme for the exchange and training of, and cooperation between, law enforcement authorities (‘Oisin’) (?), has helped step up cooperation between the Member States' law enforcement authorities. (4)  The renewal of the programme, expressly provided for by that Joint Action, would enable this cooperation to be improved, in particular by making full use of the operational benefits of the programme. (5) It is desirable to ensure continuity for the projects supported by the Oisin programme and to renew the programme for a second phase of two years. (6)  The Oisin programme must be opened up further to the applicant countries by facilitating their participation in the projects supported by the programme. (7)  The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with the procedures set out herein. (8) A financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improve- () O] C 96 E, 27.3.2001, p. 339. (*) Opinion delivered on 5 April 2001 (not yet published in the Offi- cial Journal). () O L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 5. ment of the budgetary procedure (%), is included in this Decision for the entire duration of the programme, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as they are defined by the EC-Treaty, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 Establishment of the programme 1. This Decision establishes the second phase of the Oisin cooperation programme set up by Joint Action 97[12[JHA. 2. The programme is hereby renewed for the period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2002. Article 2 Programme objectives 1. The programme shall contribute to the general objective of providing citizens with a high level of protection in an area of freedom, security and justice. Within this framework, it is intended to encourage cooperation between the Member States' law enforcement authorities and to provide such authorities with a greater insight into the working methods of their coun- terparts in other Member States and constraints by which they may be bound. 2. The applicant countries may participate in projects in order to familiarise themselves with the Union acquis in this area and help them prepare for accession. Other third countries may also participate where this serves the aims of the projects. Article 3 Access to the programme 1. The programme shall co-finance projects submitted by the law enforcement authorities of the Member States of the European Union with the aim of achieving the objectives referred to in Article 2. 2. For the purposes of this Decision, law enforcement authorities’ means the public bodies in the Member States which are responsible under national law for preventing, detecting and combating criminal offences. () O] C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.