7.7.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L 186/1 (Acts adopted pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union) COUNCIL DECISION of 28 June 2001 establishing a second phase of the programme of incentives and exchanges, training and coopera- tion for legal practitioners (Grotius Il — Criminal) (2001/512/JHA) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in partic- ular Articles 31 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 fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. (2)  The conclusions of the Tampere European Council call for cooperation in the fight against crime to be stepped up in order to achieve a genuine European area of justice. (3)  The Grotius programme, set up by Council Joint Action 96/636/JHA of 28 October 1996 on a programme of incentives and exchanges for legal practitioners (‘Grotius) (%), has helped step up cooperation between the Member States' judiciaries and improve mutual understanding of their legal and judicial systems. (4)  The renewal of the programme, expressly provided for by that Joint Action, would enable this cooperation to be improved. (5)  The entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty brings judicial cooperation in civil matters under Article 61 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and, consequently, support for cooperation activities in this field has become the subject of a separate Commission initiative on the renewal of the Grotius ‘Civil programme. (6) It is desirable to ensure continuity for the general and criminal projects supported by the Grotius programme () O] C 96 E, 27.3.2001, p. 336. (*) Opinion delivered on 5 April 2001 (not yet published in the Offi- cial Journal). () O] L 287, 8.11.1996, p. 3. and to renew the programme for a second phase of two years. (7 The Grotius criminal programme must be opened up further to the applicant countries by facilitating their participation in the projects supported by the programme. (8)  The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with the procedures set out herein. (99 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- 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, for general and criminal matters, the second phase of the Grotius cooperation programme, hereinafter ‘the programme’, set up by Joint Action 96/636/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 stimulate mutual knowledge of legal and judicial systems and to facilitate general judicial and criminal coopera- tion between the Member States. () O] C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.