L 101/26 Official Journal of the European Union 21.4.2009 COMMISSION DECISION of 20 April 2009 setting up the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency for the management of Community action in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture in application of Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 (2009/336/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19 December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes ('), and in particular Article 3(1) thereof, Whereas: (") ) By means of Commission Decision 2005/56/EC (?), the Commission created the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Agency) and entrusted it with the management of Community action in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture. Subsequently, the Commission amended the Agency’s remit on several occasions, extending it to cover the management of new projects and programmes. The introduction of new amendments means that, for reasons of clarity, Decision 2005/56/EC has to be replaced by this Decision. Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 empowers the Commission to set up executive agencies in accordance with the general statute laid down by that Regulation and to entrust them with certain management tasks relating to one or more Community programmes. The purpose of empowering the Commission to set up executive agencies is to allow it to focus on its core activities and functions, which cannot be outsourced, without relinquishing control over, or ultimate responsi- bility for, activities managed by the said executive agencies. L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1. L 24, 27.1.2005, p. 35. (6) ) (10) (11) Management of certain centralised strands of a number of programmes in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture involves implementation of technical projects which do not entail political decision-making and requires a high level of technical and financial expertise throughout the project cycle. The delegation, to an executive agency, of tasks related to implementation of the programme is possible with a clear separation between, on the one hand, the project programming stages and the adoption of funding decisions, which should be carried out by the Commission, and, on the other hand, the project im- plementation, which can be entrusted to an executive agency. The setting up of an executive agency affects neither the delegation by the Council to the Commission of the management of certain phases of action under the various programmes nor the delegation of management tasks to national agencies under certain programmes. A cost-benefit analysis carried out for that purpose has shown that using an executive agency to manage certain centralised strands of programmes in the fields of education and culture is the most advantageous of the options available, both in financial and in non-financial terms. The programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural under- standing through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus) is part of the agency’s current mandate; this programme expired on 31 December 2008 and was replaced, for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013, by the Erasmus Mundus action programme 2009-2013 for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (hereinafter referred to as Erasmus Mundus II). An external evaluation completed in February 2009 by the Commission showed that the use of an executive agency was the best solution for managing Erasmus Mundus II. The evaluation therefore recommended that the agency’s mandate be extended to include the management of this programme.