Odysseus programme: 1998
4. 6. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 169/15 III (Notices) COMMISSION ODYSSEUS PROGRAMME: 1998 (98/C 169/12) (Text with EEA relevance) 1. Broad outlines of the programme the Odysseus programme of The Council adopted in the field of training, exchanges and cooperation asylum, immigration and crossing external borders on 19 March 1998 (OJ L 99, 31. 3. 1998). The programme applies to the 15 Member States of the European Union and allows for the possibility of associating non member countries, in particular the applicant countries, provided this would be in accordance with the programme’s objectives. The financial reference amount for the implementation of the programme for the period 1998 to 2002 is ECU 12 million. The programme has three main objectives: responsible implementing 1. First, to secure the long term practical cooperation of the for the authorities asylum, immigration and external border control policies. The long term approach is a prerequisite for the programme’s effectiveness, given that any changes to new legislation, procedures and techniques will annual take programme. time, generally longer than an 2. Second, to design a programme incorporating the various elements of a wide ranging cooperation policy by means of instruments relating to training and exchanges of officials. To be fully effective they must meet three conditions: - the various qualification levels must be defined: this means making sure the measures implemented under the Odysseus programme at Union level are complementary to other measures, in particular basic training for officials, which mainly comes within the competence of the Member States; - cooperation must be accompanied by the develÜ opment of tools based on studies and research and the dissemination of information which increases effectiveness, - assessment must be incorporated, i. e. each measure must the include a complete definition of objectives and the means to achieve them. The objectives must be consistent with the needs expressed and the content of the programme. In other words, new measures can be launched only if they fully incorporate the assessment of previous similar measures. 3. Steps must be taken to open up the programme to non member countries in general and the applicant countries in particular, priority being given to coopÜ eration projects the accumulated body of Union law relating to asylum, immigration and the crossing of external borders. them with familiarise to The programme sets out to meet these objectives by supporting measures initiated by public institutions or private bodies aimed at developing cooperation in the fields of asylum, the crossing of immigration and external borders. This is why the structure is based on an annual programme adopted by the Management Committee. It ensures that the selection process is as open as possible and that the projects selected meet the strictest criteria with the help of experts who will assist the Commission in formulating proposals for consistent programmes. scale stressed the need for economies of In the interests of sound management, the Commission has in programme management. The Sherlock programme can be incorporated into the Odysseus programme without any change it possible to coordinate the objectives of the campaign against forged documents in the more general context of external border controls and the prevention of illegal immigration. Management will be simplified as a result of establishing a single Management Committee. in substance. Incorporation will make The Commission will make sure the programme is consistent with existing programmes under Title VI of C 169/16 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 4. 6. 98 the TEU and the PHARE programme, in particular the aspect dealing specifically with justice and home affairs. To achieve this objective, the Odysseus programme will consist of operations in the following areas: - training for civil servants, training for instructors and advanced courses for specialists. Depending on the subject studied, basic training will remain primarily within the competence of the Member States; since this is the first year of the programme’s implemenÜ tation, it would not appear necessary to specify the type of training by giving priority to instructors or to specialists. The areas are sufficiently broad and distinct for it to be feasible to define the most approÜ priate type of training case by case. With regard to forged identity documents, training will have to take account of the lessons learned from the Sherlock programme. In other areas, training could be more usefully focused on basic concepts. In this context the Commission intends to give priority to the dissemiÜ nation of information. With regard to questions of involve processing the common information obtained in the Member States and disseminating it as widely as possible to the personnel concerned; it will also involve further training and specialisation for experienced officials in order to study in greater depth specific aspects identified as requiring special effort. Regular training courses will have to be held so that they will have a knock on effect and become a source of reference information by the end of the period; interest, this will the spot with familiarisation on - exchanges of officials between Member States, a complementary dimension of training. The periods of exchange can be sufficiently extended to allow for the practical methods, procedures and techniques used. This could take the form of unilateral or reciprocal visits to the national authorities responsible for asylum, immiÜ gration and external frontier control, to gain an on the spot insight of the problems encountered in other Member States. With the agreement of the respective national authorities, long term visits will make it possible for officials to participate more actively in operations. Similarly, there will be opporÜ tunities for officials of several Member States to visit another Member State. - studies and research, the third component of the annual programme, aims in particular at the design and dissemination of teaching materials (educational tools, software, etc. ). Research could be more closely focused on the development of tools and the prepÜ aration of actual cases. In this context, projects which aim at document dissemination or access (via databases) could also be taken into acount, making it institutional, improve cooperation between national possible to authorities. Existing legislative and regulatory fields, or those coming into being, could be the central topic of research, in particular in prepÜ aration for the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Projects are selected by a Management Committee consisting of a representative of each Member State and chaired by a representative of the Commission. To be considered projects must be of interest to the Union and must involve at least two Member States. The applicant countries can be associated with such projects, in accordance with Article 10 of the Joint Action, if this is in line with the objectives of the programme. In addition, the programme does not exclude the participation of non member countries, provided their presence is in the interests of the Union. 2. Structure of the annual programme, fields of action for 1998 and total appropriation has programme broad objectives The Odysseus concerning asylum, immigration and the crossing of external borders. These are specific fields and call for different types of partnership. Certain sectors, such as the Sherlock programme, require strict confidentiality, while others are open to to non governmental organisations, or even to companies from the business world. This is why the Odysseus programme is addressed to a broad public, ranging from the authorities responsible for the above fields to bodies, associations or companies which operate in relation to them. the academic world, The structure of the Odysseus programme reflects this diversity, by assigning priority to the three main areas (asylum, immigration, external borders), where the tradiÜ tional forms of cooperation, training, exchanges and studies, will apply, preference being given the problems facing Member States in these fields. Priority has been given to two areas in this annual programme: one for pressing matters, the other for the applicant countries, in the framework of the partnership worked out by the Commission. The annual programme will be implemented in successive stages, and priority will be given to areas of common interest to the Union and the Member States and particularly topical subjects, especially those currently being discussed in the Council, while other more specific aspects can be dealt with later. to to 4. 6. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 169/17 In all the programmes managed by the Commission, increasing emphasis must be placed on the assessment of operations carried out under the programme. within the framework of the accession partnership with the applicant countries, Asylum - The entry into force of the Dublin Convention is a the for its application require the member implementation and top priority, conditions of States to provide training, its - in its initial phase, the annual programme seeks to place an emphasis on best practices as regards procedures for examining asylum applications. Beyond that, increased cooperation in other areas of asylum would be beneficial. OnÜthe spot comparisons during exchanges will enable officials to become more familiar with systems other than those they themselves employ, and on some occasions enable them to transpose solutions from their own administration. - Such cooperation is particularly useful the applicant countries, as a number of them have only recent experience in this field. It enables them to acquire the basics of the process of managing asylum applications. Thus, projects will be able to relate to initiatives associated with the Dublin Convention, in - since in another context the Commission manages the budget headings relating to the financing of specific projects for displaced persons, asylum seekers and refugees (Joint Actions 97/477/JHA and 97/478/ JHA of 22 July 1997, OJ L 205, 31. 7. 1997), an effort will be made to ensure that the operations are complementary to measures in another context. Immigration The two complementary aspects of the policy outlined in the Commission memorandum 1994) concerning immigration and asylum must be taken into account. (February - This third country nationals is why operations must concern both and the the admission of prevention of illegal immigration. On the first point the programme seeks to stress the subjects closely related the admission of to Member States of the European Union, the draft convention concerning third country nationals to - the programme also seeks to emphasise best practices as regards immigration control. The Commission and the Management Committee will take steps to avoid overlapping with other Community programmes involving similar operations. Crossing of external borders the use of the campaign against - An essential part of the "external borders’ aspect will be forged documents, in connection with the results of the Sherlock programme. Projects committed or accepted under the Sherlock programme for this budgetary period will be carried out under the Odysseus programme for 1998, in accordance with Article 19 of the Joint Action, - problems relating to different types of borders (sea, land and air) will be taken into account using an approach targeting each category. Projects could highlight special border control issues in conjunction with a precise geographical approach, targeting frontier regions with special features (Baltic States, Balkans, European Mediterranean countries). In the light of these considerations, observation of the situation in the various related areas and the work of specialised groups, the following fields of action are proposed for the 1998 programme, within the framework of an overall estimated budget of ECU 3 million. TradiÜ tional methods of cooperation will be combined with the more specific objectives, not forgetting the share set aside for assessment. Field of action (a) Training is at the very heart of the priorities of the Joint Action. Since it is the first year of the Joint Action’s implementation, projects must give priority to basic immigration. The knowledge concerning asylum and situation the Sherlock programme has been implemented in previous years, basic training was given priority in the initial years and more specialised fields may now be covered. is different for forged documents; as - with regard to the second point, projects could concern readmission agreements and the practical third country methods nationals. Projects submitted within this framework should relate by way of priority to the work in progress within the European Union, or should come readmitting illegal of - The seeks annual programme the considerations relating to the measures implemented at Union level. Thus, projects will tend to improve national of Community instruments, procedures, methods and techniques, knowledge officials’ stress to C 169/18 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 4. 6. 98 - secondly, projects will have to concentrate on matters which could be the subject of closer cooperation, both between the Member States and with the applicant countries. specifically concerns justice and home affairs in general and external border controls in particular. Field of action (b) Topical subjects: ØThis involves responding to specific needs and problems facing the Member States (new regulations, new practices, new technologies, etc. ) The annual programme seeks to place at the disposal of facilitating a prompt instrument Member States an response to matters of immediate concern. This chapter could in particular address the measures taken under the action plan to combat the influx of migrants from Iraq and the neighbouring region. Field of action (c) Exchanges of officials traditional exchanges of This field mainly concerns officials, over a sufficient period of time, to familiarise them with the practices implemented in other adminisÜ trations in the various areas of the programme. Such exchanges could be of interest to staff reponsible for level, implementing procedures at depending on the administrative organisation of each Member State, and to officials responsible for devising them. Exchanges could also include officials responsible for on the spot controls or who are in direct contact with (asylum seekers, foreigners in an illegal situation pending repatriation, etc. ) local or national nonÜCommunity nationals Field of action (d) Cooperation with non member countries - In the context of the accession partnership, applicant states must gradually integrate the Union’s acquis, in the broadest sense, into the areas outlined in the programme. This requirement entails a knowledge of legal instruments, procedures, methods and techÜ niques. Implementation of the programme in the first year will focus on the acquisition of basic knowledge. - The lion’s share allocated to the applicant countries of excludes by no means nonÜCommunity the countries. association of nonÜCommunity countries which are not applicants could be based on a geographical approach, provided the projects are in the interests of the Union. association example, the For this stage of implementation of At the Odysseus programme, priority must be given to the conditions for applying the Dublin convention, and the aspects relating to external border controls. Special attention will be paid to projects involving training, exchanges and studies associating non member countries, and in particular the applicant countries. Field of action (e) Studies and research The annual programme aims to prioritise issues in the field of justice and home affairs. Particular emphasis will be placed on the subjects referred to in the Council Resolution of 18 December 1997 laying down the priorities for cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs for the period from 12 January 1998 to the date of entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, which serve as guidelines for work in hand in the Council working parties (OJ C 11, 15. 1. 1998). Priority will be given to projects which could have practical implications for future legislative instruments, in particular the issues which are important in the context of the Commission’s legislative priorities. For example, topics relating to temporary protection, implementation of the Dublin Convention or the draft convention on the admission of third country nationals to the European Union could usefully be the subject of study and research in 1998. The programme aims to encourage a forward looking and dynamic aproach rather than one which is statistical, descriptive or historical. This objective could be adopted for the various types of action (mainly training and exchanges of officials). Steps will be taken to make sure they are complementary to other programmes under Title VI, as well as with the other Community aid programmes, in particular the horizontal PHARE programme, one aspect of which The Commission also wishes to emphasise the dissemiÜ nation of information, by the most suitable techniques, in order to reach as large an audience as possible among the officials concerned. This could be done through various teaching tools, ensuring the development of training or the dissemination of basic knowledge for officials. 4. 6. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 169/19 Field of action (f) E v a l u a t i o n Evaluation is a Commission priority in the context of the programmes it manages. The 1998 programme is the first budgetary period of the assessment can therefore mainly cover the individual projects implemented during this period to make sure they match the definition of the programme. At a later date, the assessment will be able to focus on the programme itself. the Odysseus programme; An estimated ECU 12 million is provided for the Odysseus programme for the five years of implemenÜ tation. In 1998 an estimated ECU 3 million could be allocated, made up of the reserve of ECU 2 million, plus the ECU 1 million allocated for the 1998 Sherlock programme. Since the Odysseus Joint Action was lodging applications adopted before the deadline for with the Sherlock Committee, no allocation has been made and therefore the amount remains untouched. The estimated amounts to carry out the priority projects are: Field of action Estimated total (a) Training (b) Topical issues (c) Exchanges of officials (d) Studies and research (e) Evaluation 1Ø000 000 1Ø000 000 600Ø000 325Ø000 75Ø000 TotalØ 3Ø000 000 With regard to the procedure for the submission of projects, the memorandum on the financing of Title VI, which was revised in February 1998 and is available in all languages, provides the necessary information; a model application and precise instructions for preparing the financial statement and a model budget are attached to it. You are strongly advised to refer to this document when preparing projects. The selection of projects for financing under the 1998 budget will take place in two stages. The first deadline for applications the Management Committee is 5 June 1998. The applications will be examined and the selection made in July. A second deadline is fixed for 30 September 1998 to examine projects submitted after the first deadline. secretariat of reach the to The application, duly signed by the person responsible for the project, must be accompanied by a brief note (two to three pages maximum) summarising the project. A financial statement containing as precise and as detailed a cost estimate as possible for the project must be included. Item 9 of the form (Description of the project) must contain a succinct and precise description of the purpose of the project. Recipients of subsidies under this programme undertake to include an explicit reference in any publication or external broadcast to Community financing obtained under the Odysseus programme. Project sponsors must present a final report on the implementation of the project within three months of its conclusion. Final payment of the subsidy will be made only on production of the final report and supporting documents. Regardless of the percentage of Community financing granted, financial statement must be accounted for. total expenditure shown on the 3. Potential candidates and submission of projects Requests for further information and forms should be addressed to: the administrations of The potential candidates are Member States responsible for asylum, immigration, the crossing of external borders or other in particular for training officials in these fields, and higher education and research institutions, non governmental organisations, associations and foundations. However, other bodies should not be excluded, in particular those operating in areas related to the objectives of the programme. Applications from individuals will not be eligible. services, Mr Wenceslas de Lobkowicz, Chairman, Odysseus Programme Management Committee Mr Arnaud Cohet, Secretary to the Committee European Commission, SecretariatÜGeneral, Task Force for Justice and Home Affairs, Unit 1 Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200, Office NÜ9 5/27A BÜ1049 Brussels. Tel. : (32Ü2) 296Ø67 46, Fax: (32Ü2) 296Ø59 97, EÜmail: arnaud. Cochet-sg. cec. be