Legal provisions of COM(1997)582-2 - Multiannual Community Action Plan on promoting safe use of the Internet - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(1997)582-2 - Multiannual Community Action Plan on promoting safe use of the Internet. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(1997)582  |
| date | January 25, 1999 |
Article 1
2. The action plan shall cover a period of four years from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2002.
3. The financial framework for the implementation of the action plan for the period from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2002 is hereby set at EUR 25 million.
The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
An indicative breakdown of expenditure is given in Annex II.
Article 2
Article 3
- promotion of industry self-regulation and content-monitoring schemes (for example, dealing with content such as child pornography or content which incites hatred on grounds of race, sex, religion, nationality or ethnic origin),
- encouraging industry to provide filtering tools and rating systems, which allow parents or teachers to select content appropriate for children in their care while allowing adults to decide what legal content they wish to access, and which take account of linguistic and cultural diversity,
- increasing awareness of services provided by industry among users, in particular parents, teachers and children, so that they can better understand and take advantage of the opportunities of the Internet,
- support actions such as assessment of legal implications,
- activities fostering international cooperation in the areas enumerated above,
- other actions furthering the objective set out in Article 2.
Article 4
2. The procedure laid down in Article 5 shall apply to:
- the work programme including any expenditure on activities described in Annex III, point 9,
- the breakdown of the budgetary expenditure,
- the criteria and content of calls for proposals,
- the assessment of the projects proposed under calls for proposals for Community funding and the estimated amount of the Community contribution for each project where this is equal to or more than EUR 300 000,
- the measures for programme evaluation,
- any departure from the rules set out in Annex III,
- participation in any project by legal entities from third countries and international organisations referred to in Article 7(3),
- other actions which could be undertaken under the terms of the last indent of Article 3.
3. Where, pursuant to the fourth indent of paragraph 2, the amount of the Community contribution is less than EUR 300 000, the Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 5 of the projects and of the outcome of their assessment.
4. The Commission shall regularly inform the committee referred to in Article 5 of progress with the implementation of the programme as a whole.
Article 5
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.
Article 6
2. During implementation of projects and after their completion the Commission shall evaluate the manner in which they have been carried out and the impact of their implementation in order to assess whether the original objectives have been achieved.
3. The selected beneficiaries shall submit an annual report to the Commission.
4. At the end of two years and at the end of the action plan, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, once the committee referred to in Article 5 has examined it, an evaluation report on the results obtained in implementing the action lines set out in Annex I. Reference shall also be made to general findings applicable to all categories of illegal content. The Commission may present, on the basis of those results, proposals for adjusting the orientation of the action plan.
Article 7
2. Participation may be opened to legal entities established in associated central and eastern European countries in accordance with the conditions, including financial arrangements, agreed to in the additional protocols to the Association Agreements, including participation in Community programmes.
Participation may be opened to legal entities established in Cyprus on the basis of additional appropriations in accordance with the same rules as those applied to the EFTA States that are members of the EEA, in accordance with procedures to be agreed on with that country.
3. Participation may be opened, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5, without financial support by the Community under this action plan, to legal entities established in other third countries and to international organisations, where such participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the action plan and taking into account the principle of mutual benefit.