European Commission unveils its legislative and work programme for 2003, November 2002

The successful enlargement of the European Union, the stability and security of its citizens, and a sustainable and inclusive economy will be the three key objectives of the European Commission in 2003 according to its annual legislative and work programme, which was unveiled on 30 October 2002 [IP/02/1590].

The 2003 work programme is the first to be prepared following extensive dialogue with the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union under the European Commission's new strategic planning and programming cycle, which aims to establish a more integrated and coherent political planning process for the European Union.

Background

The tradition of the European Commission presenting a work programme for the coming year dates back to the start of the European Economic Community when Walter Hallstein, the first President of the European Commission, made a statement about the work of the European Commission to the European Parliamentary Assembly's inaugural session on 20 March 1958.

Since then this process has evolved considerably. The presentation of the Commission's work has now become known as the "Legislative and Work Programme of the Commission" with the President of the Commission responsible for presenting it to the European Parliament. Until 1993, this was always done in January or February but in keeping with the EU's objectives of promoting openness and transparency in the political process, the European Commission's work programme is now published in November. On the occasion of the first "early" publication of the Work Programme, the Bulletin of the European Communities noted that the function of the programme is:

"A planning tool designed to give an overview of the Community's legislative business and is to be examined in an interinstitutional framework. It meets the need for transparency, that is to say for clear information on the grounds for and scheduling of Community legislative business, by distinguishing between planned legislation on which broad consultations could be held in advance, legislation that might require a business impact assessment and legislation likely to require an environmental impact assessment. The legislative programme also seeks to boost the efficiency of the Community institutions by presenting the specific objectives to be attained during the reference period in each of the major areas of activity under the Treaty on European Union..."

The current European Commission's work programme is available on the website of the Commission's Secretariat General as well as previous work programmes dating back to the beginning of the present Prodi European Commission in 1999.

New Strategic Planning and Programming Cycle

Following the dramatic resignation of the European Commission headed by Jacques Santer in March 1999 amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement, the newly formed European Commission led by Romano Prodi has sought to tackle such problems that exist at the heart of the European Commission's working practices.

One effort has been the appointment of Neil Kinnock, the former leader of the UK labour party, as the Vice President of the European Commission with responsibility for administrative reform. Kinnock and his team identified that one aspect of the reform and modernisation process must focus on "improving the way the Commission set priorities, plans and manages its work". In order to achieve this the European Commission introduced a new strategic planning and programming function in the Secretariat General of the European Commission whereby an annual policy strategy cycle would be established to ensure the development of a set of coherent programming, planning and management tools.

The introduction of such tools would be based on the use of an "Activity Based Management System' (ABM) by 2004. This system foresees the structuring the Commission's management and planning processes into a coherent whole, according to a standard framework and calendar, which is consistent with the annual budget timetable. The ABM system consists of four key elements:

• the definition of an annual policy strategy covering political priorities and the necessary shifts in resources
• the determination by each service of clear and measurable objectives in Annual Management Plans and their aggregation into an Annual Commission Work Programme
• monitoring of progress throughout the year
• evaluation activities to be taken into account for decision-making in subsequent years

The system aids the European Commission in efficiently defining long term and annual priorities as well as subsequently breaking those down in terms of activities and relevant resources requirements.

Annual Policy Strategy

The first annual policy strategy was adopted in 2001 covering the year 2002. The Annual Policy Strategy for 2003 (APS) [SEC(2002)217] was adopted by the European Commission on 27 February 2002 and it sought to build on the experiences gained by the European Commission at the first attempt. For the first time a structured inter-institutional dialogue took place between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in the months that followed the Commission's presentation of the APS to both institutions in March 2003. These discussions focussed on the priorities and key initiatives for the European Union in the coming year with a generally positive response expressed about the priorities proposed by the European Commission for 2003.

Following this dialogue, the European Commission prepared in August 2002 a stocktaking document on the follow up to its Annual Policy Strategy for 2003 [COM(2002)427], which takes account of the views expressed by the European Parliament and the Council.

This follow up document along with the original APS provide the foundations on which the Annual Work Programme is built. In addition to the Work Programme the European Commission provides the institutions and the public with regular monthly updates of its operational planning in the form of a 3 month rolling programme and report on proposals that have been adopted.

All the stages in the European Commission's strategic planning and programming cycle are summarised in the table below:

The European Commission's Legislative and Work Programme for 2003

Three main political priorities are identified by the European Commission in its Legislative and Work Programme for 2003. They are:

• Enlargement Preparations:

• Assist and monitor candidate countries' preparations for accession
• Prepare the European Commission to serve an enlarged European Union effectively from day one of accession
• Review Community policies so that they respond to the needs of an enlarged European Union

• Stability and Security:

• Help the Council to adopt the necessary legislation to create an area of freedom, security and justice
• Improve transport safety and civil protection
• Safeguard the enlarged European Union's borders
• Respond to crises in the world and develop better international understanding

• Sustainable and Inclusive Economy:

• Progress towards the goal of making the EU the world's leading knowledge based economy
• Maintain macro-economic stability
• Promote sustainable development
• Work to share the positive effects of globalisation evenly around the world.

Quite clearly, the enlargement of the European Union is the most challenging task facing the European Commission next year. Although much of the work will have been completed by the end of 2002 there will still be certain issues to resolve such as the admission of a divided Cyprus if a political agreement is not reached, the implementation of the necessary reforms in the candidate countries to satisfy the Copenhagen economic criteria and the need to develop safeguard mechanisms to forestall any setbacks to the functioning of the internal market after accession.

In addition, the European Commission will also have a considerable role to play in the debate on the future of Europe, which is becoming increasingly important as the EU is set to extend to 25 countries by 2004 with serious implications on the decision making processes within the organisation.

In the area of stability and security much of the work is likely to stem from discussions at the Seville European Council on establishing an integrated European system of border management to fight against illegal immigration. The implementation of the Fraud Prevention Action Plan is also on the task list as is the follow up to the Green Paper on the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor, the implementation of a Cyber security task force, the reinforcement of the rapid reaction mechanism under CFSP and the adoption of the Erasmus World Programme to name but a few.

The adoption of the remaining actions in the Financial Services Action Plan, the implementation of the new framework programme "Intelligent Energy for Europe", a proposal for a Directive on fair trade and a Green Paper on entrepreneurship are all outlined as ways in which the EU will seek to achieve its objective of a sustainable and inclusive economy in 2003.

In addition to the three key political priorities, two new features are introduced for the first time to the Commission's work programme. The first is a new mechanism to analyse the economic, social and environmental impact of major legislative proposals in order to improve the quality of EU legislation. This impact assessment mechanism, which was endorsed at the Seville European Council as part of the "Better Regulation" package, ill not apply in full until 2004 but a number of proposals in 2003 will be subject to the assessment. They include:

• the review of the European Employment Strategy
• the review of the tobacco and sugar regimes
• forthcoming Directive on batteries and accumulators
• the Communication on the future of European audiovisual policy
• a draft Regulation on medicinal products for paediatric use

The European Commission's work programme will also provide the Commission's input into the Council's first annual operating programme both in terms of priorities and key initiatives but also by highlighting Commission proposals awaiting a decision by the Council. The introduction of annual and multiannual programming of Council activities was agreed to at the Seville European Council in June 2002. The first operating programme will be adopted at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in December 2002 based on a proposal from the incoming Greek and Italian Presidencies.

Romano Prodi, the Commission's President, will present the European Commission's Legislative and Work Programme for 2003 to the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 18 November 2002 and to the European Parliament on 20 November 2002.

Further information within European Sources Online:

European Sources Online: Topic Guides
	The European Commission
	What is the situation with the new European Commission?
European Sources Online: In Focus
	The European Commission's Strategic Objectives, 2000-2005 and Work Programme for 2000, February 2000
	Prodi unveils plans to reform the internal organisation and working methods of the European Commission, June 2002
	European Commission proposes new initiatives to fulfil the commitment of the White Paper on European Governance to make EU institutions more accountable, June 2002
	Mid term review of the Prodi Commission
European Sources Online: European Voice
	20.01.00:	Key planks of Kinnock's reform strategy

Further information can be seen in these external links:
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EU Institutions

European Commission
	DG Press and Communication
		Press Releases
			09.02.00:	Commission unveils its five-year strategic objectives [IP/00/133]
			27.02.02:	The Commission decides on the annual policy strategy for 2003 [IP/02/338]
		Speeches
			27.02.02:	Annual policy strategy for 2003 and the Convention [SPEECH/02/86]
		Memos
			25.07.01:	Commission will fully implement "Activity Based Management" by 2004 [MEMO/01/278]
	DG Budget
		Annual Policy Strategy for 2003 [SEC(2002)217]
	Secretariat General of the European Commission
		The Commission's Work Programme
			The Commission's Work Programme for 2002
			3-month rolling programme
EUR-LEX
	The Commission's Legislative and Work Programme for 2003 [COM(2002)590 final]
	Communication: Stocktaking of the follow-up to the Annual Policy Strategy for 2003 [COM(2002)427 final]

Helen Bower
2 November 2002

The successful enlargement of the European Union, the stability and security of its citizens, and a sustainable and inclusive economy will be the three key objectives of the European Commission in 2003 according to its annual legislative and work programme, which was unveiled on 30 October 2002 [IP/02/1590].