As a complement to the operational cooperation developed under the aegis of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union established by Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agency’) and in addition to the allocation of funds to the Member States, the Fund should also introduce the possibility of a Community response to weaknesses at strategic border points by co-financing specific actions to address those weaknesses, on the basis of a specific amount set aside each year for such actions.

That grant application will describe the national strategy and priorities for the European Year, the actions proposed for funding in the relevant Member State and the organisations that are to be responsible for the implementation of each of the individual actions.

24. Points out that indirect information and communication can occur by means of supported EU projects or the declaration of years of action, and calls for these opportunities to be used increasingly; considers that such programmes and campaigns as town twinning, European City of Culture, Year of Languages, Year of the Disabled and so on can draw EU citizens’ attention to the European Union while providing information on its support programmes and campaigns;

Whereas the way in which the sector operates dictates that quality improvement measures should be implemented over 12-month periods beginning on 1 May of each year; whereas the measures for each period must be included in national programmes; whereas Member States must draw up and execute their national programmes;

Since some 115 items of assistance (OPs and SPDs) were adopted in 2000, some measures could begin on the ground during the first year of the programming period (details by Member State in chapter 2.2.).

In addition, the Commission has adopted an Action Plan for the collection and analysis of Community statistics in the field of migration and at the end of 2002 launched a preparatory action for the creation of a European Migration Network (EMN).