1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2760/98
of18December 1998
concerningtheimplementationofaprogrammeforcross-bordercooperationintheframeworkof
thePHAREprogramme
(OJ L 345, 19.12.1998, p. 49)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1596/2002 of 6 September 2002 L 240 33 7.9.2002
►M2CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1822/2003 of 16 October 2003 L 267 9 17.10.2003
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2760/98
of18December 1998
concerning the implementation of a programme for cross-border
cooperationintheframeworkofthePHAREprogramme
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 of 18
December 1989 on economic aid to certain countries of central and
easternEurope (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 753/96 (2),
and in particular Article 8 thereof,
Whereas the European Council, meeting in Luxembourg in December
1997, set out the enhanced pre-accession strategy which is intended toenable all applicant countries of central and eastern Europe eventuallyto become members of the European Union and, to that end, to alignthemselves as far as possible onthe Un ion acquisprior to accession;
Whereas the accession partnerships, the key feature of enhanced pre-
accessionstrategy, have defin ed priorities for further work towardsaccession and must be taken into account in the context of cross-border
cooperation;
Whereas the first years of implementation of Commission Regulation
(EC) No 1628/94 (
3), establishing the PHARE cross-border programme
in conjunction with Interreg, have already produced a number of posi-
tive results, notably through establishing a dialogue and cooperationbetween European Union border regions and adjacent regions in coun-tries in central and eastern Europe, contributing to economicdevelopment in the border regions of these countries and to greater
convergence with the level of development on the European Union
side, and offering the opportunity to these regions to familiarise them-selves with Interreg practices and procedures, including the design ofregional development strategies for border regions;
Whereas further improvements should be aimed at, in particular
through increasing the number of projects of a real cross-border nature,and through improving their pace of implementation;
Whereas Romania, as only applicant country without a common border
with the Union, should also become eligible for the PHARE cross-border cooperationprogramme;
Whereas the PHARE cross-border cooperationprogramme will gradu-
ally become part of a wider regional development policy in the contextof the pre-accession strategy which would correct present imbalancesbetweenbudgetary resources allocated for cross-border cooperationand the other pre-accession priorities and between different regions
inside the applicant States;
Whereas the Council has repeatedly stressed the need to reinforce
cooperation and stimulate integration of the countries of central and
eastern Europe and the European Community, as well as the need tosupport stability and security in the region;
Whereas, inview of the future participationof accessionstates inthe
structural policy of the Union, further alignment of the PHARE cross-border cooperation programme with Interreg is required, notablythrough setting up common cross-border programmes and commonprogramming structures;
Whereas, for applicant countries of central and eastern Europe, the
present geographic definition of the PHARE cross-border cooperationprogramme needs to be gradually extended in order to comprise, inaddition to regions adjacent to the European Union, borders with other1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 375, 23. 12. 1989, p. 11.
(2) OJ L 103, 26. 4. 1996, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 171, 6. 7. 1994, p. 14.
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applicant countries which are PHARE beneficiaries; whereas, in a later
stage, borders with other neighbouring countries benefiting fromPHARE or other Community assistance programmes may also become
eligible;
Whereas eligible actions should be similar to Interreg within the overall
framework of the accessionpartn erships;
Whereas it is necessary to strengthen the involvement of local and
regional actors in cross-border cooperation, to enhance the botton-upapproach, to bolster their capacities for programming, implementationand monitoring, and to allow local authorities in border regions totake decisions on small projects of a real cross-border nature through
setting up small project funds;
Whereas it is necessary to replace Regulation (EC) No 1628/94;Whereas the present Regulation is in accordance with the opinion of
the Committee for Economic Restructuring in certain countries of
central and eastern Europe,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Withinthe overall framework of the PHARE programme as defin ed by
Regulation(EEC) No 3906/89, the followin g rules shall apply forfinancing actions of a structural nature in border regions of countriesof central and eastern Europe, which are PHARE beneficiaries.
These actions will be implemented taking into account the Community
structural policies, and Interreg in particular.
Article 2
1. The eligible borders are those between
(a) Romania and Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, Romania and
Ukraine, Romania and Moldova, Romania and Serbia and Monte-
negro;
(b) Bulgaria and Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey,
Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,Bulgaria and Serbia and Montenegro.
2. The border regions concerned will be fixed by each country
concerned in agreement with the Commission, taking into account themethodology adopted for Interreg.
3. Allocations between beneficiary countries shall be made taking
into account criteria of population, GDP per capita and surface of theborder regions concerned.
Article 3
Community grants under this programme will primarily finance the
participation of the country of central and eastern Europe concernedinjoin t projects with each State with which it shares a border asdefined in Article 2.
The aims of these projects are:
(i) to promote cooperation of border regions in countries in central
and eastern Europe with adjacent regions in a neighbouring country
as defined in Article 1 and thus to help the border regions incentral and eastern Europe to overcome the specific developmentproblems which may arise, inter alia , from their positionwithin
the national economies, in the interest of the local population andin a manner compatible with the protection of the environment;1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 3
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(ii) to promote the creation and the development of cooperation
networks on either side of the border, and the establishment oflinks between these networks and wider Community networks.
Article 4
1. In the border regions selected according to Article 2, the projects
to be included in the cross-border cooperation programme can take theform of:
(i) projects linked with measures that are supported by Interreg or by
other Community external assistance programmes;
(ii) projects agreed by the countries concerned, that have a cross-
border impact, contribute to the development of structures inborder regions and facilitate cooperation between the countries asa whole.
2. Special attention will be given to projects in relation to which co-
financing by, or on behalf of, the local authorities or economic opera-tors in the countries of central and eastern Europe is provided.
3. Financing may include resources from other Member States of the
European Union and countries of central and eastern Europe, from
international financial institutions, and from other private and public
sources.
Article 5
1. The actions that can be financed under this programme could
include:
(a) alleviation of the administrative and institutional obstacles to the
free flow of persons, products or services across the border while
taking into account the security aspects of such flows;
(b) improving infrastructures, in particular communication facilities
and the provision of local water, gas and electricity supplies,
providing benefits across border areas;
(c) environmental protection, for instance waste management, envir-
onmental management and pollution prevention dealing with
problems exacerbated by the proximity to external borders;
(d) agricultural and rural development measures with particular atten-
tionfor facilitatin g cross-border cooperationprojects;
(e) measures in the fields of energy and transport, aimed at comple-
menting the development of trans-European networks in
accordance with the orientations adopted by the Commission;
(f) actions related to justice and home affairs Community policy;
(g) promotion of business cooperation, enterprise development, finan-
cial cooperation and cooperation between institutions representingthe business sector (e.g. chambers of commerce);
(h) aid to investment and provision of supporting services and facil-
ities, in particular for technology transfer and for marketing forsmall and medium-sized enterprises;
(i) training and employment measures;
(j) local economic development, including tourism;
(k) measures to promote cooperationinhealth, particularly the sharin g
of resources and facilities on a cross-border basis;
(l) the development or establishment of facilities and resources to
improve the flow of information and communications betweenborder regions, including support for cross-border radio, television,newspapers and other media;
(m) cultural exchanges;
(n) local employment, education and training initiatives.1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 4
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2. With a view to encouraging joint small scale actions involving
local actors from the border regions and to enhancing their capabilities
to identify, develop and implement such actions, a joint small projectfund may be established in each border region, for which a limitedpercentage of the appropriations for the relevant programmes andinitiatives for cross-border cooperation may be used.
3. Special attention will be given to measures with a strong cross-
border cooperation character which are planned in close cooperation
with the regional and local authorities in border areas and whichinclude the establishment or development of shared management struc-tures intended to widen and deepen cross-border cooperation betweenpublic and para-public agencies as well as non-profit organisations.
4. The establishment of plans for the development of border regions,
project identification and programme formulation, feasibility studies,
assistance for the implementation of the programmes and monitoring
and/or evaluation studies, may also be financed.
Article 6
1. The Community contribution is provided in principle as a grant.
However, whenever the Community grant contributes to the financingof revenue-generating activities, the Commission shall determine, inconsultation with the authorities involved, the rules for financing whichmay include co-financing by the project's revenues or reimbursement of
the initial grants.
2. The aid may cover expenditures on imports and local expenditure
needed to carry out the projects and programmes.
Tax duties and charges and the purchase of property shall be excluded
from the Community financing.
3. Costs covered may include technical assistance, studies, training
and other institution-building measures; supply programmes for essen-tial equipment or inputs; investment operations, including workprogrammes.
4. Maintenance and operating costs in central and eastern European
countries may be covered in the start-up phase and in a digressive
manner.
Article 7
1. For each of the border regions, a Joint Cooperation Committee
will be set up consisting of representatives of the countries concernedincluding regional or local representatives, and of representatives of theCommission.
2. The Joint Cooperation Committee will prepare a joint cross-
border programming document in a multi-annual perspective; thisdocument will include common development strategies and priorities
for the region, seen as one single socio-economic and geographical
entity, and provisions concerning joint implementation. This documentwill guide the programming and implementation of the actions to beundertaken in the framework of the relevant programmes and initiativesfor cross-border cooperation, assisted by the European Community.
3. The Joint Cooperation Committee will define a common set of
projects once per year, taking into account the joint cross-border
programming document provided under paragraph 2. Recommendationsfor projects will be transmitted to the Commission by the Governmentof the country of central and eastern Europe concerned on the basis ofthe proposals submitted by the relevant authorities.
Article 8
1. The Commissionwill formulate a programme proposal per border
taking into account the joint cross-border programming documentreferred to under Article 7(1) and further recommendations of the Joint1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 5
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Cooperation Committees for projects to be financed under this
programme, as transmitted by the government of the central andeastern European country concerned.
2. The grant constituting the full or partial contribution of the
country of central and eastern Europe to the joint project will beapproved following the procedure defined in Article 9 of Regulation(EEC) No 3906/89 and agreed with the recipient country concernedby means of a financing memorandum.
Article 9
1. The Commission shall administer this assistance in accordance
with the normal practice applied to the assistance to central and easternEurope, as defined in Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89.
2. Wherever possible, joint monitoring structures should be set up to
facilitate the implementation of the programmes.
Article 10
In implementing the objectives referred to pursuant to Article 3, the
Commission shall ensure coordination and consistency between assis-tance from PHARE, other external assistance programmes, andassistance provided by the Structural Funds.
Article 11
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities ,a nd
shall replace Regulation(EC) No 1628/94 onthat day.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1998R2760 — EN — 01.01.2004 — 002.001 — 6