1989R3906 — EN — 02.01.2005 — 013.001

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

Amended by:









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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3906/89

of 18 December 1989

on economic aid to certain countries of Central and Eastern Europe

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THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ( 1 ), Whereas the Community and its Member States have decided to make a concerted effort together with certain third countries, in order to implement measures intended to support the process of economic and social reform under way in Hungary and Poland; Whereas the Community has concluded Agreements on trade and commercial and economic cooperation with the Republic of Hungary and the Polish People's Republic; Whereas the Community must have the necessary means at its disposal to be able to implement such measures; Whereas the fields in which measures are to be undertaken should be determined; Whereas it is necessary to estimate the amount of Community financial resources needed to carry out these measures in 1990; Whereas the implementation of such measures will help to achieve the Community's aims and whereas the Treaty does not provide, for the measures in question, powers other than those of Article 235, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:







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Article 1

The Community shall make economic aid available to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe listed in the Annex in accordance with the criteria laid down in this Regulation.

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Article 3

1. The aid shall be used primarily to support the process of reform ►M1 in the countries referred to in Article 1 ◄ , in particular by financing or participating in the financing of projects aimed at economic restructuring.

Such projects or cooperation measures should be undertaken in particular in the areas of agriculture, industry, investment, energy, training, environmental protection, trade and services; they should be aimed in particular at the private sector ►M1 of the countries referred to in Article 1 ◄ .

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The aid may also be used to provide humanitarian assistance.

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2. Account shall be taken, inter alia, of the preferences and wishes expressed by the recipient countries concerned in the choice of measures to be financed pursuant to this Regulation.

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3. For applicant countries with accession partnerships with the European Union, funding under the PHARE programme shall focus on the main priorities for the adoption of the acquis communautaire, i.e. building up the administrative and institutional capacities of the applicant States and investment, except for the type of investments financed in accordance with Council Regulations (EC) No 1267/1999 of 21 June 1999 establishing an instrument for structural policies for pre-accession ( 2 ) and (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21 June 1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in pre-accession period ( 3 ), provided the conditions for funding measures under those two Regulations are met. PHARE funding may also be used to finance the measures in the fields of environment, transport and agriculture and rural development which form an incidental but indispensable part of integrated industrial reconstruction or regional development programmes.

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4. Assistance may be used to cover the participation of recipient countries under this Regulation in regional, cross-border, and, where appropriate, transnational and interregional cooperation among themselves and between them and EU Member States.

5. Where appropriate, aid may also be used to cover a recipient country's participation in regional programmes under other legal instruments.

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Article 4

The aid shall be granted by the Community, either independently or in the form of cofinancing with the Member States, the European Investment Bank, third countries or multilateral bodies or the recipient countries themselves.

Article 5

Community aid shall in general be in the form of grants. They may generate funds that can be used for financing cooperation projects or measures.

Article 6

1. The aid may cover expenditure on imports and local expenditure needed to carry out the projects and programmes.

Taxes, duties and charges and the purchase of property shall be excluded from Community financing.

2. Maintenance and operating costs may be covered for training and research programmes and for other projects; however, for the latter such costs may be covered only in the start-up stage and shall be degressive.

3. However, in the case of cofinancing, account shall be taken in each case of the procedures applied by the other providers of capital.

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Article 7

1. Participation in invitations to tender and contracts shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons from the Member States coming within the scope of the Treaties, from candidate countries for accession to the European Union as well as from countries benefiting from assistance in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2666/2000 of 5 December 2000 on assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ( 4 ). The contracting authority may, in duly substantiated cases and on a case-by-case basis, authorise the participation of natural and legal persons from third countries in invitations to tender and contracts.

2. Supplies shall, within the scope of the Treaties, originate in the Member States, in candidate countries for accession to the European Union or in countries benefiting from assistance in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2666/2000. In duly substantiated cases and on a case-by-case basis, the contracting authority may give derogation from this requirement.

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Article 8

The Commission shall administer the aid taking into account the procedure laid down in Article 9. The general guidelines applicable to the aid and to sector-based programmes shall be adopted in accordance with that procedure.

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The Commission may, within the limits established in Article 54 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities ( 5 ), decide to entrust tasks of public authority, and in particular budget implementation tasks to the bodies listed in Article 54(2) of that Regulation. The bodies defined in Article 54(2)(c) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 may be entrusted with tasks of public authority if they are of recognised international standing, comply with internationally recognised systems of management and control, and are supervised by a public authority.

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Article 9

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee referred to as the committee on aid for economic restructuring in the countries referred to in Article 1. An observer from the European Investment Bank shall take part in the committee's proceedings with regard to questions concerning the Bank.

2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC ( 6 ) shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at six weeks.

3. The committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

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Article 10

From 1990 the Commission shall draw up each year a report on the implementation of co-operation operations. The report shall be sent to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee.

Article 11

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

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ANNEX

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Bulgaria

Croatia

Romania