Decision No 1/2000 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

of 27 July 2000

regarding transitional measures valid from 2 August 2000 until the entry into force of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement

(2000/483/EC)

THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS,

Having regard to the fourth ACP-EC Convention, signed in Lomé on 15 December 1989 and revised in Port Louis on 4 November 1995, hereinafter referred to as 'the Convention', and in particular Article 366(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Negotiations for a new ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement", were concluded in Brussels on 2 and 3 February 2000. The Agreement will not enter into force until the ratification processes in accordance with Article 93 thereof have been completed.

(2) The ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors took a decision on 28 February 2000(1) whereby transitional measures applicable until 1 August 2000 were adopted.

(3) In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 366(3) of the Convention, the Council of Ministers has to adopt transitional measures to cover the period between 2 August 2000 and the entry into force of the Agreement.

(4) With the exception of provisions concerning the release and implementation of financial resources from the ninth European Development Fund (EDF), the Parties deem it appropriate to provide for an early application of the Agreement as from 2 August 2000.

(5) Provisions which relate to the release and implementation of financial resources from the ninth EDF cannot take effect before the Financial Protocol attached to the Agreement enters into force. Financial cooperation during the interim period will therefore be financed with resources remaining from previous EDFs.

(6) In contrast, programming of resources available from the ninth EDF may begin before the entry into force of the Financial Protocol attached to the Agreement. Such programming may imply an indicative allocation but not a commitment of funds available under the ninth EDF,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Provisional application of the Agreement

1. As from 2 August 2000, the provisions of the Agreement shall be put into early application with the following exceptions:

(a) Annex I;

(b) Annex II, Chapter 1;

(c) Annex IV: Chapter 3, Articles 17, 18 and 19, and Chapters 4 to 6.

2. The applicable provisions of the Agreement shall supersede the provisions of the Convention in the equivalent fields.

3. The provisions to be put into early application under paragraph 1 shall, as from 2 August 2000, be valid for any signatory States of the Agreement that were not parties to the Convention.

4. The Agreement is contained in the Annex(2) to this Decision.

Article 2

Continued applicability of the Convention

The following provisions of the Convention shall remain applicable for all or parts of the interim period:

(a) Part 3, Title II, Chapter 1 shall, in accordance with Article 207 of the Convention, be extended until 31 December 2000 for transfer decisions for the 1998 and 1999 application years and for the reimbursement of the residual balances arising under the second Financial Protocol (Article 195, point (a));

(b) Part 3, Title II, Chapter 3 shall be extended until 31 December 2000 for operations for which a request for aid was submitted before 1 August 2000. In accordance with Article 281 of the Convention, and subject to the provisions of the Agreement, the programming exercise shall take into account the needs of finalisation of requests submitted for aid prior to 1 August 2000, but for which decisions cannot be taken before 31 December 2000 due to necessary procedures for taking such decisions, and the indicated financial allocations shall to the extent possible be respected for the support to the identified development programmes;

(c) Part 3, Title III, Chapter 3, Sections 3 and 4 shall remain applicable until the funds are exhausted. This shall include any increase in risk capital managed by the European Investment Bank decided by the ACP-EC Council of Ministers during the transitional period;

(d) Part 3, Title III

(i) Chapter 5, Section 1, for ACP States which, due to exceptional circumstances, have not completed the programming exercise under the Convention;

(ii) Chapter 5, Sections 2 to 6;

(iii) Chapter 6

shall remain applicable until the entry into force of the Agreement;

(e) the provisions relating to the power of the Council of Ministers to decide on the use of unallocated resources from the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs in accordance with Articles 195(b), 219(2)(d), 245(2), 257 and 282(5).

Article 3

Resources from the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

1. Resources from the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs which were allocated to an ACP State before 1 August 2000 in accordance with Article 245(1), Article 254 and Article 281 of the Convention, shall remain allocated to that State. The balances of these funds shall be used for programming consistent with the relevant provisions of the Agreement.

2. Resources from the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs which were allocated to an ACP region before 1 August 2000 in accordance with Article 160 of the Convention shall remain allocated to that region. The balances of these funds shall be used for programming consistent with the relevant provisions of the Agreement.

3. Without prejudice to Article 2(d)(i), unallocated resources from previous EDFs shall be allocated to ACP States and regions and used for programming consistent with the relevant provisions of the Agreement. Unallocated resources in this context are:

(a) resources from the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs which have not previously been allocated for a specific ACP State or region in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2; and

(b) resources of the Stabex and Sysmin instruments which remain after the period defined in Article 2(a) and Article 2(b) of this Decision, save for a reserve which shall be established before 30 September 2000 in order to finance any decision referred to in Article 2(a) and Article 2(b) which shall be taken before 31 December 2000. The financial resources allocated to this reserve shall cover the rights flowing from application of the Stabex instrument. Upon entry into force of this Decision, funds available on the Stabex account shall gradually be transferred to the special EDF account. The remaining funds from the reserve available on 31 December 2000 on the special Stabex account shall be transferred to the special EDF account before 31 December 2001. Before 30 September 2000, the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors shall determine the methods for calculating this reserve and the final amount thereof and also the method for transferring any unexpended balance to the special EDF account.

Article 4

Centre for Development of Enterprise

1. All resources and activities of the Centre for the Development of Industry shall be transferred to the Centre for Development of Enterprise.

2. The Committee of Ambassadors shall appoint, as soon as possible before 1 December 2000, following a fair and transparent selection procedure, two deputy directors of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise, for the transitional period up to 31 August 2002.

Article 5

Rules of Procedure

1. Taking into account the provisional application of the Agreement and in accordance with Articles 15(5) and 16(3) thereof, the Council of Ministers and the Committee of Ambassadors shall adopt their rules of procedure within six months of the entry into force of this Decision.

2. Until the adoption of the rules of procedure referred to in paragraph 1, the rules of procedure of the Council of Ministers as adopted by the Decision of 22 May 1997(3) and of the Committee of Ambassadors as adopted by the Decision of 18 March 1997(4) shall remain applicable.

Article 6

Implementation of this Decision

The ACP States, the Member States and the Community shall be required to take the steps appropriate to each of them with regard to the implementation of this Decision.

Article 7

Entry into force and validity of this Decision

This Decision shall enter into force on 2 August 2000. It shall apply until the Agreement enters into force but no longer than 1 June 2002. The Council of Ministers may decide to extend its application.

Done at Brussels, 27 July 2000.

The President of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors

by delegation, for the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

Y. Azor-Charles

(1) OJ L 56, 1.3.2000, p. 47.

(2) This Annex will be published as soon as possible.

(3) OJ L 220, 11.8.1997, p. 58.

(4) OJ L 220, 11.8.1997, p. 62.