COMMON POSITION (EC) No 4/98 adopted by the Council on 5 November 1997 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No . . ./98 of . . . on decentralised cooperation (98/C 43/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130w thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (2),

Whereas the importance of a decentralised approach to development cooperation has been emphasized in the Fourth ACP-EC Convention, Council Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 of 25 February 1992 on financial and technical assistance to, and economic cooperation with, the developing countries of Asia and Latin America (3), and the Council resolution of 27 May 1991 on cooperation with NGOs and in numerous European Parliament resolutions;

Whereas the budgetary authority decided to include in the 1992 budget a heading for the promotion of this approach in all developing countries;

Whereas a financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 2 of the Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 March 1995 on the incorporation of financial provisions into legislative acts (4) is included in this Regulation for the period 1998 to 2000, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as they are defined by the Treaty;

Whereas decentralised cooperation makes an important contribution to achieving the cooperation policy objectives of the Community as set out in Article 130u of the Treaty;

Whereas administrative procedures should be established accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Community shall support pilot operations and initiatives on sustainable development undertaken by decentralised cooperation agents of the Community and the developing countries, in particular those designed to promote:

- a more participatory approach to development, responsive to the needs and initiatives of the population in the developing countries,

- a contribution to the diversification and reinforcement of civil society and grassroots democracy in the countries concerned,

- the mobilisation of decentralised cooperation agents in the Community and the developing countries in pursuit of these objectives within the structured programmes.

All developing countries shall be eligible for operations to promote decentralised cooperation.

Article 2

The priority fields for operations under this Regulation shall be:

- the development of human and technical resources and local rural or urban social and economic development in the developing countries,

- information and the mobilisation of decentralised cooperation agents,

- support for strengthening the institutional capacities of such agents and their capacity for action,

- methodological back-up and follow-up for operations.

Article 3

The cooperation partners eligible for financial support under this Regulation are decentralised cooperation agents in the Community or the developing countries, namely local authorities, non-governmental organizations, local traders' associations and local citizens' groups, cooperatives, trade unions, women's and youth organisations, teaching and research institutions, churches and any non-governmental associations likely to contribute to development.

Article 4

1. Community financing of the operations referred to in Article 1 shall cover a period of 3 years (1998 to 2000).

The financial reference amount for the implementation of this programme for the period 1998 to 2000 shall be ECU 18 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.

2. The budgetary authorised shall determine the appropriations available for each financial year taking account of the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 2 of the financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.

Article 5

1. The instruments to be employed in the course of the operations referred to in Article 1 shall include studies, technical assistance, training or other services, supplies and works, along with audits and evaluation and monitoring missions.

2. Community financing may cover both investment expenditure, with the exception of the purchase of buildings, and, since the project must, if possible, aim at medium-term viability, recurring expenditure (including administrative, maintenance and operating expenditure).

3. A contribution from the partners defined in Article 3 shall be sought for each cooperation operation. The contribution shall be requested according to their means and the nature of the operation concerned.

4. Opportunities may be sought for cofinancing with other fund providers, and especially with Member States.

5. In order to attain the objectives of coherence and complementarity laid down in the Treaty, and with the aim of guaranteeing optimum efficiency of the totality of these operations, the Commission may take all necessary coordination measures, including in particular:

(a) the establishment of a system for the systematic exchange and analysis of information on operations financed or for which financing is envisaged by the Community and the Member States;

(b) on-the-spot coordination of these actions by means of regular meetings and exchange of information between the representatives of the Commission and Member States in the beneficiary country.

Article 6

Financial support under this Regulation shall be in the form of grants.

Article 7

1. The Commission shall appraise, decide and administer operations covered by this Regulation according to the budgetary and other procedures in force, and in particular those laid down in the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.

2. Decisions relating to grants of more than ECU 1 million for individual operations financed under this Regulation and any amendment involving an increase of more than 20 % in the amount initially approved for such an operation shall be adopted under the procedure laid down in Article 8.

3. Project and programme appraisal shall take into account the following factors:

- effectiveness and viability of operations,

- cultural and social aspects, aspects relating to equal opportunity for men and women, and the environment,

- institutional development necessary to achieve objectives of the operation,

- experience gained from operations of the same kind.

4. All financing agreements or contracts concluded under this Regulation shall provide for the Commission and the Court of Auditors to conduct on-the-spot checks according to the usual procedures laid down by the Commission under the rules in force, and in particular those in the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.

5. Participation in invitations to tender and the award of contracts shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons of the Member States and of the recipient country. It may be extended to other developing countries and, in exceptional cases which are fully justified, to other third countries.

6. Supplies shall originate in the Member States, the recipient country or other developing countries. In exceptional cases, where circumstances warrant, supplies may originate in other third countries.

Article 8

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the geographically determined Committee competent for development.

2. The Commission representative shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.

3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged which shall apply immediately.

(b) However, if they are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event:

- the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided on for a period of one month from the date of such communication,

- the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time limit referred to in the first indent.

Article 9

The Committee referred to in Article 8 shall meet once a year to discuss general guidelines presented by the Commission representative for operations in the year ahead.

Article 10

After each budget year, the Commission shall submit an annual report to the European Parliament and the Council, summarising the operations financed in the course of that year and evaluating the implementation of this Regulation in that period.

The summary shall in particular contain information on the decentralised cooperation agents with whom contracts have been concluded.

Every three months, the Commission shall inform the Member States of the operations and projects approved, stating their cost and nature, the recipient country and partners. This information shall be accompanied by an Annex clearly setting out the projects or programmes which exceed ECU 1 million.

Article 11

The Commission shall make regular assessments of operations financed by the Community, in order to establish whether the objectives targeted by these operations have been attained and in order to give indications to improve the effectiveness of future operations. The Commission shall submit to the Committee referred to in Article 8 a summary of assessments carried out, which the latter may examine where appropriate. The assessment reports shall be available to Member States requesting them.

Article 12

Before the end of 1999, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council an overall assessment of the operations financed by the Community under this Regulation, accompanied by suggestions concerning the future of this Regulation.

Article 13

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

It shall apply until 31 December 2000.

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

Done at . . .

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 250, 26.9.1995, p. 13.

(2) Opinion of the European Parliament delivered on 15 December 1995 (OJ C 17, 22.1.1996, p. 460). Council common position of 5 November 1992 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 52, 27.2.1992, p. 1.

(4) OJ C 102, 4.4.1996, p. 4.

THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. By letter of 31 August 1995 the Commission forwarded to the Council a proposal (1) for a regulation on decentralised cooperation.

2. On 12 December 1995 the European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal at first reading (2).

3. On 5 November 1997 the Council adopted its common position pursuant to Article 189c of the Treaty.

II. AIM OF THE PROPOSAL

The aim of the proposal is to create a legal basis for implementing the appropriations entered in the budget and intended for financing pilot operations and initiatives for sustainable development concerning the promotion of decentralised cooperation to benefit all developing countries.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSAL

The common position retains the essence of the Commission proposal regarding the nature of the operations to be financed (Articles 1 and 2), the partners eligible for financial support under this Regulation (Article 3) and the instruments which can be employed in the course of the operations referred to (Article 5). The Council also incorporated in its common position most of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament.

However, the Council, given the nature of the pilot operations and initiatives covered by this Regulation stemming form a new approach to development cooperation, considered that such an experiment should be conducted for a period limited to three years.

The Commission is called upon to submit to the Parliament and to the Council, before the end of 1999, an overall evaluation of the operations financed by the Community under the Regulation, accompanied by suggestions for the Regulation's future.

The Council, with a view to maximum efficiency, has laid down certain criteria in Article 7(3) concerning appraisal of the projects and programmes proposed for Community financing.

As for the decision-making procedures, the Council has taken account of the technical requirements of efficient management, bearing in mind the nature of the operations and their modest dimensions.

It was accordingly agreed that decisions relating to:

- grants of more than ECU 1 million for individual operations would be taken under the II(b) procedure of the Committee Procedure Decision,

- the annual general guidelines would be discussed by the Committee mentioned in Article 8.

(1) OJ C 250, 26.9.1995, p. 13.

(2) OJ C 17, 22.1.1996, p. 460.