ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(79)519
Vol.1979/0179

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(79)519 final
Brussels,8thOctober1979
FINANCIAL ANDTECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
TONON-ASSOCIATES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GENERALGUIDELINES FORTHE1980PROGRAMME
(ARTICLE930OFTHEBUDGET)
(Communication fromtheCommission totheCounciland
totheEuropeanParliament )
COM(79)519final

Introduction
Since itscommencement in1976 (onasymbolic scale ),thenon-associates
aidprogramme hasgrown steadily ,and ithaspermitted theCommunity to
make anincreasingly significant contribution tothedevelopment ofa
group ofcountries which were previously largely excluded from the
scope oftheCommunity 'sactivities .
Further ,theexperience ofthese past four years hasdemonstrated clearly
thegreat'value ofthis programme ,notonly fortherecipient countries ,
which are among thepoorest andleast-developed intheworld ,
butalso fortheCommunity itself ,which hasbenefitted from the
strengthening ofitsreciprocal links with these countries .
Inhelping toimprove living conditions fortherural poor inAsia ,Latin
America ,andparts ofAfrica ,and inexpanding cooperation between the
Community andthese countries ,thenon-associates aidprogramme hasbecome
animportant component oftheCommunity 'soverall contribution to
world development .-
Despite theprogramme 'ssteady expansion ,however ,itisapparent that the
funds available are still very limited inrelation totheneeds and
requirements oftherecipient countries .Itmust benoted here that the
total population ofthose countries eligible forassistance under the
non-associates programme amounts toabout 1250 million <1976 estimates ),
or31%oftheworld 'stotal population ,ofthese 1250 million ,some
9Q0million people lived incountries whose percapita GNPwasbelow $200 .
c
Forthis reason ,theCommission isoftheopinion that this form ofaid
should beincreased substantially infuture years ,tohelp meet thereal
andgrowing needs oftherecipient countries ,andallow theCommunity to
confirm itscommitment tohelping themost needy .Thefunds available
forthe 1980 programme arenotyetknown (thefinal decision bythe
Budgetary Authority will bemade only attheendof1979 ),butthe
Commission considers that the amount available for .commitment should ,"be .
increased significantly over that inscribed inth®Budget for1979 (110MEU .
andforthis reason hasproposed anamount of140MEUAinthedraft
budget for1$80 ,"■

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II.Geographical Allocation
Indetermining the allocation ofthis aid ,among thethree target
continents ,thebasic criterion must bethe size and level ofneed
ofthedifferent regions .Inaddition ,however ,there isacertain
minimum threshhold ofintervention below which nosignificant projects
canbeimplemented ,andone mus,t consider also theneed toensure a
reasonable balance inCommunity assistance tothe different target
regions .
Taking dueaccount ofthese considerations ,itwould seem that anallo­
cation similar tothat followed in1979 should beadopted again for1980 .
This would permit 737.oftheaid tobeallocated toAsia ,20%toLatin
America ,and7%toAfrica *^*.
Itmust beremembered ,however ,that anallocation ofthis type can
only beoflimited significance ,given therelatively small size ofthe'
non-associates aidprogramme .These figures should therefore beregarded
asanindicative pattern only ,subject toslight modification depending
onthe individual projects which become available * . . >
Asregards the choice ofindividual recipient countries ,theapproach to
befollowed should asinprevious years beanessentially pragmatic one,
dependent onthe identification ofvaluable projects rather than on
anyabstract allocation for individual recipients .Thecriteria tobe
followed inselecting projects will include inparticular thedegree of
fitbetween project objectives andourowngeneral aidprinciples , :
thetechnical possibility ofachieving thedesired objectives ,the
manner inwhich earlier projects have been implemented ,therate of
.. ,disbursement andthedegree ofcooperation established with theresponsible
authorities .
Asinprevious programmes ,aidwill bedirected essentially towards
thepoorest developing countries inthethree target regions .Under
certain limited circumstances ,however , aidmayalso begranted to
less poor developing countries inthetarget regions ,onthecondition
that theprojects concerned areclearly infavour ofthevery poorest
regions orpopulation groups inthese countries .This possibility
(1)IfAngola and/orMozambique should become signatories ofthenewEEC/ACP j
.theAfrican allocation could bepartly orwholly redistributed /conventior
among theother target regions .Itshould also benoted that the
funds tobeheld inreserve forpost-catastrophe projects ,along with
theseparate provisions forstudies andadministrative expenses ,are
notsubject tothis general geographical allocation .

hasalreadybeenintroducedintheguidelinesforthe1979programme/
andresultedintheinclusioninthatprogrammeoftwovaluable '
.projectsinPeruandEcuador. ; >
Followingonasuggestionalreadymadeinthegeneralguidelines
forthe1979programme/aneffortwillagainbemadetoachievea
certaindegreeof"concentration "ofnon-associates aid.Ratherthan
financingasmallprojecteachyearineacheligiblecountry/aidforsomeof
thesmallerrecipientsshouldbeconcentrated inoneyearo^amore
substantialproject/andnofurtheraidgrantedforoneormoreyears.
Thiswouldhelpavoidanexcessivefragmentation ofresources/while
atthesametimfeincreasingthedirectimpactofCommunityaid.
Severalcountries,includingHondurasandThailand/mightbeconsidered ,
forsuchconcentrated assistanceunderthe.1980programme.Butperhaps
thebestexampleofthisprocedurecanbeprovidedbySriLanka.The
maindevelopmentpriorityoftheSriLankagovernmentistheimplementa­
tionoftheMahaweliGangairrigation scheme/amajorprogrammefor,•.
harnessing anddistributing thecountry'swaterresources.Ratherthan
makingaseriesofminorcontributions tosmallcomponentsofthisproject/
overanumberofyears/theCommissionintendstoproposeamajorcontribution
tothisschemeunderthe1980programme.SeveralMemberStatesarealso/
likelytomakesubstantialcontributionstothisproject/which/byremo­
vingtheconstraintofwater-shortage /shouldplayacrucialroleinreali~
singtheconsiderable developmentpotentialofthiscountry.
i ' •
Acontinuedeffortwillbemadetoprovideassistanceforprojectsofa
regionalcharacter/totheextentthatvaluableandeffectiveprojects
ofthistypecanbeidentified.Itmustbestressed/however/thatsuch
projectsarerare,particularly intheruralsector.Further/thegovern­
mentsofmanydevelopingcountriesdonotyetseemfullypreparedtomake
thecommitmenttopracticalcooperation andintegrationthatsuchprojects
mayrequire.Thisisparticularly thecaSeinAsia■Thesituationis
i
somewhatbetterinLatinAmerica,but'even-heregoodregionalprojects
arescarce.
tI
_. s
«. • • f ':

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/
III.SectoralAllocation
Communityaidu>derthenon-associates programmewillcontinuetobe
concentratedessentially onthedevelopmentoftheruralsector(broadly­
'defined),andparticularly onthoseactionswhichcan,directly,or
indirectly,improvethepositionofthepoorestgroupsintheruralpo­
pulation,andincreasethesupplyoffoodstuffs.Thiswillinclude,where
appropriate,thestrengthening ofsocialandeconomicinfrastructure.
Considerable emphasiswillcontinuetobegiventointegratedruralde­
velopmentprojects.Suchprojects,encompassingallthedevelopment
xmeasuresrequiredtoimproveeconomicandsocialconditionsinaspecific
(iflimited)targetarea,haveaccountedfor24.6%oftotalprogramme
MVfundinginpastyears(average1976-79).Theyprovideoneofthemost
effectivemethodsofmakingadirectandlastingimpactontheliving
•,conditionsoftheruralpoor,butititiustbeborneinmindthatsuchprojects
arenecessarilydifficulttoexecuteandhavearelativelyslowrateofdisbur
sement.
Greateremphasisthanhithertowillbegiventoprojectsinthefieldof
fisheriesandaquaculture,ruralroads,andforestrydevelopment.Over
thepastfourprogrammes,thesesectorsaccountedrespectively for3.9
2.0%and0.9Xoftotalprogrammefunding.
Thefisheriessector,bothmarineandinland,isincreasingly recognised
asoneoftheareasofferingthegreatestpotentialforimprovednutri­
tionintropicalcountries,whileruraltransportimprovements areofconsi­
derableimportanceinalleviatingthemarketingconstraintwhichfacesso
manypoorruralareas.Theforestrysectoralsooffersgreatpotential
fordevelopment,intermsofwatershedprotectionaswellasfirewoodand
timberproduction,andthissectorislikelytobecomeincreasingly impor­
tantinfuturewiththegrowingneedforabetterutilisationoftheworld's
renewableresources. i;
Othermainsectorsofinterestwillbeirrigationandwatersupplies
(averaging16.1%ofpastfunding)andpost-harvest storage(16.9%>•
Irrigationinparticularisofcrucialimportanceinmanyareas,andshould
maintainthesignificantshareofnon-associates aidwhichithasreceived
uptillnow.
(1)Cf.ProgressReportontheadministration oftheProgrammesofTechnical
&FinancialAssistancetonon"*associated DevelopingCountriesfor/
1976,1977and1978.-

AnotherfieldofactivityinwhichtheCommissionproposestointensify
itsassistanceisthatofprojectpreparation,throughstudiesandtechni­
calassistance.Thisareahasaccountedfor9.1%oftotalfundingover
thepastfourprogrammes.Manyofthepoorestdevelopingcountriesexpe­
rienceconsiderabledifficultyinpreparingasufficientnumberofprojects
acceptableforexternalfinance -andcapableofrapidimplementation .
Expandedassistanceinthisfieldwillhelptoremovethisincreasingly
seriousbottleneck,andprovidetherecipientcountrieswithabetter
pipelineofgoodprojectscapableofbeingproposedforCommunityfinance
orforassistance fromotherdonors.,
TLargerproject-preparation studieswillcontinuetobefinancedassepa­
rateprojects,eitherautonomously orsincooperation withsuchorganisa­
tionsas'theAsianDevelopment Bank.Asinthe.1979programme,however,
asmallproportionoftotalprogrammefunds(between1and2/£)willbeset
asideforthefinanceofsmallerstudiesandtechnicalassistancegrants,so
astohelpsimplifytheadministrative proceduresinvolved.
Supportforagricultural researchwillbe-continued,boththroughassistance
tothemajorinternational researchinstitutes,andthroughsupportfor
appliedresearchonthenationallevel.Intotal,researchsupporthas
accountedfor7.1%oftotalfundingunderprevious ,programmes..
Given,however,thatourcontribution totheworkoftheCGIARinstitutes
alreadyaccountsforaquitesignificantproportionoftheir,overaUbudgets,
thisassistanceshouldnotbeincreasedsubstantially intheimmediatefuture
IV.Otherpoints _ ..
IV.1.Catastrophereserve
Asin1978and1979,aproportionofthefundsavailableunderthe1980-
programmewillbeheldinreserveforlong-termreconstruction orprevention
.projectsfollowingcatastrophes .Giventheimpossibility ofpredicting
likelyneedsforthistypeofassistance,itisalwaysdifficulttodeter­
mineinadvancetheamountoffundswhichshouldbeallocatedtothisre-
1serve.Ifhoweveronetakesaccountoftheexperienceofpreviousyears,
itwouldseemthatanallocationof7%to10%oftotalprogrammefunds
wouldbemostappropriate. '
^Theproportionoftotalprogrammefundsusedforpost-catastrophe projectswas3%
in1978(oneprojectinIndia)and10»%in.1979<(twoprojectsinIndia,andoneeach
inSriLankaiNicaraguaandtheCentralAmericanregion).

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IV.2.Provisiori_fo_r^admifi's_trative_cos_ts__
Asinthethreepreviousyears,asmallproportionoftotalprogrammefunds
(around1%)willbesetasideasaspecialprovisionforadministrative cost
tocovertheshort-termrecruitmentofoutsideexpertswhowillgivespecial­
izedtechnicalassistanceintheidentification,appraisalandimplementation
ofprojects.Thisassistancedoe?notsubstitutetothecontributiongivenby
thestaffofthevariousdepartmentsoftheCommissionwhichanywaywillhave
tobeincreased-
IV.3._Cofi_najicjnç |_
Cofinancedprojectswillcontinuetorepresentanimportantproportion
ofthetotalaidprovidedunderthenon-associates programme.
Inpastyears,alargenumberofprojectshavebeencofinancedwithva­
riousinternational aidorganisations (notablytheAsianDevelopment Bank
andtheInter-Americarv Development Bank),andthisveryeffectiveformof
cooperationwillbecontinued,andwherepossibleintensified,inthefutur-.
CofinancementwithMemberStates,however,hasbeenrelativelylimitedup
tillnow^andamajoreffortwillberequiredonbothsidesifthisformof
Disbursement ratesforaidprovidedunderthenon-associates programmes hav
beenrelativelyslowinthepast,thoughitmustberecognisedthatamajor
causeofthisisthedeliberateorientation oftheprogrammetowardspro­
jectsintheruralsector,manyofwhich,bytheirverynature,require
carefulandpainstaking implementation overaperiodofseveralyears..
Anumberofstepshavehoweverbeentakentohelpimprovethissituation,
NoprojectswerecofinanceddirectlywithMemberStatesunderthe1976or1977
programmes.Threesuchprojectswereincludedinthe.1978programme(UK,F,I),
accountingfor14.9%oftotalprogrammefunding.Fiveprojectshavebeenincludec
inthe1979programme(B,D,I<2>,NL),accountingfor9.4%oftotalprogramme
funding. 'CofinancementwithMemberStates,
tillnow^andamajoreffortwill
cooperationistobeexpanded.
IV.4.Disbursement rates

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includingtheintensification andregutarisationofcontactswithpo­
tentialrecipientsandcofinancingpartners,andanattempttobuildup
astockofreadyprojectscapableofrapidimplementation .Theseefforts
willbefurtherintensified whereverpracticable.
9
Inaddition,itisintendedtoprepareaninitialpartofthe1980pro­
grammebyaboutthemonthofJune,sothatafirstblockoffinancing
decisionsmaybetakenearlierintheyearandtheimplementation of
theseprojectsadvanced.