EN  EN  EN 
EN  EN  EUROPEAN COMMISSION  
   Brussels, 21.12.2009 
    SEC(2009) 1726 final  
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
BACKGROUND DOCUMENT TO THE  2008 ANNUAL REPORT ON PHARE, 
TURKEY PRE-ACCESSION INSTRUM ENT, CARDS AND TRANSITION 
FACILITY 
  
COUNTRY SECTIONS & ADDI TIONAL INFORMATION 
  
{COM(2009) 700 final}
EN  EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
List of Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………6 
Part I: Country section........................................................................................................ ........ 9 
1. Albania ..................................................................................................................... .... 9 
1.1. The year in review........................................................................................................ 9 
1.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 10 1.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 13 2. Bosnia and Herzegovina ............................................................................................ 17 2.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 17  
2.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 18 2.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 24 3. Bulgaria.................................................................................................................... .. 28 
3.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... . 28 
3.2. Phare/pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 ............................. 28 
3.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 29 4. Croatia..................................................................................................................... ... 31 
4.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 31  
4.2. Pre-accession assistance in 2008................................................................................ 32 4.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 34 5. Cyprus ...................................................................................................................... .. 38 
5.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... . 38 
5.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 38 
5.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 38 6. Czech Republic .......................................................................................................... 40 6.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... . 40 
6.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 40 
6.3. Results and Impact…………………………………………………………………..41 7. Estonia..................................................................................................................... ... 42 
7.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... . 42 
7.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 42 
7.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 43 
EN  EN 8. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia........................................................... 44 
8.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 44  
8.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 45 8.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 48 9. Hungary..................................................................................................................... . 51 
9.1. Summary ................................................................................................................... . 51 
9.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 51 
9.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 52 10. Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99) .............................................................................. 53 10.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 5 3 
10.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 54 10.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 58  
11. Latvia..................................................................................................................... ..... 62 
11.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 62 
11.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 62 
11.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 63  
12. Lithuania .................................................................................................................. .. 64 
12.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 64 
12.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 64 
12.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 64  
13. Malta ...................................................................................................................... .... 66 
13.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 66 
13.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 66 
13.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 67  
14. Montenegro ................................................................................................................ 6 8 
14.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 6 8 
14.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 69 
14.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 73  
15. Poland..................................................................................................................... .... 76 
15.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 76 
15.2. Pre-accession and financial assistance in 2008.......................................................... 76 15.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 77  
EN  EN 16. Romania .................................................................................................................... . 78 
16.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 7 8 
16.2. Phare/pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 ............................. 78 
16.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 79  
17. Serbia..................................................................................................................... ..... 81 
17.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 8 1 
17.2. Financial assistance in 2008....................................................................................... 82 17.3. Results and impact ..................................................................................................... 88  
18. Slovakia................................................................................................................... ... 91 
18.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 91 
18.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 91 
18.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 92  
19. Slovenia................................................................................................................... ... 93 
19.1. Summary .................................................................................................................. .. 93 
19.2. Pre-accession, financial and Tr ansition assistance in 2008 ....................................... 93 
19.3. Results and Impact ..................................................................................................... 94  
20. Turkey ..................................................................................................................... ... 95 
20.1. The year in review...................................................................................................... 9 5 
20.2. Pre-Accession assistance in 2008............................................................................... 96 
20.3       Results and Impact……………………………………………………………….     98 
 
Part II: Additional information on implemen tation and programme management issues ..... 101 
21. Technical and Financial assistance .......................................................................... 101 21.1. Twinning ................................................................................................................. . 101 
21.2. TAIEX.................................................................................................................... .. 102 
21.3. SIGMA.................................................................................................................... . 102 
22. Information on multi-country and horizontal programmes...................................... 103 
22.1. Political Criteria ....................................................................................................... 103 
22.2. Economic Criteria: IFI Cooperation and Competitiveness ...................................... 107 22.3. European Standards.................................................................................................. 110 
22.4        Support Activities…………………………………………………………………115 
 23.           Programme Management Issues - Monitoring and Evaluation…………………   116 
 
EN  EN 23.1. Monitoring and Interim Evaluation.......................................................................... 116 
23.2. Ex-post evaluation.................................................................................................... 116  
23.3. Other activities of the monito ring and evaluation function ..................................... 117 
Part III: Financial data....................................................................................................... ..... 118 
24.1 Phare, Turkey pre-accession and trans ition facility funds by year 1990 – 2008 ..... 118 
24.2 Phare, Turkey pre-accession and transition facility funds by country 1990–2008.. 118 24.3 CARDS funds by year 2000 – 2008......................................................................... 119 24.4 CARDS funds by country 2000 – 2008 ................................................................... 119
 6LIST OF ACRONYMS  
ACDEI  Agency for the Coordination of Development and European Integration 
ARDP  Agricultural Rural Development Plan ASATC Aviation safety a nd Air Traffic Control 
BAS     Business Advisory Services BCIA    Coordination of International Aid BSP  Business Support Programme CAP  Common Agricultural Policy CBC  Cross Border Cooperation  CC  Candidate Country  CCI       Cross-Cutting Issue CEB  European Development Bank CEFTA      Central European Free Trade Agreement CFCA  Central Financing and Contracting Agency CFCD  Central Financing and Contracting Department CFCU  Central Finance and Contracts Unit CFP  Common Forestry Policy CI         CzechInvest CMO  Common Market Organisations CMS     Case Management System CP         Consumer Protection CPER  Country Phare Evaluation Review CPMA  Central Programme Management Agency CRD     Center for Regional Development CSO  Civil Society Organisation DABLAS        Danube-Black Sea Task Force for                         co-ope ration on water protection in the wider Black Sea Region 
DFID    United Kingdom's Departme nt for International Development 
DIS
  Decentralised Implementation System 
EAG  Evaluation Advisory Group EAGGF European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund 
EAR     European Agency for Reconstruction EBRD  European bank for reconstruction and development EC
  European Communities 
ECAA   European Co mmon Aviation Area 
ECLO   European Commission's Liaison Office 
EDIS   Extended Decentralised Implementation System 
EEFF     Energy Efficiency Finance Facility EFTA  European Free Trade Association EFSE    European Fund for Southeast Europe EIB  European Investment Bank ENPI  European Neighbourhood a nd Partnerships Instrument 
ERDF   European Regional Development Fund EPAP    European Partnership Action Plan ESC  Economic and Social Cohesion ESF  European Social Fund ESCB   European System of Central Banks EU  European Union 
 7EUAP   EU Awareness Programme 
FDI  Foreign Direct Investment  FIFG  Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance GDP  Gross Domestic Product GMO    Genetically Modified Organisms GOEA   Government Office for European Affairs HJPC    High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council 
IA  Implementing Agency IACS  Integrated Administration and Control System IB  Institution Building IBM      Integrated Border Management ICTY    International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 
IDPs     Internally Displaced Persons IFI  International Financial Institutions IMF      International Monetary Fund IPA  Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPF       Infrastructure Projects Facility IPS        Integrated Planning System 
IT  Information and Telecommunication 
JHA  Justice and Home Affairs JMC  Joint Monitoring Committee KJI       Kosovo Judicial Institute LAG     Local Action Group MCR    Ministry of Communities and Returns MED     Mediterranean MFF     Municipal Infrastructure Facility MIS      Management Information System NAO  National Authorising Officer NAC  National Aid Coordinator NDP  National Development Plan NGO  Non-Governmental Organisation NIPAC          National IPA Coordinator NPA  National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis  
NP  National Programme NPP  Nuclear Power Plant NROS   Civil Society Development Foundation NSI       National Statistical Institute NTF      National Training Fund ODIHR          Office for Demo cratic Institutions and Human Rights 
OECD   Organisation for Econom ic Co-operation and Development 
OHR     Office of High Representative OLAF  European Antifraud Office OP  Operational Programmes OSCE   Organisation for Secu rity and Cooperation in Europe 
OVI      Objectivel y Verifiable Indicators 
PAO  Programme Authorising Officer PAP  Pre-Accession Programme PAR      Public Administration Reform PBS      Public Broadcasting Service PCM    Project Cycle Management 
 8PIFCA   Public Internal Fina ncial Control Agency 
PMC     Programme Monitoring Committee PPP       Public-Private Partnership PSK      Probation service of Kosovo QSG  Quality Support Group RCC     Regional Cooperation Council RDA    Regional Development Agency RDSA   Regional Development Support Agency REACH Registration, Evaluation a nd Authorisation of Chemicals 
ROM    Results-Oriented Monitoring RTA  Resident Twinning Advisor SAA     Stabilisation and Association Agreements SALW             Small Arms and Light Weapons SEE      South East Europe SEETO            South Ea st Europe Transport Observatory 
SF  Structural Funds SIGMA Support for Improvement in Governance and Management SME  Small and Medium Sized Enterprises 
SMEFF           SME Finance Facility 
SMSC  Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee TA  Technical Assistance TAIEX Technical Assistance In formation Exchange Unit 
TSE  Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSMO   Transmission System and Market Operator UNDP  United Nations Development Programme UNFPA       United Nations Population Fund UNHCR          United Nations  High Commissioner for Refugees  
UNMIK     United Nations Mission in Kosovo VAT  Value Added Tax VET      Vocational Education and Training 
WFD     Water Framework Directive WQM   Water Quality Management  
WTO    World Trade Organisation WWTP            Waste Water Treatment Plant 
 
 
 
  
 
 
   
 9PART I: COUNTRY SECTION 
 
1. Albania  
1.1.      The year in review 
1.1.1.  Political developments  
In 2008, Albania made some progress on democracy and the rule of law and continued to play 
a constructive role in terms of stability  and good regional coope ration. The Albanian 
parliament adopted major constitutional amendm ents and important legislative acts on the 
organisation of the judiciary. However, much re mains to be done to en sure the independence, 
transparency and efficiency of the judiciar y. Improvements are need ed to establish an 
independent, efficient and me rit-based civil service.  
There was some progress in the fight agains t corruption and the perception of corruption 
changed. But further efforts are required as corruption still remains widespread. Fighting 
corruption in the judiciary remains a key issu e. There was progress on consolidating property 
rights and the legislative and in stitutional framework improved in the area of human rights 
and the protection of minorities, but overall pr ogress remained limited as regards protection of 
women and minorities, and anti-discrimination po licy for children. New prisons and pre-trial 
detention centres were built but very poor deten tion standards remained an issue of serious 
concern. 
Civil society organisations remained weak a nd their participation in policy-making required 
further strengthening.  
1.1.2.  Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms  
In 2008, the economy of Albania c ontinued growing at a relative ly fast pace. Inflationary 
pressures were contained and the country pr ogressed towards estab lishing a functioning 
market economy. While macroeconomic stability was broadly maintained, risks increased as 
the current account deficit widened. The admi nistration of public finances improved and 
State-induced distortions of competition rema ined limited. The government intensified its 
fight against corruption and tax evasion but the large informal sector remained an important 
challenge. Privatisation of large-scale stat e-owned companies progressed and the business 
environment improved, but unreliable energy suppl y, poor infrastructure, as well as weak rule 
of law and contract enforcement conti nued to hinder economic development.  
1.1.3.  Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire  
Overall, Albania made progress,  albeit unevenly, in aligning its legislation, policies and 
capacity with European standards and in impl ementing its Interim Agreement commitments.  
In some areas, such as customs and competition, progress made in previous years was 
sustained. There were also positive developments  on SME policy and in the field of electronic 
communications. In other areas, such as energy, transport and intellectual property rights, 
progress remained limited. The legal framewor k on food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary 
policy improved, but compliance with EU sta ndards remained poor hindering Albania's 
capacity to export. Overall, administrative capacity and implementation of legislation 
remained weak.  
 10In the field of justice, freedom and securit y, some progress was made in most areas, but 
further improvements are needed overall. Regardi ng visas, a reliable civil registry and address 
system was set up to improve document securi ty. The law on foreigners was adopted. The 
EC-Albania visa facilitation agreement entered into force and the visa liberalisation dialogue 
was launched. But distribution of biometric passports needs to be stepped up. The visa regime 
is not yet in line with EU standards. 
Border control improved as a result of a new law on border management, better infrastructure 
and inter-agency co-operation. The legal fr amework and co-operati on between banks and 
financial institutions on money laundering improved.  However, organised crime remained a serious problem despite improvements in the legal framework and better co-operation with 
Interpol. A strategy to combat trafficking in  human beings has been adopted, but much 
remains to be done, as Albania remained a signi ficant country of origin for trafficking of 
human beings.     
1.2.      Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched 
 
As from 2007, the CARDS instrument has been replaced by the new Instrument for Pre-
accession Assistance (IPA).  
Overview of programmes implemented  
In 2008, particular emphasis was given to pr ogress in the implemen tation of the CARDS 2005 
programme in order to finalise contracting before the contra cting deadline in September 2008. 
By its expiry date in September 2008, 95% of  CARDS 2005 funds had been contracted.  
At the end of 2008, contracting rates for the CARDS 2006 had reached 40%. CARDS 2006 
contracting will be completed in 2009.  The area of Justice, Freedom  and  Security remained an important area of focus. 
Programmes supported the sustainability of the School of Magistrates, support to the General 
Prosecutor Office, the provision of additional a ssistance for the modernisation of the data 
telecommunication system of the Albanian Polic e and the provision of specialised software 
for financial intelligence unit of the Albanian Ministry  of Finance. Support was also provided 
for the design of pre-detention facilities as well as the construction of ten Border Control 
Points and Special Operative Groups at th e borders. Works continued to finalise the 
construction of a serious crime court building an d a reintegration centre for juveniles, as well 
as the renovation of the State Publication Centre and the Saranda and Dibra Courts. 
Substantial technical assistance in the field of justice and po lice continued to be provided 
through EURALIUS, PAMECA and Twinning of a ssistance to the police in investigations 
techniques and organised crime, as well as su pport to the training of prison staff, juvenile 
justice reform and to the implementation of the national strategy on migration.  Assistance in the area of democratic stabilisation  concentrated its efforts on the creation of a 
modern Civil Registry and address system in  close cooperation with  the Organisation for 
Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, Norway and the US. Further 
programmes were implemented to support the development of civi l society and the integration 
of marginalised persons, as well as the prom otion of education programmes in rural areas and 
gender equality. Support was as well provided to foster medi a development and capacities. 
 11 
As regards administrative-capacity building , the programme continued to support the 
implementation of public administration reform. Substantive support has b een provided to the 
Ministry of European Integra tion in capacity-building for the management of EU assistance, 
in legal approximation and in inter-institutional coordination for the execution of the National Plan for the Implementation of the Stabilisation and Associati on Agreement. Support has also 
been provided to strengthen th e capacity to de liver public service of public administration at 
local governments' level. Additional assistance  concerning European integration capacity 
building has been provided by contributing to th e Integrated Planning System Trust Fund of 
the World Bank. Support has also been provided to  the establishment of  the National Agency 
for Information Society.    Support was also provided in the area of public internal financial  control and to the 
National Agency for Information Society. In the field of financial control technical assistance 
is provided to the Ministry of Finance thr ough Twinning implemented by the British National 
Audit Office and Polish Ministry of Finan ce. Financed under CARDS 2005 project entitled 
'Development of Public Internal Fina ncial Control' started in November 2008. 
 
As regards economic and social development , the support to the re gistration of immovable 
property in cadastral zones, reinforcement of  the capacity of trade unions, assistance was 
provided to support technical regulations, mark et surveillance and c onsumer protection, 
accreditation, standards and certification. Assist ance was provided also to strengthen the 
labour market and employment.  Support was also provided for vocational education and training (VET) and higher 
education  in order to improve the quality of trai ning opportunities availa ble. CARDS assisted 
the preparation of VET strategy, curriculum and legislative amendments in order to improve 
the quality of VET.   In the area of environment and natural resources , support to the approximation of 
environmental legislation has b een provided, as well as assistance to environmental clean-up 
and disposal of hazardous waste in major hot-spots.   Assistance has been provided in food safety , to the rehabilitation and the furnishing of the 
national food authority building.   Support to the development of cultural and historical heritage  has also been provided. 
 Also, in the area of the transports support to the design and supe rvision for the construction 
of roads was provided as well as technical assist ance to the Ministry of Transport in the area 
of civil aviation, rails, roads and ports. During 2008, the master plan of Durresi Port, main 
port of Albania, was prepared.  Furthermore, support to the government for the participation in community programmes  and 
integrated support for decentr alisation has been provided. 
 
CARDS management performance
 
In 2008, a total of €34.2 million was contracted  and a total of €37.7 million was paid.  
 
 12The performance in implementing the 2005 CARDS programme was overall satisfactory in 
2008, as a very signifi cant part of the programme was c ontracted in 2008. However, this 
effort led to rather limited contracting for the 2006 CARDS program mes with contracting 
rates for CARDS 2006 of 40 %. As mentione d above the CARDS 2006 c ontracting will be 
completed in 2009.  
Table 1: Albania: Status of financial assist ance at the end of D ecember 2008 (in million €) 
– CARDS annual national programmes 
 
  Allocated  Contracted RAC
1 % contracted Paid  RAL2 % paid
CARDS 2001 33.5 30.16 3.3 92% 29.16 4.34 87% 
CARDS 2002 42.90 42.15 0.75 98% 40.90 1.25 95% 
CARDS 2003  38.50 38.26 0.24 99% 35.48 2.78 92% 
CARDS 2004  62.00 61.34 0.66 99% 38.66 22.68 62% 
CARDS 2005  40.20 38.07 2.13 95% 21.87 16.20 54% 
CARDS 2006  42.50 16.91 25.59 40% 3.38 13.53 8% 
Total  259.6 226.89 32.67 87% 169.45 60.78 36% 
 
The implementation of CARDS Informa tion and Communication Programmes, 
Neighbourhood Programmes and Evaluation and Audit Programmes proceeded smoothly.  
 Further to the €9.2 million of 2007, in 2008 an a dditional €0.374 million were recovered from 
expired Phare programmes. A prepared action plan for 2008 regarding recovery orders was 
used in order to continue this exercise. 
 
Institution Building highlights
 
Support provided to the justice sector through the Justice Assist ance Mission of the EU to 
Albania (EURALIUS)  brought the Albanian Justice System  closer to EU standards. The 
mission was composed of technical assistance drawn from EU Member  States and led to 
improvements in particular as regards: 1) Justice organisati on, 2) Penitentiary reform, 3) 
Enforcement of rulings, 4) Law drafting and le gal approximation, 5) Criminal Justice and 6) 
Immoveable property.  Support provided to the Ministry of Justice through the Twinning project “ Enhancing the 
Judicial System in Commercial Matters ” has contributed substantiv ely to the alignment of 
Albania's commercial law with EU standa rds. Action plans for the improvement and 
harmonisation of the current legal and inst itutional framework for commercial law and 
shortening of commercial pr oceedings at courts have been prepared and adopted. 
 The Project “ Market Surveillance system at the Ministry of Economy in Albania ” aimed 
at the support to the establis hment of an adequate market surveillance (MS) and consumer 
protection (CP) systems able to  integrate policies adopted from  different trade partners and 
                                                
 
1 Reste à contracter 
2 Reste à liquider 
 13assure effective protection of consumer inte rests. The Project established consolidated 
foundations for effective MS&CP system in Albani a according to EU standards. A number of 
laws Harmonised with EU directives were drafted and approved. Substantial knowledge and 
skills were transferred to the Beneficiary that  is actually able to undertake transposition of 
laws, implement and address the enforcement issues.  During 2008, CARDS assisted the Ministry of Transpor ts in four sub-sectors:  roads, 
railways, ports and civil aviation . The assistance was given to establish the new Institute of 
Transport structure setting up transport planning  and information departments, establishing 
the best practices on EU transport law, establ ishing links with the executive agencies (GRD, 
PDA, and Railways) and setting up Mana gement Information System (MIS). 
 
1.3.      Results and impact    
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned
 
During the course of 2008 monito ring of CARDS projects continued to take place. In addition 
to this, an evaluation of selected proj ects/programmes was launched with the aim of 
identifying strengths and wea knesses in their design, perfor mance and management. These 
projects/programmes were selected as a re presentation of key actions managed by the 
European Commission (EC) Dele gation in various sectors. Overall assessment is rated as 
moderately satisfactory. In terms of "lessons l earnt", the following conclusions were reached: 
 Lessons learnt in relation to projects’ relevance : 
 
• CARDS assistance has been rele vant in relation to the EC strategic documents, but 
their strategic planning value has been limited. 
• The degree of beneficiaries’ participati on and ownership in the programming process 
has varied over the period as well as from sector to sector. 
• Varied quality of project design, due to la ck of real needs assessment, has made 
assistance less relevant at the time of implementation, and some projects have 
experienced large changes during implemen tation due to inadequate or untimely 
project design. 
 
Lessons learnt regarding effectiveness : 
 
• The effectiveness of training is very mixed between horizontal and vertical acquis.  On 
the horizontal level, training projects have been of limited effect in the absence of 
clear civil service reform. 
 
Lessons learnt regarding efficiency : 
 
• Administrative capacity has been rath er limited and has often hampered 
implementation of projects. 
• The overall assessment is however that the project outputs were delivered, in general 
in a satisfactory manner taken into considera tion the difficult environment with lack of 
staff and delays in Governme nt's adoption of procedures. 
 
Lessons learnt related to impact : 
 
 14• Immediate or short-term impacts have been  observed in the majority of projects. 
• The support to acquis -related areas may in some cases  have been premature or not 
adequately prepared and this will create pr oblems for the impact of this assistance. 
• Reforms are introduced bottom-up and not neces sarily met with a top-down approach. 
 
Lessons learnt in the domain of sustainability:  
 
• The sustainability of CARDS assistance prim arily depends on administrative resources 
and capacities of individual in stitutions having the administra tive capacity to sustain 
the results and outputs delivered  through the past assistance. 
• An important step in the right direction in the Government of Albania's (GoA's) effort 
to improve strategic planni ng is the Integrated Planning System (IPS) adopted in 
November 2005. 
• Overall strategies are in place in the Government's reform agenda and reflected in the 
government strategies (National Developm ent Strategy for Integration (NDSI)) and 
planning tools (IPS). 
 Lessons learnt in the domain of management:  
 
• Programme implementation has suffered signif icant delays and part of the programme 
has still not been implemented. 
• It has in some cases been difficult to prope rly assess the effectiv eness of assistance 
due to consistent non-compliance of projec t design with the project cycle management 
format (PCM) and in particular the lack e ither of objectively ve rifiable indicators 
(OVI) or their sources of verification.  
 
Sectors with positive results
 
Justice, Liberty and Security 
 
Some progress was achieved as regards justice re form, with the approval of the judicial power 
law, the introduction of a probati on service, the liberal isation of the enforcement service and 
the opening of new penitentiary institutions. Assistance includ es actions aimed to strengthen 
the performance and independence of key judici al institutions by stre ngthening the capacities 
of executive bodies responsible for implementa tion of the judicial reform. Furthermore, 
support of the enhancement of the judicial system in commercial matters, which will 
contribute to overall improvement  of the investment climate. 
 A very positive assessment can be made as  to the impact of the Twinning project 
'Strengthening the Capacity of the Albanian State Police in Covert Evidence Gathering and 
the use of Technical Aids to Investigations', by which the Albanian State Police has been 
initiated to modern techniques to enhance the efficiency of undercover policing operations in 
accordance with international and European best practices.   
European standards 
 
Albania has continued to make pr ogress in European standards fields such as customs, market 
surveillance and consumer protection. Sustai ned institution building efforts under CARDS 
have contributed to this progress.  
 15Support to the Institute of Statistics of Alba nia for data collection and adoption of the 
acquis  
 
Progress was made in improving methodologies  and practices in compliance with EU 
standards, and in increasing stat istical co-operation and the quali ty of data in the official 
statistics. The project produced a number of substantial resu lts in the areas of national 
accounts, agriculture and inter-agency co-operation. In these areas, the project had a positive impact on the improvement of the National Statistics System.   
Success story
 
Renovation of Courts in Albania - Large inst itution building impact of small investments 
projects.  The renovation works of district  court of Dibra is not only an architectural success, but 
it provided a great improve ment in the working conditions of judges and court 
administrators. 
 
The Dibra District Court was renovated and furnished according to European standards 
through CARDS 2004 project of €320,800. The renov ation and furnishing of the Dibra and 
Saranda District Court, as well as the previous ly completed Appeal Courts in Korça and Vlora 
follows from the “Masterplan for Judicial Infra structure”, which identified these courts as 
priority investments.   Strengthening the independence of  Albania’s judiciary and improving its effi ciency is one of 
the key aims of EC’s cooperation with the Go vernment of Albania in the Stabilisation and 
Association process. The justice system s hould be independent, impartial, efficient, 
professional, open for the public and transpar ent. Development of this sector toward 
achieving the European standards is necessary li nked with the development of a modern court 
infrastructure. Availability of adequate working space is an important pre-condition for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and judicial admini strators to work effectively and allow the 
court proceedings to take place in an environmen t that is in favour of protecting the rights of 
all parties in a trial.   During the year 2005 a careful as sessment of the courts infrastructure funded by Phare 
Programme was undertaken. This assessment resulted in a “Masterplan for Judicial 
Infrastructure”. The Masterplan provides a comple te overview of the situation of the courts in 
Albania and made recommendations for investment s in the sector over the following 15 years. 
The renovation of Dibra and Saranda District Courts building financed by the European 
Commission are consistent with th e Masterplan recommendations.   
 The main problems of the building which the pr oject has successfully a ddressed were a lack 
of isolation rooms for defendants, a security  system, fire prevention measures, computer 
networks as well as humid ity, cracked walls etc.  
The newly renovated building includes one penal court room, four civ il court rooms, and 
necessary facilities for the judges, prosecutors, defendants and the public.  
Office furniture and information and teleco mmunication (IT) equipment were also an 
important part of this re novation works contract.  
 
The renovation of the Court pr emises should positively in fluence the execution of the 
judiciary, not only the number of cases judged shoul d increase but also the transparency of the 
rule of law. The proper court rooms in, Dibr a, Saranda, Korca and Vlora should improve the 
 16"reality of justice" which includes the publ icity of proceedings. These projects should 
ultimately contribute also to strengthe ning the citizens' trust in judiciary.  
 
                                
 
              
 172. Bosnia and Herzegovina  
2.1.      The year in review 
2.1.1 Political developments.  
 Progress over 2008 was exceptionally slow. Cons equently, there was little advancement in 
addressing the key European Partnership prio rity, requesting Bosnia and Herzegovina to 
establish more functional and sustainable institutiona l structures. Bosnia and Herzegovina's 
system of governance continue d to involve a significant intern ational presence in 2008. Due 
to the concerns over political stability in the co untry and in the region as  a whole, the closure 
of the Office of High Representative (OHR) was further postponed. The Peace 
Implementation Council decided to make the closure conditional on Bosnia and 
Herzegovina's progress on addressing five ob jectives and two conditions. One of the 
conditions was met in June when the Stabilis ation and Association Agreement was signed.  
2008 saw Bosnia and Herzegovina remain in the early phases of public administration reform, 
even if some progress was made. Regarding the judicial system, the a doption of the Strategy 
for Development of the Justice Sector for 2008-2012 was a positive development. Nevertheless, the disjointed ch aracter of the judicial system  and disparities in the legal 
framework constituted barriers to the effective operation of the judiciar y. In the fight against 
corruption limited progress was achieved. The National Anti-Corruption Strategy was again 
not properly implemented. Little additional progress has b een achieved in improving the im plementation of international 
human rights conventions. Some progress was made regarding the support provided by the 
authorities to civil society development. Progres s in the area of minority rights, cultural rights 
and protection of minorities was limited.   2.1.2 Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms
 
 In 2008 economic growth remained high and th e external balance improved. The currency 
board arrangement continued to function smoot hly, despite a relative acceleration in the 
growth of domestic lending, and the annual averag e inflation of the first eight months of 2008 
stood at 8.0% in Bosnia and He rzegovina, after 1.5% in 2007. The increase d fiscal revenue 
from the introduction of VAT in 2006 continue d in 2008. In the first six months of 2008 net 
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined st rongly compared to the same period in the 
previous year and covered only 24% of the curre nt account deficit. De spite robust economic 
growth, unemployment remained very high. P ublic spending, and in particular social 
spending, rose further, weakening the quality of  fiscal adjustment a nd leading to liquidity 
problems in May. Slow expansion of productive capacities and stru ctural rigidities hampered 
labour market participation. Progress in the restructuring and liqui dation of State owned 
enterprises was slow and uneven across the coun try. The small and medium-sized enterprises 
(SME) sector grew, and enjoyed increased acce ss to financing from private, public or EU 
funds. However, the informal sector remained large.  2.1.3 Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire
 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress is approximating to the acquis was limited overall. As 
regards free movement of goods, there remain ed a lack of proper conformity assessment 
infrastructure (testing and calibration laboratories, certification and inspection bodies) and the country's market surveillance system continue d to be largely based on mandatory standards 
and pre-market control. Good progress was made  in the field of customs and taxation. The 
 18implementation of customs-related provision s was adequate and Value Added Tax (VAT) 
collection improved in 2008.  Progress in the field of anti-trust control co ntinued, whereas no progre ss was made regarding 
State aid. There were some improvements on public procurement however not in terms of 
legislative alignment. Little progress was made with regards to intellectual, industrial and 
commercial property rights. In the area of empl oyment and social policies, the absence of 
State level competences remained an obstacle to  the development of a countrywide strategy 
for employment. No progress was made with re spect to social policies. Some progress was 
made in the area of education. Limited progress  was made in the area of SMEs. The sector 
enjoyed increased access to financing, but no countrywide SME strategy was adopted. 
Important State-level Laws on wine, agricultur e, food and rural development were adopted, 
but there was no progress on the adoption of a State-level agriculture strategy. Some progress 
was made on food safety as implementing legi slation was adopted, but  in the field of 
veterinary and phytosanitary po licies progress was limited. As fo r environment, no progress 
was made. Bosnia and Herzegovina's preparati ons in the transport sector were positive. 
Energy sector reform stalled in 2008. Bosnia a nd Herzegovina made some progress in the area 
of information society and media. In the fi eld of statistics, lim ited progress was made. 
Cooperation between the country's statistics institutions was still insufficient.  
In the area of justice, freedom and security, th e Visa Facilitation Agreement entered into force 
in January 2008. Some progress was made in th e areas of asylum and migration. Further 
efforts remain necessary to tackle money laun dering. Some progress was made as regards 
police reform through the adoption of two state-le vel laws. However, the fragmentation of the 
police was not addressed. Action in fighting ag ainst organised crime activities was limited.  
 
 
2.2.      Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched
 
As of 2007, the CARDS programmes were replaced  by the new Instrument for Pre-accession 
Assistance (IPA). No new CARDS programmes were launched after 2006. 
 
Overview of programmes implemented  
In 2008 contracts were awarded by the EC De legation in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 
combined value of €28 million, of whic h €10.8 million was delivered through CARDS 
regional and national programmes, €5.8 million through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights as well as the In strument for Stability. The largest share 
(€5.1million) was spent supporting the good govern ance and institution building initiative, 
whereas the second largest share was for th e economic and social development area 
(€4.4 million). The EC was involved in several ot her sectors as well – infrastructure, trade, 
education, health, environment, media, cross- cutting sectors, and to a lesser extent in 
agriculture and forestr y, and local governance. 
The EC continued to support the civil society  sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina by providing 
€1 million for a grant scheme targeting Civ il Society Organisations involved in the 
reconciliation process. This assi stance contributed to the deve lopment of local participation 
mechanisms in municipal administrations, in pa rticular for returnees and constituent peoples' 
minorities. Some sensitive issues that had been treated as taboos before  started to be openly 
discussed, such as school names and symbols, the issue of health care and pensions for 
 19returnees, job creation of returnees , and the organising of returnee s so that they are able to 
speak out and identify their needs. 9 projec ts have been funded and many of them were 
completed in 2008. Furthermore, new Non-G overnmental Organisations (NGOs) were 
established as results of CARD S assistance projects. It should be noted that interest from 
NGOs for the CARDS programme was several times higher than the available budget. 
The long-term EC support for legal and judicial reform continued during 2008.  A variety of 
support was provided in the form of ICT equipm ent, legal books, furniture, and specialised 
detention vehicles for the judi cial police. Furthermore, a Tw inning light in support of the 
High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJP C) and implemented by the Swedish National 
Courts Administration was completed during th e reporting period. In addition to the various 
foci of technical advice, analysis and reco mmendations for the improvement of judicial 
cooperation between executive and judiciar y bodies, a Memorandum of Understanding was 
signed by both parties.  
The EC continued its essential support to the registry for war crimes  and organised crime 
through a grant agreement of €2.3 million. The EC is  the principal donor to this beneficiary 
and without such support its oper ational costs, which include cr iminal investigations, witness 
protection, interpretation, translations, and th e presence of some international judges and 
prosecutors, would have been at risk. Total support contracted in 2008 was€3 million and 
such assistance has covered a wide  variety of actors from within the executives of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina such as the State Mi nistry of Justice, HJPC, as we ll as judicial bodies across the 
country such as state, district, cantonal and regular courts and prosecutors' offices. 
The EC supported the Bosnia and Herzegovina police  forces with the implementation of 
police restructuring. The restructuring aimed at strengthening the capability of the end-users 
in order to make full use of the telecommuni cations and information systems donated by the 
EC in previous years. Emphasis shifted fr om straight provision of equipment towards 
assisting the police institutions in building up their capacity to properly sustain the donated 
equipment. 
In the Visa, Asylum and Migration  sector the EC continued to support the development of 
Visa, Asylum and Migration management cap acities. Two projects financed under CARDS 
were completed during reporting period, name ly Support to the Migration Management 
Capacities, implemented by International Orga nization for Migration (IOM), and Support to 
the Asylum Management Capacities, implem ented by United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR). Both projects have focuse d on institution building by: 1) helping create 
administrative structures; 2) providi ng assistance for the adoption of the acquis  and the 
implementation of standards (Visa, asylum a nd migration); and 3) creation of a sound and 
coordinated migration management polic y consistent with EU standards. 
EC support for the trade sector focused on institution buildin g. The Ministry of Foreign Trade 
and Economic Relations (MoFTER) was helped to develop its institutiona l capacity and in its 
bilateral and multilateral negotiations in the co ntext of the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
the Stabilisation and Associ ation Agreement (SAA) and Central European Free Trade 
Agreement (CEFTA). MoFTER awareness-rais ing among economic operators, the public and 
the media regarding the implications of the various agreements being negotiated was also 
supported. Elsewhere, the EC provided technical assistance to help the Intellectual Property 
Institute develop its capacity and strengthen the legal framework in this area. In addition, the 
EC funded projects that  develop the Bosnia and Herzegovina  governmental system's capacity 
to regulate competition, and projects that facili tate the establishment of a State Aid System. 
Under the regional development and SME  portfolio and through the provision of the 5th call 
for the EU Regional Development fund, the EC s upported the development of local initiatives 
 20that encourage private sector growth and t ourism. Grants awarded at the end of 2007 to 
support SME development began activities in  2008 with a focus on providing business 
infrastructure and business intermediary servi ces. Of the seven grants under implementation, 
four focus on construction of business incuba tors, whereas the remaining grants focus on 
improving energy efficiency in the private sect or, increasing skills of women entrepreneurs 
and the establishment of a buye r-seller matchmaking centre. The EC con tinued to directly 
support the five regional development agencies  (RDAs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 
form of operational grants. Finally, a smaller activity was implemented  to support the State 
Ministry for Foreign Trade and Economic Relati ons finalise the draft of the first State SME 
Strategy. The strategy is pending adoption. Cap acity building support for the Ministry was 
provided to improve their ability to complete annual reports on the implementation of the EU 
Charter for SMEs. 
Regarding the tourism sector, under the provision of the 5th call for EU Regional 
Development fund, 19 tourism development proj ects were included (costing upwards of€3 
million in total),  aiming at developing a nd improving the sector’s product offer, 
competitiveness, human resources, and at crea ting employment. These projects were largely 
implemented via local civil soci ety organisations and/or touris m associations. Grants with a 
combined value of around€2 million were awar ded at the end of 2007 to support tourism 
development and they began their activities in  2008. They are a response to the challenge 
faced by the Bosnia and Herzegovina tourist indus try to attract international visitors whilst 
also developing a significant domestic demand.  
In the agricultural sector, the EC continued its support fo r institution building at state level 
by focusing on the development of a framewor k for further harmonisation of agricultural 
strategies and policies coordinated by MoFTER . Also, assistance was provided for the State 
Veterinary Office through the exchange of best practice with Member State administrations in 
the fields of capacity building, acquis approximation, laboratories and reinforced inspection 
services.  
In the environment sector the EC focused on water management. Under institution building, 
the EC provided additional support for Water Qu ality Management (WQM II) in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. The aim was for the institutions in  Bosnia and Herzegovina managing the water 
sector to reach a "good water st atus", as defined in the Wate r Framework Dire ctive, via the 
introduction of a water management principle in accordance with EC practice. Among other 
areas, the EC assisted the government with its  national waste water strategy, with improving 
coordination between water author ities, with monitoring strategies  and methods, and with data 
and information management.  
In regard to the environment infrastructure  development in water and solid waste sector EC 
assistance focused on strengthening cooperati on with International Financing Institutions 
(IFIs). EC support is designed to  complement the IFI financia l assistance and, for example, 
has taken the form of a feasibility study for Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and/or 
rehabilitation and closure of the wild landfills.  
In the transport sector, the EC has continued to suppor t high-scale infrastr ucture projects 
financed by the European Investment Bank by s ubsidising the interest rate. Cooperation with 
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) has been further strengthened by providing 
beneficiary countries with stud ies and designs central to thei r applications for IFI loan 
assistance. For example, assistance has been  focussed on the road sector (a design for 
approximately 100 km road reconstruction), ra ilway sector (designs for approximately 
100 km of track overhaul and rehabilitation of telecommunication facili ties, structures and 
electric traction on approximately 450 km of th e rail network). The beneficiary country has 
 21been assisted with the implementation of its  Air Traffic Manageme nt Strategy. The river 
navigation sector, railway sector  and the intermodal transport se ctor have all been assisted 
through the provision of relevant studies. 
In the field of education , the EC has supported the developm ent of a legislative framework 
and the adoption of laws. In 2008 a Framework law on vocational education and training was 
adopted. The draft law was prepar ed within the EC funded Voca tional Education and Training 
project. Coordination between th e fourteen Ministries of Edu cation has improved as a result 
of the establishment of the Conference of Minist ers chaired by the Minister  of Civil Affairs.  
A strategy paper on the reform of the education sector, entit led "Directions for Education 
Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2008- 2015", drafted within th e EC funded project 
was also adopted. As regards higher educat ion, a set of documents relevant for the 
implementation of the Bologna process pr epared under Council of Europe/European 
Commission joint project have been adopted. The EC also assisted the government in 
developing the institutions a nd agencies foreseen in the aforementioned laws.  
In 2008, decision-making and coordination in the public health sector  have improved. A 
"Conference of Health Minister s of Bosnia and Herzegovina" established within the EC 
funded project and meets regularly. There has been some progress on statistical reporting. 
With the EC assistance, relevant stakeholders  have been trained and reports on the national 
health accounts were produced for 2005, 2006 and 2007.  
In the area of employment , the EC began the implementation of an employment and labour 
market programme by: (i) prov iding technical assistance through twinning light aimed at 
strengthening the State Agency for Labour; (ii) by executing the project on employment 
policy reform; and (iii) by establishing a labour  information system. The employment policy 
reform project delivered the provision of IT a nd Intelligence infrastructure with the aim of 
improving the operations of the Entity, State a nd Brcko District employment institutes, 
recommendations for regulatory improvements in the country and strategies for employment.  
The EC continued to support Bosnia and He rzegovina authorities develop and execute 
effective fiscal policies  and to improve the management of public finances at State, Entity, 
and District levels. For that purpose, a suppl ementary quarterly macroeconomic model has 
been developed and delivered and an inte r-institutional fiscal policy working group 
established. Recommendations fo r the improvement of Governme nt Financial Statistics (GFS) 
have also been presented. The primary bene ficiaries of the project have been the 
Macroeconomic Analysis Unit of the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnia and Herzeg ovina Ministry of Fi nance and Treasury, and 
the two entity Ministries of Finance. The Di rectorate for Economic Planning and the Central 
Bank of Bosnia and Herze govina were also involved. 
The project strengthened the ability of the sub- entity government levels to comply with fiscal 
reporting requirements and orga nised a conference on “Public finances and Fiscal 
Management” thereby providing a forum for disc ussion and sharing of experiences in the 
areas of statistics, macroeconomic and fiscal  forecasting, budgetary c oordination and fiscal 
rules, taxation and expenditure and assessment of fiscal policy and fiscal sustainability. 
With respect to media and communication , the EC supported the formal adoption of Public 
Broadcasting Service (PBS) reform. The EC al so provided technical assistance (equipment 
and training) to the value of €1 million for both PBS and the Communications Regulatory Agency in order to facilitate the adoption of Eu ropean standards in the regulatory framework 
Social inclusion  assistance focused primarily on the return process, which included the 
reconstruction of housing, the economic regenera tion of return areas, support for de-mining 
 22activities that enable  return, and providing support to mine victims through job creation 
activities. A project enti tled "kids festival" aimed to create  better conditions for children in 
Bosnia and Herzegovina and improve the quality  of their life thorough programs interactively 
joining education end entertainment. 
The EC Delegation continued to support cross border cooperation . Implementation of the 31 
local projects under the Interreg IIIb Cads es programme and Adriatic New Neighbourhood 
Programme (ANNP) continued successfully in  2008. These projects aimed at increasing 
cooperation between the partners in the Adriatic region and S outh East Europe in different 
fields (research, entrepreneur ship, environment etc.).  
Support to building operating structures of Bo snia and Herzegovina for IPA component II – 
Cross-Border Cooperation - was provided through gr ants and technical assi stance, in order to 
prepare Bosnia and Herzegovina for successf ul cooperation in b ilateral cross-border 
programmes (with Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro ), transnational programmes (South East 
Europe and Mediterranean), as well as in the multilateral IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation programme. 
 
Cards management performance
 
The performance in managing CARDS progr ammes was overall sa tisfactory. 2001-2005 
CARDS national programmes can be considered to be fully contracted. Contracting and 
payments for CARDS 2006 are on track.  
Table 1: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Status of  financial assistance at the end of December 
2008 (in million €) – CARDS annual national programmes 
        
  Allocated  Contracted RAC3 % 
contracted  Paid  RAL4 % paid  
CARDS 2001 105.2 98.56 6.64 94% 92.50 12.70 88% 
CARDS 2002 60.5 59.30 1.20 98% 56.53 3.97 93% 
CARDS 2003  50.6 49.38 1.22 98% 45.03 4.57 91% 
CARDS 2004  62.1 60.49 1.61 97% 54.62 7.48 88% 
CARDS 2005  44.0 43.21 0.79 98% 39.33 4.67 89% 
CARDS 2006  43.8 38.38 5.42 88% 27.85 15.95 64% 
Total  366.2 349.32 16.88 95% 316.862 49.34  87% 
 
The implementation of CARDS Informa tion and Communication Programmes, 
Neighbourhood Programmes and Evaluation and Audit Programmes proceeded smoothly.  
 
Institution Building highlights  
For the preparation of decentralised implementation  of IPA in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 
EC Delegation embarked on a coaching and tr aining programme in order to prepare the 
country's authorities to take  over responsibility for planni ng, programming and implementing 
financial assistance. Up until recently the EC wa s covering the project cycle alone, with little 
involvement of the Bosnia and Herzegovina gove rnment. To alter this, the EC Delegation has 
employed a strategy aimed at transferring 'owner ship' of the programmes to the Bosnia and 
                                                 
3 Reste à contracter 
4 Reste à liquider 
 23Herzegovina authorities. This process prepares  the decentralisation of the management of 
assistance, and included:  
- Coaching and training the Directorate of European Integration (DEI) on strategic 
planning, project preparation and assessment; 
- Setting up a structured network of counter parts for project planning, design and 
implementation in all line ministries a nd state agencies, the Senior Programme 
Officers (SPO's); 
- Providing on-the-job training to the growing staff of the Central Finance and 
Contracting Unit (CFCU) by including them in tender/call for proposals evaluations 
organised by the Delegation. The training pl an for the CFCU and the National Fund 
will continue to be implemented throughout 2009.  
Public Administration Reform  (PAR) was one of the sixteen pr iorities in the feasibility study 
and is one of the six key European Partnershi p priorities. The EC assists the Bosnia and 
Herzegovina governments in PAR through strength ening the systems of public administration 
and through administrative capacity building of selected key sector s. It is also supporting the 
PAR Coordinator’s Office (PARCO) with the imp lementation of a national PAR Strategy and 
Action Plan. Even though there was no CARDS PAR project being implemented in 2008, the 
well-established coordination mechanism for th e deployment of the PAR Fund continued to 
work, involving government representatives from all administrative levels and several PAR 
donors. It resulted in the approval of PAR-relate d projects with combined value of nearly €4 
million.  
The public procurement institutions  (the public procurement agency and the review body) 
both received assistance in the form of separa te twinning light projects  that introduced them 
to EU practices, relevant acquis and practical implementation issues. The projects also 
recommended directions for further developm ent of the PP system and its institutions.  
Donor coordination  has been ensured throughout the entire project management cycle from 
project design to implementation. Recently, the role of the EC Delegation has changed. The 
Delegation is seen more and more as the lead donor in the country in light of the European 
integration process, which is recognised as an ut most priority. At the same time, steps forward 
in the enhancement of local ownership of donor coordination could be observed.  
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina  transferred the re sponsibility for aid 
coordination at the state level from MoFTER to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT) 
at the end of 2007. This development resulted  in establishment of the Board for the 
Coordination of Internationa l Aid (BCIA) consisting of re presentatives of the MoFT, 
Directorate for European Inte gration, Directorate for Econom ic Planning, as well as the 
Bosnia and Herzegovina Fede ration, Republika Srpska and Br čko District Ministries of 
Finance. The Board is an advisory body whic h develops proposals, offers opinions and 
provides guidance for improving efficiency in th e allocation of donor aid in line with Bosnia 
and Herzegovina's priorities.  
In September 2008, the Sector for Coordination  of International Economic Aid (SCIA) was 
established in the MoFT. The Sector’s scope of  work includes coordination of international 
economic aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina, except  for EU aid which is responsibility of the 
Directorate for European Integration.  
The Sector together with other institutions at State and Entity level (BCIA, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina's Federation Ministry of Finan ce, Ministry of Finance and Ministry for 
Economic Relations and Coordination of Repub lika Srpska) will be assisted through the aid 
 24coordination and effectiveness project funded by DFID. The project continues a process of 
supporting the establishment of an aid coordi nation mechanism assisted by several donors, 
including the EC, the United Ki ngdom's Department for Intern ational development (DFID), 
the Dutch Government and the United Nation s Development Programme (UNDP). It will 
support the development of the cap acity to co-ordinate internati onal assistance to the country 
in line with principles of the Paris Declaration. 
 
2.3.      Results and impact    
Monitoring & Evaluation  Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned  
The ad-hoc evaluation on CARDS programmes car ried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 
2008 has shown in particular that:  
• Political support from all levels of Governme nt is essential for a successful project 
implementation.  
• During the project design phase it is highly important to take into consideration the 
absorption capacity of local institutions. Bene ficiary institutions need  to have sufficient 
resources and staffing to fully bene fit from the project activities. 
• Sometimes projects have too many components or objectives. Consequently the expected 
results are beyond the local institutions. 
 Other lessons learnt deriving from monitori ng of projects in 2008 can be summarised as 
follows: 
• The political environment sometimes does not follow the same strategic direction, i.e. 
state and entity strategies are ofte n not compatible with each other. 
• There has sometimes been a lack of coopera tion between regional and national projects. 
Information to local beneficiaries should be improved in order to a void possible overlaps. 
• In order to have successful national projects th e continued involvement of beneficiaries, as 
soon as possible, from the design phase, is essential. The higher th e involvement of the 
beneficiaries, the higher the level of 'ownership' in country. 
• European integration projects are instruments of change ai med at developing the country. 
Political consensus is required concerning wh ich level of authority is best placed to 
implement the required change s. Entities should contribute more actively and positively 
when there is a comparative advantage to wo rk at State level fo r coordination purposes. 
• Preconditions for project implementation are of utmost importance. If they are not met by 
the time the project should start, this may jeopardise the expected results. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina should take on such i ssues with more determination. 
• Most projects designed for harm onisation and approximation of the acquis  face 
difficulties due to different approaches on different levels of authority. 
• Donor coordination does exist in Bosnia an d Herzegovina and it is more and more 
effective, as it is carried out by the gove rnment itself. Bosnia and Herzegovina's 
authorities have taken the lead in aid co-o rdination in the last quarter 2008 and further 
efforts will continue in this direction. 
• Twinning projects have done very well. Absorption capacity is increasing, however, 
twinning light projects or technical assistance  may still be a preferred tool when Bosnia 
and Herzegovina's counterpart administratio n is not yet fully equipped and up and 
running. 
 25• Financial sustainability is very important. Sustainability is better achieved when political 
support is matched with Bosnia and He rzegovina's financial contributions. 
 
Sectors with positive results  
The EC has provided and continues to provide substantial political an d financial support to 
the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council whose central role as a state institution is to 
strengthen and maintain an  independent, impartial and professional judiciary .  Under its 
charge is the Case Management System (C MS) which benefited from further EC support 
during the reporting period. The as sistance aimed to widen access to all courts, prosecutor's 
offices and cadastre offices in th e country and to establish a j udicial portal for the general 
public's easy access to information. EC support has also contribute d to the establishment of a 
telecommunications system that connects different law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, courts and the state agency that mana ges and issues various types of identification 
documents. Furthermore, nationwide information systems for police bodies have been established and the Forensics Departments are be tter equipped, more functi onal and efficient.   
The EC continued to provide support for the implementation of the Integrated Border 
Management  (IBM) strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina . As a result of this support, a revised 
IBM Strategy and Action Plan have been a dopted by Bosnia and Herzegovina's Council of 
Ministers. Two new commissions for dealing with border related issues have been established 
and a memorandum of understanding on the establ ishment of the joint analysis centre was 
signed between the institutions involved in the IBM process in Bo snia and Herzegovina. 
Additionally, the EC has proc ured Information and teleco mmunication (IT) equipment for 
operation of the Joint Analysis Centre. 
The regional development  agencies have continued to see re markable results in each of their 
regions in terms of job creation and the creation of new small a nd medium enterprises.  This 
is due to a number of schemes being impl emented by the RDAs, including loan guarantee 
funds, consultant voucher schemes and rural development centres among others. 
A variety of  tourism  products have been created and developed in the form of “baskets” of 
goods and services across Bosnia and Herze govina. Some of them tangibles (travel, 
accommodation, etc) other intangibles (culture, rest , etc) with different specificities because 
of the “basket" content (eco and adventur e sport tourism products, wine route products, 
cultural tourism products etc.) In addition, prot ection of cultural, historical and natural 
heritage linked to tourism development is cons idered as a major development source for the 
region. 
In the sectors of health and education  the functioning of public administrations has been 
improved by the standing conferences of minist ers from both sectors who are meeting on 
regular basis now. The process of coordination and decision making has been considerably 
improved. In education, a legislative framework for institutional development and the reform of all levels of education (except adult e ducation) has been completed. Three agencies 
responsible for the development of standards in education, assessment of outcomes of 
learning, accreditation and diploma recogniti on have been established. The strategic 
directions for the reform of all levels of education until 2015 have been adopted.   
Thanks to EC assistance, major progress was made in the agriculture sector  in 2008 through 
the creation of the state-level sector for coordination within MoFTER and adoption of the 
State Law on Agriculture, Food and Rural Develo pment. In addition, EC assistance supported 
Bosnia and Herzegovina to initia te harmonised farm registration. 
 26EC approval of fishery exports could largely be taken as a result of increased administrative 
capacities for Bosnia and Herzegovina due to EC assistance.  
Successful implementation of the cross border cooperation  grants during 2008 contributed to 
increased cooperation between the partner organisations from Italy and South East Europe, as 
well as increasing the profile, capacities and comp etitiveness of the local partners in fields of 
research, environment, entrepreneursh ip, local infrastructure etc.   
Building capacities of the operating structure (Directorate for European Integrations) for the 
IPA component II ensured a successful start-up of the bilateral programmes between Bosnia 
and Herzegovina and neighbouring countries . Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina 
continued its involvement in European Regi onal Development Fund (ERDF) transnational 
programmes (South East Europe (SEE) and Me diterranean (MED)) and in IPA Adriatic 
multilateral programme. 
In the area of visa, asylum and migration , the law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and 
Asylum was adopted in April 2008. Seven out of  eight by-laws that define the area of 
immigration were also adopted.  In 2008 Bosnia  and Herzegovina's Ministry of Security 
adopted its strategic action plan for 2009-2012 as well as its first Migration and Asylum 
Strategy and Action Plan for 2008- 2011. The Ministry of Security  purchased land in order to 
build an Asylum centre that will be built w ith EC assistance and in June 2008 it opened a 
Centre for Illegal Migrants.  All of the above  positive developments are benchmarks for the 
fulfilment of a visa liberalisation roadmap.  
Success story
 
EU Awareness Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina  
The objective of the EU Awareness Progra mme (EUAP) was to support Bosnia and 
Herzegovina's public, civil society and government al actors to become sufficiently familiar 
with the EU and aware of the reforms require d by the Stabilisation and Association process 
(Sap) and that a better informed public/governme nt dialogue and debate  will facilit ate Bosnia 
and Herzegovina’s progress in the SAp. Also th e EUAP was designed to increase the general 
understanding of the EU, its policies and it s programmes among the ge neral population. In 
addition, the EUAP was designed to enable Bosnia and Herzegovina's Directorate for 
European Integration (DEI) to strengthen its cap acity in the field of public relations and carry 
out its role in the dissemination of informati on on Sap, EU Membership and other EU related 
issues. The project took place over 24 mont hs (2007 and 2008) and its overall cost was 
€1.425,630. 
The EUAP included the organisation and production of:   
• 9 Quiz shows " Kako u Evropu/ How to Eur ope", and targeted th e participation of 
young people (high school students) from all pa rts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order 
to increase awareness and interest in the EU  and in the EU integration process (it was 
aired on national broadcaster - BHTV);  
• "Street Ball Challenge" compe titions across the country;   
• Europe Day Celebrations on 9th May at the BH Parliament building with gala concert 
performed by the Youth Symphony Orch estra of South Eastern Europe;  
• 21 Round Tables in 21 cities in  Bosnia and Herzegovina where officials from DEI, EU 
Member States Ambassadors, EC Delega tion officials and NGOs active in the 
European integration process presented i ssues relevant to the process of EU 
integration;   
 27• 8 Debates broadcasted on BHTV; 
• 28 programmes “S nama u Evropi/With us  in Europe” produced by the entity's 
broadcaster - FTV;   
• 13 TV programmes “Evropska unija i mi/ Eur opean Union and us” and 20 “I ja BiH u 
Evropu/I would also go to Europe” produced  by the entity's broadcaster - RTRS;  
• 69 programmes of "Euroimpuls" were aired weekly on BHTV. The program presented 
different topics relevant to the EU integra tion process, such as: Intercultural dialogue, 
higher education, science and research,  intellectual property, minorities protection, 
EU promotional projects, the fight against corruption,  waste control, migration and 
Asylum, Mines, and much more besides; 
• Over a hundred hours of TV and radio programmes were produced and aired on 
national and entity broadcasters. Several radio bridges and competitions for students 
took place. Thousands of pieces of material were printed, such as products developed 
by EUAP together with the DEI.  
 
Over the period, the growing atte ndance at the events and activ ities organised by the EUAP 
suggest an increase in awareness and interest in  the EU and related issu es. Furthermore, such 
an increase in attendance has helped to stimul ate further interest and awareness.  Europe Day 
2008 provides a good example of this trend.  The participation in such  activities as the " Kako 
u Evropu/how to Europe " quiz show and the competition “ Street Ball Challenge ” and the 
coverage in the media – including free spot s beforehand – meant that EU awareness and 
visibility was significantly rais ed in 2008.  This process was th en extended and enhanced by 
coverage of the winners “study trip” to Ljublja na, Brussels and Munich, which was filmed by 
the BHT crew that accompanied them. Th at resulted in a movie “Brankina pri ča/Branko's 
story” that is going to be screened at regional documentary festivals.  
The Quiz show was evaluated as the best EU related programme that has produced and aired 
by public broadcasters in the region of SEE. Such recognition was deli vered at the regional 
meeting of public broadcasters in 2008. Th e bulletin "Europuls" was commended by the 
Directorate of European Integration as being one of the strongest journalistic products about 
EU integration. The programme in general re ceived highly positive evaluations by local 
media, governments and NGOs.  
           
 
 283. Bulgaria  
 
3.1.      Summary        
 In 2008, Bulgaria implemented both pre-accessi on and post-accession assistance to address 
the remaining needs related to Institution Building for the implementation of the acquis , in 
line with the Extended Decentralised  Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since July 2007 implementation is carried out u nder the entire responsibility of the Bulgarian 
authorities applying national pr ocurement rules. Four implementing agencies are fully 
responsible for daily implementation of projects.  
In February 2008 the financing for the Pre- accession and Transition Facility programmes 
managed by two of the accredited Agencies - the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) and the Implementing Agencies at the Minister  of Regional Development and Public Works 
(MRDPW) was suspended and subsequently in July the Commission withdrew the right of 
those agencies to manage Phare and Transition Facility programme on a decentralized basis.  
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise the programming function for the 
Transition Facility programme and monitoring of both Pre-accession and Transition Facility 
Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the financial supervision. 
Since the closure of the Phare Tr ansition Team in the Representa tion in Sofia as of July 2008, 
DG Enlargement continues to exercise th e residual functions related to Commission 
responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with th e Financial Regulation. 
 
3.2. Phare/pre-accession, financial a nd Transition assistance in 2008 
 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  Phare 2005 – finalisation of payments  
At the end of the period for execution of cont racts for the 2005 Phare programme 56.26 % of 
the funding has been disbursed.  There are several projects whose period of execution of 
contracts has not expired yet according to  the corresponding Financing Agreements. 
Furthermore the Bulgarian authorities have requ ested extensions of the execution period for 
some projects under the 2005 Phare programme th at have been approved by the Commission. 
 
-  Phare 2006 – rate of cont racting (EDIS extensions)  
 
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 National programme on 30 November 2008, 
17.38% of the programmes had been contracted. The low percentage of contracting is due 
partly to the suspension of funding as well as  to the cancellation of significant number of 
contracts by the Bulgarian aut horities for which no time and resources were available. 
 
-  TF 2007 
 
The deadline for contracting 2007 Transition Fa cility will expi re on 15 December 2009. Up to 
the cut-off date of this report, 30.06% of the programme had been contracted. However, the 
accreditation of the CFCU has not been restored  and only twinning projects are eligible under 
TF.  
 29 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
As of 1 July 2007, the responsibility for the implementation of the twinning projects was 
taken over by the Administrative Office, while the overall coordination for twinning is carried 
out by the National Contact Point of the Ministry of Finance. 
In 2008, a number of projects continued to be  implemented through the twinning instrument. 
The projects funded under the Phare 2005 programm e in the justice sect or are focused on 
strengthening the sustainability and the role  of the probation service, establishment and 
strengthening of the national system for support of crime victims, strengthening the uniform 
application of the new procedural  legislation in Bulgaria.   
 Assistance is also provided to the Ministry of In terior in relation to border control, to the State 
Agency for National Security for further stre ngthening of its capacity  for counteracting the 
organized crime, to the Bulgarian Maritime Ad ministration for tackling the pollution issues, 
to the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for integration of the work of the NSI with the 
requirements of Eurostat and improve ment of its regional structure.  
 Furthermore, twinning contracts under Ph are 2006 support the capac ity building of the 
National Revenue Agency; the institutional and administrative structures in charge of 
management, monitoring and control of Struct ural Funds for effec tive participation of 
Bulgaria in EU Cohesion Policy, the Agency  for Economic Analysis and Forecasting and 
others.   As to the 2007 Transition Fac ility Programme for Bulgaria, twinning remains an important 
instrument for implementation. Altogether th e Programme includes a total of 22 standard 
twinning projects and 5 twinning light projects in areas such as Agriculture, Environment, 
Justice and Home Affairs with the majority of proj ects in the field of re form of the judiciary, 
police, organised crime, but also in the area of  border matters and migration issues, and social 
policy. 
In 2008, Twinning continued to remain a successful instrument in Bulgaria in many areas and 
has helped the Bulgarian administ ration to further strengthen it s capacities to implement and 
enforce EC legislation. 
 
 
3.3. Results and Impact
       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
 The Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) con tinues to supervise progress of EU-funded 
assistance in 2008 and to provide recommen dations on the manage ment of Phare and 
Transition Facility programmes. In 2008, two JM C meetings took place in February and July 
2008 respectively. At the meetings issues such as further improvement of project management 
and reporting were discussed and proposal s for remedial actions were made.  
 Each monitoring sector is covered by the relevant Sectoral Monitoring Sub-Committee 
(SMSC). Each SMSC session normally meets tw ice a year in accord ance with the annual 
schedule agreed within the JMC. Two rounds of SMSC meetings took place in 2008 and the 
ten monitoring sectors cover: Public Sector/D evelopment of administra tive capacity, Public 
Finance, Justice and Home Affairs, Economi c Development, Agriculture, Environment, 
 30Transport, Social Development, Regiona l Development/Cross-border Co-operation and 
Energy and Telecommunications.   ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring the Ph are and Transition Facility programmes in 
Bulgaria lies with the NAC servi ces within the Ministry of Fina nce. Activities in this area 
were carried out on the basis of the Action Plan on decentra lisation of monitoring and 
evaluation, which was endorsed by the EC in May 2007.   Interim Evaluation of all the 10 SMSC mon itored sectors has been launched during 2008. 
Three final reports have been completed - fo r Economic Development, Social Development 
and Public Administration Reform  sectors and several draft reports have been circulated for 
discussion.  In 2008, one Country Summary Report was issued  for the JMC meeting in July 2008. The 
report provided very useful information, base d on the findings of th e sectoral evaluation 
reports launched in 2008. Some issues in the s ectoral parts give rise to concerns, as for 
example the rating of the anti-c orruption projects is “unsatis factory” and the same goes for 
projects in transport, regi onal and economic development. 
 
 
    
 
 
 
 314. CROATIA  
4.1. The year in review  
4.1.1 Political developments 
EU accession negotiations began with Croatia on 3 October 2005 and continued to progress 
well. By the end of December 2008, 22 out of 35 negotiation chapters had been opened. Out 
of these chapters, seven had been provisionally closed.   Based on the overall progress being made by  Croatia the Commission proposed in the 
enlargement package adopted on 5 November 2008, an indicative road map for reaching the 
final stage of accession negotiations by the end of 2009, provided Croatia fulfils all the 
necessary conditions.   Croatia continued to meet the Copenhagen politi cal criteria. New strate gies and action plans 
as well as legislation for reforming the judi ciary, the public administ ration and in fighting 
corruption were adopted. Th e anti-corruption body USKOK continued to intensify its 
activities. Croatia took some step s to address problems of minor ities, including refugee return. 
Croatia continued to participate ac tively in regional  cooperation.   
 However, considerable challenges remain in key areas, such as reform of the still inefficient 
judicial system and public administration and in fighting organised crime and corruption, 
which remained widespread. Sustained effort s are needed across the board, leading to 
concrete results. Further attention needs to be  paid to minority right s, especially refugee 
return.  The prosecution of war crimes requi res continued attention. There have been 
problems of access by International Criminal Tr ibunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to 
certain documents in Croatia.   Regional cooperation needs to continue, as do e fforts to solve outstanding bilateral problems 
with neighbours, especially  on border delimitation.   
 
4.1.2 Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms 
Overall in 2008 the economy of Croatia conti nued to show a solid performance, with 
macroeconomic stability being preserved.    
 
However, inflation has risen considerably, la rgely due to higher energy and food prices. The 
current account deficit has been growing. The implementation of structural reforms has been slow. Significant subsidies to enterprise have not been used effectively for restructuring.  
 Furthermore in the last months of the year glob al financial crisis has started to affect the 
Croatian economy. Growth slowed down, exte rnal imbalances widened and economic 
prospects have become much bleaker. This en tails the risks of an expansion of spending, 
revenue shortfalls and higher budget deficits.    
4.1.3 Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire  
Croatia improved its ability to take on the ob ligations of membership. Preparations for 
meeting EU requirements moved forward at a steady pace. Significant progress was made in 
economic and monetary policy and information society and media. Good progress was made 
in many chapters, such as public procurement,  intellectual property la w, customs union, food 
 32safety and financial services.  However, signifi cant efforts lie ahead, in particular in areas 
such as judiciary and fundamental rights, envi ronment, competition policy and agriculture and 
rural development. 
4.2.      Pre-accessi on assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched  
As of 2007 the Phare pre-accession programmes we re replaced by the new Instrument for Pre-
accession Assistance (IPA). No new Phar e programmes were launched after 2006. 
 
Overview of programmes implemented  
The Commission decided to confer the mana gement under decentralised implementation 
(DIS) of Phare and CARDS programmes to the Cr oatian institutions under the authority of the 
National Authorising Officer on 7 February 2006 while main taining the ex-ante control 
requirement for tendering and contracting. This  decision also allowed for the further 
decentralisation of elements of CARDS 2003 and 2004.  Throughout 2008, further contracting of Phar e 2006 (Nuclear Safety , National and CBC 
programmes), and further disbursement of  CARDS 2003 and CARDS 2004, and Phare 2005 
and Phare 2006 (Nuclear Safety, Nati onal and CBC programmes) took place.  
 The CARDS 2003 programme amounts to a total of €62 million consisting of €3 million of 
centralised funds for the Tempus programme, €29,633,585 of deconcentrated funds managed by the EC Delegation and €29,366,415 of funds  under DIS. Under deconcentrated 
management, the contracting rate was 99.2% with a disbursement rate of 93% at the end of 
2008. Under DIS, these rates were respectively 97.7% and 86.7%.  The CARDS 2004 programme amounts to a total of €81 million consisting of €4 million of 
centralised funds for the Tempus programme, €30,426,370 of deconcentrated funds managed by the EC Delegation and €46,573,630 of funds  under DIS. Under deconcentrated 
management, the contracting rate was 99.96% with a disbursement rate of 88.7% at the end of 
2008. Under DIS, these rates were respectively 94.6% and 69.2%.  The Phare 2005 national programme amount s to a total of €71,500,000 and is fully 
decentralised except for the TEMPUS an d Community programmes funds. Out of 
€62,882,000 of decentralised funds, 88.3% had been contracted, and 49.3% had been paid by 
the end of 2008.  In addition to the Phare 2005 national programm e, the Phare 2005 Nuclear Safety programme 
amounts to €641,000 and is fully decentralised. By  the end of 2008, 66.5% of funds had been 
contracted, and 42.5% disbursed.  Also under Phare 2005, the Cross-border progr ammes (CBC) Croatia- Italy and Croatia-
Slovenia-Hungary amount to €3 million each and are implemented under DIS. By the end of 
2008, 60.4% had been contracted and 48.3% paid  for CBC Croatia-Ital y, and 90.7% had been 
contracted and 69.9% paid fo r CBC Croatia-Slovenia-Hungary. 
 Under Phare 2006, the national pr ogramme, the Nuclear Safety programme an d the Cross-border 
programme (CBC) Croatia-Italy and Croatia-Slovenia-Hungary amount respectively to 
 33€61,062,000,  €1,649,000, €3 million for each CBC  programme, are im plemented under DIS 
(except for the TEMPUS an d Community programmes within the national programme 
envelope).   By the end of 2008, 84.8% had been contracted a nd 1% paid for the Phare 2006 the national 
programme, 74.9 % contracted with no payments  for the Phare 2006 Nucl ear Safety programme, 
100 % contracted and 70.7 % paid for the CBC Croatia-Italy, 72.7%  contracted and 52.3% paid 
for the CBC Croatia-Slovenia-H ungary. 
 
CARDS and Phare management performance  
In addition to the preparations for IPA, the theme which dominated 2008 was the temporary suspension by the Delegation (as from 21 Decemb er 2007) of endorsement of contracts under 
Phare 2006. This measure was aimed to last  until the Commission was satisfied with 
performance improvements by Croatia under decentralised implementation.   During the first semester 2008, Croatia demons trated such improvements through a set of 
measures tackling mainly the reinforcement of  the Central Finance and Contracting Agency 
and the deeper supervision by key stakeholders  (Minister of Finance, National Authorising 
Officer, and Head of the CFCA) on line Ministries.   These measures in turn led the Commission to  restore in July 2008 its endorsement of 
contracts under Phare 2006. However, because much of the Croatian authorities' attention was devoted to the reinforcement of the stru ctures (including the preparation for IPA 
accreditations), it was only in November 200 8 that the main bulk of Phare 2006 national 
programme was contracted. While the contracti ng rate was at 1.5 % of the allocation at the 
beginning of November, it ended up at 84,8% by the contracting deadline of 30 November 
2008 which constitutes a good performance considering the prevailing situation. 
 
Table 1: Status of financial assistance at  the end of December 2008 (in million €) – 
CARDS/Phare  annual programmes 
 
  Allocated  Contracted RAC
5 % contracted Paid  RAL6 % paid
CARDS 2001 54 52.06 1.94 96.4% 48.69 5.31 90.2% 
CARDS 2002 56 53.81 2.19 96.1% 51.46 4.54 91.9% 
CARDS 2003  59 58.08 0.92 98.4% 53.60 5.40 90.8% 
CARDS 2004  77 74.48 2.52 96.7% 59.20 17.80 76.9% 
Phare 2005*  69.52 60.51 9.01 87.0% 34.82 34.70 50.1% 
Phare 2006*  60.47 51.21 9.26 84.7% 4.26 56.21 7.1% 
Total  375.99 350.15 25.84 93.1% 252.03 123.96 67.0% 
* National, Cross-Border, and Nuclear Safety programmes. 
 
                                                 
5 Reste à contracter 
6 Reste à liquider 
 34NDPs – State of Play  
The Croatian Government adopted a nationa l development strategy entitled Strategic 
Development Framework 2006-2013 in August 2006, wh ich identifies a series of priorities 
that should promote Croatia’s social and ec onomic development. The Strategic Development 
Framework remained valid in 2008.   In addition, the Croatian G overnment adopted in 2008 the National Programme for the 
Accession of the Republic of Croatia into th e EU (NPIEU 2008) which is the sixth annual 
programme which contains activities to be unde rtaken on the way towards EU integration, as 
well as short and mid term priorities in the harmonisation of Croatian legislation with the 
acquis . 
 
Institution Building highlights  
One of the main challenges facing the candidate countries is the need to strengthen their 
administrative and judicial capacity to implement and enforce the acquis . The European 
Commission mobilises significant human and financial resources to help them with this process, using the mechanism of twinning  administrations and agencies with the ones from 
the Member States. 
 
During 2008, 12 new twinning contracts (of which 5 twinning light) under Phare 2006 
national programme, for a total amount of approximately €6.4 million were signed. 
 In addition to these newly started projec ts, there were, by the end of 2008, 19 running 
twinning and twinning light proj ects, for a total amount of approximately €20 million: 7 
projects under CARDS 2004 programme a nd 12 projects under Phare 2005 national 
programme.  Moreover, 12 twinning and twinning light pr ojects for a total amount  of approximately €4 
million were finished during 2008: 5 under CARDS 2004 and 7 under Phare 2005.  
4.3.      Results and impact    
State of play for JMC/SMSC development
 
Two series of six Sectoral Monitoring Sub-Co mmittee (SMSCs) meetings each were held in 
May and October 2008. Each series of meetings c onsidered the state of play for a total of 120 
projects. The six sectors covered by the SMSCs were: Energy & Environment; Economic & 
Social Cohesion; Internal Market, Competition & Agriculture; Justice and Home Affairs; 
Public Administration Reform, Pu blic Finance & Statistics; Social Sector, Civil Society & 
Minority Rights.  This process culminated in the Joint Mon itoring Committee (JMC) which took place on 16 
December 2008. The JMC reviewed the financial status of programmes as of 1 December 
2008 (contracting, payments, end of implementa tion, closure). It discussed a JMC Synopsis 
Report containing conclusions, recommendations and follow-up actions, as well as a Country 
Summary Evaluation report providing a general overview of the key issues that have 
influenced the overall impact and sustainability of the Phare assistance to Croatia. The JMC 
also discussed the findings of the Ministry of Finance's internal audit performed on the 17 
institutions benefiting form CA RDS, Phare and IPA assistance. 
 35 
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008- Lessons Learned  
An ad-hoc independent Country Summary Ev aluation report covering decentralised CARDS 
and Phare 2005 national programme s was released in December 2008. 
 This report is based on the eight sectoral inte rim evaluations carried out during the period 
November 2007 to December 2008 cove ring the six monitoring sectors. 
 The report provided the following lessons that ca n be drawn as regards the deployment of the 
CARDS and Phare assistance in Croatia:  Conclusion 1: Overall Phare has been largely effective as an instrument in supporting the 
accession process in Croatia particularly in  those sectors where the emphasis is on 
harmonisation of legislation or application of Eu ropean Union Directives .  In others, progress 
has been made through capacity building, know -how transfer and increased political 
awareness.  Institutional reform and uncertainty  about future division s of responsibility 
continue to hamper success in  some subsectors, however. 
 
Conclusion 2: Further investment is needed to continue the improvement of the Central 
Finance and Contracting Agency performance.   Despite becoming an independent state 
agency and being better resourced, the perfor mance of the Central Fi nance and Contracting 
Agency continues to struggle.  Contracting pr ocesses are still too l ong and cooperation with 
other institutions and benefici aries has improved but is stil l not close enough.  Substantial 
training is needed to provide  necessary professional know how  and co-operation to the new 
inexperienced staff.  Conclusion 3: Despite recent improvements, pr ofessional and effective permanent training 
and education for existing and incoming civil service staff dealing with European Union 
interventions is still underdev eloped.  Training in Project Cy cle Management for all parties 
involved in project design and implementation is still needed  to ensure th at realistic 
programme objectives are set with correspondingl y realistic resources and timescales in place 
to ensure their achievement.  Wa ys must be found to institutiona lise such traini ng within the 
relevant Croatian administrative structures.  Conclusion 4: Monitoring and interim eval uation require further strengthening.   
 
Sectors with positive results  
Based on the aforementioned evaluation of Phare assistance, positive results were achieved in 
2007, notably in the following sectors:   - In the "Energy and environment" sector, in  general, programme design has been good or 
even very good and reflects highly relevant  pre-accession needs.  Strong stakeholder 
commitment provided positive pros pects for efficient realisation. Prospects for effective 
delivery throughout the sector ar e positive, planned impacts ar e expected to be mostly 
achieved.  Interventions appear sustainable.   - In the "social" sector, Phare interventions followed accession-related objectives but future 
Roma support should engage more with the EU strategy of social inclusion.  Interventions 
reviewed can be regarded as largely efficient and are likely to have a positive immediate and 
 36intermediate impact. However withdrawal of do nors’ funding poses a threat to smaller Non-
governmental Organisations.    
-  In the "internal market" sector, as regards the interventions in the field of Competition, Free 
Movement of Goods, and Telecommunications  and Broadcasting sub-sectors display 
satisfactory design of programmes with adequate  objectives.  Good prog ress towards effective 
delivery of outputs is being made across the sector, but inter-institutional co-operation 
particularly in Intellectual Propert y Rights still needs improvements. 
Success story
 
 
Official title of the project  Building and Development of Guidelines for the 
Implementation of the Water Framework Directive  
Country  Croatia  
Total Budget  € 1.200.000,00   
Implementation period  24 months (from 03/09/2007 to 02/09/2009)  
  
Beneficiary  Ministry of Regi onal development, Forestry and Water 
management of the Republic of Croatia  
Hrvatske vode (Croatian water authority)  
Partners  Ministry of Regi onal development, Forestry and Water 
management of the Republic of Croatia  
Hrvatske vode  
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature 
Conservation and Nuclear safety of Germany  
Governmental Service of Land and Water 
Management, The Netherlands  
Overall Objective  Improving water quality standards and water 
management in Croatia in line with EU requirements  Twinning Project- Implementing the Water Fram ework Directive (WFD) in the Republic of 
Croatia  The first Croatian Twinning Projec t in the environmental sector builds close partnerships and 
provides technical and admini strative knowledge to implement European water protection 
policies.     
 37All results, upcoming events and valuable  background information can be found on the 
project’s website www.wfd-croatia.eu.                            
With the accession into the EU, Croatia is oblig ed to implement the new requirements of the 
EU water acquis. Hereby the Water Framewor k Directive (WFD) whic h was adopted in 2000 
plays a central role. The WFD demands a good status for all water bodies implying good 
water quality and good ecological functionality. This challenging objective can only be 
achieved by close cooperation betwee n all stakeholders and by a dopting the new ideas, set out 
by the Directive.   Apart from training in all aspects of the WFD, the Twinning Project already supported 
Croatia’s water administration in establishi ng a monitoring working group which is now 
implementing the first WFD compliant monitori ng programme in the country. Furthermore a 
WFD board comprising all relevant govern mental bodies was initiated in 2008.  
 With these multidisciplinary working groups the implementation process will be highly facilitated in Croatia. In addition the proj ect team strongly promotes participation and 
consultation of NGOs and the general public. In  October 2008 the project organized together 
with the main beneficiaries and the University of  Zagreb a Water Info event in the city centre 
of Zagreb with the central theme: Wh at is water management all about? 
 
 385         Cyprus    
 
5.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Cyprus continued to implement successfu lly the post-accession assistance to address 
the remaining needs related to IB  for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the 
Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since July 2004 implementation is carried out unde r the entire responsibi lity of the Cyprus 
authorities applying national procurement rules. A number of implementing agencies are fully 
responsible for daily implementation of projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision. 
 
5.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of c ontracts for the 2005 TF programme 92.12 % of the 
funding had been disbursed. The Cypriot author ities did not request any extension for the 
2005 programme. The payments can still be executed  within 6 months afte r the expiry of the 
contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting   
 
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 89.78% of the programme had been contracted. A higher level of contracting 
was not reached due mainly to big savings in the procurement process. As there are only 4 
projects implemented under TF2006, there were no possibilities of re-a llocation of saved 
funds. 
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
A total of around €19 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programme s) has been allocated to Cyprus from 
Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006). 
During the period, there was substantial over all progress towards the achievement of 
objectives and results of the EU assistan ce. The projects under TF 2005 projects were 
successfully completed and achieved its results, which further contribute d to the enhancement 
of Cypriot public administration.  
 
 
5.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
 39In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting took place in April 2008, in line 
with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which 
established an integrated monitoring a nd evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. During this JMC meeting it was agreed that it  is the last physical JMC and 
the next ones will be concluded via the writte n procedure. The ISRs are of good quality and 
there is enough insurance that all remaining projects will be implemented according to the 
project fiches and the agreed schedule.  
In the year 2007, the monitoring system was reor ganised in Cyprus. It was affected due to 
simplified procedures introduced by the Europ ean Commission and due to the rather small 
number of projects under TF 2005 and 2006 programmes.  
Within this reorganisation, a Programme Moni toring Committee (PMC) was established as a 
main coordinating body that meets twice a year  and is chaired by the NAC. The PMC assesses 
progress towards the objectives and targets of the projects by reviewin g actual output, the rate 
of implementation, financial flows, etc. a nd makes relevant recommendations. The PMC's 
discussion is based on the Quarterly Progress Repor ts of the projects as well as the Monthly 
Financial Reports.  
 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Cyprus lies with th e Planning Bureau, as the executive body of the 
NAC.  
In 2008, two interim evaluation reports were released, both prepar ed by the external 
contractor. The first Interim Evaluation Repor t was issued in April 2008 and the second one 
in December 2008.  
The overall rating of the last Interim Evaluati on Report was satisfactory, with 1 exception of 
project from TF2005 which was rated as barely sa tisfactory. In general all projects suffered 
from delays in contracting which caused de lays in implementation. Some projects are under 
tight implementation schedule and require close monitoring. The su stainability of  the projects 
results continues to be a problem as some be neficiaries suffers from insufficient number of 
staff.  
 
    
 40 
6. Czech Republic    
 
6.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, the Czech Republic continued to im plement successfully the post-accession 
assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the Extended Decentralised Implementation System 
(EDIS). 
Since December 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Czech 
authorities applying national procurement rule s. The Central Finance and Contract Unit 
(CFCU), the Civil Society Development Founda tion (NROS), CzechInvest (CI), the National 
Training Fund (NTF) and the Centre for Regiona l Development (CRD) are fully responsible 
for the daily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
6.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 82.06 % of the funding has been disbursed. The C zech authorities requested no extension for 
the TF 2005 programme. The paymen ts can still be execu ted within 6 months  after the expiry 
of the contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting   
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 100.00% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 
A total of around €32 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes)  has been allocated to the Czech Republic 
from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
Implementation of Transition Facility in th e Czech Republic is considered generally 
successful in areas such as nuclear safety, just ice & home affairs, soci al protection & health, 
environment, agriculture and fina nce & banking & internal market.  
As regards twinning, in 2008 the Czech Republic successfully contracted almost all the 
Twinning Light projects allocated under the unallocated envelope package. 
 
 
 416.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
 
In 2008, one working level group meeting a nd one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) 
meeting took place in June 2008 in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new 
Member States in May 2004, wh ich established an integrat ed monitoring and evaluation 
system over the programmes under implementation. 
The meetings were fruitful and helped to a ddress the problems concerning implementation of 
the ongoing programmes, to discuss horizonta l/systemic issues and to identify possible 
solutions. Several immediate actions were agreed upon and deadlines set for their 
implementation. 
In the year 2008, two rounds of Sector Mon itoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took 
place (in April and October). There are six sect ors to be monitored in the Czech Republic: 
Social protection and Health, Agriculture/Enviro nment, Civil Society Development, Nuclear 
Safety, Justice and Home Affairs and Internal Market, Finance and Banking. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Czech Republic lies with the Ministry of Financ e (MoF). Activities in 
this area were carried out on the basis of the Action Plan on decentralisation of Monitoring 
and Evaluation, which was endorsed by the EC in May 2005.  
In 2008, five Interim Evaluation (IE) reports and one Country Evaluation Summary Report on 
Transition Facility programmes in the Czech Republic were issued. 
The Country Evaluation Summary report provides  a consolidated count ry review of the 
findings of the Interim Evaluation Reports th at were prepared between April and May 2008 
related to Social Protection and Health, Nucl ear Safety, Finance a nd Banking and Internal 
Market sectors and September and October 2 008 related to Agriculture/Environment and 
Justice and Home Affairs sectors.  It concludes that the effici ency of the use of Transition 
Facility assistance varies greatly from project to project. In the health area there were 
significant improvements over the last year with  a higher level of commitment and ownership 
of the projects from the side of the benefici aries. In the area of strengthening on anti-
corruption some projects also progressed we ll, based on the high quality of design and 
commitment of all project partne rs. However, 4 projects relate d to the Transition Facility 
2006 were cancelled mainly due to re asons caused by external factors.  
  
 427. Estonia  
 
7.1.  Summary                 
In 2008, Estonia continued to impl ement successfully the post-ac cession assistance to address 
the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line 
with the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since November 2004 implementation is carried  out under the entire  responsibility of 
Estonian authorities applying national procuremen t rules. The Ministry of Finance, Central 
Financing and Contracting Department (CFC D) is fully responsible for the daily 
implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
7.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
ii) Implementation   
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 77.35 % of the funding has been disbursed. The Es tonian authorities requested no extension 
for the 2005 programme. The paymen ts can still be exec uted within 6 months  after the expiry 
of the contracts execution period. 
 -  TF 2006 – rate of contracting 
 
At the end of the contracting period fo r the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 
15 December 2008, 95.58% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights  A total of around €18 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Estonia from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
In 2008, Estonia made very good progress in im plementing the Transition Facility 2005 and 
2006 projects. TF 2005 projects were all comple ted by the execution deadline and the results 
have been very positive. It can be concluded that all proj ects contributed to meeting the 
remaining needs of acquis  and enhanced the Estonian administrative system. The projects 
under TF 2006 are also progressing well and no major problems have been encountered.  
 
 
 437.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) m eeting took place in January 2008, in line 
with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which 
established an integrated monitoring a nd evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. The second one was carried  out by written procedure in June 2008. 
In 2008, no Sector Monitoring Sub-Committ ee (SMSC) meetings have taken place. 
Monitoring reports have been prepared during the year and approved vi a written procedure by 
the SMSC members. There are seven sectors to be  monitored in Estonia: agriculture/fisheries, 
education, environment, finance, home affairs, internal market/transport  and social affairs. 
  ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation  Re ports in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Estonia lies with the Ministry of Finance (M oF). There have been 
structural changes in the MoF during the repo rting period. The Monitoring Unit is now in the 
State Budget Coordination and Monitoring Department not in the Foreign Financing 
Department. Activities in this area were car ried out on the basis of the Action Plan on 
decentralisation of monitoring and evaluation, which was endorsed by EC in February 2005. 
The following evaluation reports were prepared and rel eased during 2008:  
1) Transition Facility Interim Ev aluation Country Summary Report VII 
2) Interim Evaluation Report of 2005 Transition Facility Programme 
3) Interim Evaluation Report of 2006 Transition Facility Programme  
 The outcome of the evaluations is rather positive and despite of some challenges the 
implementation of the projects is going smoothl y. The projects' results are expected to be 
achieved as foreseen in the project fiches.  
 
  
 
     
 448. THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA  
8.1 The year in review 
Political developments  
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia made  some progress in the course of 2008 but 
does not yet meet the political criteria. The parliamentary elec tions of 2008 did not meet key 
international standards and the recommendati ons of the Organisati on for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and of the O ffice for Democratic In stitutions and Human 
Rights (ODIHR) need to be fully addressed. The lack of construc tive political dialogue 
between major political parties a nd actors adversely affected th e functioning of the political 
institutions; increasing efforts to foster polit ical dialogue are now being made. Steps have 
been taken to address key Accession Partnership priorities and further efforts are required. 
 The implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement is contributing to the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law. The adopti on of a law on languages marked an important 
step forward in relations among the ethnic comm unities of the country. Further efforts in a 
constructive spirit are needed to fulfil the objectives of the Ohrid Agreement.  
As regards public administration reform there has been some pr ogress with the introduction of 
salary incentives and th e adoption of a continuous training  system, as required by the law on 
the civil service. However, little progress has been  made to ensure that senior recruitments are 
based on professional qualifications. Priority needs to be given to creating a stable, 
professional and merit-based civil service. The role of the Civil Servants Agency needs to be 
strengthened and the capacity of the human res ources units in line ministries needs to be 
increased.  Good progress has been made on judicial reform. The new C ourt of Appeal and the new 
Administrative Court and the Judicial Council are functioning and the new Council of Public 
Prosecutors has started to meet. However, further strengthening of  the judiciary is required as 
regards its independence, efficiency, hu man resources and budgetary framework.  
Further progress has been made in implemen ting anti-corruption policy. The government's 
Action Plan has been allocated a specific budget.  Special investigation measures may now be 
used in corruption cases. An Action Plan against conflict of interest ha s been adopted. There 
have been convictions in some high-profile cases. However, corruption remains widespread 
and constitutes a partic ularly serious problem. Further step s are necessary, in particular to 
strengthen operational coordination amongst la w enforcement agencies and to implement 
provisions on financing of political parties and campaign financing  
Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms
 
There has been further progress towards esta blishing a functioning market economy. The 
country should be able to cope with competitiv e pressures and market forces within the Union 
in the medium term, provided that it vigorou sly implements its comprehensive reform 
programme in order to reduce significant st ructural weaknesses. Despite the relative 
insulation of the Country from the internationa l financial markets, S kopje will not be immune 
to the global economic crisis. Following the positive economic trends until 2008, the second semester of the year showed the first negative signals and the forecast for 2009 is negative especially concerning gr owth, unemployment rate as well as fi scal and current account deficit. 
Despite this situation the Government plans a policy of fu rther fiscal expansion, which risks 
worsening the external vulnerabilities.            
Progress in the alignment w ith the acquis communautaire
 
 45The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has made  further efforts to improve its ability to 
assume the obligations of membership. There was some progress in the fulfilment of the 
priorities of the Accession Partnership. However,  the country still faces major shortcomings 
in implementing and effectively enforcing legislation. Adequate human and financial 
resources for the full implementation the acquis  are lacking. 
 
8.2 Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched  
As of 2007 the CARDS programme has been  replaced by the new Instrument for Pre-
accession Assistance. No new CARDS programmes were launched after 2006. 
 
Overview of programmes implemented  
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia r eceived a total allocation of €231 million under 
CARDS programmes between 2002–2006. These allocations concentrated on several sectoral objectives referring to the priorities identif ied in the Progress Report and the Accession 
Partnership for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These priorities translated into 
the following financial allocations by prio rity in the framework of CARDS programme: 
 
• Democracy and the rule of law: €56.6 million 
• Economic & social development: €59.2 million 
• Justice and home affairs: €62.6 million 
• Environment and natural resources: €6.3 million 
• Other: €35.3 million 
 
The key programming documents for CARDS 2002-2006 were the CARDS Country Strategy 
Paper 2002-2006, Multi-annual Indicative Pr ogrammes of 2002-2004 and of 2005-2006 and 
annual action programmes for each annual progra mming cycle. The programming documents 
were prepared with refe rence to the Stabilisation and Asso ciation Agreement, annual progress 
reports, European and Accession Partnership, a nd the National Plan for the Adoption of the 
acquis. 
 
The CARDS Programme was mainly managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction. The Agency closed its doors at the end of  2008. Responsibility for the remaining CARDS 
projects was transferred to the Delegation of the European Commission in Skopje. The 
Delegation has taken over 159 assistance contracts worth €26 million under CARDS 
programme.  In the year 2008 procurement processes were unde rway for contracting remaining projects of 
CARDS assistance.   
Strengthening the public administration 
Analysis and assessment has been made on a ll decentralisation-related aspects and on the 
functioning of the fiscal decentr alisation. These activities were part of the three separate 
technical assistance programm es funded by EU providing suppor t to central government and 
municipalities to enhance their capacities to  deal with policy developments on fiscal 
decentralisation. They provided recommendations on how to improve the transfer systems and 
 46formulas used by the central government to as sign resources to munici palities. Legislative 
assistance is also prov ided to ZELS – Association of Muni cipalities in drafting and amending 
decentralisation-related laws and sub-laws. An EU assistance programme aims to improve the 
information, communication and service delivery to the citizens through refurbishment of 
Municipal Service Centres in 36 municipalitie s targeting the regions of Tetovo, Kumanovo, 
Ohrid, Bitola, Strumica, Kochani and Veles.   
Aligning environment rules with EU best practices 
The EU helped the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning to approximate the 
national legislation on air qu ality. The EU funded twinning pr oject, in cooperation with 
Finland and Austria, undertook activities for the development of much needed legislation 
regarding air quality, including ga p analysis, table of concordan ce, drafting of sub-legislation 
and of manual on air quality. Two air quality  models were supplied to the Macedonian 
Environmental Information Centre , focusing on traffic and on st ationary sources. In the field 
of environment, the EU recently also drafted de tailed design and tender dossier for the pilot 
investment in building a wastewater  treatment plant in Prilep.   
 
Supporting police reform 
As a tangible demonstration of EU’s commitment to the police reform process, the EU 
provided a donation of 34 terrain vehicles to the Ministry of Interior. The vehicles, type Land 
rover Defender 110‘, have been specially modified for use by the Rapid Deployment Unit and are suitable for rural operations, publ ic order duties as well as for general policing duties. The 
EU began assisting the Rapid Deployment Unit in 2002 and ha s been providi ng continuous 
support ever since. This latest EU assistance to the Rapid Deployment Unit has been provided 
in close co-operation with the British RDU A dvisory Project that is an example of co-
operation between the EU and its Member States to maximise the effec tiveness of support to 
the country on its path towards EU membership.  
 
Towards a more independent judiciary 
The country’s criminal justice system has been in review by the EU funded twinning project, 
in cooperation with Italy’s Mini stry of Justice, focusing on th e legislative framework review 
and making sure that the criminal justice sy stem of the country is  harmonised with the acquis.  
The EU assistance programme supporting the Training Academy for Judges and Prosecutors 
has provided pilot training programme to candi dates for judges and prosecutors from ethnic 
communities and advanced training course in case management to court staff in seven pilot courts. Under penitentiary investment progr amme, renovation works of Prilep prison have 
been completed with EU funds. The EU has also  financed the renovation of two other prisons 
located in Stip and Idrizovo (Skopje). The assistance has encouraged the government to 
provide budgetary funds for improving the conditions at the country’s penitentiary institutions.   
Increasing investment opportunities 
The EU has funded major projects supporting th e business environment in the country by 
providing capacity building to the national agenci es in charge of attracting foreign direct 
investment. Assistance in the ar ea has focused on mentoring of the national FDI Agency staff 
in execution of day to day assignments and fo r improved capacities in terms of knowledge in 
attracting FDI practices and techniques and nego tiating skills. In sepa rate programmes, the 
EU funded activities in establ ishing a market surveillance system, in implementing the 
national Strategy for improvement of compe titiveness through fostering development and 
performance of Small and Medium  sized Enterprises (SMEs) a nd training has been provided 
 47to companies attending the Turn Around Management and hum an resources development 
fund programmes.   
Implementation of integrated bo rder and visa management system 
The EU funded project provided with the Natio nal Visa Information System functionality 
linking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with diplomatic missions  and consular posts allowing 
the embassies to issue visas through the N-VI S system. Through the internet-based National 
Visa Management System, the Visa Centre is  connected with the remaining 34 diplomatic 
missions and consular posts, as well as with 8 border crossing points and the Department for 
Foreigners of the Ministry of Interior. With  this, N-VIS significant ly enhances the border 
control and contributes towards its aligning with the EU requirements. 
 
Transport sector management 
The Ministry of Transport and Communication wa s assisted implementing the restructuring of 
the management of the road sector. The EU funded project drafted a new law on the roads 
sector and the two key players in the road sector the Fund for National and Regional Roads 
and the public enterprise Makedonija Pat, underg o serial of on-job trainings and workshops. 
Establishing safe, sustainable a nd efficient civil air traffic in line with European standards was 
the objective of a separa te an EU-funded project. The proj ect team worked with the newly 
established Air Transport Sector in the Mi nistry to review and amend the Aviation 
Law,devise a National Strategy for Air Transpor t Development, and review the safety and 
security procedures for the airports. Establ ishing the National Strategy for Air Transport 
Development for the period of  2007-2012 was a significant achiev ement of the project team. 
A comprehensive training programme was also pr ovided to the Air Transport Sector staff and 
to the employees of Public Enterprise for Airpor ts Services and of the Civil Aviation Agency.  
  
Reforming the labour legislation  
The EU provided support to th e Ministry of Labour and So cial Policy in revising and 
enforcing the country's labour legislation, in line  with EU legislation and with the EU best 
practices. A twinning project has been launc hed in cooperation with the Slovak Republic 
analysing and planning the transposition of more than 30 EU Directives into the national legal 
system and putting forward specific recommenda tions for additional changes in the country’s 
legislation and assisting in se tting up appropriate instituti onal models. The EU also has 
supported the life long l earning system in the country throu gh a technical assistance project 
aiming to further improve the quality and effect iveness of the education and training system 
through a modern system of adult learni ng in line with the new labour market.  
  
CARDS management performance
 
Table 1: Status of financial assistance at the end of Dece mber 2008 (in million €) – 
CARDS annual national programmes 
 
  Allocated  Contracted  RAC7 % 
contractedPaid  RAL8 % paid
CARDS 2001 56.640 56.640 0 100 % 56.640 0 100 % 
                                                 
7 Reste à contracter 
8 Reste à liquider 
 48CARDS 2002 33.033 33.033 0 100 % 33.033 0 100 % 
CARDS 2003  36.005 36.005 0 100 % 36.005 0 100 % 
CARDS 2004  53.175 53.175 0 100 % 48.083 5.092 90 % 
CARDS 2005  34.044 33.498 0 98 % 30.546 2.952 90 % 
CARDS 2006  33.399 27.888 5.511 83 % 19.921 13.478 60 % 
Total  246.296 240.239 5.511 98 % 224.228 21.522 91 % 
 
 
The financial assistance implementation during 2008 concerned the CARDS programmes 
2002 till 2006. The objectives for assistance delivery for 2008 were completion of implementation and payments for the CA RDS 2002, 2003 and 2004 programmes, completion 
of the contracting for the CARDS 2005 progra mmes, and contracting allocations for the 
CARDS 2006.  The Agency portfolio in the former Yugosla v Republic of Macedonia amounted to some €326 
million. It covered projects financed under CARDS (2002-2006), projects financed under 
Phare (1997-2000) and the Emerge ncy Response Programme (2001).  
Institution Building highlights
 
The twinning mechanism  was extensively used during 2 008 in many priority areas and 
helped the country prepare for the implementa tion of EU policies and laws. In 2008 one new 
twinning project was launched: harmonisation of labour legisla tion with the Slovak Republic. 
In 2008, we completed twinning project conducted by Germa ny on statistics. The twinning 
project with the Nether lands was also completed during 2008  focusing on police education. In 
addition, the twinning project with Finland and Austria on ai r quality was completed during 
2008. The twinnings on money laundering with Sp ain and on Prosecutor’s office with Italy 
continued with their operations. To date, a to tal of 11 fully-fledged twinning projects for a 
total amount of €13.2 million have been fi nanced out of the CARDS Programme.  
 
Grants  awarded to eligible EU member state ins titutions have been used as an additional 
instrument for institution building specifically targeting the policing reforms in the country. 
Under CARDS programme, a total of 3 grant pr ojects for a total amount  of €10 million have 
been financed.  Other institutions building inst ruments have included technical assistance (service contracts), 
direct award grants to special ised international organisations and grants to civil society 
organisations.  
8.3 Results and impact 
State of play for JMC/SMSC development
 
Seven Sectoral Monitoring Sub-Committees (S MSCs) meetings were held from May to 
November 2008. The sectors covered by the SM SCs were: energy, environment, economic 
and social cohesion, internal market, competition, agriculture, justice and home affairs, public 
administration reform, public fina nce and statistics, social sector, civil society and minority 
rights.  
 49The process culminated in the Joint Mon itoring Committee (JMC) that took place on 21 
November 2008. The JMC reviewed the financia l status of programmes as of 1 December 
2008 (contracting, payments, end of implemen tation, closure). It discussed an Annual 
Implementation Report containing conclusions , recommendations and follow-up actions.  
 
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned  
The step-by-step establishment of the administrative structure for decentralised management 
of EU funds and the requirements for the mana gement of IPA are leading elements in the 
evolving organisational set-up for the progra mming and subsequent management of EU 
funded projects. While it rema ins a challenge to allocate both sufficient resources to the 
management structures and to develop and implement th e appropriate regulations, 
improvements can be noted in the involvement  of different government agencies in the 
development of the projects.  Despite a general improvement, significant disp arities between different government bodies 
persist. Where the Ministry of Interior for instance is taking a more leading role in both 
project development and project management, ot her ministries continue to face serious 
difficulties in assuming their (c ontractual) responsibilities. Continued support to build 
capacities in project development and management will remain necessary. 
 Further structural improvements in public ad ministration remain a priority. Three core 
functions stand out. Firstly the budget planning process needs to ensure that sufficient 
resources are allocated to the ministries and de partments to maintain the investments and – in 
some cases – appropriately implement core work processes. Secondly, human resource 
management does not only need to guarantee sufficient staff to implement the relevant mandate, but also sufficiently qualified staff and a stable staff establishment. And thirdly, the 
activities of an individua l ministry or department do not only need to refer to a sector strategy, 
but also be well coordinated with other stake holders in the process, which include other 
departments in the same ministry, other governme ntal bodies as well as the support activities 
of the international community.  Although addressing these structural public admi nistration issues through capacity building 
projects will remain necessary, highlighting these issu es in the sub-committees proves to be 
an excellent tool to focus attention.  
Sectors with positive results
 
Justice and home affairs 
The country's criminal justice system has b een reviewed, examining some aspects of the 
existing laws in the field of organised crime and corruption (such as Law on interception of 
communications). The review was handed over to the Ministry of Justi ce to the Department 
for Prosecuting Organised Crime and Corruption at the Public Prosecutor's Office. The EU 
assistance programme supportin g the Training Academy for Judges and Prosecutors has 
provided extensive training programmes to candida tes from all ethnic communities. As regard 
Penitentiary Reform, renovation works of the pris ons of Prilep, Stip and Idrizovo have been 
completed. The assistance has encouraged the government to provide additional budgetary 
funds for improving the conditions at the country's penitentiary institutions. The new Law on 
combating money laundering and terrorism fina ncing entered into force in January 2008. A 
twinning initiative with Spain working to st rengthen the country's administrative and 
 50technical capacities for Money Laundering Pr evention, has foster ed capacity building 
activities.   
Public administration reform and public finance 
There has been substantial progress in the years 2007 and 2008. A technical assistance 
programme provided support to the Ministry of Finance in 2008 aiming to enhance its 
capacities to deal with policy de velopments on fiscal decentralisation. Under the programme, 
all decentralisation-related legi slation, sub-laws on methodology for the transfer of grants, and 
indicators used to asse ss municipalities' fiscal capacity were examined and analysed. A public 
finance management project was completed in 2008 helping to enhance the competencies and 
capacities of municipalities to effectively mana ge the fiscal decentra lisation process. The 
project assisted municipalities to increase their  human resources capacities in the area of tax 
administration, to improve their competence in budget cycle management, and to perform the 
internal audit function efficiently.  
Environment 
Environment remains as one of the priorities for EU assistance in the years to come. However, 
there has been substantial improvement of the e nvironmental situation of the country over the 
last years. EU assistance helped to prepar e a tender to build an important wastewater 
treatment plain in Prilep. The project offered assistance in preparing documents and reports 
that are currently supporting funding  applications in the field of  wastewater. Furthermore, an 
EU project finalized in May 2008 helped the Ministry of Envir onment and Physical Planning 
to adopt the national legisl ation on air quality. The proj ect provided support for the 
development of regulations in air quality such as gap analysis, and draf ting of sub-legislation. 
 
Success story
 
Visa management system gets a boost: EU committed €1.2 million to establish a National 
Visa Management System   
The EU funded a project provided with the Na tional Visa Information System functionality 
linking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with diplomatic missions  and consular posts allowing 
the embassies to issue visas through the N-VI S system. The Training of  Trainers programme 
delivered for 16 staff from Ministries of Fore ign Affairs and of Interior offered valuable 
insight into the testing processes, the validati on of N-VIS functionalities and the proposals for 
immediate and future N-VIS improvements and a dditional functionalities. The future trainers 
will be able to transfer their knowledge to N- VIS end-users. The N-VIS software introduces 
significant changes in visa i ssuing processes across the count ry as it implements clearly 
defined and standardized visa issuing procedures. The N-VIS was modelled upon the 
Slovenian experience and best EU practices, in  line with international standards and the 
National Integrated Border Management Strate gy and it fulfils conditions for complete 
compatibility with the Schengen Information System. Through the internet-based National Visa Management System, the Visa Centre is  connected with the remaining 34 diplomatic 
missions and consular posts, as well as with 8 border crossing points and the Department for 
Foreigners of the Ministry of Interior. The system offers easy and rapid verification of 
applicant data in the relevant databases, simple  data acquisition for later analyses and efficient 
monitoring of procedures for issuing visas. In addition, it suppor ts the verification of passport 
data at border crossings. W ith this, N-VIS significantly e nhances the border control and 
contributes towards its aligni ng with the EU requirements. 
 
 519. Hungary   
 
9.1.  Summary    
              
In 2008, Hungary continued to implement su ccessfully the post-accession assistance to 
address the remaining needs related to inst itution building for the implementation of the 
acquis , in line with the EDIS. 
Since June 2004 implementation is  carried out under the entire re sponsibility of Hungarian 
authorities applying national procurement rule s. The CFCU-Central Finance and Contract 
Unit, the ESF-European Social Fund Agency  and the VATI-Hungarian Public Company for 
Regional Town Planning are fully responsible fo r the daily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
9.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments  
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 93.19 % of the funding has been disbursed. The H ungarian authorities requested no extension 
for the 2005 programme. The paymen ts can still be execu ted within 6 months  after the expiry 
of the contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting   
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 81.16% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 A total of around €36 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Hungary from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
Implementation of Transition Facility in Hungar y is considered successful in most areas, 
where most projects are reaching foreseen object ives and the assistance provides real value 
added to scarce public funds. 
As regards twinning, Hungary ha s taken advantage of the Tw inning instrument, since ten 
Twinning Light projects related to the 2005 Transition Facility Programme were successfully 
contracted and completed. The Hungarian author ities consider the Unallocated IB Envelope 
as a very useful programme which helped the public institutions in strengthening their institutional and operational capacity, developing  human resources relevant for the adoption 
and implementation of EU acquis  in particular areas.  
 52The projects under TF 2006 are also progress ing well and no major problems have been 
encountered.  
 
 
9.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) mee ting took place in February 2008, in line 
with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which 
established an integrated monitoring a nd evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. The second one was by written procedure in winter 2008. 
In the year 2008, Hungary continued to appl y the simplified rules regarding the JMC 
functioning and therefore the Sector Moni toring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings and 
reports were abandoned. The monthly implemen tation review meetings (IRM) were the 
central tool of the monitoring system. The monitoring sectors were reduced to the following: 
agriculture, social and health, political criteria , environment, internal market/transport, public 
finance and customs, justice and home affairs. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring of the Pre-accession and the Transition Facility 
programmes lies with the National Aid Coordi nator (NAC) in the National Development 
Agency. Activities in this area were carried  out on the basis of the Evaluation Plan on 
decentralisation of Monitoring and Evaluation contracted by the NDA on the ground of the 
requirements of the European Commission.  The independent evaluator prepared Interim Evalua tion reports in order to evaluate all sectors 
in 2008. The evaluator prepared also the Count ry Summary Evaluation Review (CSER) for 
the JMC of February and October which was carried out by written procedure. 
 The conclusions available from the Interim Evalua tion reports are that, on  the whole,  the EU 
assistance has been well implemented, and this assistance has satisfactory supported the 
institution building related to  the accession process.   
 Depending on the sector, the effectiveness was considered good and management efficiency 
to overcome delays adequate .  
            
 53 
10. Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99)9 
 
10.1.      The year in review 
Political developments  
On 17 February 2008, the assembly of Kosovo10 declared Kosovo an independent and 
sovereign state. To date, Kosovo's independe nce has been recognized 56 countries, including 
22 EU Member States. The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo ente red into force on 15 
June 2008. On 8 October, the United Nation's General Assembly requested the advisory 
opinion of the International Court of Justi ce on the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of 
independence. The rule of law mission, know n as "EULEX" began on 9 December 2008. It 
supports Kosovo by mentoring, monitoring and a dvising police, customs and justice. Its 
executive functions are related to investigati on and prosecution of war crimes and to fight 
against various forms of serious crime.  
Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms
 
Shortcomings in statistics continue to ha mper comprehensive assessment of the economic 
situation in Kosovo. Real Gross Domestic Pr oduct (GDP) grew by an estimated 5% in 2008. 
Economic activity is increasing ly determined by domestic factors and private sector 
dynamism.  GDP per capita in 2008 stood at roughly €1,80 or around 5.5% of the EU-27 
average11. The unreliable energy supply, with severa l and lengthy power cuts a day, remains 
the single most serious restra int on growth. 45% of the p opulation live below the poverty 
threshold. Balance of payments remains heav ily deficitary with exports covering 1/10th of 
imports, causing a trade deficit of over 40% of  GDP, partly financed by financial inflows 
(remittances, and FDI). Unemployment is estimated above 40% of the active population, hitting in particular women and the young. However, in part due to the si gnificant size of the 
informal economy, changes in registered unemp loyment may not correctly reflect the actual 
dynamics of the economy.  Average yearly consumer price inflation ro se to 14% mid 2008 but became negative early 
2009.   
Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire
 
In June 2008, the European Council recalled its  willingness to assist the economic and 
political development of Kosovo through a clear  European perspective, in line with the 
European perspective of the region. Plenary m eetings of the SAP Tracking Mechanism (STM)  
were held in May and December 2008, as well as a number of Sectoral STM meetings. The 
EU sets out reform priorities for the auth orities through the Europe an Partnership, and a 
revised European Partnership for Kosovo wa s adopted in February 2008. The government 
approved its European Partnership Action Plan  (EPAP) in July 2008. Kosovo continues to 
benefit from the Instrument for Pre-accession  Assistance (IPA), macro-financial assistance 
(MFA), CARDS, the Instrument for Stability and others. The European Commission's Liaison 
Office (ECLO) in Kosovo took over responsib ility for projects financed under the CARDS 
programme from the European Agency for Rec onstruction (EAR) in July in anticipation of 
                                                 
9  United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999. 
10  Under UNSCR 1244/99. 
11  Based on market exchange rates, because data  for a PPP-based comparison are not available. 
 54the phase-out of the EAR by th e end of 2008. The ECLO impl ements IPA programmes in 
Kosovo under deconcentrated centralised manage ment. Some projects are implemented under 
joint management with international organisati ons (such as the Council of Europe). Kosovo 
still has to establish a roadma p for the decentralisation of the management of EU funds 
without ex ante controls by the Commission.  It also has yet to appoint its National IPA 
Coordinator (NIPAC). On 11 July, the Eu ropean Commission organised a Donors' 
Conference for Kosovo in Brussels. Participants  pledged a total of around € 1.2 billion. The 
combined pledge made by the Commission and th e EU Member States amounted to nearly € 
800 million. Following the Donors' Conference, Ko sovo merged its European Integration and 
Donor Co-ordination structures and agendas into a new ‘Agency for the Coordination of 
Development and European Integration’ (ACDEI) established in October 2008.  
 
10.2.      Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched*  
As of 2007 the CARDS programme was replaced  by the new Instrument for Pre-accession 
Assistance (IPA). No new CARDS programmes were launched after 2006. 
 
Overview of programmes implemented  
2008 is the first year of the EC Liaison Office being responsible for the management of the 
financial assistance programmes. On July  2008, ECLO took over from the EAR the 
management of the entire CARDS programme , amounting to some €57 million and involving 
around 134 contracts. The main developments of the CARDS progr amme managed by the EC Liaison Office to 
Kosovo in 2008 include the following: 
Enhancing economic and social sustainabi lity of minority communities   
 
The CARDS funds supported employment gene ration and community  development in 
disadvantaged minority communiti es through facilitating the implementation of some 370 
projects (86% individual proj ects and 14% community project s) securing or creating some 
800 jobs. Examples include: cheese and milk production, textile producti on, carpenter, sweet 
and pastry production, auto mechanical work shops, dry herbs and mushroom production, 
furniture production, cow farm, greenhouse, black smith, barber and hairdresser shops etc. 
Furthermore through specific project targe ting RAE communities specific activities and 
trainings were offered to: (i) improve Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) kids education and 
reduce school drop-outs, (ii) improve health a nd family planning by providing: health sessions 
on hygiene, reproductive health, waste manageme nt, TBC, infectious diseases and basic 
knowledge on cardiovascular diseases.  In addition, CARDS funds supporte d direct assistance to the returns pro cess in coordination 
with the Kosovo Government. Specific projects f acilitated the return an d reintegration of 57 
IDP families in Peja/Pec and Klina municipalities . This required a direct involvement at the 
field level, providing direct s upport for the resettlement and stab ilisation of retu rnees in their 
communities.  At the same time, it was also n ecessary to provide assistance at the central 
level, building the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Communities and Returns to effectively coordinate the process. Throughout  2008 the project, assisted the MCR, in a 
number of areas such as: upgr ading the MCR financial management and systems, MCR’s 
organisational structure with emphasise to admi nistration and other departments, management 
systems and training to differe nt ministry staff, external  cooperation and communication 
 55between MCR and other stakeholders. In additi on the project is assisted the MCR with its 
strategy and action plan development. A special emphasis was put on assisting the reconstruction of Koso vo’s religious sites 
damaged in March 2004.   
Building democracy through media and civil society
 
The CARDS Programme contributed to strengt hen skills and professional standards of 
journalists and media operato rs in Kosovo through an ad hoc  programme aimed at developing 
the media sector to operate as an independe nt, responsible and efficient service for all 
Kosovo’s communities. The civil society programme aimed to build the capacity of civil society organisations (includi ng local Non-Governmental Orga nisations (NGOs), the social 
partners, and community and professional associat ions) to play a key role in the development 
of the economic and democratic governance.  
Guiding Kosovo on the path towards Europe
 
CARDS Programme continued to build the ins titutional capacity of the newly established 
Kosovo Government (ministries, and municipa lities) to more effectively perform their 
governance roles and to strengthen the rule of law, in line with European Partnership priorities 
and EU best practice approaches , while also taking into account the issues which arose from 
the transfer of competencies from United Na tions Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Priority 
interventions focused on: providing further support to the Agency for Coordination of 
Development and European Integration; buildin g the professionalism of the civil service; 
improving public finance management; providing sector support to build up institutional capacity in the justice sector; re forming the juvenile justice sy stem; and further strengthening 
border and boundary management 
Fighting poverty through sustainab le industrial and rural development
 
The CARDS economic and social development through programmes for job creations which 
included assistance to the muni cipalities and SOEs promoted  sustainable development as a 
key step in combating poverty.  Assistance is pr ovided to increase domestic and foreign direct 
investment; develop a quality standards infras tructure to improve i ndustrial competitiveness 
and exports; support enterprise development in  disadvantaged areas and among marginalized 
groups; strengthen corporate finance; proceed on the privatisation process and incorporate 
public owned utilities. The de velopment of rural economy is  targeted through further 
institution building support to the Ministry of  Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, 
and the support to improve natural resource management. Further support is provided to rural communities in the establishment of Local Action Groups and development of local development strategies, thus supporting them  in defining and articulating their rural 
community needs which  involves highly indivi dual projects designed and executed by local 
partnerships to address speci fic local problems. The EU's commitment towards economic 
sustainability is tackling two more key sectors: as concerns Kosovo’s transport policy, 
CARDS programme supported the preparation of  a strategy based on the multimodal transport 
approach; the establishment of a demand-driven system, based on closer ties with the business 
sector, is instead driving the EC assistance e ffort to assist the Vocational Education and 
Training sector. 
Shaping Kosovo’s participation in the En ergy Community of South East Europe
 
The rehabilitation of the en ergy sector remains a key pr e-condition for the economic 
development of Kosovo. The CARDS Programme in this field tackled different aspects at the 
same time: assisted the Ministry of Energy and Mining and the Ener gy Regulatory Office to 
formulate and implement energy policies; st rengthened the capacities of the independent 
Transmission System and Market Operator (TSMO)  to be a reliable partner of the south-east 
Europe energy community; provided support to  initiatives aimed at expanding production 
 56capacities (like the World Bank’s Power Lignite Initiative). At the same time the CARDS 
programme provided both capacit ies building assistance to stre ngthen the human resources’ 
quality and skills, as much as concrete technical support to co mplete the physical 
rehabilitation of the infrastructural and mech anical resources of the energy company KEK. 
Strengthening local government to support democratic governance  
The CARDS support to local govern ance follows a cross-sector approach. Projects providing 
assistance to local government institutions can  be found in different operation sectors, 
reflecting the multi-faceted res ponsibilities increasingly assumed by local authorities. Support 
to the implementation of environmental laws a nd regulations at local level has also been 
targeted in order to strengthen the capacity of  municipalities in the enforcement of legislation 
relating inter alia with land management (c onstruction), nature pr otection, environment 
protection, water and waste management. Recons truction of physical in frastructures is the 
main objective of several municipal development projects under implementation in all municipalities. At the central level, the CARD S Programme built the institutional capacity of 
the Ministry of Local Government to effec tively perform its mandate  and provided hands-on 
advice directly to the municipalities to improve  service delivery to citizens. The development 
of an integrated Public Investment Program me also provided support to local government 
reforms in order to improve the delivery of public services at the local level.  
 
Cards management performance
 
Table 1: Kosovo: Status of financial assist ance at the end of December 2008 (in million €)-
CARDS annual national programme 
 
 Allocated  Contracted RAC12 % contracted Paid  RAL13 % paid
CARDS 2001 143.208 142.529 0.679 100% 142.529 0.679 100% 
CARDS 2002 162.535 162.084 0.451 100% 161.795 0.740 100% 
CARDS 2003  62.280 58.237 4.043 94% 56.107 6.173 90% 
CARDS 2004  72.600 72.600 0 100% 66.385 6.215 91% 
CARDS 2005  76.500 75.533 0.967 99% 64.153 12.347 84% 
CARDS 2006  46.500 45.444 1.056 98% 29.179 17.321 63% 
Total  563.623 556.427 7.196 99% 520.148 43.475 92% 
 
The assistance provided by the European Uni on - including the CARD S programme is aimed 
at facilitating Kosovo’s progress towards th e creation of a democratic and multi-ethnic 
society.  During 2008 the ECLO has managed to contribute to the achievement of this 
overarching objective through the projects mentioned above.  With the takeover of the CARDS programme from  EAR, the ECLO during the second part of 
2008 has contracted an additional € 1 million from the RAC related to CARDS 2006, and 
disbursed €21 million under the CARDS Programme.    
                                                
 
12 Reste à contracter 
13 Reste à liquider 
 57Challenges & other issues:  
The Agency for Coordination of Development a nd European Integration as a co-ordination 
body for EU integration matters remains one of the areas whic h need special attention and 
support, especially to develop its newly esta blished structure and sectoral focuses.  
Efficiency of Public Administration  in Kosovo is gradually in creasing; however, the overall 
performance still remains weak in relation to policy-making, and foregoing strategic planning, 
and legislation implementation and enforcement.  There are several gaps identified limiting  Access to Justice for vulnerable groups.  
 
Institution Building highlights
 
The CARDS programme during 2008 has continue d supporting the institutions of Kosovo by 
building their capacity to effectively perform th eir mandates. Some of the highlights covering 
the reporting period include: 
• In close coordination with the EULEX , the CARDS Programme provided support to 
the Justice Institutions in Kosovo, with a view to deve lop and strengthen the justice 
structure in order to guarantee  an area of freedom, security and justice for all Kosovo 
citizens, in accordance with EU standards and best practices;   
• Supported the Ministry of Internal Affairs  (MoIA) to facilitate  a smooth transfer of 
powers from UNMIK to the Ministry.  In cooperation with UNICE F the activities of 
the joint project to reform of the juvenile justice system continued very successfully. 
The project is aimed at establishing a juven ile justice system base d on children’s rights 
and to promote a juvenile crime prevention programme; 
• The Modernisation of Kosovo Courts  which rolled out a Case Management 
Information System to all minor offence, district and municipal courts, the Supreme 
Court and the Public Prosecutors Offices; 
• Support to local government institutions  can be found in differe nt operation sectors, 
reflecting the multi-faceted responsibilities increasingly assumed by local authorities. 
Complementary to this is the € 15 million programme to upgrade the social and economic infrastructure of a number of municipalities throughout Kosovo; 
• Support to the public finance management sector including the second phase of the 
project to support the Office of  the Auditor General  (OAG) of Kosovo;  
• Support to Kosovo’s institutions to implement a coherent public investment 
programme to further strengthen the capabilities of the Ministry of Economy and 
Finance and the budget organisations in all ministries and municipalities to better 
manage and control public spending; 
• Supporting the Public Internal Financial Control and Internal Audit  with a view to 
increase the capacity of the internal a udit function of Kosovo Government and to 
improve the effectiveness and e fficiency of public spending;  
• Supporting Kosovo on the path towards Euro pe by building the capacities of the 
government to more effectively perform their governance in line with the EU 
partnership. This included continuation of Young Cell Sc heme project which provides 
scholarships for Kosovo graduate students  to attend Master’s degrees in European 
Studies at some of Europe’s most prominent universities.  
 
   
 5810.3.      Results and impact    
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports  in 2008 - Lessons Learned  
Kosovo is included in the target area of th e Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) project 
managed by DG Enlargement's Regional and horizontal programmes unit, but during 2008 no 
monitoring missions took place. Upon the closure of the activities of the Eur opean Agency for Reconstruction, the Agency 
issues a report ''Lessons Learned to Less ons Applied'' for CARDS programmes during 200-
2008. The report's aim was to identify some of th e key lessons that have been learned from 
the many evaluations that the Agency had conducte d over the past eight y ears, also to broaden 
the dissemination of those lessons both  through the report and through discussion. 
A key lesson drawn from the CARDS programme c oncerns the sustainability of assistance 
programmes. The more beneficiaries can take ownership of this process, the better the 
prospects for project and/or programme sust ainability. Good governance rests on focusing 
capacity building efforts on facilitating the policy learning process, enhancing strategy 
formulation and providing technical implementa tion know-how. Successful projects rely on 
determination of the government ministers and civ il servants that change is needed and can be 
effectively implemented.  Anothe r lesson learned is that any pr oject design must incorporate a 
realistic analysis of existing political and ec onomic conditions as well as prevailing cultural 
norms that influence an effective implem entation of project activities. Lastly, donor 
coordination is crucial for effective support to  beneficiary countries. The findings from the 
report were taken on board by the ECLO Operations Team.  It is worth to emphasise the very good progre ss done in some of the projects in the treatment 
of cross-cutting issues (CCIs). Besides the CCI s treatment, other issues which have been 
substantially improved in the pa st months are: the quality of  contractor’s reporting and 
visibility.   
Sectors with positive results
 
Sectors with positive results can be considered: 
Rural economy – Local Development Strategies Project  
At present, there are 15 Local Action Groups (LAGs) established in 15 municipalities of 
Kosovo. They all have well discu ssed local development strategi es and structured LAGs in 
the form of public-private part nerships (PPP). Currently the pr oject is carrying out activities 
to establish additional 12 Local Action Gr oups thus having by 15 May 2009, 27 LAGs in 
Kosovo. With an average of 30 members per L AG, this represents approximately 800 people 
directly involved in the promotion of the ru ral areas all over Kosovo.  All LAGs will be 
implementing sustainable market linkage activit ies, encouraging young fa rmers in identifying 
projects within the local development strategies, implementing multi-sectoral global approach based on interaction between actors and projects  of different sectors of the local economy, 
implementing innovative approaches The main ar eas or measure of the ARDP (Agriculture 
Rural Development Plan) where all LAGs have id entified project ideas to address their rural 
needs are the following: agricultu ral production, infrastructure, e nvironment and social issues. 
The project also contributes to the Agricult ure Rural Development Plan (ARDP) 2007-2013 
of Kosovo, namely Measure 8 – Support for loca l community development strategies and the 
introduction of the EU Leader + approach.  
Energy Sector in General  
At the end of the 1999 conflict, which followed over a decade of negligence towards 
infrastructure, the energy situation in Kosovo was close to a state of collapse. The Kosovo A 
and B power stations were es sentially out of operation. Th e coal mines were seriously 
 59neglected and severely overexploited. Transmi ssion and distribution networks were hampered 
by bottlenecks, as installations had not kept  pace with industrial and population growth. 
District heating systems, while operating, were in  a poor state of repair and working at a low 
capacity. Therefore the major part of EC CARDS support in  Kosovo was assigned to the 
power sector. Starting in 1999, the EC intervention was initia lly responding to the urgent humanitarian 
needs, by funding over €48 million for winter seas on imports of electricity, emergency repairs 
and consumables to maintain the system opera tions and for paying employee salaries in the 
short term. In parallel, initial plans were bei ng made for a phased rehabilitation to bring the 
energy system to a more productive  and reliable state. From a cr isis management the focus of 
EC investments moved to rehabilitation in 2002 and 2003 and to reform implementation and 
regional market integration in 2004 through 2006.  
Power Generation
 
In particular, it is worth noting the accomplishments prior to fire damage in Kosovo B. The 
generated output of Kosovo B over the first si x months of 2002 was more  than double what it 
was for the same period in 2000. Comparing the same periods, Kosovo B power availability 
(running hours) increased from 40% to 90%.The total energy production in Jan 2002 was the 
second highest monthly production since the fi rst commissioning of the units in 1983/1984. 
During period January-June 2002 (following th e completion of the EU funded overhaul 
works), no electricity imports we re required, while exports incr eased within six months to 
approx €10 million. In addition a considerable amount of energy was delivered to the neighbouring power systems (mainly to Serbia ) on exchange basis and was ‘returned ’to 
Kosovo during the implementation of Kosovo B Fi re Damage Repair Pr oject when the units 
were shut down. Since the completion of the fire damage repa ir in 2004 both units of Kosovo B thermal Power 
Plant have operated at over 92% time availabi lity with net generati on capacity over 550 MW 
in total. If KEK had funds to implement regul ar maintenance these units could efficiently 
operate for another approx 15 – 20 years. 
Coal production
 
A unique challenge was presented by the coal mines, which together with Kosovo B have 
been the principal focus of EU support in th e energy sector. On one hand the production level 
of coal needed to be substantially increase d, while on the other hand the neglected excess in 
the overburden layer needed to be remove d. This is a long-term process and till 2004 
approximately €90milion has been invested to  upgrade the large excavators, conveyors, 
mobile equipment and associated electrical and control systems, and for upgrade of 
maintenance workshop.   Comparing the same 2000 and 2002 periods (as for the Kosovo B works), the upgraded 
equipment at the coalmines had facilitated th e achievement of major increases in coal 
extraction and supply rates (i.e. before the setback of the Nove mber 2002 collapse at the coal 
mines).  EU support had enabled the level of coal production to be more than doubled, from a 
daily rate of 9,000 metric tons (MT) to an average of over 18,000 MT, approaching 22,000 
MT per day when weather conditions were favour able. Furthermore, it was possible to build 
up and maintain a stockpile of 300,000 MT.  
Technical Assistance for Further modernizat ion of Kosovo Vocational Education and 
training system (VET III)  
KOSVET III project was successful in developing the legal framework for qualifications in 
Kosovo - the National Qualificat ion Framework law - and drafti ng the criteria, guidance and 
procedures for quality assura nce and certification for VET a nd in developing a 5 year 
 60operational plan for the Kosovo Qualificati ons Agency.  KOSVET III also was successful 
developing exemplar post seconda ry qualifications programmes in business and electronics. 
KOSVET III was successful in  developing th e national curriculum framework for career 
education and developing standards and quali fications to support pr ofessional training 
programmes for Career Education Guidance practi tions and training of te acher  trainers in 
schools and in producing the VET framework for school based VET and the three year 
implementation plan for VET.  KOSVET III was successful in developing and de livering business related modular courses 
and training programmes to SME managers in Kosovo and through some pilot VET schools. 
KOSVET III has been successful in bring togeth er Ministry of Labour Social Welfare, 
Ministry of Education Scienc e and Technology and Statistical Office of Kosovo to work on a 
systematic basis to produce regular biannual labour market information reports and sector 
skills needs survey - and also to de velop the related website KOSESTIA - www.ks-
gov.net/kos-estia/   - this site and the labour market re ports will continue to  be sustained and 
worked on by the respective Ministries.  
Success story
 
Energy (Kosovo B Thermal Power Plant)  
A success story can be mentioned the Fire Da mage Repair project of Kosovo B Thermal 
Power Plant that costs about € 50 million. Th e project was completed in October 2004. Since 
that time both units of the plant have ope rated at over 92% time availability with net 
generation capacity over 550 MW in total with th e new installed digital control system of the 
plant.  
 
Cultural Heritage Project
 
The European Commission has provided some € 1.5 million for  the repair and refurbishment 
of two sites in Prizren – the Bi shops Residence and the Priests Seminary, both in the vicinity 
of St Georges Church. The projects consist of three parts: 
− Site clearance and restoration and refurbishm ent of the perimeter wall of the complex of 
Prizren Orthodox Seminary; 
− Refurbishment of Prizren Orthodox Seminary; 
− Refurbishment of Prizren Episcopal Residence;   
The objective of this project wa s to restore religious sites t hose were damaged in the civil 
disturbances of March 2004 and to allow their continued use by the Se rbian Orthodox Church. 
All the works foreseen in original contr act are completed. The Provisional Acceptance 
Certificate has been signed by Beneficiary and all other stak eholders involved and the 
buildings have been han dover to the beneficiary. 
 
Empowerment of RAE Communities in Kosovo
 
The "Empowerment of Roma, Ashkali and E gyptian (RAE) Communities in Kosovo" project 
is working with 7 RAE NGOs in strengtheni ng their capacities and networking. Training on 
advocacy, community rights an d responsibilities, conflict management and mediation 
techniques, leadership and governance, orga nisational development were organised for 
selected NGOs.  Direct knowledge  and skills gained by the project enabled three NGOs to 
benefit additional funds from other donors. More specifically: 
 61o NGO “Health for All” has benefited a f our months project from the United 
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) – the project will conduct an assessment on 
health and education conditions of i nhabitants of Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje 
municipality 
o NGO “Fahri Vraniqi” benefited a nine months project from Ministry of 
Communities and Return for provision of sewing courses for RAE women of Sefe, Brekoc and Koloni (three RAE i nhabited settlements in municipality of 
Gjakove/Djakovica). 
o NGO “QKA” benefited a nine months project from UNDP to provide three 
scholarships for the members of RAE co mmunity from village Dubrave/a. The 
NGO will be supervising the scholarships 
Rule of Law
 
ECLO under the CARDS programme supports UNICEF  Kosovo as part of a 2 year agreement 
in strengthening Kosovo’s Juvenile Justice System . One success story is the visible change in 
practice around juvenile justi ce in the Probation Service of Kosovo (PSK) following an ECLO 
and UNICEF supported training.   The Probation Service of Kosovo (PSK) is mand ated under the Kosovo Juvenile Justice Code 
to provide social inquiry reports to the prosecu tors. These reports contain information related 
to the young person’s level of education, psyc hological state, his or her family’s social 
economic situation, and the circumstances of th e offence. The Prosecutor uses the report to 
determine whether to prosecute or divert the case.  Before the Phase 1 Trainings of Traine rs conducted throughout 2008, Probation Officers 
would include in their social i nquiry reports, aside from the st andard information mentioned, 
their recommendation for the type of measure or  sentence required at  the request of the 
prosecutor during the investiga tive stage when the young person still should be considered 
innocent. This clearly contravened the principl es of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 
as well as the Kosovo J uvenile Justice Code. 
 During the training, the interna tional consultant who undertook the initial capacity assessment 
identified this inappropriate practice and toge ther with UNICEF brought this to the attention 
of the PSK and the Ministry of Justice. PSK ma nagement subsequently issued written notices 
to all regional offices, instruc ting an end to this practice. During a roundtable discussion for 
judges and prosecutors organised by Kosovo Judicial institute (K JI) under the same project, 
the Head of Public Prosecutors also requested all Prosecutors to halt this practice, when he learned that Prosecutors were requesting Pr obation Officers to recommend sentences and 
measures.  Since then, the ECLO's partner UNICEF has monitored this asp ect, and has found no cases of 
Probations Officers or Pr osecutors engaged in the former practice. 
This shows the cumulative impact of several capacity buildi ng activities under Phase 1 that 
not only resulted in the identification of inapprop riate application of the Juvenile Justice Code 
but also in a change in practice fulfilling th e rights of juveniles in contact with the law 
according to international and European standards 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
11.  Latvia 
 
11.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Latvia continued to implement successf ully the post-accession a ssistance to address 
remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line 
with the Extended Decentralised Im plementation System (EDIS).   
Since May 2004 procurement is ca rried out under the entire re sponsibility of the Latvian 
authorities applying national procurement rules. The Ministry of Finance, Central Financing 
and Contracting Agency (CFCA) and the Societ y Integration Foundation are fully responsible 
for the daily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
11.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
ii) Implementation   
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments  
 
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 82.70 % of the funding has been disbursed. The La tvian authorities requested no extension for 
the 2005 programme. The payments can still be ex ecuted within 6 months after the expiry of 
the contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting    
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 99.40% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 A total of around €19 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country progra mmes) has been allocated to Latvia from 
Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
Transition Facility assistance continue to be successful in the fields of civil society and 
society integration, with long term impact on cooperation among people of different origins 
and civil society non-government stakeholde rs. Other institution building sectors with 
satisfactory results include projects related to  police training and some institutional fine 
tuning in the areas of environment, consumer protection and statistics.  
In 2008, Twinning continued to be the main im plementing instrument in many areas of the 
acquis  in Latvia and has helped the Latvian admi nistration to further strengthen its capacities 
to implement and enforce EC legislation. 
 63 
11.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) mee ting took place in February 2008, in line 
with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which 
established an integrated monitoring a nd evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. The second JMC meeting was by written procedure in September 2008. 
 
Each monitoring sector is covered by the relevant Sectoral Monitoring Sub-Committee 
(SMSCs). Each SMSC normally meets twice a year in accordance with the annual schedule 
agreed within the JMC.  Two rounds of SM SC meetings took place in 2008, the first round 
took place in June 2008, the second round was organised in October 2008. The 9 remaining 
monitoring sectors cover: agriculture, en ergy and market & antitrust surveillance, 
environment and nuclear safety, health, home a ffairs, justice, public finance, Social and 
Society Integration and Statistics. However, though sectors as such have been kept for 
organisational reasons, the emphasis is now incr easingly put on project based monitoring.  For 
each sector a monitoring report is produced.    ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation  Re ports in 2008 (lessons learned)
 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Latvia lies with the Mi nistry of Finance (MoF). The contract with the 
independent evaluator was completed in August 2008.  In 2008, the second phase of evaluation, two cons olidated evaluation reports were issued – 
one for the JMC meeting in February and one fo r the JMC by written proc edure in September. 
The reports provide a consolidated country revi ew of the findings of the Interim Evaluations 
finalised in 2007 and 2008. The two consolidated reports concluded that  Transition Facility 
assistance has supported successfully Latvia's ad ministrative capacity and institutions in the 
post-accession period. Transition Facility assistance is in Latvia highly relevant, the projects 
are well adapted to beneficiaries' needs. Th e efficiency of projec ts' implementation has 
improved considerably and ranges now from ex cellent to good, in some sectors such as 
agriculture and environment communication n eeds to be improved; the impact of the 
evaluated projects is significant.    
 6412. Lithuania    
 
12.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Lithuania continued to implement su ccessfully the post-accession assistance to 
address the remaining needs related to inst itution building for the implementation of the 
acquis, in line with the Extended Decentral ised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since May 2004 procurement is carried out under the entire responsibility of the Lithuanian 
authorities applying national procurement rules. The Ministry of Finance, Central Programme 
Management Authority (CPMA) is now responsible for ex-a nte control and twinning. The 
CPMA is fully responsible for the da ily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
12.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
 
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of cont racts for the 2005 Transi tion Facility 84.97 % of 
the funding has been disbursed. The Lithuanian  authorities requested no extension for the 
2005 programme. The payments can still be executed  within 6 months afte r the expiry of the 
contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting   
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 97.09% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 A total of around €36 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Lithuania from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
During the period, there was substantial over all progress towards the achievement of 
objectives and results of the EU assistance. Two TF 2004 projects for which the execution 
deadline were extended were finalised. TF 2005 projects were successfully completed and 
mostly achieved its results.  The Unallocate d Envelope under the TF 2006 programme was 
successfully contracted, 10 pr ojects were approved.  
 
12.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
 65In 2008, the first Joint Monitoring Committe e (JMC) meeting was conducted by written 
procedure during April 2008 and the second one took place in October 2008.  The JMC 
meeting in October was the last physical m eeting. The following JMC will be concluded via 
the written procedure. During the meeting, the out standing issues like eligibility of Value-
added Tax (VAT) expenses under TF programme, old Phare projects, i rregularity cases and 
phasing out of the programmes were discussed. 
In the year 2008, two rounds of Sector Mon itoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings have 
taken place. The first round of SMSC meeti ngs took place in March and the second round in 
August. The following sectors are monitored in Lithuania: environment, economic and social 
cohesion; internal market and statistics; nuclear  safety, energy and tran sport; justice and home 
affairs; public administration, public finan ce and customs; agriculture and fisheries 
 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Lithuania lies with the NAC Office which is in the Ministry of 
Finance.   The thematic evaluation of administrative capacities has been ca rried out by external 
evaluator under TF2006 project.  The objectives of this ev aluation were as follows: 
• to evaluate the contribution of EU assistance programmes Phare and Transition Facility to 
administrative capacities of Lithuanian beneficiaries; 
• to identify examples of  good practice in the Lith uanian beneficiaries; 
• to suggest practical recommendations how to  absorb more effectively the financial 
assistance of European Social Fund (ESF) fo r administrative capacities in the period of 
2007-2013. 
   
 
 
  
 6613. Malta  
 
13.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Malta continued to implement successf ully the post-accession a ssistance to address 
the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line 
with the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since June 2004 implementation is carried ou t under the entire respons ibility of Maltese 
authorities applying national procurement rules.  The Department of Contracts (DoC) within 
the Ministry of Finance is fully responsible for the daily implementa tion of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
13.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation   
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 
75.17 % of the funding has been disbursed. The Maltese authorities requested no extension 
for the 2005 programme. The paymen ts can still be execu ted within 6 months  after the expiry 
of the contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting   
At the end of the contracting period fo r the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 
15 December 2008, 82.86 % of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights  A total of around €21 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Malta from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
In 2008, Malta continued the implementation of projects under the 2005 Transition Facility. 
Overall, the implementation proceeded successfu lly and smoothly. In fact, the implementation 
of a number of the projects has been concl uded, while the ones sti ll ongoing were steadily 
drawing to a close. The TF s upport involved projects in the areas of social policies and 
employment, justice freedom and security, ag riculture, environment and administrative 
capacity. 
Regarding Unallocated Institution Building Faci lity, Malta has fully absorbed the funds 
available under TF 2006 . The small-scale projects, implem ented under this facility have 
proved to be very efficient and have ge nerated good and sustainable results.  
 
 6713.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, the two rounds of Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meetings were concluded in 
writing in May and November 2008 respectiv ely. In connection with the monitoring 
simplification procedure, a new JMC mandate  was introduced in Malta in 2007, which 
established an enhanced monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. 
For the year 2008, one round of Sectoral Moni toring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took 
place in March. Due to small number of progra mmes, the Maltese authorities have abolished 
the sector-approach and review  each project separately.  
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Re ports in 2008 (lessons learned)  
 
Overall responsibility for mon itoring and interim evaluation of the Pre-accession and the 
Transition Facility programmes in Malta lies w ith the NAC services located at the Office of 
the Prime Minister (OPM). Activities in this area were carried out on the basis of the Action Plan on decentralisation of monitoring and evaluation, whic h was endorsed by EC in February 
2005.  
In 2008, three evaluation reports were rele ased: Country Summary Evaluation Report and 
First Interim Evaluation repor t on 19 May 2008 and Second Inte rim Evaluation report of on-
going projects under 2005 and 2006 TF progra mmes on 31 October 2008. Due to the small 
size of the Malta programmes, the interim evalua tion is carried out on the overall programmes 
and not on a sector basis.  
According to the reports the overall rating for 2005 and 2006 TF programmes is evaluated as 
satisfactory. In terms of releva nce, the projects were assessed to be satisfactory. Overall, the 
projects were acquis -related, built on previous support, and addressed the needs of the 
beneficiary in terms of reinforcing technical an d administrative capacities. Project efficiency 
has been assessed as satisfactory, although pe rformance was mixed. Delays in convening 
evaluation committees to assess o ffers have still affected the efficiency. Effectiveness was 
rated as satisfactory as the majority of the pr ojects had achieved or would achieve its overall 
objective as to contribute to the development of capacity within the Maltese Authorities in 
terms of implementation of the acquis.  It should be mentioned that four of the implemented 
projects were rated as highly satisfactory. Impact and sustaina bility have been rated as 
satisfactory. Good sustainability is expected in relation to most projects with training 
resources, manuals and systems developed in the framework of TF projec ts all likely to be 
used and serve as valuable resources to the beneficiary institutions after the life of the projects. The maintenance of procured equipment and the updating of software will also ensure their ongoing use to the Maltese Au thorities in terms of fulfilling their acquis 
obligations.  
 6814. Montenegro  
14.1.      The year in review 
Political developments  
The process of European integration of Montenegro continued in 2008. Following the 
signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU in October 2007, an 
Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related ma tters entered into for ce in January 2008 and 
is being smoothly implemented.   The reform process in Montenegro contin ued to be monitored through the enhanced 
permanent dialogue and through the newly set- up institutional framework of the Interim 
Agreement.  In 2008 the country enjoyed political stability and continued to play a co nstructive role in the 
region.   A political dialogue meeting between the EU (tro ika) and Montenegro took place in February 
2008. The visa facilitation and readmission agreem ents are overall smoothly implemented. A 
visa liberalisation dialogue be tween the EU and Montenegro was launched in February 2008 
and a Roadmap, with concrete benchmarks, was submitted by the European Commission to Montenegro. The implementation of the "Roadmap" will open the way to visa free travel for Montenegrin citizens.  In December 2008 Montenegro submitted an applic ation for EU membership. The application 
is under consideration by the Council. Once th e Council requests it, the Commission will 
prepare an Opinion on Montenegro's application.   
Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms
 
During 2007 and 2008 Montenegro enjoyed a ra pid growth of over 7% p.a., supported by 
inflow of foreign direct invest ment (FDI), tourism, financial intermediation, real estate and 
improved performance of the manufacturing industry.  A prudent fiscal policy and highe r than expected tax revenues  have led to budget surpluses 
exceeding 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) a nd declining public debt  to 32% of GDP by 
end-2007. However, the very str ong expansion of lending, rapid growth of asset prices and 
rapidly growing wages have generated str ong demand pressures boosting consumption and 
investments and inducing strong imports resulti ng in massive current account deficits over 
40% of GDP in 2007.  According to estimates of the IMF, the rapi d expansion of the Montenegrin economy will 
slow down significantly in 2009 and 2010 due to the global credit crunch, the expected 
slowdown of FDI and a significant d ecrease of real estate sales. An adverse effect on tourism 
revenues is also expected; whereas the fall in aluminium prices have negatively affected the 
already critical situation of the aluminium co mpany KAP (whose sales re present over 40% of 
Montenegro's industrial exports).   The authorities reacted promptly on financia l system by fully guaranteeing deposits up to 
(currently some € 2 billion), as well as inter-bank credits, and offering the possibility of providing liquidity loans or re capitalisation of domestic ba nks. To alleviate the negative 
 69impact of the crisis over the real economy, the adopted budged 2009 foresees a significant rise 
of the capital expenditure , earlier repayment of domestic debt, and the reduc tion of social 
contribution tax rate. In add ition, electricity price subsidie s for Small and Medium sized 
Enterprises (SMEs) and households were an nounced. Authorities are discussing credit 
agreements with European Bank for Recons truction and Development (ERBD), European 
Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank to s upport infrastructural pr ojects but, despite 
availability in case of a dras tic deterioration,  the government did not ye t express interest to 
close a stand-by arrangement with th e International Monetary Fund (IMF). 
 
Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire  
In 2008 Montenegro has made further progress in  alignment with European standards. On the 
whole, the implementation of obligations unde r the Interim Agreement since 1 January 2008 
is proceeding smoothly. Interim Agreement bodi es were set up. Policy-reform dialogue in 
other areas is taking place in the contex t of the Enhanced Permanent Dialogue.  
The 2008 progress report highlighted areas wher e progress is expecte d, and where further 
efforts are needed. IPA programming takes fully into account the outcomes of the report in 
order to address the shortcomings  
 
14.2.      Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched
 
As of 2007, the CARDS programme was repl aced by the Instrument for Pre-accession 
Assistance (IPA). In 2008 projects under th e CARDS annual action programmes for 2004, 
2005 and 2006 were under implementation. No ne w CARDS programmes were launched after 
2006.  
Overview of programmes implemented
 
Democratic stabilisation 
 
Internally Displaced Persons (Refugees) integration  
The programme supported the creati on of favourable conditions for the local integration of the 
most vulnerable displaced persons by facilitating their access to durable housing solutions and income-generation support.  
Civil society  
Technical assistance was provided to the Trad e Union of Civil Servan ts and Judiciary to 
enhance its capacity to play a constructive ro le in the reform of public administration. The 
capacity of the Confederation of Trade Unions  and the local Economic  and Social Councils 
was equally reinforced in order to make their pa rticipation in social di alogue more significant. 
In addition, EU funding supported partnership projects to address th e priorities of the 
Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy Acti on Plan, including the ne eds of the elderly; 
raising awareness about women's reproduc tive issues; increasing the employment 
opportunities of the disabled and fost ering Roma integration in schools. 
 
Good governance and institution-building 
 
Judiciary and Internal Affairs 
 70Following the governmental adoption of the judi cial reform strategy,  prepared with EU 
support, the EU and the Council of Europe furthe r assisted the Government in preparing the 
legal environment for the establishment of th e Probation Service with in the Ministry of 
Justice; the Police Forensic Centre was constructed and training capacity of the Police Academy widened; finally, the Ministry of Interi or received assistance for the elaboration of a 
Data Protection Strategy and Ac tion Plan. Following the text re view carried out by experts 
hired under CARDS assistance, a draft Law on Data Protection was elaborated by the 
Ministry of Interior and subse quently adopted by the Parliament. 
 In line with the Action Plan for the impl ementation of the aforementioned strategy, a 
Twinning Light Project was implemented as a dvisory support to training of prosecutors. 
Special emphasis was put on the legal instru ments included in the new draft Criminal 
Procedure Code involving increa sed responsibilities for the pros ecutors in the pre-trial phase. 
 
Border crossings 
Further upgrade to the Information and Teleco mmunication (IT) system of the Ministry of 
Interior and the Border Police Di rectorate has been possible thanks to the establishment of a 
wireless link and passport read ers in three border crossing poi nts (the Port of Bar and the 
airports in Podgorica and Tivat). 
 The refurbishment and upgrading of the Božaj  border crossing (Albania-Montenegro) was 
completed.  
Public Administration 
Several actions were implement ed in order to assist the Human Resource Management 
Authority to discharge its statut ory duties as far as horizontal skills of civil servants are 
concerned. Other actions fostered  local government decentralisati on and reinforced the role of 
the Secretariat for European Integration in coordinating tasks for annual IPA programming 
and monitoring purposes.  Assistance to the Montenegrin Statistical  Office (MONSTAT) on National Accounts and 
GDP compilation came to an end in 2008. Technical assistance to the Minist ry of Finance, the 
Ministry of Interior and Public Administ ration, and the Human Resources Management 
Authority on budgetary and salary system reforms for civil servants was concluded in 2008. It included the procurement of IT equipment and so ftware to upgrade the Financial Management 
system.   
Decentralised Implementation System (DIS) 
In September 2008 the first project ever to addr ess Montenegro's preparation for the DIS was 
launched. Its purpose  is to strengthen the administrative  and managerial capacities of key 
stakeholders and to establish the required opera ting structures, in order to achieve in due 
course conferral of management for IPA Components 1 and 2. The inception phase was 
completed by the end of 2008. A Steering Committ ee, composed of representatives of all 
stakeholders (CAO, NAO/NF, P AO/CFCU, NIPAC, Internal Aud it Unit of the Ministry of 
Finance, the SPOs and the Audit Authority) was established. The project will seek to meet the 
requirements of the DIS roadmap, dealing with the preparation of the legal framework, the 
development of manuals of procedure with sta ndard templates, checklists and audit trails, 
training and assistance to address major weakne sses an EC compliance audit may highlight.  
  
 71Economic and social development 
 
Energy 
A programme providing assistance in the impl ementation of the electricity market opening 
and privatization strategy development, as well as the preparation of draft commercial contracts for new electricity market players were finalized.   
Economy 
In cooperation with the EBRD, through the Turn Around Management (TAM) and Business 
Advisory Services (BAS) programmes, assist ance has been provided to small and medium 
enterprises located in rural ar eas and enterprises managed by ot her special target groups such 
as ethnic minorities, women and disabled.  Assistance has been provided to the Monten egrin Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA), 
comprising training and capacity building as a s econd phase in setting up the operations of 
this Agency.  Assistance has been provided to further support the implementation of the privatisation 
strategy, with a specific focus on the amendmen ts of the Law on the Port of Bar and its 
associated restructuring.  Enhancement of the private sector developmen t and facilitation of the access to finance for 
SMEs, notably for those in rural areas, wa s major priority in assistance over 2008.  
 
Internal market  
Support for the establishment of a sustainable pu blic procurement system in Montenegro was 
provided. Activities included the completion of the public procurement legal framework, the 
development of operational procedures, guideli nes and manuals to implement the new legal 
provisions, and strengthening of the institutions  in charge of the regulatory and review 
functions.   Further development of quality infrastructure was supported, fo cusing on legal harmonisation 
in metrology, standards, te sting and quality with the acquis  and the World Trade Organisation 
(WTO) requirements, as well as accreditati on. In the course of 2008, approx. 800 standards 
have been adopted of which 85% are ha rmonised with international standards. 
 The key intervention in this area was a project conceived to accelerate reforms and strengthen 
the capacity of relevant government  bodies in the area of trade a nd internal market as well as 
compliance with WTO and SAA requirements. The project has been implemented through 3 
components (trade, competition a nd state aid, and consumer pr otection). The trade component 
focused on capacity building on trade policy a nd trade-related areas (intellectual property 
rights -IPR- and quality infrastructure). The competition component targeted legislative 
reforms and supported the establishment of two ne w institutions (the Au thority for Protection 
of Competition and the Commission for the Cont rol of State Aid). The consumer protection 
component covered capacity build ing. Special focus has been give n to the role of the market 
surveillance inspection. Ba sic ICT equipment for all relevant institutions was also provided.  
 
Environment  The rehabilitation of the coastal region sewe rage system was completed. Capacity building 
was provided to the Environmental Protection Agency. 
 72 
Social infrastructure  
The construction of a haemodialysis unit in Pljevlja was completed. 
 
Agriculture, rural development and Fisheries 
The preparation of a draft law on agriculture and rural development, as well as a national 
programme for food production and rural de velopment over the period 2009-2013 were 
supported.  In September 2008, support to the fisheries in Se rbia and Montenegro came to an end after 
having assisted in Montenegro the public and private sectors to implement the National Fisheries Strategy (legal, institutional, managerial, policy aspects of fish resources). Equipment for fishery inspections and f ood safety laboratories was also provided. 
 
Labour market and education 
The first EU funded programme in support of labour market reform and workforce 
development came to an end in September.   Cross-border cooperation (CBC) 
All projects, with the exception of one, funded under the Cross-Border Cooperation 
allocations of CARDS 2004, 2005 & 2006 conclude d along 2008. These include a direct grant 
award to the Secretariat for European Integratio n, as the Operating Structure, for the IPA CB 
programmes for both intra-Western Balkans Borders and programmes where the EU Member States participate.   
CARDS management performance
 
By year-end 2008, all CARDS related procurem ent was complete and all 53 CARDS ongoing 
projects were successfully tran sferred from the European Agen cy for Reconstruction to the 
Delegation in Podgorica.   
CARDS 
(1) Allocation 
(2) Contracted 
(3)  RAC in 
Value % 
contract
ed Paid (3) RAL in 
Value % 
paid 
CARDS 2001 (4) 16,100,00
0.0016,035,105
.2164,894.79 99.6% 16,035,105
.21 64,894.79 99.6
% 
CARDS 2002(4) 12,000,00
0.0011,951,696
.5248,303.48 99.6% 11,951,696
.52 48,303.48 99.6
% 
CARDS 2003 (4) 12,000,00
0.0011,897,511
.91102,488.0
999.1% 11,897,511
.91 102,488.0
9 99.1
% 
CARDS 2004  16,756,27
0.02 16,703,382
.92 52,887.10 99.7% 16,400,990
.70 355,279.3
2 97.9
% 
CARDS 2005 23,120,61
0.00 22,980,263
.39 140,346.6
1 99.4% 21,907,861
.52 1,212,748.
48 94.8
% 
CARDS 2006 20,709,00
0.00 20,084,124
.96 624,875.0
4 97.0% 17,392,595
.71 3,316,404.
29 84% 
 73Total 100,685,8
80.02 99,652,084
.91 1,033,795.
11 99.0% 95,585,761
.57 5,100,118.
45 95% 
 
*CBC 2004 had a cancellation of appropriation of 52,887.10 (1) including CARDS CBC and State Union MNE 
(2) initially allocated to the EAR 
(3) by EAR and between 15.09 and 31.12.08 by the ECD 
(4) The CARDS 2001, 2002 and 2003 programmes we re closed at the time of the 
transfer 
 
Institution Building highlights
 
Support to the Human Resources Management Authority featured high in the reporting 
period, chiefly through civil service training.  Likewise, the assistance provided to the 
Secretariat for European Integration and lin e ministries for IPA programming purposes is 
already producing positive results in term s of ownership and project concept.  
 The Twinning Light Project on training of pr osecutors has contributed to the crucial 
preparation of the prosecutors for implemen ting the forthcoming new Criminal Procedure 
Code, according to which, a major reform of the investigation phase will take place with the 
prosecutors taking up th e lead and the full responsibility for the investigative proceedings. 
The Judicial Training Centre's  capacity to provide training to prosecutors was also 
strengthened.   With EU assistance, the Environmental Prot ection Agency was launched, as well as the 
establishment of a project implementation unit to deal with the implementation of 
environmental infrastr ucture projects.  
 Financial support granted in Marc h 2008 to the Secretariat for Eu ropean Integration (SEI) has 
importantly contributed to improving Monteneg ro’s preparedness to deal with the EU 
financial assistance for the de velopment of border regions. By the end of 2008, the SEI 
established the administrative and monitoring structures for the IPA CBC programmes.   
 
14.3.      Results and impact    
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned
 
Lessons were learned from two major evaluations, carried out by the European Agency for 
Reconstruction in 2008, for EU fund ed projects in Montenegro. In  a comparative analysis of 
Serbia's, Montenegro's and Kosovo's particip ation in the regional energy market, the 
Montenegrin Government's lack of decisi on on unbundling and priva tisation impeded an 
otherwise dynamic development.   The evaluation of the EU funded Turn Aroun d management (TAM)/ Business Advisory 
Services (BAS) programmes provided a compre hensive set of recommendations. At the time 
of the evaluation, 33% of the predominantly successful and very successful rated projects 
were closed, as the companies were bankrupted, liquida ted or non existent. This showed that 
there would be a need for (a) allocating much larger input resources in certain challenging 
projects within a more flexible framework al lowing for follow-ups; and (b) investing larger 
resources in terms of time, tools, methodol ogy and man/days for the screening phase.  
 74 
One recurrent lesson learned and recommendati on from the continuous monitoring of EU 
funded projects over 2008 comprised a stronger i nvolvement of NGOs and the need to stress 
awareness raising initiatives by the government with regard to social  inclusion and cross-
cutting issues.   
Sectors with positive results
 
Helping refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 
A housing and economic livelihood assistance  programme worth €2.4 million addressed the 
housing needs for close to 200 families of displa ced persons. However, the issue of the legal 
status of most displaced persons remains unresolved.   
Supporting Civil society 
EU assistance significantly cont ributed to the development of a legislative framework dealing 
with employment, vocational education and trai ning of the disabled. It  also supported the 
literacy, vocational education and employability  of illiterate and adult Roma displaced 
persons.  
Energy 
The revision of the market rules submitted to the Regulatory Agency by the Electricity 
Market Operator was performed and approved in December. It was concluded that the Market 
Rules were at a satisfactory phase of devel opment regarding market opening. Outputs of the 
projects in this domain, such as drafts of co mmercial contracts between  new market players, 
market rules and the development of the required IT systems for initial market operation were 
crucial in the opening of the electricity mark et, which has been offi cially opened since 1 
January 2009.  
Economy  
Support to enhance the private sector developm ent and improve its access to credit schemes 
resulted in reforming the legislative framew ork, creating the condition for the establishment 
of the first Credit Guar antee Fund in Montenegro. 
 
Internal market 
Substantive progress has been achieved in harm onising legislation relate d to internal market. 
New laws, secondary legislation and legislative amendments we re introduced in relation to 
IPR, public procurement, consumer protecti on, competition and state aid. The capacity of a 
number of newly established bodies related to internal market areas was strengthened. 
Examples include, among others, the Publ ic Procurement Commission and Public 
Procurement Agency, the Authority for Protect ion of Competition, th e Commission for the 
Control of State Aid, and the Ar bitration Council for out-of-court di spute settlement related to 
consumers protection and the Market inspectorat e. Strategic guidelines were adopted in a 
number of sectors including c onsumer protection, quality infrastructure, competition, etc. The 
first National Consumer Programme was prepared  and adopted and the modernisation of the 
Market Inspectorate, the Consumer Arbitrat ion Council and the Of fice for Intellectual 
Property Rights was achieved though the proc urement of information and communication 
technology. 
 
Environmental infrastructure  
 75The wastewater pumping stations in the coasta l area (municipalities of Herceg Novi, Budva, 
Bar and Ulcinj) have been fully repaired a nd upgraded. This is meant to have a positive 
impact on the quality of sea water and tourism.  
 Agriculture and rural development 
Good progress can be reported on  agriculture and rural development policy. The Government 
continued to adapt agricultural policy to th e Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU. 
The support provided to align th e regulatory framework, in view  of the preparation to EU 
accession, and to prepare the national strate gy for food production and rural development 
(2009-2013) resulted in the endorsement by the government of the draft law on agriculture 
and rural development and the adoption of the strategy.  Some preparatory steps towards the creation of structures need ed for pre-accession assistance 
in agriculture have been taken.  
Cross border cooperation 
Montenegro's participation in projects under the INTERREG III A (Adriatic) and B 
(CADSES) helped to prepare the country for an  active involvement in future CBC schemes.  
 
Success story
 
EU helps Montenegro protect its natural beauty 
Montenegro’s rich natural beauty is ideal for the development of tourism and agriculture, and 
is considered a main potential for economic gr owth. For these reasons, and to bring the 
country closer to the EU, the Montenegrin government is striving to strengthen its 
environment sector in the areas of policy, legislation and institu tions. The establishment of an 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a major priority in th e government’s Economic 
Reform Agenda. Under the EU-funded projec t, a model for the new EPA was developed. 
Moreover, the project is helping develop a mode l for a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) that 
will support the influx of funding for the de velopment of adequate environmental 
infrastructure, including wastewater treat ment plants and waste-disposal sites. 
Furthermore, the project will provide assist ance in getting the EPA up and running. This 
includes training the managers and staff and the development of the organization and its 
working methods. In order to guarantee future av ailability of qualified staff, assistance is 
provided to develop environmen tal training as part of the Montenegrin education system. 
In addition to assistance in the preparation of the formal decision on EPA and PIU, the project 
is helping develop secondary environmental legislation. 
The proposal for establishment of the EPA fo llows EU best practice on implementation of 
environmental legislation and standards. Prin ciples of good governance, as well as the EU 
Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspectio ns, are being taken into account. The EPA’s 
establishment will form a first (and considerable) increase of staff in the environment sector, 
facilitating implementation of the government’s  legislative work on the environmental EU 
acquis. The EPA will implement hundreds of EU legal requirements in the area of monitoring 
and reporting, permitting, inspection and communication. 
 
  
 76 
 
15. Poland   
 15.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Poland continued to implement successfully  the post-accession assistance to address 
the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line 
with the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since February 2005 implementatio n is carried out under the enti re responsibil ity of Polish 
authorities applying national pr ocurement rules. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit 
(CFCU), the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PAED) and the Implementing 
Authority for European Programmes (formerly Implementing Authority for Phare Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes , IA-CBC) are fully responsibl e for the daily implementation 
of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
15.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005– finalisation of payments  
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 84.42 % of the funding has been disbursed, while two projects have been extended and were 
on-going (extension of the execution deadline until 15/02/2009 and 15/06/2009 respectively). The payments can still be executed within 6 mont hs after the expiry of  the contracts execution 
period.  
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting  
 
At the end of the contracting period fo r the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 
15 December 2008, 81.15 % of the programme had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 A total of around €115 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Poland from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
Implementation of Transition Facility in Poland is considered generally successful and 
projects provide notable value added. During  the period, there wa s substantial overall 
progress towards the achievement of objectives a nd results of the EU as sistance. 11 contracts 
were signed within the TF 2006 Unallocated Envelope. 
 
 7715.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, there were 2 Joint Monitoring Committ ees (JMCs). First one concluded via written 
procedure in June 2008 and the second one to ok place in December 2008, in line with the 
revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Memb er States in May 2004, which establish an 
integrated monitoring and evaluation syst em over the programmes under implementation. 
The JMC meeting in December was the last physical meeting. The following JMC will be 
concluded via the written procedure. Duri ng the meeting, the ou tstanding issues like 
eligibility of Value Added Tax (VAT) expens es under TF programme, old Phare projects, 
irregularity cases and phasing out of the programmes were discussed. 
In the year 2008, two rounds of Sector Mon itoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings have 
taken place. The first round of SMSC meetings  took place in end of March-April and second 
round in November. There are five sectors to be monitored in Poland: environment and transport; agriculture; intern al market; justice and home affairs; public administration. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation  Re ports in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring of the Pre-accession and the Transition Facility 
programmes in Poland lies with  the NAC department within the Office of the Committee for 
European Integration (UKIE). The NAC departme nt assures the proper  monitoring of the 
projects and information about the monitoring re sults are delivered to the EC on the regular 
bases  As far as the NAC Evaluati on Unit activities are concer ned, the launch of the tender 
procedure for selecting a new eval uator took place on 9 September 2008.  
The NAC Evaluation Unit up-dated the evaluati on priorities of the interim evaluation 
Transition Facility programme and combined the evaluation priorities for the year 2008 with 
the priorities for 2009 after c onsultation with the EU servi ces and the Steering Group. All 
other projects originally planne d to be evaluated in 2008 were al ready subject to evaluation in 
2007. 
The NAC Evaluation Unit decided to launch an ad hoc  evaluation of selected Justice and 
Home Affairs (JHA) projects as a corrective meas ure. The kick-off meeting of this evaluation 
took place on 19 September 2008. The J HA evaluation covered 3 projects. 
 7816. Romania  
16.1.      The year in review 
S u m m a r y         
In 2008, Romania implemented both pre-accessi on and post-accession assistance to address 
the remaining needs related to IB  for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the 
Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since January 2007 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of the 
Romanian authorities applying national procurement rules. Three implementing agencies are 
fully responsible for daily implementation of pr ojects (two of them accredited in December 
2006 and one in April 2007). 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise the programming function for the 
Transition Facility programmes and monitoring  of both Pre-accession an d Transition Facility 
Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the financial supervision. 
Since the closure of the Phare Transition Team in  the Representation in Bucharest as of July 
2008, DG Enlargement continues to exercise th e residual functions re lated to Commission 
responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with th e Financial Regulation. 
 
16.2 Phare/pre-accession, financial a nd Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  Phare 2005 – finalisation of payments 
 
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 pr e-accession programme 
55.60 % of the funding has been disbursed. The Ro manian authorities have requested in 2008 
extensions of the execution period for some  project under the 2005 Phare programme that 
have been approved by the Commission. 
 -  Phare 2006 – rate of cont racting (EDIS extensions)  
 
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 National programme on 30 November 2008, 
78.01% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 -  TF 2007  
The deadline for contracting 2007 Transition Fa cility will expi re on 15 December 2009. Up to 
the cut-off date of this report, 19.91% of th e programme had been contracted. One project 
proposal under the unallocated envelope has been approved by the Commission, all remaining 
ones being under various stages of revision. 
 
 -  Institution Building highlights  The responsibilities and the task s related to twinning are dealt with by Central Finance and 
Contracts Unit (CFCU) as Administrative Offi ce whereas DG Enlargement is responsible for 
issuing the Steering Committee Opinion on twinning contracts. Nine such opinions have been 
 79issued during 2008 for Phare 2006 and seven u nder Transition Facility twinning contracts 
which continue to be useful in many priority  areas and helped Romania to prepare for the 
implementation of EU policies and laws. 
In order to address unforeseen needs, addition al assistance from the Institutional Building 
unallocated envelopes 2006 continues to be pr ovided for projects mainly in Public 
Administration, Finance and Aud it sectors. The unallocated e nvelope under the Transition 
Facility refers mainly to the Coope ration and Verification Mechanism.  
 
 
16.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting took place in June 2008, in line 
with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which 
establishes an integrated monitoring a nd evaluation system over the programmes under 
implementation. 
Two rounds of Sector Monitori ng Sub-Committee (SMSC) meeti ngs took place in spring and 
autumn 2008. The number of sub-committees has been reduced to nine by unifying the Economic and Social Cohesion (ESC) and Cro ss Border Cooperation (CBC) sector with 
Environment:  SMSC 1 – ESC & Environment and CBC, SMSC 2 – Justice, SMSC 3 – Home Affairs, SMSC 4 – Finance, SMSC 5 – Public  Administration, SMSC 6 – Agriculture SMSC 
7 – Internal Market SMSC 8 – Social (inc luding minorities) SMSC 9 – Transport. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation  Re ports in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
The overall responsibilit y for monitoring of the Phare and Transition Facility programmes in 
Romania lies with the Central Evaluation Unit within the Authority fo r the Coordination of 
Structural Instruments in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Activities in this area were carried out with the support of  an Interim Evaluation Phare external contractor which 
continued the implementation of the contract over the entire 2008. Eight sectoral evaluation 
reports were issued in 2008 a nd two thematic evaluations were  completed, one on the revision 
of indicators and the other on Phare le ssons learnt on Structural Funds.  
 During 2008, two consolidated Country Summary Evaluation Report were issued, for the Joint Monitoring Committee in June and for the one that was held in  January 2009 to support 
decision making. The reports provide a consolidat ed country review of the findings of the 
Interim Evaluations finalized until December 2008.  The most recent Country Summary Report re flected 408 programme components covering 
open Phare allocations for 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and concluded that the overall performance is barely satisfactory. Ph are supported programmes are successfully 
implemented, generally deliver the expected re sults and contribute to the impacts that are 
sought. However, the delays in reaching th e implementation stage are undermining the 
efficiency and have a degrading effect on releva nce, effectiveness and impact. Up to 22.5% of 
the Phare 2006 allocation was lost, including so me projects of signifi cant priority for the 
country, mainly due to an unfruitful contracti ng. This loss of Phare s upport across number of 
sectors might undermine the strategic cohere nce of the remaining programmes in those 
 80sectors as the achievement of the programme objectives now depends on alternative national 
or external funding sources.                   
 
                               
 8117. Serbia  
 
17.1.      The year in review 
17.1.1. Political developments  
Serbia signed the Stabilisation and Associati on Agreement (SAA) and an Interim Agreement 
covering trade-related matters in April 2008. On 29 April 2008, the Council decided that the implementation of the Interim Agreement and the ratification of the SAA are subject to Serbia 
fully cooperating with the International Criminal  Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  
 Serbia made significant progr ess on cooperation with ICTY, in cluding the arrests of Radovan 
Karadzic and Stojan Zupljanin. Parliament ra tified the SAA in September 2008 and began to 
work on a package of laws. Government and pa rliament were affected  by divisions between 
political parties on key policy issues. Issues re lating to Kosovo and EU integration dominated 
political discussions. Following the Presidential a nd legislative elections in February and May 
2008 there was increased stability in governme nt and greater consensus on European 
integration. Serbia had good capacity  in its public administration.  
 Further efforts needed to be taken to ensure the independence, accounta bility and efficiency 
of the judicial system. Corruption remained widespread and constituted a serious problem. 
Civil and political rights in Serbia were ge nerally protected and the overall framework for 
respect of human rights and the protection of minorities  in Serbia was in place. Concerning 
economic and social rights,  the legal provisions for their protec tion were also largely in place 
but the legal framework needed to be further developed.  Relations between the EU and Serbia were a ffected by the declaration of independence of 
Kosovo. Serbia vowed to use only peaceful, legal and diplomatic means and exercised restraint in its response to the declaration. Fo llowing a Serbian initiative, a Resolution of the 
UN General Assembly requested to the Internati onal Court of Justice an advisory opinion on 
the legality of Kosovo's d eclaration of independence.  
 
17.1.2Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms
 
The economy of Serbia continued to grow strongl y. However, progress in macroeconomic 
stabilisation was mixed. The continuing reve rsal of fiscal consolidation added to 
macroeconomic risks. Structural reforms slowed down and the high level of unemployment, as well as rising inflationary pres sures, remained major challenges. 
 As regards the economic criteria , Serbia made some progr ess towards establishing a 
functioning market economy. Financial intermediation continued to grow from a still relatively low level. Significant progress was ma de with the development of the non-banking 
financial sector. However, external imbalances widened, the quality of financing deteriorated, 
foreign debt rose, and the degree of macro-vulne rability increased also in the light of the 
global financial crisis. Despite high economic growth rates in recent years, unemployment remained a major challenge. There was some progre ss with regard to the privatisation of state-
owned companies and banks.  
 8217.1.3Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire  
In the area of European Standards , Serbia remained well placed to implement the SAA and 
the Interim Agreement, thanks to its good administrative capacity.  However there were few 
developments in terms of legislative alignment.   As regards sectoral policies , in the areas of industry and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 
(SMEs) Serbia remained committed to the European Charter for SMEs. In the area of agriculture , there were some improvements in administrative capacity. In the area of 
environment, Serbia's preparations remained at a m oderately advanced level. Some progress 
was made in the area of transport  with Serbia continuing to ac tively participate in the South 
East Europe Transport Observatory. Ther e was also some progress in the area of energy . 
Little progress was made in the areas of information society and media . However, the new 
Minister in charge of telecommunication an d information society started with positives 
initiatives to push forward deve lopment and alignment in her field of competence. Serbia was 
moderately advanced in fulfilling the requiremen ts of the SAA and the European Partnership 
in the area of statistics.  
 There was moderate progress in the area of justice, freedom and security . The visa 
facilitation and readmission agreements between the EU and Serbia entered into force in 
January 2008 and a visa liberalisation dialogu e started. Following the adoption of the new 
legislation on asylum , Serbia took over responsibility fo r handling asylum cases from the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Money laundering continued to 
be a serious problem and relevant legislation still had to be adopted. Drug trafficking  also 
remained a serious concern. The professional capacities of the police  improved as a result of 
additional training activi ties. The fight against organised crime remained a matter of serious 
concern for Serbia.     
17.2.      Financial assistance in 2008 
Programmes launched
 
As of 2007, the CARDS programmes were replaced  by the new Instrument for Pre-accession 
Assistance (IPA). No new CARDS programmes were launched after 2006. 
 
Overview of programmes implemented  
Democratic stabilisation 
Refugees and IDPs A programme to support minorities, anti-discri mination legislation and mediation is under 
implementation.  The institution-building support to  the Commissariat for Refug ees and Internally Displaced 
persons (IDPs) is implemented in the areas of  policy, communication and development of the 
strategy plans.  25 apartments in Kragujevac, 19 apartments in Uzice and 48 apartments   in Kraljevo were 
handed over to refugees and IDPs families.   
 83€1 million contract with the OSCE to provide ta rgeted assistance to the Roma community in 
Serbia both on policy and operationa l levels is under implementation. 
 Legal assistance to the institutions of Government of Serbia dealing with refugees and IDPs was launched. The project include s provision of legal aid and information to IDPs and 
vulnerable groups from Kosovo to protect their property rights. 
 
Civil Society 
Under the Media Fund , 18 contracts with media outlets were implemented for a total of €1.8 
million. The objective is to support quality production and investigative reporting.  
 Technical assistance programme to Radio Television Serbia, which includes a comprehensive training and study tours for journalists, manage r and technical staff is under implementation.  
In the framework of the European Integrat ion Fund, 16 contracts w ith Non-Governmental 
Organizations (NGOs) were launched for a to tal amount of €1.6 million The objective of the 
programme is to support workshops, seminars and other activities related to EU integration, as 
well as for the support of the publication of  supplements, brochures and other forms of 
information dissemination.  
 Under Social Innovation Fund, 31 projects in 29 municipalities were launched for a total of 
€0.5 million.  The objective of the programme is  the establishment of new local social 
services, such as home and da y care service for elderly, disabled people, children and youth 
with behavioural disorders and in conflict with law. 
   
Good governance and institution building 
Judicial System Project “Support to High Judicial Council” started on the 15th September 2008 (€2 million 
TA). The project will establ ish the High Court Council and Hi gh Prosecutorial Council, in 
line with the National Judicial Reform Strategy a nd basic principles of judicial independency.  
 
Police 
A twinning project with the Organised Crime Di rectorate of the Minist ry of the Interior 
helped to modernise investigative techniques.  The installation and testing of  communication and IT equipment for the Organised Crime 
Directorate (€2.5 million) and Juvenile Detent ion Centres (€1 million) was completed. The 
delivery of equipment for prisons (€2.5 million) was going on in 2008.   
Border Crossings 
The implementation of a €1.6 million supply project  for the procurement of equipment for the 
Border Police and Customs Admini stration started in September.  
 A project for the refurbishment of the Custom s Training Centre was la unched in March and 
completed in September.  
Public Administration  
 84The “Financial Management Information System” entered into function on the first quarter of 
2008. The system allows on-line connection to the Treasury for all budget beneficiaries.  
 The project TA for State Budget preparatio n process delivered a Programmatic Budget 
methodology which was implemented in the 2008 B udget Preparation for five pilot ministries. 
 A Contribution Agreement was signed in Septem ber with European central Bank to identify 
the needs of the National Bank of Serbia in term s of rules, procedures and staff training for 
future accession to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).   Strengthening the capacity of the Serbian ad ministration to draft, adopt, implement and 
enforce legislation in line with the acquis  in the field of consumer protection is the main 
objective of a €1.5 million project assisting the Ministry of Trade and Services.  
 A €2 million project to enhance the protection of competition in the Serbian economy was launched in March. The project will last three years, and aims to strengthen Serbia’s Competition Protection Commission.  
A€1.5 million twinning project with the aim to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of 
Economy and Regional Development to create, negotiate  and implement tr ade policy and to 
negotiate international trade agreements, helped in drafting the Foreign Trade law and relevant bylaws and assisted in th e process of Serbia’s WTO accession. 
 Phase III of the Policy and Lega l Advice Centre project will con tinue to provide legal advice 
to the Serbian administration on such issues as public procurement, state aid and financial 
services after 2008. An assistance project to the Serbian Statistical  Office was completed by the Italian Statistical 
Office.  €1.5 million assistance to the Translation Coordination Unit of the Serbian European 
Integration Office was launched,  aiming at development of its capacity to manage and 
coordinate the proce ss of translation of aquis  and provision of 16,000 pages of acquis  
translation.    
Trade 
A €1.2 million technical assistance to Quality Infr astructure sector was contracted aiming to 
further advance standardisati on, accreditation, conf ormity assessment  and metrology in 
Serbia  The Directorate of Measures and Precious Me tals was supported with additional metrology 
equipment in the value of €1.4 million.    
Health 
A first contract was signed of the amount of €8 million for the design and supervision of the 
four University clinical centres in Serbia.   The project “Capacity Building of the Health Insurance Fund of Se rbia” closed successfully in 
December.  
 85The project “Development of Hea lth Information System for Basic Health and Pharmaceutical 
Services” implemented from November 2004 to July 2008 in two phases, for the total amount 
of €3.3 million, and produced a result that ensu red Serbia the prestigious DISKOBOLOS 
2008 International Award for Modern Applicatio n of ICT for health in December of 2008.  
 The €2.5 million technical assistance project “Support to the implemen tation of Capitation 
Payment in Primary Health Care in Serbia” helped in the procurement and the delivery of another €2 million worth of IT equipment distributed to 28 pr imary health centres throughout 
the country facilitating the introduction of the ne w method of payment for services in a joint 
effort with the Nationa l Health Insurance Fund. 
 The €4 million service contract  for “Training in Health Se rvice Management” started in 
January, preparing the curriculum of a Master’s Course and submitting for its accreditation through appropriate national bodies.   
Local Government 
Eastern Serbia Regional roads reconstruc tion project of €4.7 m illion was successfully 
implemented. 
Municipal Infrastructure Support Programme, €3 million technical assistance, started in 
January 2008. Up to the end of 2008 the programme  resulted in two solid waste infrastructure 
projects worth €7 million under implementation, id entification and prepar ation of 4 municipal 
infrastructure projects totaling to close to €90 million investment and a green paper for Public 
Utility Companies transformation.  EXCHANGE 2 programme of €5 million consisti ng of technical assistance and an operating 
grant to the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) started at the 
beginning of 2008. Until the end of 2008 it has produced a local government law 
implementation gap draft analysis, selected 20 m unicipalities to be sup ported in full fledged 
strategic planning and launched expression for in terest for ten municipal service packages.  
 First phase of the project "Strengthening Lo cal Self Government" (LSG) implemented in 
partnership with the Council of Europe ende d in December while the second phase project 
proposal was prepared for implementation under IPA 2007.  Technical assistance to the Ministry of Public  Administration and LSG for preparation of the 
Framework strategy for LSG training started.  Three municipal infrastructure contracts (c lose to €10 million) under Municipal Support 
Programme to North East Serbia c ontracted and under implementation. 
 
Economic and social development 
Enterprise Development The second phase of the Turn-Around Ma nagement programme, implemented by the 
European Bank for Reconstruction and Develo pment (EBRD), was completed in May 2008. 
The programme supported 43 enterprises and pr ovided management training to 80 other 
companies. 
A €1.5 million project providing technical suppor t to Enterprise Policy and Innovation was 
launched at the beginning of Se ptember 2008. The project will f acilitate the implementation 
 86of the European Charter for Small Enterprises and the development of an internationally 
competitive and innovative private sector. 
Social development 
Transforming Residential Institutions and Su stainable Alternatives project (€1.3 million) 
dealing with the deinstit utionalisation of disabled children and children without parental care 
is ongoing.  
Education 
Strengthening Higher Education System in Serbia (€300.000) enhancing the harmonisation 
with the Bologna process, was going on in 2008. 
 
Vocational education and training  
Additional support to th e Vocational Education and Traini ng Reform project of €800.000will 
be completed in July 2009.   Two twinning projects on Modernisation of th e National Employment Service (€1.5 million) 
and Support to Development of National Employ ment Policy (€1.5 million) started in 2007 
and were still ongoing in 2008.   
Agriculture 
24 four wheel drive vehicles were handed over to  the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and 
Water Management.  A Water Information Management System has b een successfully established within the Water 
Directorate (€2 million). A new law on wine has been proposed for adopti on by the Parliament th anks to a Twinning 
contract with our partner from the Rioja Region in Spain (€1.4 million).  
Infrastructure and energy 
A €1.5 million project providing technical assistance to the Serbian Energy Regulatory 
Agency was completed.  The project Blueprint for Mining Ag ency was successfully completed. 
 To enhance the security of tr ansport and the freedom of move ment around the most important 
bridges across the Danube and the Sava Rivers, activities were started in May 2008 to help the 
Serbian Government in locating unexploded ordnance (UXO).   The €1.5 million twinning project Firs t Alignment with the Transport acquis  was completed 
during the first quarter of 2008.   A €1.5 million project providing technical assistance to Serb ian Transmission System and 
Market Operator (Elektromreza Srbije) was completed.  The works on the modernisation of District He ating in five Serbian cities (in total €22 million 
+ €2 million for the supervising engineer) wa s completed. TA for the District Heating 
modernisation has been delivered to  the same cities (€0,5 million). 
 87 
A Capacity Allocation System  for the electricity transmission system operator was delivered 
to the beneficiary EMS – Elektromreža Srbije – and implemented.  Works for the second major environmental proj ect - ash disposal in  Nikola Tesla B power 
plant, with a budget of €30 million – were going on in 2008.  The contract Renewable energy feasibility studie s for the preparation of secondary legislation 
and preparation of 15 pre-feasib ility studies for small scale hydro projects in Serbia was 
awarded.  Two works contracts for construction of 400kV line Nis-Leskovac (€7million, 40 km) and 
Leskovac-FYRoM border (€20 million, 100 km) were signed and the works were going on in 2008 with some delays on both sections.  
Environment 
250 printers, 915 computers and 21 servers were delivered to the Region al Cadastre Offices 
(€0.7 million). 
 A Sewerage & Wastewater Strate gic Master Plan for southern Morava Region was elaborated 
(€2.8 million).  A €7.1 million programme was upgrading the cap acities of hospitals and clinics throughout 
Serbia to improve their capacity to  manage and treat hazardous waste. 
 
Regional Cooperation 
Following the transfer of Contracting Au thority from the European Agency for 
Reconstruction, the EC Delegation managed a to tal of 134 contracts selected within the 
different Neighbourhood Programmes (NP) with Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as 
under the CADSES and the Italy Adriatic Prog ramme. Out of these, 85 contracts completed 
their activities by the end of 2008, although final balance payments had yet to be executed. 
Six applicants were selected from the unila teral Call for Proposals launched and finalised 
within the NP Hungary-Serbia. One of these was contracted in November out of funds 
allocated to CARDS 2005, while contracting of additional 5 selected applicants (to receive 
funds from CARDS 2006) ha d yet to be completed. 
The Evaluation procedure for Proposals submitted under the 5
th Call of NP Bulgaria was 
completed in November, however missing some required documents the Delegation suspended the approval and related contracting. 
 
CARDS management performance
 
The cumulative portfolio of CARDS programmes in Serbia is €1.288 billion. By the end of 
the year 2008, 98% of this total had b een contracted and 87% had been paid. 
  
 
 88 
 
Table 1: Status of financial assistance at the end of December 2008 (i n million €) – CARDS 
annual national programmes 
 
  Allocated  Contracted RAC14]%contracted Paid  RAL15] %paid
CARDS 2001 193.8 193.6 0 100% 193.6 0 100% 
CARDS 2002 165.7 165.7 0 100% 165.1 0.6 100% 
CARDS 2003  211.7 211.7 0 100% 210.2 1.5 99% 
CARDS 2004  200.6 200.6  0 100% 159.3 41.3 79% 
CARDS 2005  155.8 155.6 0.2 100% 129.1 26.7 83% 
CARDS 2006  153.9  131.1 22.8 85% 56.6 97.3 37% 
Total  1,081.5 1,058.3 30.0 98% 763.9 167.4 71% 
 
Institution Building highlights  
In 2008 the emphasis was gradually shifted away from reconstruction and was more 
concentrated on institution-bu ilding, economic development an d reform in line with the 
European Partnership recommendations, including promoting good governance and the 
strengthening of rule of law.  Under CARDS cross border support activities, Serbia developed 
strong institutional capacit ies via participation in these prog rams, contributing to the recovery 
of border regions, regional reconciliation and stability .   
The CARDS programme was managed by the Eur opean Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) 
with the exception of Tempus programme an d Customs and Taxation projects managed 
directly by the Commission). The EAR was closed  at the end of 2008 and the Delegation took 
over the management of CARDS programmes.  Preparation for Decentralised Implementation (DIS) was continued with the adoption by the 
Government of the DIS Road map and the releva nt Action plan and with  the appointment of 
key figures as the Competent Authorising Officer (CAO), National Authorising Officer 
(NAO) and the National IPA Co-ordinator (NIPAC). 
 
17.3.      Results and impact    
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned
 
In October and November 2008, 3 CARDS contracts in the health sector were monitored by 
the ROM-Team, the external monitors contracted by DG Enlargement.D3:  - "05SER01/15/001 Capacity buildin g of the Health Insurance F und in Serbia" (CRIS contract 
number 164808) 
                                                
 
14 Reste à Contracter 
15 Reste à Liquider 
 89- "06SER01/10/002 Training in H ealth Service Management in  Serbia" (CRIS contract 
number 166353) - "04SER01/08/001 Technical Assistance for Me dical Waste Management" (CRIS contract 
number 162832)  All recommendations contained in the respective monitoring reports have been accepted and 
are being/ have been implemented.  To start engaging the national aut horities in monitoring prior to the introduction of DIS, a first 
1
st IPA Monitoring Committee was held with the Ministry of Finance and the Deputy Prime 
Minister’s Office on 10 December 2008.   Institutional Capacity Building 
- Further strengthen the capacity of Ministries and related 
Government Institutions in strategy formulati on and policy development. Project support must 
be based on strategic papers and/or policy docum ents, drafted with the involvement of project 
beneficiaries. Administrative staff, which benefits from skills development programmes, should sign an agreement that keeps them within the administ ration for a certain period of 
time.  
 
Refugees and IDPs - 
In the medium- to long-term the EU  assistance to Serbia’s National 
Refugee Strategy needs to be more mainstream ed. Needs for continue implementing projects 
addressing unresolved rights of displaced people - i.e. property rights, past employment rights 
- in their place of origin, ac tive political support from the EU and all involved Governments is 
needed for these projects to achieve effective and sustainable results for the people affected. 
It is recommended that other Sectors under th e IPA Programme identify displaced people as 
target groups; in particular, programmes re lated to employment a nd Serbia’s Poverty 
Reduction Strategy. There are high levels of poverty and unemployment, which are unlikely 
to be reduced by acquiring formal citizenship rights. The long-term housing needs of refugees can on ly be addressed throu gh the introduction of 
social housing legislation by the Serbian Gove rnment with a combination of Serbian and 
international funding for the programme. The Agen cy has taken the first step in setting up a 
mechanism that can assist the im plementation of such legislation. 
 
Economic and Social Development/Energy - Future support for the electricity market should 
not be limited in the electricity se ctor to institution building per se  but should also be directed 
as well to strengthening support for competitors, eligible customers and their associations, and 
consumers generally within the national market , with a view to provide information about 
market opportunities and encourage them to be aw are of the reform process and its benefits. 
 
SME Sector Development- Continue with focusing on enterpri ses in less developed regions – 
rural, mountainous, with higher levels of  unemployment. Allow for programme or 
components of the programme to cover or fo cus over a specific region/district within 
a country, less developed sectors,  clusters of companies, in line with the national policies. 
Give priority to sectors, which have receive d less assistance. Continue and extend the scope 
of cross-cutting issues to environment, energy efficiency, gende r, minority, youth, other 
disadvantaged groups. Allow a possibility fo r assisting newly established and starting 
companies.  
 90Sectors with positive re sults – Success stories  
EC support for local government, environment, tr ansport, health, energ y, trade and support to 
minorities was successful. (See some examples below).  
€25M, under CARDS 2006, contracted in 2008 under local government sector 
Under the auspices of the MISP (Municipal Infrastructure Support Programme) high level 
Municipal Infrastructure co-ordination foru m, meeting regularly each four months, was 
established. The forum gathers the relevant national government  representatives as well as 
donors and international financing institution.  In  addition, the developed database of existing 
municipal infrastructure projects pipeline, the SL AP, with the scoring criteria that apart from 
assessing their compatibility with national and EU  relevant strategies provides grading based 
on projects maturity for implementation is more and more used as a transparent selection criteria for government’s fina ncing of local infrastructure. 
 
Securing electricity supply not just for Serbia, but for the entire region 
The programmes undertaken in this sector contri buted to the integrati on of Serbia in the 
Regional Energy Market and the development of an electricity market. This was one of the 
main objectives of the widest initiative in the course of the year: the construction of an 
overhead high-voltage line betw een the southern Serbian city of Niš and the border with 
fYRoM. Special emphasis was also put on enhanc ing the capacities of the Energy Regulatory 
Authority and the Transmission System Oper ator, creating the conditions for Serbia’s 
participation in the regional energy market, as well as on strengthening the transmission 
capacity to allow for cross border trade. Important resources were also devoted to improve energy efficiency through inve stments in district heating. 
 
Helping to move towards hi gh and sustainable growth  
EC assistance to the economic sector supporte d the reformulation of policies on economic 
development and the approximation of laws, po licies and regulatory institutions with the 
Community acquis . Activities focused on the adoption of EC standards. To balance the initial 
impact of transition, the negative impact of restructuring and priv atisation on employment 
was tackled by programmes aimed at creating an institutional and regulatory environment 
able to enhance enterprise competitiveness. Such programmes, implemented in cooperation 
with the EBRD, have put a special emphasi s on small and medium enterprises, which 
presently absorb the largest part of the workforce in Serbia.   
 91 
18.  Slovakia  
 
18.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Slovakia continued to implement succe ssfully the post-accession assistance to 
address the remaining needs related to inst itution building for the implementation of the 
acquis , in line with the Extended Decentral ised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since October 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire re sponsibility of Slovak 
authorities applying national procurement rule s. The Central Finance and Contracting Unit 
(CFCU), the Regional Developm ent Support Agency (RDSA) and the National Agency for 
Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (NADSME) are fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues the monitoring of both Phare and Transition 
Facility Programmes. The National Authorizin g Officer (NAO) carries  out the financial 
supervision.  
 
18.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments  
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 82.92 % of the funding had been disbursed. Th e Slovak authorities did not request any 
extension for the 2005 programme.  The payments can still be exec uted within 6 months after 
the expiry of the contracts execution period. 
 
-  TF 2006 – rate of contracting  
 
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 91.74% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights 
 A total of around €29 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country progra mmes) has been allocated to Slovakia from 
Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
During the period, there was substantial over all progress towards the achievement of 
objectives and results of the EU  assistance. TF 2005 projects we re successfully completed and 
mostly achieved its results.  The Unallocate d Envelope under the TF 2006 programme was 
successfully contracted, 10 pr ojects were approved.  
 
 
  
 9218.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) was concluded via the written procedure in 
June 2008.  Main issues which were discus sed in the follow-up correspondence were the 
phasing out of Phare/TF programmes, closure of  outstanding issues, irre gularities follow up. 
Further to the simplification of the monitoring  system in Slovakia, the Sectoral Monitoring 
Sub-Committees (SMSCs) were not abandoned, si nce they were consider ed as an effective 
tool with higher level of members’ decisi on-making power. The decreased amount of ESC 
projects effected the mergi ng of two sectors, which resu lted in the following monitoring 
sectors: justice, home and social affairs and cross-border cooperation. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation  Reports in 2008 (lessons learned) 
Overall responsibility for monitoring and evalua tion of the Pre-accession and the Transition 
Facility programmes in Slovakia lies with th e Aid Co-ordination Unit, as the executive body 
of the National Aid Coordinator (NAC), at th e Office of the Government. Due to the staff 
shortfalls, the monitoring of the Transition Facility project s was done mainly via the 
participation of the ACU representatives durin g the SMSCs. The situat ion slightly improved 
in the last year where some on-the-spot monito ring visits were executed, mainly focused on 
training components of implemented projects. 
The procurement for the interim evaluation of Tr ansition Facility projec ts was split into two 
contracts due to problems which occurred during the contracting.  
 Two Interim Evaluation Reports (IER) were prepared in 2008 which covered the following 
components/sectors: Justice and Home Affair s, Human Resources De velopment and Health 
Care, Agriculture and Statistics, Environment and Energy, Internal Market. The most recent 
report from November 2008 rated 3 projects as highly satisfactory and all remaining ones as 
satisfactory.    
 93 
19. Slovenia  
 
19.1.  Summary     
              
In 2008, Slovenia continued to implement succe ssfully the post-accession assistance to 
address the remaining needs related to inst itution building for the implementation of the 
acquis , in line with the Extended Decentral ised Implementation System (EDIS). 
Since 17 September 2004 implementation has been carried out under the entire responsibility 
of Slovenian authorities appl ying national procurement rules.  The Ministry of Finance, 
Central Financing and Contracting Department  is responsible for ex-ante control and 
twinning. The Ministry of Finance, Central Fina ncing and Contracting Department (CFCD) is 
fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects. 
The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to  exercise the monitoring of both Phare and 
Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the 
financial supervision.  
 
19.2. Pre-accession, financial and Transition assistance in 2008 
 
i) Implementation 
  
-  TF 2005 – finalisation of payments  
At the end of the period for execution of contracts for the 2005 Transition Facility programme 67.51 % of the funding had been disbursed. The Slovene authorities re quested no extension 
for the 2005 programme. The paymen ts can still be execu ted within 6 months  after the expiry 
of the contracts execution period. 
 -  TF 2006 – rate of contracting (EDIS extensions)   
At the end of the contracting period for the 2006 Transition Facility programme on 15 
December 2008, 70.20% of the programmes had been contracted.  
 
 -  Institution Building highlights  A total of around €17 million of post-accession assistance from national allocation (not 
including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been allocated to Slovenia from Transition Facility programmes (2004-2006).  
In 2008 the implementation of the Transition Faci lity projects in Slovenia proceeded well. 
There were no major problems with the implemen tation of the Transition Facility projects and 
in many cases, when problematic issues arose, decisions were taken, thus assuring project 
implementation in a timely manner. Implementa tion of Transition Faci lity is considered 
successful in the following areas: agriculture, justice and home affairs, agriculture, internal market. 
 
 
 9419.3. Results and Impact       
 
 i) -   State of play for JMC / SMSC development 
In 2008, the first Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting was implemented via written 
procedure in June 2008 and the second one to ok place in November  2008, in line with the 
revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Me mber States in May 2004, which established 
an integrated monitoring and evaluation syst em over the programmes under implementation. 
In the year 2008, two rounds of Sector Mon itoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took 
place. The first round of SMSC meetings took place in March-April and second round 
between September and October. In Slovenia, the following s ectors were monitored in 2008: 
Agriculture, Economic and Financial Issues, Internal Market, Envi ronment and Energy. 
 
 ii) -  Monitoring & Evaluation Repo rts in 2008 (lessons learned) 
 
Overall responsibility for monitoring of the Pre-accession and the Transition Facility 
programmes in Slovenia lies with the National Aid Coordinator (NAC) with the Government 
Office for European Affairs (GOEA).  
Only the projects related to Economic and financ ial issues, Internal Market and Environment 
sectors were subject to interi m evaluation in 2008. The independe nt evaluator al so prepared 
one Country Evaluation Summary Report (CSER) in October 2008.  
The conclusions available from the Interi m Evaluation reports are that, overall the 
implementation of the evaluated 2006 Transition Facility  assistance was not so satisfactory as 
not all the allocated funds were contracted. Low absorption of funds from the Institution 
Building Envelopes for 2005 and 2006 TF programme s indicated that there are no real or 
acquis-related issues that still need to be a ddressed. However, there ar e some projects where 
concrete outputs, results and im pacts were successfully achieved. 
                  
 9520. Turkey  
20.1.      The year in review 
Political developments  
Turkey continued to sufficiently fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria. After averting a 
constitutional and political cr isis in 2008, the Turk ish government renewe d attention towards 
EU-related reforms and accession negotiations. As  concerns the political criteria, some 
progress was achieved in the areas of freedom of expre ssion, the rights of non-Muslim 
religious communities, and in promoting th e economic development of the South-East. 
Significant further efforts are still needed on mo st areas related to the political criteria. 
 
Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms  
With regard to the economic criteria, Turk ey is a functioning market economy and will 
remain so as long as it firmly maintains it s recent stabilisation a nd reform achievements. 
Turkey should be able to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the Union 
in the medium term, provided that it contin ues to implement a comprehensive reform 
programme to address structural  weaknesses. In the framework of the EU-Turkey relations the 
Commission is in constant di scussion with the Turkish aut horities and is assessing the 
performance of Turkey in the economic and fina ncial area. This is of paramount importance, 
given the fact that th e International Monetary  Fund (IMF) stand-by agreement expired in May 
2008 and a new one is still pendi ng. Turkey has been affected by the global economic crisis, 
as many EU economies have. The Turkish governme nt has taken some measures to alleviate 
the impact of the crisis. The Commission estim ates Turkey's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 
growth to have been 1.5% in 2008  as a result of a sharp contra ction in the fourth quarter of 
2008. It is expected that weaker economic gr owth and reduced demand as well as lower 
international commodity prices will reduce the current-account deficit and ease the needs for 
external financing. However, Turkey's heavy re liance on short-term capital inflows makes the 
country vulnerable to global de-leveraging, in creased risk aversion and external shocks. 
Under the current circumstances, the main cha llenge for Turkey is the faltering external 
demand on the Turkish economy and the need to mitigate the impact of the deepening global 
financial and economic crisis.  
Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire  
Turkey improved its ability to take on the oblig ations of membership. Progress was made in 
most areas. Alignment was advanced in certain areas, such as free movement of goods, , anti-
trust policy, energy, enterprise and industr ial policy, consumer and health protection, 
statistics, Trans-European Networks, and scienc e and research. However, alignment needs to 
be pursued, in particular in areas such as e nvironment, state aid, publi c procurement, social 
policy and employment, company law, food safet y, veterinary and phytosanitary policies and 
free movement of services. A number of importa nt obligations taken on by Turkey as part of 
its Customs Union with the EU remained unfu lfilled. The disproportionate use of safeguard 
measures and longstanding trade irritants were having an impact on proper functioning of the 
Customs Union. Turkey's administra tive capacity to cope with the acquis needs further 
improvement. 
 9620.2.      Pre-accession in 2008 
Programmes launched  
As of 2007 the Turkey pre-accession programme s were replaced by the new Instrument for 
Pre-accession Assistance. No new programmes were launched after 2006. 
Overview of programmes implemented  
Three programmes under the Turkey pre-accession instrument were under implementation in 
2008, the National Programmes 2004, 2005 and 2006. 
Table 1: Status of financial assistance at the end of December 2008 (in million €) – TPA 
annual national programmes 
 
 € million  Allocated  Contracted RAC16% contracted Paid  RAL17 % paid
TPA 2002 126 112 14** 89 104 8 83 
TPA 2003  144 122 22** 85 116 6 81 
TPA 2004  235 194 41*** 83 187 7 80 
TPA 2005  277 237 40 84 185 52 66 
TPA 2006*  450 366 84 81 135 231 30 
Total  1232 1031 201 84 727 404 59 
*  The contracting deadline of one project was extended until 13/06/2009. 
** Decommitted in 2007.  
***  Decommitted in 2008. 
 
The deadlines established by the Joint Monitoring Committee for the submission of tender documents for the EC ex-ante control unde r the National Programme 2006 led to some 
acceleration of the procurement process comp ared with the previous programmes. The 
contracting rate for NP2006 la nded at 78.38% while excluding participation in Community 
Programmes, and 81.4% including PCP. This did not  yet include the cont racting of the Foot 
and Mouth Disease project in part I of NP 200 6, for which the contracting deadline is June 
2009.  
 
Pre-accession management performance
 
Turkey's Decentralised Implementation System (DIS) institutions devoted  much attention in 
2008 to accreditation and prep arations for implementation under the different IPA 
components. This led to some improvements al so in relation to the Turkey pre-accession 
instrument Nevertheless, some capacity and system weakne sses remained. The staffing levels of all key 
DIS institutions needed to be further increa sed to improve management performance and 
organisational changes are required to im prove monitoring and system supervision. 
                                                
 
16 Reste à contracter 
17 Reste à liquider 
 97The quality of monitoring reports  continued to be variable, a nd the functioning of the Sector 
Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) system rema ined unsatisfactory. Shortcomings of the 
monitoring system have been identified (i.e . weak ownership of SPOs and National IPA 
Coordinator (NIPAC); lack of human resources; continued exis tence of parallel monitoring 
structures under IPA and pre-IPA assistance) but  actions taken have so far proven insufficient 
to significantly increase the quality of mon itoring reporting and related sector meetings. 
Despite of existing weaknesses in the mon itoring system, monthly project management 
meetings which are at the core of the monito ring system function in a satisfactory manner. 
The main priority for the improvement of the functioning of the decentralised implementation 
system remains the reinforcement of system  supervision through the National Authorising 
Officer (NAO) Office/National Fund . The Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) had 
difficulties to handle the triple challenge of preparation for accreditation under IPA, contracting under NP 2007, and management of on-going projects. The result was a repetition 
of late contracting under the National Progra mme 2006 and insufficient monitoring of running 
projects, in particular grants  and works. Staffing levels of both the NAO office and CFCU 
need to be increased. 
The EUSG continued to show some weaknesses in handling pr ogramming, monitoring as well 
as project management functions (EUSG acting as Senior Programming Officer). Therefore 
an organisational separation of EUSG
 functions (programming,  monitoring, project 
implementation) as well as a reinforcemen t of staffing levels appeared critical.  
A system of self-assessment and testing of the capacity of Se nior Programming Officers in the 
line Ministries  was established in 2008, but still needed  to be rendered fully operational and 
translated into concrete measures to strengthen  staffing levels and organisational structures of 
the weaker line Ministries. 
Institution Building example  
The project  "Towards Good Governance, Protectio n and Justice for Children in Turkey" 
with a  total budget of €6 million and the Gendarmerie  General Command as key beneficiary 
(UNICEF took part as a grant beneficiary) had the purpose to upgrade the capacity of the 
related institutions to provide a more protective environment for children in contact with the 
law. This included establishment of baseline data and empirical evidence, development of 
common strategies and collaborative implementation practices for the protection and reintegration of these children.  
As a result capacity building on how to impl ement the child protection law was initiated 
among 1500 personnel working for the Social Services and Child Protection Agency, child judges, prosecutors, prison guards and social wo rkers within 16 provinces where the number 
of children in contact with the law is the highest and where ch ild courts are existing. A catch-
up education curriculum was drafte d with the objective to target  children at risk (street 
children) to be made available in the same 16 provinces. Two parenting education 
programmes targeting parents with children at risk were developed and 100 000 families with 
children under 6 years were informed on child raising methods without abuse, beating or 
neglecting. As a pilot project, 5000 parents with childre n between 7 and 19 years followed a parenting 
course, with a view to give them skills and knowledge on how to communicate with and raise 
their children to prevent violent be haviour in school and at home.   
 
 9820.3.      Results and impact 
State of play for JMC/SMSC development  
In 2008, one Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC ) meeting (12 June; the second one was 
postponed to January 2009) as well as nineteen  SMSC meetings were held to monitor the 
implementation of pre-accession assistance progr ammes in the following sectors: Political 
Criteria; Civil Society Di alogue; Internal Market, Customs Union, Energy and 
Telecommunications; Public Finance, Statisti cs and Accession Process Support; Environment, 
Transport, Regional Competitiveness; Human Resources Development; Rural Development.  
Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2008 - Lessons Learned  
One country summary report br inging together findings over  the year 2007 and 2008 was 
prepared at the end of 2008. Overall findi ngs of this report were as follows: 
Lessons learnt in relation to  relevance : 
• Assistance has overall been reasonably sa tisfactory, but relevance sometimes suffered 
from poor project design as regards unr ealistic timing, poor budgeting or insufficient 
capacity to turn project outputs into result s. Intervention logic at project level is 
mostly adequate.     
• The overall design of the Turk ey programme is however as sessed as properly based on 
needs and in line with EU accession related priorities.  
Lessons learnt in relation to  efficiency:  
• Project preparation is characterised by de lays, but once projects have started, 
efficiency improves.  
• Procurement suffers from low quality documentation due to a lack of adequate 
beneficiary capacity which causes lengthy re vision and approval processes. Planning 
of the use of the 'Support Activities to St rengthen the European Integration Process' 
facility (SEI) has not been satisfactory based on where the needs are largest.  
Lessons learnt in relation to  effectiveness : 
• Implementation has on average been effectiv e, but transfer of outputs into results 
could be improved. 
• The effectiveness of the pre-accession assi stance to Turkey in supporting the accession 
process is satisfactory taking account of the limitation of resources in comparison to 
prevailing needs. However it should be noted  that EU accession prio rities are also to 
be met through national instruments, othe r donor assistance and through non-financial 
means (i.e. policy instruments). 
Lessons learnt in relation to  impact:  
• There is positive immediate impact for near ly all works and supply interventions, but 
the impact of technical assi stance or twinning could be im proved through strengthened 
beneficiary capacity. 
 99• Necessary facilities for opera tion of newly established or  upgraded facilities have 
usually been established, and the immediate and wider impact of increased capacity of 
people and institutions to work with EU-funde d programmes is visible in virtually all 
interventions across all sectors.  
Lessons learnt in relation to  sustainability: 
• Overall, sustainability depends on the extent to which the appropriate legal, 
administrative and strategic framework is in  place to support the continued utilisation 
of project results. 
• In particular grant schemes in all sector s generally showed positive prospects for 
sustainability. 
Lessons learnt in relation to management : 
• The functionality of the SMSC system has not  been satisfactory. There has been a lack 
of effective sectoral monitoring and suppor ting Monitoring Reports are of inadequate 
quality. 
 
  
Sectors with positive results
 
According to the interim evaluation reports  in 2008, moderately positive results were 
achieved in the Internal Market, Transport a nd Public Finance sectors, whereas performance 
in the other sectors was generally lower. Meas ures in these sectors have generally been 
relevant, effectiveness overall adequate and a wi der impact is measurable in a number of sub-
sectors. 
 
Success stories  
Restoration of Ekmekçizade Caravanserai, Edirne  
Under the 2004-2006 cross border cooperation pr ogramme with Bulgaria the ruined 
Ekmekcizade caravanserai was restored to its former glory. The project promoted the recovery of a monument of gr eat historical, cultural and arch itectural value for the whole 
border region and accordingly its destination as a space for events with a cross-border impact. 
Restoration was carried out re specting the architectural integrity of the building and the 
building materials employed. The broader purpos e of the project was to encourage the 
intensification of cross-border cultural and economic exchanges and relations by providing a 
venue for joint Turkish and Bulgarian cultural events, business forums, congresses, seminars, 
and visits by commercial delegations, trade fair s and other bi-lateral events. EU funded the 
restoration with €2.7 million and the works were carried out between April 2006 and September 2007. In line with the ob jectives, the restored historic al site is now a venue for 
events fostering closer cultu ral and economic ties between the border regions Edirne and 
Kırklareli on the Turkish side and Yambol, Bourgas and Haskovo on the Bulgarian side.  
 
 100Eradicating the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Turkey 
With a budget of €5.3 million from the Nati onal Programme 2004 this project aimed to 
increase capacity at local and central level to tackle the problems of child labour in the provinces of Sinop, Ordu, Kastamonu, Çank ırı, Van, Erzurum and Elaz ığ. Vocational courses 
were offered to families to assist adult fa mily member in finding employment and school 
based monitoring systems were establishe d and directed thr ough provincial action 
committees.  
A total of 99.356 households have been surveyed  in the seven provinces with their 94 
districts, 103 towns and 330 villages. Cons equently, 3083 children have been reached. 
Currently 2704 children are provided with a variety of services including education, 
rehabilitation and support to as sist their re-insertion into ma instream schooling institutions.  
2153 children registered to schools had a part of  their educational costs covered from the 
project budget. Moreover, children’ s participation in activities ai ming to contribute to their 
social and cultural development was also facilitated as part of the project. Special attention was paid to ensure that not only the workin g children, but also the children identified as 
belonging to a risk group were benefiting from the project.  
In order to prevent previously working childre n integrated into edu cation through the project 
from going back to work, mechanisms to effec tively monitor child labour were established as 
part of the activities. For instance in Çank ırı “The School Based Monitoring System” aims to 
follow the attendance and absence situation of th e children on a regular ba sis and “The Street 
Based Monitoring System” aims to identify children who start working again. Project 
implementation was ongoing for two years before successfully being finalised by the end of 
2007.    
 101 
PART II:  ADDITIONAL INFO RMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION 
AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT ISSUES 
 
21. TECHNICAL AND FI NANCIAL ASSISTANCE 
 
21.1. Twinning  
 
Twinning has been designed and developed by th e Commission as the main instrument for 
institution building. It aims at helping candida te and potential candidate  countries in their 
development of modern and efficient administ rations, with the structures, human resources 
and management skills needed to implement the acquis so as to reach the same standards 
throughout the Union but also to benefit fully from European Union membership.  
 In 2008, 6 Twinning fiches for Romania (5) and Bulgaria (1) under the Transition Facility 
were circulated to the Member States, out of which 5 had been circulated a first time in 2007 
without having received adequate  proposals from the Member Stat es. Furthermore, a total of 
59 contracts for Phare (38), Transition Facility  (16) and CARDS (5) Twinning projects have 
been approved by the Commission Steering Co mmittee and notified in 2008. The distribution 
of launched and contracted Twi nning projects under Phare, CA RDS and Transition Facility in 
the beneficiary countries for 2008 is as follows:   
Number of Transition Facility and 
Phare  Twinning project fiches circulated in 2008 Number of Phare, Transition Facility and 
CARDS Twinning Contracts approved and notified in 2008 
Romania 5 Phare  
Turkey 8 Romania 15 Bulgaria 8 Croatia 7 38
Bulgaria  1 Transition Facility  
Poland 1 Estonia 1 Latvia 1 
Romania 5 
Bulgaria 7 Malta   16
Croatia 5 
CARDS  
Serbia 2 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 1 Albania 2   5
 
Total  11
Phare 2006 5 
 102 
Please note that most Twinning projects launched in 2008 were under the IPA programme. 
 The 11 Twinning fiches under the Tr ansition Facility circulated in 2008 concern projects in 
the following sectors: Standard isation and certification (1). Justice and home affairs (3) 
Internal market and economic criteria (5 ), Environment (1) and Transport (1). 
 
Furthermore, the new Member States, Candidate  Countries and Potential Candidate Countries 
are being offered the possibility of drawing on twinning expertise through “Twinning Light”, 
in order to address well-circums cribed projects of limited scope . In 2008 this instrument has 
been used extensively by the beneficiary admini strations, notably in Bulgaria and Romania.  
  
21.2.  TAIEX 
 
TAIEX
18 started operations in 1996 as a follow-up to the Commission’s White Paper on the 
preparation of the associated countries fo r integration into the internal market.  
Since then, TAIEX has evolved in to an instrument providing short-term technical assistance 
to facilitate the approximation, implementa tion and enforcement of EU legislation.  
 
The TAIEX instrument remained available for the 10 Member States which acceded in 2004 
(until May 2008), to Bulgaria a nd Romania, to candidate and pr e-candidate countries, to the 
Turkish Cypriot community, as well as to  the countries covered by the European 
Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).   During the year 2008 a total of 1,543 events were organised, representing an  increase of some 
20% compared with 2007. Funds from the budget lines CARDS, Transition Facility and Pre-
Accession were used to finan ce the organisation of more th an 900 events, attended by over 
20,000 participants from the beneficiary countri es for a total cost of some €10 million. 
 The positive results and the increasing dema nd for assistance clearly demonstrate the 
usefulness of TAIEX as an instru ment of know-how transfer and exchange of best practice.  
  
21.3. SIGMA  
 
Since 1992 this institution- building instrument has been provi ding assistance in horizontal 
areas of public management including public se rvice, legal administrative framework, public 
integrity system, policy-making and co-ordinat ion, regulatory framewor k, public expenditure 
management, public internal financial control, external audit and public  procurement. It is 
principally financed by the EU and implem ented by the Organisati on for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OEC D) through contribution agreem ents between the European 
Commission and the OECD.  In 2008 SIGMA worked with the two new EU Memb er States and the three EU candidates as 
well as with potential candidates in the We stern Balkans.  Under the two contribution 
                                                
 
18 Technical Assistance Information Exchange Instrument  
 103agreements, work was carried out on a total of  61 projects in 2008: 34 in Bulgaria, Croatia, 
Romania and Turkey and 27 in the Western Balkans.   In the framework of the Instrument for Pre- accession Assistance (IPA), SIGMA work with all 
EU candidates and potential candidates was la unched in January 2009 and will continue until 
December 2010 under a new contribution agreem ent between the Commission and the OECD, 
which provides for a global budget of €10.7 million.   In the second half of 2008 the scope of SIGMA expanded to incl ude countries benefiting from 
the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).  
 
22. Information on multi-country, regional  and horizontal programmes  
22.1 Political Criteria 
Participation in Community Agencies 
The purpose of this assistance is to ensure that beneficiaries can participate effectively in the 
Community Agencies either if permitted prior to accession or following accession to the EU.  
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programme (RAP) 2005, Contribution Agreements were 
concluded with the European Environment Ag ency (EEA), the European Aviation Safety 
Agency (EASA), the European Maritime Sa fety Agency (EMSA), and the European 
Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Th ese agreements continued 
to be implemented during 2008.  
Return of refugees  
The actions aim to facilitate voluntary re patriation and reintegration including local 
integration for the remaining persons in displacement.  
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programme  2002, three projects were implemented 
which ended in early 2008: “ Supporting the national strategy for resolving the issue of 
refugees and Internally Disp laced Persons in Montenegro ” which provided 30 income-
generating grants and organise d basic business training; c onstructed 8 apartments and 
implemented a community project; “ Facilitation of durable solutions for refugees and 
returnees in Serbia, Bosn ia and Herzegovina and Croatia ” which provided information on 
status issue, access to social rights, regula tion of property issue to 1000 refugees, legal 
assistance to 400 refugees, personal documents (bir th, citizenship and marriage certificates) to 
400 refugees. This project was particularly su ccessful. The achieved results went well beyond 
the expected for all the activities and the quality of the reporting was excellent; “ Support to 
the return process of refugees in  Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia ” which provided legal 
assistance to 730 beneficiary families out of which 226 cases received a positive decision on 
the return of their property and were able to repossess their ap artment and organised a training 
on start-up of private enterprise s for 400 beneficiaries, out of which 200 have obtained credit 
funding through government implemented projects via commercial banks. 
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programme 2006 the project “ Regional Refugee Return 
in the Western Balkans ” was implemented and came to an  end on 30 June 2008. Of the 
overall target group in Bosnia  and Herzegovina, Croatia, Mont enegro, Serbia and Kosovo 
1,800 persons (586 assisted by the United Na tions' Refugee agency (UNHCR)) have 
repatriated within the re gion during the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.   
  
 104Social inclusion  
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programme 2006 the project " Social inclusion of and 
access to human rights for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the Western Balkans" 
was under implementation. The overall purpose is to  contribute to increased legal and social 
inclusion of marginalised communities and facilitate their full enjoyment of citizenship rights in the Western Balkans. The project has been es tablished in all the areas targeted: networks 
have been set up; information material has be en produced and in some cases disseminated as 
well; information meetings have been held a nd direct assistance has been provided to an 
increasing number of Roma, As hkali and Egyptian populations.  
 
Social security coordination 
Under the CARDS Regional Acti on Programme 2003 the project “ Social Institution Support 
Programme ” was implemented until February 2008 when it came to an end. The overall 
purpose of the project was to tackle discrimi nation and the difficulties faced by vulnerable 
groups following the inclusive la bour market and the economic integration occurring in the 
Beneficiaries. The main results achieved we re that 150 people were  trained in summer 
schools and more than 1000 persons in total were  trained in areas con cerning social security 
coordination; a report on the state of play of th e national security system  was prepared in each 
beneficiary country and two Mi nisterial Conferences took place and were followed by 
ministerial declarations expre ssing the political intention to  increase cooperation and to 
improve coordination regarding he alth insurance and social secu rity matters as well as to 
actively pursue legislative and administrative reforms of the social security systems. 
 
Justice, freedom and security 
The actions aim to strengthen the efficiency and autonomy of law enforcement agencies and 
judicial bodies in their capacity to deal with corruption, illicit trafficking and organised crime. 
The main general activities under these projects  were: Capacity building activities: regional 
and national thematic meetings, seminars and conferences, round tables, study visits, training 
activities, including exch ange programmes; gaps and needs-an alysis sessions, specific studies, 
assessment missions; actions to pool informa tion, enhance co-operation and facilitate co-
ordinated activities; ad vice on legislation, regulations, ope rational procedures, exchange of 
experience, lessons learned, best prac tices and other relevant information. 
The following projects were  under implementation:  
-"Development of a prison system in the Western Balkans ", under the CARDS Regional 
Action Programme 2002. The project was implemen ted by the Council of Europe and came to 
an end on 31 March 2008. Overall, the project re sults were not satisfactory. The design of the 
project was too ambitious bearing in mind the geographical scope, the substantive specific objectives to be achieved, the timeframe availa ble, the regional component, and the human 
resources at the Council of Europe’s disposal for the implementation. The effectiveness of the 
project has been only partial in  both its regional and national  aspirations. The necessary drop 
of several objectives left a numbe r of pertinent issues unaddressed.  
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programme  2005 the EC supported the organisation of 
several meetings on the new SE CI Convention.  The project " International Law Enforcement 
Co-ordination Units ILECUS"  was launched in August 2008 and it will run for 30 months. 
The objective of this project is to further strengthen national platforms for international police co-operation, through the establishment of In ternational Law Enforcement Co-ordination 
 105Units, with a view to su pport the exchange of in formation in international investigations, and 
facilitate contacts on an operational level. 
Under the CARDS Regional Acti on Programme 2006 the project " Support to the Prosecutors' 
Network " was launched in April 2008 and it will run for 24 months. The project should 
strengthen the established prosecutor's networ k and provide support for the identified gap 
areas. The contribution agreement with UNDOC for the project " Development of monitoring 
instruments for judicial and law enforcem ent institutions in the Western Balkans " was signed 
in December 2008 and the project was launched in February 2009 for a duration of 24 months. The objective is to develop a cor pus of regionally harmonised and coherent 
indicators, in compliance with EU best practic es, and standards established by Europol, that 
would enable the judicial and policing institutio ns in the Western Balkan countries to monitor 
and assess their activities, results and performances. 
 
Public administration 
The overall objective is to support th e establishment and operation of The Regional School of 
Public Administration  (ReSPA). ReSPA aims to improve re gional cooperation in the field of 
public administration, to strengt hen administrative capacity as required by the European 
integration process and to develop human res ources in line with the principles of the 
European Administrative Space.  
Under the Regional Action Programme CA RDS 2005 and 2006 the European Commission 
signed a Contribution Agreement with the OECD to implement the development of ReSPA. It 
has been decided that the seat of ReSPA will be in Danilovgrad in Montenegro. Substantial legal preparatory work was undertaken for the establishment of the International Agreement 
of ReSPA which was signed on 21 November 2008 by the governments of Albania, Croatia, 
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The agreement needs to be ratified by at least by 5 be neficiaries out of 7 to enable ReSPA to get a legal personality. 
During 2008 several training modules were delivered: 
-a training module for Policy-Advisors was organised with NISPAc ee and the Croatian 
School of Public Administration in Zagreb in February 2008.  
-a training module on the professi onal profile of the Senior Eu ropean Civil servant took place 
in February - March 2008. This module had a fi rst part of distance learning (50%, in the 
course of February) and a second part of in-c lass learning (50%, in Ma rch, Caserta, Italy). 
-a module for training managers was organise d in cooperation with EKKDA in June 2008.  
-a 3 weeks intensive course on European in tegration was organise d in June-July in 
cooperation with the Colleg e of Europe, Bruges.  
The works on ReSPA site progressed well and th e provision of equipment / refurbishment of 
the school are ensured by the Commission.  
OECD will hand over the development of ReSPA to EIPA in 2009. 
 
Cross-border cooperation (CBC) 
The main purpose of the activities financed through CARDS under this area is to provide 
assistance to the beneficiary countries for th e implementation of the IPA CBC programmes at 
the internal Western Balkans borders.  
Under the CARDS Regional Action Programmes 2003 and 2005 the project " Cross Border 
Institution Building (CBIB) " was under implementation. The CBIB I project supported the 
 106beneficiaries for the IPA programming process, the establishment of the Joint Management 
Structures and the preparation of guidelines fo r Applicants and the application package, in 
addition to the preliminary support for the fi rst Calls for Proposals. On 26-27 June 2008, the 
Second Forum and Fourth Steering Committee of the CBIB project took place in Skopje. The 
Forum brought together beneficiaries, EC repr esentatives and NGOs, which gave them the 
opportunity to strengthen networ king, exchange ideas and best  practices, as well as to 
establish direct links with the Commission re presentatives who clarified main CBC issues. 
The CBIB Experts provided support to  beneficiaries in the prepara tion of CfPs and training to 
potential applicants. The final phase of CBIB I continued up to  24 October 2008. The contract 
for the continuation of CBIB through the CBIB Phase II was signed in October 2008. 
 
Civil Society Dialogue and Development 
The actions aim to increase capacity and actions  of Civil Society Organisations and improve 
democratic role of Civil Society Organisations. 
The main general activities under these projects  were: Awareness raising campaigns; Training 
of NGOs; Training of staff, trai ners, beneficiaries, representativ es of the target group, etc.; 
Advisory services; Internships; Manageme nt courses (including on fundraising, PR and 
lobbying); Transfer of specific technical know-how; Study visits and work placements; 
Thematic seminars, workshops, conferences (to pr esent project results to a wider audience of 
interest specialists) and other dissemination actions; Meetings/campaigns to raise the awareness of the local population and/or the authoritie s; Publications of manuals, leaflets, on 
best practices; Establishment or developm ent of new services; Network building; 
Establishment of best practice and procedures; Other human and institutional capacity building measures; Activities assuring instituti onal support (e.g. steering committees); TV co-
productions documentaries. 
The following programmes were under implementation in 2008:  - Multi-beneficiary Phare Business Support Programme (BSP) for Bulgaria, Romania, 
Croatia and Turkey . The programme addressed the needs of Business Representative 
Organisations (BROs) in the industrial sector by strengthening their co rporate functioning and 
by providing training  in the relevant acquis . It also enabled these BROs to assist businesses in 
assessing whether they comply with the acquis  allowing them to implement remedial 
measures. Important progress has been achieve d in setting up legal and motivated BROs. 
Following two calls for proposals, 18 projects were selected for fundi ng. The implementation 
of the projects was launched with a kick-off m eeting involving all BSP projects. All activities 
will end in June 2009. 
- Democratic Stabilisation Civil Society D evelopment, Network to Network and Media 
Projects  under the CARDS Regional Action Progr amme 2003: 27 projects have been 
implemented allowing for the further developm ent of NGOs leading to strengthened NGOs 
working in the agricultural sector; engagement  of civil society in decision-making for arms 
control; women’s contribution to  local and democratic deve lopment; the involvement of 
citizens in the local democratisation; impr oved organisation of di sabled people; new 
partnership in action and network that have  reinforced Disabled People's Umbrella 
Organisations, Diocese Caritas Structures, rights of minority  and vulnerable groups. All 
projects were to be closed by the end of 2008. 
- Civil Society Dialogue and Pe ople to People Project  under the CARDS Regional Action 
Programme 2006:  The Call for Proposals was initially launched in December 2007. The 
evaluation of the full applications took pl ace on 18 September 2008: seven proposals were 
 107pre-selected and seven put on a reserve list. The eligibility check ended in December 2008 
with the recommendation of eight applications for the award of a grant cont ract. The contracts 
are to be signed during 2009. 
  
22.2 Economic Criteria 
International Financial Institutions (IFIs) Cooperation and Competitiveness 
The general purpose of the actions aim to: 1) help Beneficiaries to improve the access to 
finance for private investments, in particul ar for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 
(SMEs); 2) financially assist the promotion of investments in energy efficiency and renewable 
energy; and 3) support the development and upgrad ing of transport, environment, and energy 
infrastructure and in the social  field, contributing to sustaina ble development in the region.  
(i) Support to private investments 
- SME Finance Facility (SMEFF):  The aim is to assist the beneficiaries in strengthening their 
financial sectors in order to cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union and to strengthening the capacity of financial intermediaries to expand and maintain in the long term their financing operations with SMEs. During 2008, there were fifteen 
programmes under implementation. The Equity Window: the programme launched in 1999 
was not been successful and equity investments have been below expectations. Following the 
Steering Committee of 5 March 2008, all the programmes from 1999 to 2005 were reshaped 
by including an energy efficiency component  and by extending the disbursement dates in 
order to give more room to fully use the Comm unity resources. Activities  have been disturbed 
by the financial crisis However, some new projects and several amendments to files related to the Phare countries were approved. Several tran sfers of funds to the IFIs have taken place 
during 2008.  
-European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) : The aim is to foster economic development 
and prosperity in Southeast Europe through su stainable provision of additional development 
finance, notably to the small and micro enterpri se sector, and to priv ate households via local 
financial institutions. There were two programmes under implementation: 2006 EC Contribution to the European Fund for South East Europe and 2007 EC Contribution to the 
European Fund for South East Europe.  
The EFSE Annual Shareholder Meeting took place between 6 and 8 May 2008 in Sibiu 
Romania. Next to EFSE shareholders, the mee ting gathered high level representatives from 
the central banks in South East Europe, local fi nancial intermediaries and international experts 
on the topic of responsible finance. Thr ough BN&P Growth Fund socially minded non 
institutional private inve stors have gained access to EFSE for the first time. According to a 
study carried out by EFSE, 88% of micro-enterpri ses reported that they have sustained or 
created paid full time employ ment since a loan was taken up. As at 30 September 2008 the 
overall participation of the EC, via EI F, in EFSE stands at €65 million.  
Existing micro-credit schemes worth approximately €10 million funded under the Bosnia and 
Herzegovina National Programmes 1997 and 1999 are intended to be transferred into EFSE 
by the end of February 2009. This will ensure th at funds generated from the above schemes 
will be re-invested and contribute to an increased access to finance for micro enterprises in the future in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In rela tion to the commitment and ownership of the 
beneficiary countries and terr itories, during the first quarter  2008 the Albanian government 
has expressed its wish to subscribe C shares (first loss) to EFSE worth approximately €15 
 108million by June 2008. Albania will, therefore, be the first Beneficiary who will take directly 
co-finance and take ownership in EFSE. This is a welcome development. In November 2008 
the total investments of  EFSE amounted to  
€553.1 million. EFSE is currently serving 90624 sub-loans. Since its inception 129566 sub-loans have been provided to micro enterpri ses and households resulting from EFSE re-
financing with an average amount of € 4 152.  
Following the financial crisis EFSE increase the monitoring of financial intermediaries 
sharply. No financial intermediaries benefiting from EFSE have so far defaulted on their commitments. 
 - Investment Promotion/Business Climate : The aim is to promote sustainable economic 
development, to improve competitiveness of enterprises and to establish a business environment in the Western Balkans that will a ttract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The 
main activities developed have been supporting th e attraction of direct investments from the 
demand side (i.e. marketing the region among pot ential foreign direct  investors) and the 
supply side (i.e. raising awareness among the region's policy makers on action to take to 
promote foreign direct investments.) 
There were two projects under implementation:  
-“Defining and Strengthening Sector Specific Sources of Competitiveness in the 
Western Balkans region ” – €1 million - funded under the Regional Action Programme 
CARDS 2005. From the supply side: The OECD I nvestment Compact for South East Europe's 
project is dealing with the identification and pr ioritisation of key sect ors with high growth 
potential followed by the definition of an invest ment promotion strategy for the region and the 
elaboration of action plans c oncerning policy reforms implem enting this strategy in each 
country. The OECD Investment Co mpact presented the findings of phase 1 of the project – a 
regional investment strategy – to representati ves from Investment Promotion Agencies and 
government representatives at two occasions: the meeting of the South East European 
Investment Committee, at OECD  in Paris on 23 May 2008 and at a regional meeting in 
Sarajevo on 3 and 4 July 2008. Representatives of the World Bank were also present at the 
meeting in July. Phase 2 will end in November  2009 and will address some of the key policy 
barriers identifie d in phase 1.  
-“European Investor Outreach Programme -Phase 2 ” – renamed into Invest in the 
Western Balkans Programme  funded under the CARDS Regional Action Programme 2005 - 
€1 million. From the demand side: FIAS/IFC
19 (World Bank Group)' Investment in the 
Western Balkans Programme is a marketing and investment facilitati on programme focusing 
on automotive components, food and beverages,  information and communications technology 
(ICT), business services, textiles and pharmaceuticals; it consists of targeted dissemination of business and factor cost information of mo st relevance to prospective investors; 
implementation of regional image building activ ities; establishment of country desk officer 
functions and traineeships at the Invest in th e Western Balkans Progra mme office in Vienna 
for staff members of the benefi ciary organisations, capacity bu ilding and institutional support 
for the beneficiary Investment Promotion Ag encies. The project St eering Committee took 
place in Vienna in October 2008 with the re presentatives of the investment promotion 
agencies participating in the meeting. 
The findings of both projects showed that one of  the main challenges for the region in terms 
of competitiveness in the medium term is to deal with human capital development and the 
                                                
 
19  FIAS: Multi-Donor Investment Climate Advisory Service; IFC: International Finance Corporation 
 109generation of innovation. These findings have b een taken into consider ation for the regional 
programming 2009. 
(ii) Promotion of energy efficiency investments 
- Energy Efficiency Finance Facility (EEFF) : The aim is to financially assist the beneficiary 
countries to promote investments in energy e fficiency and renewable energy generation in 
order to improve the energy pe rformance of the building and industry sectors. There were 
three Phare programmes under implementation. The implementation of the EEFF has proven 
to be challenging. It was decided at the Steering  Committee of the IFI Fa cilities to introduce a 
more flexible approach to make the programme  easier to implement in the beneficiaries of 
IPA where awareness of energy efficiency is st ill weak and technical e xpertise necessary to 
implement the programme not always availa ble locally. The approval of new projects 
followed a steady pace. Several transfers of f unds to the IFIs have taken place during 2008.  
(iii) Support to infrastructure inves tments, including Municipalities.  
- Municipal Finance Facility (MFF) : The aim is to assist the beneficiaries in contributing to 
the reform and the strengthening of the financ ial sector. There were eleven Phare programmes 
under implementation. The approval of new proj ects and amendments to existing projects 
followed a steady pace. The rate of disburseme nt to the local financial intermediaries 
improved and the Commission transferred a new tranche of€4 million to the EIB under the 
programme of the MFF in 2002. Seve ral transfers of funds  to the IFIs have taken place during 
2008.  
-Municipal Infrastructure Facility (MIF) : The aim is to contribute to the environmentally 
sustainable social and economic development of  border regions in the beneficiaries and to 
their integration with their ne ighbouring regions in the current EU Member States. There were 
two Phare programmes under implementation.  The MIF programmes are already fully 
allocated. We are now in the disbursement phase since the expiration of the contracting period 
with local financial intermedia ries. Several transfers of fund s to the EIB have taken place 
during 2008.   
-Infrastructure Projects Facility (IPF) - set up€15.122 million allocated under the Regional 
Action Programme CARDS 2005 and 2006. Additional resources continue under IPA 2008. The aim is to support the development and upgr ading of infrastructures in transport, 
environment, and energy and in the social field, so as to contribute to creating the conditions 
for sustainable development in the region and beneficiary countries.  The implementation 
continued swiftly during 2008. 
The governance structures of the IPF – an ope rational Secretariat and a Steering Committee - 
were set up and started their ope ration. First identification of projects to be supported by IPF 
(transport, energy, environment and social infras tructure) indicated very  good potential of the 
instrument also in complementarity with  IPA national programmes. In June 2008, the 
technical assistance contract was signed and the contractor was mobilised in early July. In September 2008, the contractor was mobilised to fi nalise the definition of the first 18 projects, 
draft the Terms of References (ToRs) for each individual assistance and identify the expertise 
to carry out each assignment. Th e governance structures of the IPF kept meeting on a regular 
basis. A second round of technical assistance re quests were presented by the beneficiaries to 
the December monthly Secretariat meeting fo r short-listing by the Steering Committee (bi-
annual meetings).  
The support to the IPF in the social sector s is a parallel framework contract €0.2 million 
aimed at facilitating th e mapping and identification of social  policies and strategies in the 
region. The main consultant was replaced in December 2008.  
 110- Environment Projects Preparatory Facility  (EPPF) - €1 793 600. A major Progress Review 
Meeting took place in February 2008 to assess progress achieved under the facility and focus remaining assistance on a feasible number of  projects. A second Progress Review Meeting 
took place in July 2008 to assess progress achiev ed under the facility an d to focus remaining 
assistance on a feasible number of projects. At the meeting, it was ag reed that that the 
contract would be extended until end 2008, to a llow the contractor to complete properly the 
remaining feasibility studies. Implementation of the Environment Projects Preparatory 
Facility (€1.8 million) has continued as pla nned and was completed in December. A Review 
Meeting took place in November 2008 to assess the considerable success achieved under the 
facility both on the quality of the assistance pr ovided, the grant-to-loa n leverage exerted and 
the recognition of the project among stakeholders . The contract has been completed and the 
knowledge accumulated, such as identified projec ts which could not be  provided TA through 
EPPF, will be transferred in the en vironmental sector of the IPF. 
 
Education 
The aim is to support the development and th e quality of the highe r education systems 
through balanced cooperation between local higher education institutions and those of the EU 
Member States (Education). 
The following programmes were under impl ementation: Annual Action Programme – 
Erasmus Mundus for the Western Balkans under CARDS 2006 – €4 million; Annual Action Programme – Tempus for the Western Balkans under CARDS 2006 – €12.7 million).  
The main activities during the period were rela ted to the promotion of the programmes.  
The Commission offers 100 scholarships per ye ar starting from the academic year 2007/2008 
(programming 2006) to postgraduate students from the Western Balkans under the Erasmus 
Mundus programme.  
 
22.3 European Standards 
Quality infrastructure 
The aim is to improve the cap abilities of quality infrastruc ture bodies to offer industry 
services to provide the tools to trade in th e EU and the European Free Trade Association 
(EFTA) market, as well as in the markets of the Western Balkans.  
There was one project under implementation: “Qua lity Infrastructure in the Western Balkans" 
–€1 million under CARDS Regional Programme 2006. The implementation progressed according to schedule. The contract ended in  September 2008. The main activities developed 
under the project were: assessment reports about the state of technical regulations, standardisation, accreditation, testing-certif ication-inspection, metrology and market 
surveillance; a further series of intensive hands-on training events in the quality infrastructure field; and regional proficie ncy testing exercises (inte r- laboratory comparisons).  
 
Transport 
The aim is to support the development of the So uth East Europe Transport Core Network with 
focus on road safety and railways and the implementation of the European Common Civil Aviation Area Agreement in each beneficiary. 
There were four projects under implementation:  
 111- “South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO)” –€1 791 740 under CARDS 
Regional Action Programme 2003: The implementati on of activities finished before the end 
of 2007. The final technical report was submitted in  March 2008 and the final financial report 
in July 2008. The main activitie s were: to establish and operate SEETO; to establish SEETO 
information Resources; and to prepare mu lti-annual plans, meetings, seminars and 
conferences. The achievements of the SEET O project may be summarized as follows: 
Establishment of fully furnished and equippe d SEETO offices; Transfer of know-how and 
training of local experts; Agreement for c ooperation and support/finance of SEETO during 
1stAMM (Nov. 2005); Establishment of the Railw ay Working Group; Resolution of the 2nd 
AMM (Dec. 2006) to speed up reforms; 13 priority  sub-projects having secured finance of  
€516 million in total; Addendum to the MoU rega rding the development of the SEE Railway 
Transport Area; Soft measures adopted which are in tendering procedure for a TA contract to 
be conducted under the supervisi on of SEETO; Enhancement of IF Is interest; Networking and 
public relations expandi ng SEETO visibility. 
In terms of technical work and tool devel opment, the following were accomplished: SEETIS 
version 1 and SEETIS version 2; 3 rolli ng Multi-Annual Plans (2006/10, 2007/11, 2008/12); 
Technical Notes and Procedural Manuals; Questionnaires and assessment/monitoring 
methods; An action plan for soft measures  2008 – 2012; A highly frequented Website and 
internet platform for GIS-based regiona l transport planning and data exchange 
- “Support to the SEETO Secretariat” – €999 070: The tender procedure to award a contract 
for the support to the development of the South East Europe Transport Core Network with focus on road safety and railways was finalise d in March 2008. The cont ract was signed on 27 
June 2008. The purpose of the projec t is to assist the participan ts in the SEE Core Regional 
Transport Network for implementing the 2007-2011 MAP soft measures in the 1) Railways 
sub-sector with focus on: (i) Infrastruc ture Access & Pricing Regime and Network 
Statements; and (ii) Railways bor der crossing; and in the 2) Ro ads sub-sector, with focus on 
Road Safety Auditing. The planne d activities both in the railway s and the roads sectors were 
implemented as planned. The consultant concentrated his efforts on establishing contacts with the country and regional partners, and on da ta collection. The First Progress Report was 
delivered as planned in December 2008. The deli very of project outputs and deliverables and 
the first workshops to promote the results  were planned to start in January 2009. 
- “Implementation Phase (Phase II) of Aviati on Safety and Air Traf fic Control (ASATC) 
Programme”  – €4.6m under CARDS Regional Action Programme 2002: The implementation 
of activities finished before  the end of 2007. The final repo rt was submitted in January 2008. 
The main activities were: implementation of an ATM Safety regulat ory framework; legal 
assistance on aviation law; training and support on  regulation and oversight  of A/C operators; 
Safety management Systems; and Human Res ource management. The main results may be 
summarised as follows: ATM Safety Regulatory framework and oversight: provided an 
essential contribution to set up the arrangement s needed to operate a robust mechanism to 
supervise safety in the public interest and allow the implementation of the notion of National Supervisory Authority as defined in the Single European Sky regulations. Aviation law: 
provided the required legal and in stitutional framework to allow for the implementation of the 
other work packages and more ge nerally for the safe operation of  aviation in these states and 
at a regional level. Aviation Safety: enabled the states to perform  their Civil Aviation safety 
oversight functions in compliance with recognis ed international standards as imposed through 
ICAO, by the European Union and last but not least meeting the JAA objectives regarding full 
membership. Safety Management Systems : helped and guided the establishment of a Safety 
Management function in the ANSPs, to support the documentation and implementation of a Safety Management System in complian ce with EUROCONTROL Safety Regulatory 
 112Requirements and additional safety management elements required for certification according 
to EU Common Requirements for Service Provision. HR Management: achieved to develop 
the awareness (at working level), the defini tion and the implementation of improvements 
notably in the areas of HR st rategy, HR policy, staff planning and recruitment, and the means 
and tools to realise these improvements.   
- “Technical Assistance to the implementation of the ECAA Agreement” – €985 000 under the 
CARDS Regional Action Programme 2006: The te nder procedure to award a contract was 
finalised in March 2008. The contract was signe d on 15 July 2008. It is foreseen to provide 
support in the form of long term / short term expert assignments, translation serv ices, training, 
workshops, seminars and Study visits to simila r size national administration in EU Countries, 
in the fields of: aviation legislation, econo mic regulation, aviation safety, air traffic 
management, aviation security and airports regulation. The kick-off meeting took place on 29 
August 2008 where DG Enlargement, DG Energy and Transport and the contractor Air 
Eurosafe participated.   
Energy 
The aim is to contribute to the budget of  the Energy Community. An amount of  
€2.5 million was paid as a contribution following the obligation of the European Community 
to pay to the main part of the budget of the Energy Community Secretar iat. This contribution 
has been paid partly: €1.2 million by the f unds committed in the CARDS Regional Action 
Programme 2006 and partly€1.3 m illion by the IPA 2008 budget. 
 
Customs and Taxation 
The aim is to ensure that systems and documen tation in the area of taxation and customs are 
planned and developed in accordan ce with EU requirements.  
There were two projects under implementation:  - CAFAO –€11.42 million under CARDS 2005 – 2006 – €5.3 million / IPA-€6.12 million:  
Operationally speaking, th is project ended on  
31 December 2007 but the contract continued to en sure a smooth transfer of activities to the 
new project TACTA financed under IPA and cam e to an end on 29 February 2008. Transfer 
agreements of equipment were drawn up a nd signed by the Commission and the various 
beneficiaries, the recipients of the equipment, much of which would be put at the disposal of 
the TACTA project. The main results under this project were: the further alignment of customs and indirect tax legislat ion and procedures with the EU acquis ; the delivery of 
technical assistance on direct taxation (notably  the CAFAO regional study of compliance with 
the EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation); the introduction of ‘c ross-border’ initiatives 
to strengthen the exchange of information w ith EU member and non-member States through 
the implementation for operational use of the SEMS systems developed by EU CAFAO-
Bosnia and Herzegovina.; the improved revenue yield and seizures of both prohibited and 
revenue goods; the introduction of new and e nhanced ‘enforced collection’ mechanisms 
(tackling debt, policing compliance more effec tively, investigation of suspect offences), 
leading to significantly improved revenue yield in a number of locations, the introduction and 
use of risk management techniques resulting in the positive introduction of enhanced selectivity methodologies , leading to more detections of  smuggling and under-declaration and 
greatly enhanced revenue yield; the particip ation in various intern ational and regional 
conferences and ensuing init iatives, including  UNDP and EU Small Arms and Light 
Weapons (SALW) project in Kosovo, TIR Conv ention – Geneva, etc.; the undertaking of 
 113various ‘Study Visits’ which have exposed tax o fficials to the situation existing in other EU 
Member Administrations; the conduction of EU Fiscal Blueprint Exercises in Kosovo, Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic  of Macedonia, and Albania; and the design 
of legislation, control systems and training in the field of customs controls on Intellectual 
Property Rights.  
- SEMS  - €429 914 under CARDS Serbia and Monten egro State Union Action Programme - 
Customs and Taxes 2005: SEMS20 formed an integral part of CA FAO. The contract is a direct 
agreement with Agenzia delle Dogane, the cont ractor of TACTA. The purpose of the project 
is to support current app lications in the region and to adop t “SEMS” as the regional standard 
for information exchange. The objectives of SEMS are to sustain administrative capacity in the exchange of information and to familiarise beneficiaries with the concept of the electronic 
exchange of data as well as to establish a bridge in administrative cooperation. SEMS has 
supported beneficiaries to manage an Integrat ed Border Management System, Intelligence and 
Anti-smuggling; Risk Assessment System; and to encourage regional cooperation. On 17 
October 2008, a first pilot exercise on the Syst ematic Electronical Exchange of Information 
was successfully completed between the Cust oms Administration of the former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia and of Kosovo. This first step will be followed by the other 
administrations of the region.  
Statistics 
The aim is to upgrade and strengthen the statistical systems in the Western Balkans in 
particular in macro-economic, price, external trade, agricultural, demographic and social and 
business statistics. The main activities devel oped included: expert missions, workshops and 
seminars, financing of data collection as we ll as general statistical assistance; general 
statistical assistance including the participation of experts from beneficiary countries in technical meetings organised by Eurostat and other Commission services, study visits to 
official statistics providers in Europe, tr aining, consultation vis its and traineeships. 
The following projects, which are sub-delegated to and ma naged by Eurostat, were under 
implementation:  
- “Statistical Co-operation in the Western Balkans ” – €2 999 870 under  CARDS Regional 
Action Programme 2003. The contract for the implementation of the 2003 CARDS project 
signed in July 2006 ended on 14 March 2008. The ma in results under this project were an 
improved quality of statistics; a harmonised data collection; bett er qualified staff, 
strengthened confidence in na tional statistics; and increa sed transfer of know-how.  
- Multi-beneficiary Programme - Statistical c ooperation for Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and 
Turkey 2005 –€5.75 million, January 2007 – December 2008 
- Transitional facility statistical cooperation 2005 – €3.50 million, January 2007 – December 
2008 
- Multi-beneficiary Programme - Statistical c ooperation for Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and 
Turkey 2006 – €12 million, January 2008 – December 2010 
- Multi-beneficiary Programme - Statistical coop eration for the Western Balkans and Turkey 
2006  – €3 million), July 2008 – March 2010 
Implementation of the grant and service c ontracts under the 20 05 Multi-Beneficiary 
Programme and Transition Facili ty programmes finished as e xpected by the end of 2008. 
                                                
 
20  South-East European Messaging System 
 114Implementation of the grant and service c ontracts under the 20 06 Multi-Beneficiary 
Programme is progressing.     
Environment 
The aim is to facilitate the strengthening of the capacities of national authorities to implement 
EU legislation and related stra tegies, including climate change; and facilitate networking, the 
sharing of best practices and lessons learned between the Bene ficiaries and with EU Member 
States. 
There were three projects  under implementation:  
- “Pilot River Basin Plan for Sava River” –€2 137 770 under the CARDS Regional Action 
Programme 2003. The project was completed at the end of Ja nuary 2008. The scope of the 
project was to provide technical assistance aimed at supporting the governments of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia and Mont enegro in implementing the Water Framework 
Directive in these countries in general and in the Sava river basin in particular, with pilot 
projects in Vrbas River sub-ba sin (Bosnia and Herzegovina), D obra River sub-basin (Croatia) 
and Kolubara River sub-basin (Serbia and Montenegro).  
 - "Support for Implementation of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme 
(REReP) for SEE ” – €1 million under the CARDS Regional Action Programme CARDS 
2005. REReP is promoted as an effective assi stance mechanism with transferred lessons 
learnt. The last REReP Task Force meeting was held on  20 November 2008 in Montenegro, a meeting dur ing which achievements since the launch of 
the network in 1999 were celebrate d and more specific progress si nce the previous meeting in 
2007 were discussed. In 2008, support has been pr ovided by REReP and targeted to specific 
needs in the field of law dr afting, project/strategy preparat ion, administrative capacity 
building, as well as inter-institutional coordina tion at country level. There have been some 
delays in implementing a number of actions , including the PEIP component (Priority 
Environmental Investment Progr amme); for this reason, an amendment with a view to 
extending the contract to an additional f our-month period until early September 2009 was 
signed in December 2008. Specific events held in 2008 included a regional meeting on climate change and energy in Brussels and two regional PEIP meetings in June in Montenegro and in November in Brussels.  
- “Support to the 'Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network for Accession' 
(ECENA)” - €1m under the CARDS Regional Action Programme 2005. ECENA is a 
network of environmental inspectors and expe rts of the Western Balkans and Turkey to 
exchange 'best practice' in the field of following up compliance with the transposed acquis in 
the field of environment. The third annua l ECENA meeting was held in Istanbul in 
September 2008. On-going support to the activiti es of the ECENA Se cretariat has been 
provided in 2008; train-the-tr ainer activities have been carried out, training manuals 
produced and training modules have been de signed, including with the collaboration of 
Interpol.  
There were also two programmes under impl ementation sub-delegated to DG Environment: 
- “Phare Environment and Enlargement 2005 ”– €3.6 million: Out of the three projects under 
this programme, only two were sti ll under implementation during 2008:  
 115- “Capacity building in implemen tation of the environmenta l acquis at the local and 
regional level ”: the Progress report was submitted in January 2008 and approved. The 
consultant provided all required draft outputs of  the project and the final draft report. The 
final payment was done in December.  
- “Developing the capacity of environmenta l authorities, through transfer of best 
practice and training to support e ffective use of financial resources ”: the final report has been 
approved and the final payment done in July 20 08. The contractor encountered difficulties in 
the collection of data from some of the countries.  
- “Phare Environment and Enlargement 2006 ” - €4.5m: the following projects were 
implemented: “Support for Investment prepar ation under the Danube-Black Sea (DABLAS) 
Task Force”. DABLAS Task Force: preparatio n of investment projects on water and waste 
water, as well as methodological guidance; “Supporting the enforcement of environmental 
legislation in Acceding and Candidate coun tries through IMPEL and ECENA networks”; 
“Monitoring transposition and implementation of the EU environmental acquis ”; “Developing 
the capacity of environmental NGOs, through tr ansfer of best practic es from NGOs in the 
EU25”; “NGO Forum”; and “Service contract fo r twinning grants for NGOs”. The following 
main activities took place during 2008: A wo rkshop on aspects of NGO capacity of general 
interest to environmental NGOs, such as work ing with the environmental administration, 
motivating volunteers, attracting fi nancial support, working with industry, etc., was held in 
Sofia in November 2008; an annual meeting between NGOs and the Commission was held in 
July 2008 and the meeting report as well as a publication on the whol e NGO Forum have been 
published; 12 NGO grant agreements are on-going;  support to Croatia and Turkey has been 
provided as part of the ECENA network and in  the field of progress monitoring (guidance, 
training, etc.), among others.   
 
Nuclear safety and radiation protection 
The aim is to enhance the technical competen ce and administrative cap acity of the national 
radiation safety authorities and other relevant  public organisations, to  contribute to align 
national legislation and regulations  in the nuclear field with the acquis and to support 
construction, fitting out and/or  upgrading of facilities involvi ng the handling and management 
of radionuclides according to best EU practices.  
There were two programmes under implementation:  - Phare Nuclear Safety programme 2005 - centr alised part – €350 000. Th e service contract 
"Management of medical radioactive waste in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania" - was 
completed and the final draf t final report approved.  
- Phare Nuclear Safety Programme 2006 – centr alised part – €279 000. Th e project 'Technical 
back-up to PHARE/IPA nuclear activities" was contr acted in 2007 through an administrative 
agreement with the Petten establishment of the Joint Research Centre (Institute of Energy). 
The project consists of providi ng technical support to DG Enlarg ement in the implementation 
of the Phare and IPA nuclear projects . The project should end in late 2009. 
 
22.4 Support activities  
European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR): F unds to support the administrative expenditure 
of the EAR for the period 2007 and 2008 were committed in 2006. However, additional funds 
were necessary specifically fo r the closure of the EAR (an i ssue not discussed in 2006 when 
addressing the budget for 2008). An amount of € 2.8 million was committed and the necessary 
 116financing decision was adopted by the end of October 2008 under the budget line 
“Completion of CARDS assistance”.  
 
    
23. Programme Management Issues - Monitoring and Evaluation  
23.1 Monitoring and interim Evaluation 
 
Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) was used for CARDS programmes managed directly by 
the European Commission. The purpose of this monitoring system is to provide to the 
European Commission and the Beneficiaries cl ear, objective consiste nt and user-friendly 
overview (monitoring) information on projects being implemented and information on best practices/common mistakes, recommendations fo r improvement, and performance of the EC-
managed project portfolio. Through a consistent  approach, with standardised outputs, ROM 
highlights strengths and weaknesse s in the implementation of EC external assistance projects, 
by assessing their relevance and quality of design, efficiency, impact and sustainability.   
 In addition, in 2008, sector, thematic  and ad-hoc reports were carried  out as part of the interim 
evaluation scheme for Turkey and Croatia. The sector interim evaluations of Phare and CARDS programmes in Croatia as well as of pre-accession financial instrument for Turkey 
are essentially programme management tools which provide programme managers with a 
regular performance assessment of the activ ities in all sectors. Recommendations are 
systematically put forward in the reports for improving management and delivery of evaluated 
programmes/projects and discussed at debriefing and Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meetings for follow-up actions. Moreover, th ematic, country and consolidated interim 
evaluations provide recommendations on the design of future programmes 
 
23.2 Ex-post evaluation         
 
The ad-hoc evaluation on CARDS programmes (2001-2006) in Albania
 concludes that there 
have been important effects and short-te rm impacts in terms of development and 
strengthening of institutional and legal framework, and developm ent of strategies in sectors 
such as border management, economic developm ent and justice, but the effect on capacity 
building of staff horizontally in the public ad ministration has been limited. The key problem 
is securing impact and sustainability of CARDS due to the lack of capacity of the 
administration, large staff turnover and limited st ructures for implementation and enforcement 
of legislation and policy. The lack of realisti c assessment of beneficiary capacity will also 
impact the sustainability of the interventi ons. Support to public administration has been 
limited in terms of both the number of pr ojects and project size, and a proper public 
administration reform and civil servi ce reform have not been implemented. 
 The ad-hoc evaluation on CARDS program mes (2001-2006) in Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
shows that assistance focused on strategic obj ectives but was weakened by mixed political 
support particularly at entity level. Weak a nd insufficiently resourced institutions partly 
account for an increasingly difficu lt project environment. Cent ralised management by the EC 
Delegation has been the key to the successful implementation of most  programmes at output 
level. Overambitious objectives , falling outside commonly agreed  sectoral policies, have not 
 117been fully achieved. Likewise programme effe ctiveness increased where this pre-condition 
was met. Long term impacts and sustainability mi xed as they rely mostly on the establishment 
and durability of capable and adequately resourced state institution which only sustained Community assistance can ensure at present.  The ad-hoc evaluation on CARDS (2001-2006) Re gional Programmes in the Western Balkans
 
finds that the relevance of the CARDS regional programmes is  in line with the European 
Commission strategy for stability in the regi on. Further, DG ELARG has adopted a more 
participative and coordinated approach to designing the programmes, following the 
recommendations from a previous evaluation by DG Aidco (2004). The effectiveness of the 
programmes and projects has in general met e xpectations. The programmes have contributed 
to creating a regional perspectiv e towards cooperation. Impacts are in line with th e objectives 
of programmes, but the countri es are not yet ready to full y cooperate regionally without 
assistance. Sustainability is still regard ed as a weak aspect of the programmes. 
  
23.3 Other activities of monitoring and evaluation function  
 
The monitoring and interim evaluation system involves successive decentralisation of the 
responsibilities for monitoring and interim eval uation to the Candidate Countries. At the time 
of the decentralised management accreditatio n (conferral of management under IPA), the 
responsibility for monitoring and interim evaluation of the IPA programme is to be 
decentralised to the Candidate Countries.   
 
 118 
PART III: FINANCIAL DATA  
    
24.1 Phare, Turkey pre-accession and Tran sition Facility funds by year 1990 – 2008 
 Financial Overview and Performance
 
 
The following chart shows the breakdown year by year of the funds committed in the period 1990-2008 (€ million):  
Year Funds Committed 
1990 475.3
1991 769.7
1992 979.6
1993 966.1
1994 946.1
1995 1,114.0
1996 1,207.8
1997 1,135.1
1998 1,153.9
1999 1,481.7
2000 1,651.5
2001 1,635.4
2002 1,695.1
2003 1,698.1
2004 1,240.5
2005 1,353.9
2006 1,772.2
2007 78.2
2008 0
Total  21,354.2
 
 
24.2 Phare, Turkey pre-accession and Tran sition Facility funds by country 1990–2008 
 
Total Phare, Turkey and Transition Facility  commitments, contracts and payments, in € 
million    
Partner 
Country Commitments Contracts  Payments  
Bulgaria 2,359.63 1,857.80 1,672.43 
Czech republic 917.24 840.10 832.68 
Croatia 144.60 110.00 40.38 
Cyprus(*) 338.01 140.14 93.43 
Czechoslovakia 230.49 231.82 228.88 
East Germany 34.49 28.86 28.86 
 119Estonia 346.84 311.90 310.69 
Hungary 1,480.06 1,372.74 1,366.58 
Latvia 423.61 384.83 381.39 
Lithuania 810.27 754.50 748.86 
Malta 57.11 48.30 45.31 
Multi-country 
programmes 3,357.05 2,798.41 2,174.81 
Poland 3,995.99 3,676.81 3,640.06 
Romania 3,670.00 3,128.82 2,665.25 
Slovakia 717.59 661.65 659.53 
Slovenia 360.33 327.11 324.15 
Turkey 1,861.95 1,367.70 1,150.79 
Total 21,105.26 18,0141.49 16,364.08 
 
 
24.3  Cards funds by country 2000 – 2008 
 
Total CARDS commitments, contracts and payments, in € million 
 
Partner Country Commitments  Contracts  Payments  
Albania 305.3 250.4 210.6  
Bosnia & 
Herzegovina 451.5 432.6 401.9  
Croatia 273.5 256.3 246.6  
Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia 307.3 293.5 281.9  
Kosovo 726.6 724.1 694.0  
Montenegro 127.0 126.1 123.2  
Serbia 1,337.0 1,300.6 1,213.4  
Regional 
Programme 651.7610.2 577.3  
Total 4179.9 3993.8 3748.9