[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 6.11.2007

SEC(2007) 1462

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT ANNEXES TO THE

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2006 REPORT ON PHARE, PRE-ACCESSION AND TRANSITION INSTRUMENTS COUNTRY SECTIONS & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION {COM(2007) 679 final}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I: COUNTRY SECTION 5

I.1. Bulgaria 5

I.2. Croatia 5

I.3. Cyprus 5

I.4. Czech Republic 5

I.5. Estonia 5

I.6. Hungary 5

I.7. Latvia 5

I.8. Lithuania 5

I.9. Malta 5

I.10. Poland 5

I.11. Romania 5

I.12. Slovakia 5

I.13. Slovenia 5

I.14. Turkey 5

Part II: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT ISSUE 5

II.1. Technical and Financial assistance 5

1.1. Twinning 5

1.2. Taiex 5

1.3. Sigma 5

II.2. Information on Multi-Country and Horizontal Programmes 5

2.1. Participation in Community Programmes, Agencies and Committees 5

2.2. Information on Multicountry Programmes in co-operation with IFIs 5

II.3. Programme Management Issues - Monitoring and Evaluation 5

3.1. Monitoring and Interim Evaluation 5

3.2. Ex-post evaluation 5

3.3. Other activities of the monitoring and evaluation function 5

Part III: FINANCIAL OVERVIEW & PERFORMANCE 5

III.1. Phare funds by year 1990 – 2006 5

III.2. Phare funds by country 1990 – 2006 5

LIST OF ACRONYMS

AC Acceding Country

BSP Business Support Programme

BVIPs Border Veterinary Inspection Posts

CAFIA Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority

CAP Common Agricultural Policy

CARDS Community Assistance for Reconstruction Development and Stabilisation

CBC Cross Border Cooperation

CC Candidate Country

CCTIA Central Controlling and Testing Institute in agriculture

CEB Council of Europe Development Bank

CEDEFOP European centre for the development of vocational training

CFCA Central Financing and Contracting Agency

CFCD Central Financing and Contracting Department

CFCU Central Finance and Contracts Unit

CFP Common Forestry Policy

CI CzechInvest

CISTA Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture

CMO Common Market Organisations

CNSAS Romanian national council studying the Securitate archives

CPER Country Phare Evaluation Review

CPMA Central Programme Management Agency

CRD Centre for regional Development

CSER Country Summary Evaluation Report

CSM Superior Council of the Magistracy

CSO Civil Society Organisation

CSSA Czech Social Security Administration

CZSO Czech Statistical Office

DA Justice and Truth Party (RO) = PNL + PD

DG Directorate General

DIS Decentralised Implementation System

DNA National Anti-corruption Directorate

DoC Department of Contracts

EAG Evaluation Advisory Group

EAGGF European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund

EBRD European bank for reconstruction and development

EC European Communities

ECD Early Childhood Development (programme)

ECHR European Convention of Human Rights

ECR European Commission Representation

EDIS Extended Decentralised Implementation System

OECD Organisation for economic and Cooperation development

EFTA European Free Trade Association

EIB European Investment Bank

ENP European Neighbourhood

ENPI European Neighbourhood and Partnerships Instrument

ESC Economic and Social Cohesion

ESF European Social Fund

ESS European Statistical System

EU European Union

EUROPOL European Police Office

EUSG European Union Secretariat General

EW Equity Window

FA Financing Agreement

FDI Foreign Direct Investment

FEMIP Facility for the Euro-Mediterranean Investment Partnership

FIFG Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance

FM Financing Memorandum

FYROM Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GMO Genetic modified Organism

HRD Human Resources Development

HIV Human immunodeficiency virus

IA Implementing Agency

IA-CBC Implementing Authority for Phare Cross-Border Cooperation programme

IACS Integrated Administration and Control System

IB Institution Building

ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the formerYugoslavia

IE Interim Evaluation

IEPP Institute for Effective Public Policy

IFIs International Financial Institutions

IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession

IPARD Instrument for Pre-accession for Rural Development

IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control

ISPA Structural Instrument for pre-adhesion

ISO International Standardisation Organisation

IT Information and Telecommunication

JHA Justice and Home Affairs

JMC Joint Monitoring Committee

JPD Joint Programming Document

KfW Kreditanstalt für Wierderaufbau

KIDSF Kozloduy international decommissioning fund

LCP Large Combustion Plants

LGLW Loan, Guarantee and Leasing Window

MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

MAP Multi Annual Programming

MARA Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs

MEDA Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

MIPD Multi-Indicative Planning Document

MoF Ministry of Finance

MoPF Ministry of the Public Finance

MSE Micro and Small Enterprise

NADSME National Agency for Development of Small and Medium size Enterprise

NAO National Authorising Officer

NAC National Aid Coordinator

NAI National Agency for Integrity

NATA National Agency for Taxation Administration

NDP National Development Plan

NDO National Development Office

NF National Fund

NIJ National Institute of Justice

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

NPAA National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis

NP National Programme

NPP Nuclear Power Plant

NROS Civil Society Development Foundation

NSO National Statistical Office

NSRF National Strategic Reference Framework

NTF National Training Foundation

OLAF European Antifraud Office

OMRO Opportunity Micro-Credit Romania

OP Operational Programmes

OPM Office of Prime Minister

PA Paying Agency

PAED Polish Agency for Enterprise Development

PAO Programme Authorising Officer

PAP Pre-Accession Programme

PD Democrat Party

PDO Products and foodstuffs with registered designation of origin

PGI Products and foodstuffs with registered Geographical Indication

PPD Phare Programming Document

PHARE Comminatory programme for central and eastern European countries

PIFCA Public Internal Financial Control Agency

PIU Programme Implementation Unit

PNL National Liberal Party

PRM "Partidul Romania Mare" – Great Romania Party

QSG Quality Support Group

PSD Social-democrats Party

RAWRA Radioactive Waste Repository Authority

RDSA Regional Development Support Agency

REACH Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals

RMC Romania Micro-Credit

RTA Resident Twinning Advisor

SAPARD Special Adhesion Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development

SAR State Agency for Refugees

SEED System of Exchange of Excise Data

SF Structural Funds

SIGMA Support for Improvement in Governance and Management

SIC Supreme Judicial Council

SIS Schengen Information System

SME Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

SMS Statistical Metainformation System

SMSC Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee

SPO Senior Project Officers

TA Technical Assistance

TAIEX Technical Assistance Information Exchange Unit

TF Transition Facility

TGNA Turkish Grand National Assembly

TNP Turkish National Police

TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy

TSG Products and foodstuffs with registered with certificates of specific character

TW Twinning

UIBE Unallocated Institution-Building Envelope

UJD Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority

UKIE Office of the committee for European integration

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

VAT Value Added Tax

VIES VAT Information Exchange Scheme

VOC volatile Organic Compounds

WFD Water Framework Directive

WICU Bulgarian Water Framework Directive Coordination Unit

MoEW Ministry of Environment and Water

WWTP Waste Water Treatment Plant

PART I: COUNTRY SECTION

I.1. BULGARIA

1.1. The year in review

Political developments

In 2006, Bulgaria held presidential elections. With a reassuring 75.95% of the voters’ support in a second round on 29 October, incumbent President Georgi Parvanov won a second term in office. His main contender, Ataka leader Volen Siderov, got 24.05% of the vote. Due to a low voter turnout in the first round on 22 October, a runoff was organised as required by the Bulgarian Constitution. This was the first time since 1989 that a president was re-elected for a second term in office directly by the people.

During 2006 Bulgaria continued to fulfil the political criteria for EU membership. The government continued to pursue its path of addressing outstanding issues, notably in the area of Justice and Home Affairs Some progress was made in the reform of the justice system. Rules were introduced establishing objective procedures for the appointment and evaluation of magistrates. Pre-trial proceedings were improved by the introduction of a fast-track procedure. However, further reform of the Supreme Judicial Council is necessary, in particular as regards its accountability and capacity to effectively manage the judiciary, in order to ensure the transparency and efficiency of judicial processes. Difficulties in the implementation of penal procedures persist. Amendments to the Constitution need to be adopted. The legislative framework for the fight against corruption has been improved with the adoption of amendments to the laws on political parties and on publicity of property owned by high level officials. All ministers have published their asset declarations on the internet. However, there have been few concrete examples of investigations or prosecution or charges of high level corruption. Corruption remains a problem. The public administration, including tax collecting agencies at the border and local government remain particularly vulnerable. Moreover, the number of cases prosecuted successfully related to organised crime is still low. Reliable crime statistics are yet to be established. Law enforcement increased and successful actions have been registered against criminal networks, in some cases in cooperation with EU Member States. However, there is still insufficient cooperation between the bodies involved in the fight against organised crime and there is no systematic confiscation of assets of criminals.

Further progress is necessary in the area of judicial reform and the fight against organised crime and corruption. The Commission established a mechanism to cooperate and verify progress in these areas after Bulgaria’s accession, based on Articles 37 and 38 of the Act of Accession. Bulgaria should report regularly on progress in addressing specific benchmarks, with the first report to be submitted by 31 March 2007. The Commission should provide internal and external expertise to cooperate and provide guidance in the reform process and to verify progress. It should report to the European Parliament and the Council by June 2007 on the progress made in addressing the benchmarks. The Commission's report is to assess whether the benchmarks have been met, need to be adjusted and may request further reports on progress if necessary. The mechanism is to continue until the benchmarks are met.

Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms

Bulgaria made further progress with macroeconomic stabilisation and economic reform. Its current reform path should enable it to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Continued prudent fiscal and wage policies were warranted in view of the widening current account deficit. This was largely due to lower incomes from tourism, substantially lower current transfers and a lower surplus in the income balance. Tight macroeconomic policies therefore need to be maintained to contain the high external deficit. The privatisation process and the liberalisation and restructuring of utilities advanced well. The liberalisation of the energy market continued with a lowering of thresholds for direct contracts between larger customers and suppliers. Regarding the business environment, the functioning of the administrative and judicial systems needs to be improved further. As regards labour market flexibility, amendments to the Labour Code in May have made working time arrangements slightly more flexible. For employees working under a special contract to perform additional work, the maximum weekly working time has been raised to 48 hours. A comprehensive reform of the education system remains crucial to address bottlenecks in the labour market.

Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire

In the crucial area of money laundering, Bulgarian legislation is now largely in line with the acquis . However, implementation of legislation is limited to date and so far no successful prosecutions for money laundering can be reported. Progress has been made with regard to the setting-up of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) and the Paying Agency (PA). Bulgaria has made substantial progress with regard to the collection and treatment of dead animals and animal by-products in the context of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). The necessary measures have been adopted. However, Bulgaria needs to guarantee their effective implementation. In the area of financial control, progress has been made with regard to the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS) accreditation process for some of the structures concerned although efforts at capacity building for implementing the Structural Funds in particular need to be reinforced.

Concerning nuclear safety, in accordance with Bulgaria's obligation under article 30 of the protocol to the Act of Accession, Kozloduy nuclear power plant units 3 and 4 were closed on 31 December 2006.

As regards other areas of the acquis , significant progress has been made with regard to the chapters on; fisheries, consumer and health protection and social policy and employment. Overall, there has been some progress in the following areas: trafficking in human beings, child protection, and the protection and integration of minorities . Limited progress has been made in the area of detention conditions, treatment of people with disabilities and the mental healthcare and broadcasting. In addition, Bulgaria needs to ensure the sustainability of public administration reform. Far-reaching efforts have been made to adapt its legislation and administration to the laws and rules of the European Union. This has largely brought it into line with prevailing standards and practices within the European Union. Sustained support from the European Union will be available for addressing the remaining issues. Sufficient guarantees exist in the acquis and the Accession Treaty to ensure the proper functioning of EU policies and institutions. As a result of the progress made, Bulgaria was in a position to take on the rights and obligations of EU membership on 1 January 2007. The Commission took remedial measures, where necessary, to ensure the functioning of EU policies. Due to persistent shortcomings in the area of aviation safety, a safeguard measure was adopted on 20 December 2006. In order to ensure the proper functioning of the EU air transport market and to guarantee the highest level of safety to EU citizens, the Commission decided that until these problems will be solved, air carriers licensed by the Bulgarian authorities will not be considered as “Community Carriers”. If necessary, the Commission may take other remedial measures, notably in the field of food safety and agricultural funds.

1.2. Phare in 2006

Programmes launched

For 2006, Phare allocations for Bulgaria amounted to a total of €208.8 million as follows:

- National Programme €166.8 million

- Cross-border Co-operation Romania €8 million

- Cross-border Co-operation Greece €20 million

- Cross-border Co-operation FYROM €3 million

- Cross-border Co-operation Serbia & Montenegro €4 million

- Cross-border Co-operation Turkey €7 million

Overview of programmes implemented

Since 1992 the Phare Programme has provided assistance to Bulgaria through National Programmes, five Cross Border Co-operation Programmes and Multi-Beneficiary Programmes. Under the special assistance for the closure and decommissioning of units 1-4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power station, €340 million of financial assistance was earmarked over the period 1999-2006. The end of 2006 saw the successful completion of most of the projects financed under the 2003 programmes, covering a variety of sectors. 93.4% of the 2004 Phare programme budget was contracted and the implementation of the relevant projects is well under way, while the procurement of some 65% of 2005 programmes was launched, which is a remarkable rate compared to previous years. For some 2005 projects, contracting has started.

In the Agricultural sector, the successful completion of the construction works of 6 Border Veterinary Inspection Posts marked the finalisation of implementation of a series of Phare projects which targeted the improvement of veterinary border control. Projects for institutional building aiming at the assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in harmonisation and implementation of the acquis in the implementation of the milk quota system in Bulgaria as well as on the development of procedures and mechanisms for production potential management and control on the oenological practices in the wine sector were also completed. Further technical assistance and provision of equipment were extended for the strengthening of the wine control agency for the implementation of the wine CMO measures. Phare support continued via institutional building projects (twinning), technical assistance and provision of equipment for the preparation of MAF to implement the second pillar of the CAP. More specifically, assistance was focused on the preparation of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 and establishment of relevant monitoring system, where as another one project (with five different components) addressed other areas of the acquis in regard to CAP and CFP mechanisms. The setting up of IACS in Bulgaria and the completion of the IACS software, as well as equipment of the Paying Agency, which will manage the payments under the Agricultural Funds were also supported by Phare. Within the framework of the Phare assistance for the sector, equipment was provided for reinforcement of the administrative structures of the MAF in order to ensure the implementation of effective control in the field of fisheries and variety testing and seeds control system.

In the Transport Sector, support for institution building continued to support the maritime authorities in their efforts to overcome their deficiencies and to improve the quality of the inspections of vessels carried out by Bulgarian authorities. Another institution building project assisted the railway authorities with the introduction of the EU legislation in the field of railway safety and interoperability. Maritime authorities were supported with supply of equipment necessary for the efficient enforcement of the related secondary legislation, with provision of IT equipment and software for computerised quality assurance system and with supply of equipment for the second phase of the Vessel Traffic Management and Information System and by means of the provision of eight new boats for the needs of rescue operations in Bulgarian area of SAR responsibilities. Motor vehicle inspection services received 15 mobile laboratories fully equipped for on-the-spot checks related to road safety. The twinning projects were accompanied by intensive staff training. Assistance to the road and railway infrastructure also continued, with six on-going projects financed from the CBC programmes. Three new road rehabilitation projects, which will start in 2007, were contracted and tendering procedures for three more were launched.

In the Environment Sector, the Phare Programme continued to provide assistance to the construction of the WWTPs in Madan, Rudozem, Zlatograd and Razlog. Furthermore, twinning projects for waste shipment, fuel quality and GMOs are ongoing. The important twining projects for air quality, Danube basin water management, chemicals and quality of drinking water were implemented and completed successfully. The big environment investment projects for the closing of Eleshnitsa uranium mines and the construction of the WWTP Sofia were finalised successfully. Implementation of cross-border cooperation projects has begun in aid of the establishment of econetworks, sustainable development grants and water management of the Mesta/Nestos River II phase with Greece and groundwater water management with Romania.

Phare assistance in the Justice sector in 2006 was focused on institution building to support the reform of the judiciary and the strengthening of important elements of the system including the General Directorate Security of the Ministry of Justice, the penitentiary and probation system, the Public Prosecution Office, the Supreme Judicial Council and the National Institute of Justice. In particular, two 2003 Twinning Projects were completed in 2006. They contributed to the reform of the civil and penal procedures. The Draft Civil Procedure Code elaborated with the help of this assistance is currently before second reading in Parliament. A new Penal Procedure Code elaborated and adopted in 2005, entered into force in April 2006. Training of magistrates on the new Code was conducted under the project. Institution building efforts were taken further by a 2004 project supporting the implementation of the Strategy for Reform of the Bulgarian Judiciary, dealing with remedy in the civil and penal procedures for legal aid, support for the establishment of security infrastructure for the judiciary and witness protection system in penal proceedings, judicial cooperation in civil and penal matters. In the area of judicial cooperation, where full analysis of the legislation and draft amendments in view of the ratification by Bulgaria of relevant Conventions have been elaborated, training has been delivered to experts and the foundations for the integrated information system and integrated Bulgarian Judicial Network for Judicial Cooperation have been established. The administrative capacity of the SJC and NIJ was strengthened under other Twinning projects, which delivered inter alia proposals for amendments of the Law on Judiciary and the internal regulation of the NIJ. Further progress was made in 2006 on the introduction of IT as an important means to support the implementation of the Strategy for Reform of the Judiciary. The related 2003 project is close to completion with important outputs in the area of e-justice, system integration and IT training of judiciary specialists. Under this project, the IT Strategy for the judiciary was updated and approved by the SJC. The work in the IT area continues with a series of new projects contracted at the end of 2006.

In the field of Public Administration Reform, the Phare Programme supported activities that contributed to the further implementation of the Strategy for modernisation of the Public Administration. An important Phare project focused on improving public service delivery and introducing to the state administration strategies for outsourcing and public private partnership. Further to presenting a methodology for integration of services and piloting it on concrete administrative structures, the project proposed to the beneficiary Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform and to regional and local administrations selected quality management systems. Overall, through proposing, testing and training, the project contributed to the introduction of the latest innovative practices to the Bulgarian state administration.

In the Social Sector , Phare support focused on four major areas that reflect the efforts to effectively reform the systems of vocational education and training, social assistance and social dialogue. The sustained growth in the financial allocations for investment activities on the labour market marked the increasing relative importance of the policies toward generation of new employment and enhancement of the quality of the labour force. The reform in the vocational education and training system was supported through diverse measures (both institutional building and investment) that were aimed at the improvement of the quality of vocational training so as to better fit qualifications with labour market demands. The measures include refurbishment of professional schools (as a first stage of multi annual project, 7 vocational schools were chosen for refurbishment and their number is expected to grow in the subsequent phases of the project in order to form a sample of about 8% of the vocational schools in the country that will transform into centres of excellence), delivery of updated training equipment (about 13 professional schools will receive training equipments related to the vocations, while about 120 vocational schools will be equipped with modern computer labs) and provision of technical expertise for advancement in curricula reform and enhancement of teachers’ ability for effective utilization of new technologies in the learning process.

The reform in the social assistance system focused on decentralization of social services and diversification of the sources of their funding. A multi annual project aimed at deinstitutionalization and enhancement of the forms of social services provision is currently being implemented and during its first phase about 80 private and public service providers were granted funds for development of complex forms of social services provision (including a mixture of social, medical and educational services) for a varied groups of beneficiaries like children, elderly, lonely parents, etc. In addition projects related to the improvement of the educational and medical services provided to Roma are also under implementation. The enhancement of the social dialogue was supported mainly through institutional building measures. These focused mainly on the mechanisms for conciliation and arbitrage, the negotiation procedures on branch and enterprise level, partnership creation, development of good practices manuals on social dialogue and the role of social partners for effective absorption of the structural funds. A number of training seminars and exchange of best practices on the issues are being implemented through the twinning instrument.

The active labour market policy was supported both by means of institutional building and investment instruments. Focus was given to strengthening the capacity of the relevant authorities to conduct profound labour market surveys and impact assessments of social programs. Technical assistance projects are also implemented for development of strategies in the area of lifelong learning and the enhancement of the capacity of private sector training providers. The investment measures are targeted at both improvement of the quality of provided trainings to unemployed and already employed on behalf of private training centres and enhancement of job creation and qualification training within Bulgarian enterprises.

In the sector of Economic and Social Cohesion , support continued to focus on the preparation of Bulgaria for the management of Structural Funds (SF) and on the promotion of cross border co-operation (CBC). Support for preparation for SF is provided by IB projects for the line ministries which will function as Managing Authorities of the future Structural Funds Operational Programmes and by investment projects, mainly grant schemes. In the area of Cross-Border Cooperation, projects in Transport, Environment, Energy and grant schemes are under implementation for the five CBC Programmes between Bulgaria – Greece, Bulgaria- Romania, Bulgaria-Turkey, Bulgaria - Serbia & Montenegro and Bulgaria - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Phare management performance

The PHARE 2004 (non-extended) budget is €181.583.710 corresponding to 247 tenders resulting in 341 contracts by the end of the contracting period, 30 November 2006 (the number including all lots deriving from the 247 tenders) . 293 contracts were endorsed by the Delegation amounting to €155.978.260 , which in terms of the Financing Memorandum (FM) budget correspond to €169.537.493 . Thus the contracting rate of the PHARE 2004 FM is 93.40% . 6.60% corresponding to 48 contracts not contracted.

The procurement gains representing the balance between the envisaged contract budget and the actually contracted amount, amounted to €13.565.463 , i.e. 7.47% . There are 13 extended contracts representing an amount of €22.5 million. The contracting deadline for 11 of these contracts is 31 August 2007, and for the other 2 projects is 8 November 2007.

Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS)

The Bulgarian authorities submitted the application for EDIS accreditation in August 2006. At the end of 2006, despite the recent improvements in the contracting rate and the launching of a substantial number of 2005 files, Phare management capacity in Bulgaria would still require further improvement if the relevant authorities are to assume responsibilities for the programme on a fully de-centralised basis. This would apply not ony to the Implementing Agencies, but also to the beneficiary institutions. Completion of the EDIS accreditation process will take place in 2007.

NDPs – State of Play

Following its accession to the EU, Bulgaria as a Member State is eligible for the Structural and Cohesion Funds with an allocated amount of around €6.8 billion for the period 2007-2013. Within the framework of the preparation for the better use of the Structural Funds the Bulgarian Government has produced several Programming Documents addressing priorities for development of the country as a whole, and for the development of each sector in particular. The main document, which highlights these priorities, is the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) which has been prepared for the period 2007-2013. The underlying vision of this document is that by 2013 Bulgaria should become a competitive EU country with a high quality of life, incomes and social awareness. The strategic priorities to achieve this are to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy so as to achieve high and sustainable growth and to develop human capital so as to ensure higher employment, income and social integration.

For the realisation of these goals the Bulgarian government has formulated 7 Operational Programmes and 2 National Strategic Plans and Programmes :

1. Transport

2. Environment

3. Human Resources Development

4. Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy

5. Administrative capacity

6. Regional Development

7. Technical Assistance

8. National Strategic Plan for Rural Development

9. National Strategic Plan for Fisheries and OP Fishery

Institution Building highlights

During 2006, a total of €38.069 million was contracted for twinning assignments in Bulgaria, financed (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes and participation in Community Programmes) under the Phare programme in support of IB projects. The twinning instrument continued to be used successfully in many priority areas and helped Bulgaria prepare for the implementation of EU policies and laws. To date, a total of 150 fully-fledged twinning projects for a total amount of €153 million and 43 twinning light projects amounting to €7 million have been financed out of the Phare Programme. Currently, there are 53 running twinning projects: 38 under the 2004 Phare National Programme (NP) (41 projects overall for 2004, 3 are completed) and 15 under 2005 Phare NP (15 projects overall for 2005). The 2005 Unallocated Envelope proved to be a useful instrument for specific ad hoc needs, answering requests for 13 twinning light, 1 standard twinning and 5 technical assistance projects. In addition, a further 9 fully fledged twinning projects were programmed during 2006 and the selection process is underway for most of them.

1.3. Results and impact

State of play for JMC/SMSC development

In 2006, two JMC meetings took place in May and December 2006. At these meetings issues such as further improvement of project management and reporting were discussed and proposals for remedial actions were made.

Each monitoring sector is covered by the relevant Sectoral Montioring Sub-Committee (SMSC). Each SMSC normally meets twice a year in accordance with the annual schedule agreed within the JMC. Two rounds of SMSC meetings took place in 2006, the first round took place from April to May, the second round was organised between October and November 2006. The ten monitoring sectors cover: Public Sector/Development of administrative capacity, Public Finance, Justice and Home Affairs, Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment, Transport, Social Development, Regional Development/CBC, Energy and Telecommunications.

Monitoring & Evaluation Reports in 2006 - Lessons Learned

On the whole the evaluation results concluded that the performance of Phare has improved over time but remains mixed. Evaluation findings and conclusions for Bulgaria show that Phare performance has been stronger for acquis sectors than for horizontal public administrative and judicial capacity. Environment is the sector considered to have performed the best in terms of impact. The lowest rated sectors are Economic and Social Cohesion, Social and Energy and Transport. Sustainability is strongest where there is strong political support and the assistance supports clearly defined interventions that are mandatory for the enforcement of the acquis such as in agriculture. Strong commitment is required by the Bulgarian government if the results of Phare assistance to Public administrative and judicial reform are to be sustained.

With respect to Interim Evaluation, the work programme of the contractor was extended until September 2006 allowing the evaluators to issue 9 Sector Interim Evaluation reports out of which 5 were rated “satisfactory”, 3 “barely satisfactory” and 1 related to the social sector “unsatisfactory”. As regards in-depth evaluations, Ecotec produced 4 in-depth report covering regional development and cross border co-operation, public finance, public administration and energy. More than 80 % of the recommendations in the sector IE reports have been accepted by the addressees. In 2006, the Bulgarian evaluation function was further strengthened, with capacity building and training of the NAC and its staff. The independent evaluator, offered training and coaching to the NAC with respect to the quality control process of managing decentralised evaluation reports. It is expected that decentralised Interim Evaluation by the Bulgarian authorities will start in the early 2007.

Positive Results in Implementation – Success Stories

BG2003/IB/EN02 Institutional strengthening of the river basin authorities in Bulgaria for implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Danube river basin (pilot river basin and sub-river basin) This project was successfully completed in 2006. The capacity of all entities involved with the Bulgarian water administration, both a national ands local level, including non-state bodies, was considerably improved. With the support of the project, the established implementation unit WICU was reviewed and improved by the MoEW to integrate more effectively the WICU-members in the WFD co-ordination procedure, the Operational Manual and the Structure of the River Basin Management Plan were developed. Furthermore, as results from the project; the risk assessment on surface water bodies and on groundwater bodies is transparent and comprehensible and the register on protected areas was elaborated and the economic analysis of water use reviewed, the Environmental Objectives for surface waters, groundwater and protected areas were defined and the monitoring programmes prepared, the Artificial and Heavily Modified Water Bodies were identified and evaluated. In order to ensure publicity and awareness, consultation and participation were realised by using different instruments (workshops, seminars, Twinning project Homepage, e-Learning course, round table meetings with the stakeholders etc.)The project was implemented in a cooperative and partnership spirit. |

BG0201.04 and BG2003/004-937.03.01 Improvement of Veterinary Border Control Bulgaria is located in the South Eastern part of the European Union, along European corridors 4 and 8, which are among the main international trade routes joining the Middle East to the European continent. It is a country with three outer borders of the EU. It is essential that reliable veterinary border control systems are in place along these trade routes so as to prevent contagious diseases and other threats to livestock from entering the EU. For this reason, Phare was mobilised to secure Bulgaria’s borders by means of constructing and equipping Veterinary Border Veterinary Inspection Posts (BVIPs), with the capacity to ensure inspections in full compliance with EU requirements and standards. The establishment of EU compliant BVIPs was supported by the Phare 2002 and 2003 programmes with a series of construction projects, building and equipping 6 (out of the 8) posts on the outer EU border. These BVIPs are located at Kalotina and Bregovo, at the border with Serbia, the sea ports at Bourgas and Varna, and at Gueshevo and Zlatarevo at the border with Macedonia. The construction and equipment of the 6 BVIPs was completed successfully at the end of 2006. With the implementation of these Phare projects and the establishment of effective veterinary border controls, Bulgaria should not only play an important role in the prevention of penetration of contagious diseases into the country an therefore the EU, but should also ensure food safety conditions for the intra community trade of products of animal origin. |

Tasks ahead

Main tasks to be accomplished in the coming future are:

- Completion of the programming for the Transition Facility Programme 2007

- The EDIS accreditation process regarding the four Implementing Agencies to be completed in the course of 2007 resulting in full decentralisation of financial management.

- Full decentralisation of the Interim Evaluation functions to the Ministry of Finance.

I.2. CROATIA

2.1. The year in review

Political developments

EU accession negotiations began with Croatia on 3 October 2005 and are continuing. Overall, the political situation has continued to improve. Implementation of strategies for reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption has begun. Croatia has moved forward on minorities and refugee return, albeit at a slow pace. Full cooperation with ICTY has continued. The conduct of war crimes trials in Croatia has improved. Croatia continues to play a positive role in regional cooperation.

However, reform is at an early stage and there is considerable scope for improvement in the judiciary, public administration and in the fight against corruption. Further progress is essential in the protection of minorities, on refugee return, and in the conduct of war crimes trials, including witness protection. Further regional cooperation is vital, as are efforts to solve outstanding bilateral problems with neighbours, especially on border demarcation.

Macroeconomic developments and structural reforms

As regards macroeconomic developments and structural reforms, inflation is low, the exchange rate stable, fiscal consolidation has continued and growth has accelerated slightly. Private investment has risen, the banking sector has continued to grow and unemployment has declined. Road infrastructure has improved and competition enhanced in the telecommunication sector. However, significant and rising imbalances in the trade and current accounts and a high external debt imply potential risks to macroeconomic stability. The pace of structural reforms has generally been slow. Subsidies to loss making enterprises continued, state intervention in the economy remained significant.

Progress in meeting the acquis communautaire

As to the priorities related meeting the acquis communautaire , Croatia has improved its ability to take on the obligations of membership. In most areas, there has been some progress, mainly in terms of legislative alignment. Implementing capacity has also been improved. But in many cases enforcement is weak and administrative capacity remains uneven. Progress has varied considerably between chapters. As regards the overall level of alignment and administrative capacity, much remains to be done. Considerable and sustained efforts will be needed in a number of chapters such as competition policy, public procurement, justice freedom and security and judiciary and fundamental rights. Given the particular nature of obligations under the environment chapter, very significant efforts will be required in this area.

2.2. Phare in 2006

Programmes launched

In 2006, Croatia as a candidate country continued to benefit from all three pre-accession financial instruments, Phare for IB and economic and social cohesion, ISPA for environment and transport infrastructures and SAPARD for rural development. Croatia was also eligible for the CARDS Regional Programme 2006.

Croatia received a total allocation of €80 million under the Phare 2006 programme. This allocation included the NP of €61.062 million, €6 million for CBC projects, €9.438 million for Croatia’s participation in Phare multi-country/horizontal programmes, €1 million for the participation in TAIEX and €2.5 million for administrative costs.

The key programming documents for Phare 2006 were the 2005 Progress Report and the Accession Partnership of February 2006 as well as the National Programme for the Integration of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union.

The year 2006 was the second year that Croatia benefited from pre-accession assistance through the Phare instrument. The Commission Decisions on the two Phare 2006 CBC programmes between Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary and Croatia and Italy (6 m€) were adopted on 22 June 2006. The Commission Decision on the PHARE 2006 annual programme (61.062 m€) was adopted on 24 July 2006. The respective Financing Agreements have been forwarded to the Croatian authorities for their signature in August 2006.

Overview of implemented programmes

National Programme objectives

The Phare National Programme 2006 concentrates on eight sectoral objectives referring to the priorities identified in the Progress Report and the Accession Partnership for Croatia:

- Objective 01 / Democracy and rule of law

- Objective 02 / Human rights, protection of minorities and civil society dialogue

- Objective 03 / Economic criteria

- Objective 04 / Internal market and trade

- Objective 05 / Sectoral policies

- Objective 06 / Cooperation in justice and home affairs

- Objective 07 / Supporting programmes

- Objective 08 / Economic and social cohesion

These priorities translate into the following financial allocations by priority:

1. Democracy and rule of law €7.085.000

2. Human rights; protection of minorities and civil society dialogue €4.900.000

3. Economic criteria €3.071.250

4. Internal market and trade €9.747.500

5. Sectoral policies €18.837.000

6. Cooperation in justice and home affairs €1.292.500

7. Supporting programmes €14.128.750

8. Economic and social cohesion €2.000.000

CBC Programme objectives

The CBC programmes with Italy and Slovenia/Hungary concentrate on the following objectives:

- Promoting sustainable economic and social development in the border areas;

- Working together to address common challenges, in fields such an environment, public health, and the prevention of and fight against organised crime;

- Ensuring efficient and secure borders;

- Promoting local, ‘people-to-people’ type of actions.

The budget allocations in 2006 are:

1. CBC with Italy €3.000.000

2. CBC with Slovenia/Hungary €3.000.000

Phare management performance

The Commission decided to confer the management of PHARE and CARDS programmes to the Croatian institutions under the authority of the National Authorising Officer on 7 February 2006 while maintaining the ex-ante control requirement for tendering and contracting. This decision also allowed for the further decentralisation of elements of CARDS 2003 and 2004. The following implementation structures continue to exist in Croatia for the implementation of pre-accession assistance:

- A National Fund (NF) located within the Ministry of Finance to administer the funds allocated under the responsibility of a National Authorising Officer (NAO).

- The Central Finance and Contracting Unit as the Implementing Agency for Phare.

- The Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the National Fund, which provides a legal basis for the introduction of a decentralised implementation system for EU pre-accession assistance.

Decentralised Implementation System (DIS)

The Commission decision on partial conferral of management for Phare and CARDS under the decentralised implementation system (DIS) to Croatia was taken on 7 February 2006.

NDPs – State of Play

The Croatian Government has adopted a national development strategy entitled Strategic Development Framework 2006-2013 in August 2006, which identifies a series of priorities that should promote Croatia’s social and economic development.

Institution Building highlights

The Phare 2005 annual programme Financing Agreement was signed on 17 May 2006 and entered into force on 22 August 2006, after Croatia informed the Commission of the completion of the ratification process after Parliamentary approval. No contracts were signed at the end of 2006; project implementation will start in 2007, the deadline for contracting is 30 November 2007.

2.3. Results and impact

State of play for JMC/SMSC development

The first rounds of meetings in the context of the internal monitoring system in line with the Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of the NF were held in the end of 2006. Besides ISPA and SAPARD monitoring committees, six CARDS and PHARE monitoring sub-committees took place in October to review 77 decentralised projects. The monitoring culminated in the Joint Monitoring Committee held in Zagreb on 19 December 2006.

M&IE Reports in 2006 - Lessons Learned

The Interim Evaluation Scheme for Phare in Croatia will be launched in the second half of 2007.

Tasks ahead

Implementation of Phare 2005 will start with the signature of the Financing Agreement by the Croatian National Aid Coordinator (signed on 17 May 2006).

I.3. CYPRUS

3.1. Summary

In 2006, Cyprus continued to implement successfully both pre-accession 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 July 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility 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) continued to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes 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 Transition Team in the Representation in Nicosia as of end July 2005, DG Enlargement continues to exercise the residual functions related to the Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

3.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Cypriot authorities and the European Commission on 17 November 2004.

Programming

A total of €3,200,000 was allocated to Cyprus under the 2006 TF budget for Cyprus.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through Multi-country/Horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, etc.

The Phare Management Committee approved the Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Cyprus in July 2006. The programme was then approved by the Commission through its Decision C(2006) 3391 of 1 August 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

Transition Facility funds are used to support institution building through twinning, twinning light, technical assistance, and investments to provide the necessary equipment in order to implement the acquis .

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Cyprus provides €3,200,000 for:

ENVIRONMENT €0.95 million

- Preparation of Management Plans for "Natura 2000" sites

- Strengthening of the Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority of Cyprus

INTERNAL MARKET €2 million

- Introduction, application and deployment of a total solution for the implementation of electronic procedures in conducting public procurement competitions in Cyprus

ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €0.25 million

- Interim Evaluation of EU funded projects

Implementation

- Pre-Accession 2003– finalisation of payments

At the end of the disbursement period for the 2003 pre-accession programme 98.6 % of the funding has been disbursed. The Cypriot authorities requested no extension for the 2003 programme.

- Transition Facility programme 2004 – rate of contracting

At the end of the contracting period for the 2004 National programme on 15 December 2006, 86.8% of the programmes had been contracted.

- Institution Building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around €20 million of pre-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal, multi-country programmes, participation in Community Programmes and bi-communal projects implemented on a centralised basis) has been disbursed from the Commission to Cyprus from the 2003 National Pre-accession programmes and the Transition Facility (2004-2006).

Implementation of pre-accession aid in Cyprus is considered satisfactory in overall terms their results were achieved with the exception of two Projects that were terminated (Management of the Akamas region and Establishment of an Integrated Administration and Control System-IACS). The projects under TF 2004 and some of the TF 2005 were under implementation and results are satisfactory.

As regards twinning, Cyprus has taken advantage to a limited extent of the Twinning Light instrument, since the Twinning Light has proven a flexible tool for ad-hoc interventions to fill gaps with regard to the implementation of the acquis .

3.3. Results and Impact

State of play for JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meetings took place in March and October 2006, in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which establishes an integrated monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under implementation.

The JMC meetings were fruitful and helped to address the problems concerning implementation of the ongoing programmes, to discuss horizontal/systemic issues and to identify possible solutions. Several immediate actions were agreed upon and deadlines set for their implementation.

In the year 2006, two rounds of Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took place just ahead of the Joint Monitoring Committee. Due to the small size of the Cyprus pre-accession programme, there is only one SMSC.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006

Overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of the pre-accession and Transition Facility programme in Cyprus lies with the Planning Bureau, as the executive body of the NAC. Following decentralisation of the evaluation activities, the Cypriot authorities have signed a contract with the independent evaluator in February 2006. Within the framework of this contract, one interim evaluation was carried out in 2006.

The 2006 interim evaluation report underlines that project implementation has improved considerably since the 2004 report which can be attributed to the experience gained by the stakeholders in project management, as well as to the effect of accession on the country’s generally favourable environment .

All the projects rated as highly relevant. In terms of efficiency, while the 2003 programme was satisfactory, for the 2004 programme technical complexity of projects has lead to delays in implementation with tighter time schedules for implementation and very limited time margins for corrective action between the expiry dates of contracts and the expiry of projects.

In terms of impact, most projects not only contributed to the effective adoption of the acquis but contributed to improve public services in important fields.

Regarding sustainability, the situation seems to be satisfactory for projects for which a firm financial commitment for a next stage has already been undertaken. For the others further efforts will be required to secure the human and material resources necessary for sustainability. A source of concern is the sustainability of many projects which rely on manpower recruited on a temporary basis.

I.4. CZECH REPUBLIC

4.1. Summary

In 2006, the Czech Republic continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the EDIS.

Since December 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Czech authorities applying national procurement rules. The Central Finance and Contract Unit (CFCU), the Civil Society Development Foundation (NROS), CzechInvest (CI), the National Training Fund (NTF) and the Centre for Regional Development (CRD) are fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and Transition Facility Programmes. The National Authorizing Officer (NAO) carries out the financial supervision. Since the closure of the Representation's Phare Transition Team in Prague in July 2005, DG Enlargement exercises residual functions related to the Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

4.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the TF is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the TF signed between the Czech authorities and the European Commission on 27 September 2004.

Programming

A total of €7,160,000 was allocated to the Czech Republic under its 2006 TF NP.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through Multi-country/Horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, OLAF, etc.

The Phare Management Committee approved the Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for the Czech Republic in July 2006. The programme was then approved by the Commission through its Decision C(2006) 3371 of 1 August 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

Transition Facility funds are used to support institution building through twinning, twinning light, technical assistance, and investments to provide the necessary equipment in order to implement the acquis.

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for the Czech Republic provides €7,160,000 for:

POLITICAL CRITERIA €0.5 million

- Promoting Roma children and youth education in out-of-school activities

AGRICULTURE €1.09 million

- Quality Control and Quality Assurance in the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (CISTA)

- Enhancing the Food Law Enforcement by the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA)

INTERNAL MARKET €1.94 million

- Strengthening of the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA) capacity in the field of social security coordination

- Strengthening of the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA) capacity in the field of social security premium collection, claims and bankruptcy in international environment

- The extension of the State treasury system

- Strengthening of the general system of Recognition of Professional Qualification

- Strengthening of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) Administrative Capacity by the implementation of Statistical Metainformation System (SMS)

ENVIRONMENT €1.08 million

- Reinforcement of Environmental Data Gathering and Information Provision

- Strengthening of State Administration Efficiency in Technical Protection of the Environment

- Integrated Approach to the Regional Waste Management in the Czech Republic

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS €0.65 million

- Improved Efficiency in the Fight against Crime by Building-up a Quality System in Police Forensic Laboratories

NUCLEAR SAFETY €0.4 million

- Strengthening of RAWRA (Radioactive Waste Repository Authority) Corporate Management Tools on the Safety of Nuclear Waste Repositories

ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1.5 million

- Unallocated Institution Building Envelope

Implementation

- Phare 2003 – finalisation of payments

At the end of the respective disbursement periods for the 2003 Phare programmes (Nuclear Safety, National Programme Part 1 and 2, Cross-border Cooperation Programmes), 90% of the programmes had been disbursed.

- Transition Facility 2004 – rate of contracting

At the end of the contracting period for the 2004 TF programme, 90% of the programme had been contracted.

- Institution Building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around €167.4 million of pre-accession and post-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes as well as nuclear safety projects outside the NP) has been deployed in the Czech Republic from Phare programmes (NP and CBC 2002-2003) and Transition Facility (2004-2006).

Implementation of Phare in the Czech Republic is considered generally successful in areas such as Environment, Agriculture and Internal Market. A sector which was evaluated as less successful in 2006 was Justice and Public Administration, where several external factors such as the coming into force of legal Acts or the commitment of responsible bodies to implement project outputs considerably diminished some of the projects' effectiveness.

The Twinning instrument continues to be used successfully in many priority areas and helped the Czech Republic to prepare for the implementation of EU policies and laws.

4.3. Results and Impact

State of play for JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meetings took place in June and December 2006, in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which establish an integrated monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under implementation.

The JMC meetings were fruitful and helped to address the problems concerning implementation of the ongoing programmes, to discuss horizontal/systemic issues and to identify possible solutions. Several immediate actions were agreed upon and deadlines set for their implementation.

In the year 2006, two rounds of Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took place (in April and October). There are eight sectors to be monitored in the Czech Republic: Social protection and health, Agriculture/Environment, CBC, Civil Society Development, Economic and Social Cohesion, Energy and Nuclear Safety, Justice and Public Administration/Home Affairs and Internal Market/ Finance and Banking.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006

Overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of the Phare and Transition Facility programme in the Czech Republic lies with the Ministry of Finance (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. The contract with the independent evaluator of Phare projects expired in October 2006. The work of the external contractor for the interim evaluation of Transition Facility projects started in September 2006.

In 2006, 7 IE reports, two Country Evaluation Summary Reports (one for Phare and one for Transition Facility) and one Final Summary Report on the Phare Programme (2000-2003) in the Czech Republic were issued.

The Phare Country Evaluation Summary report provides a consolidated country review of the findings of the Interim Evaluation Reports that were prepared between September 2004 and April 2006. It concludes that the efficiency of the use of Phare assistance continues to be threatened by high staff turnover, a resulting lack of institutional memory, and insufficient staff numbers. The Transition Facility Country Evaluation Summary report identifies projects managed by the Ministry of Health as problematic, due to their poor institutional ownership.

I.5. ESTONIA

5.1. Summary

In 2006, Estonia continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the EDIS.

Since November 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Estonian authorities applying national procurement rules. The Ministry of Finance, Central Financing and Contracting Department (CFCD) is fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continued to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and 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 Tallinn as of July 2005, DG Enlargement continues to exercise the residual functions related to the Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

5.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Estonian authorities and the European Commission on 10 August 2004.

Programming

A total of €3,750,000 was allocated to Estonia under the 2006 Transition Facility budget.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before Accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through Multi-country/Horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, OLAF, etc.

The Phare Management Committee approved the TF 2004 National Programme for Estonia in May 2006. The programme was then approved by the Commission through its Decision C(2006)3170 of 17 July 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

Transition Facility funds are used to support institution building through twinning, twinning light, technical assistance, and investments to provide the necessary equipment in order to implement the acquis .

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Estonia provides €3,750,000 for:

TRADE-INTERNAL MARKET €0.25 million

- Support to the development of energy audit practices

SOCIAL POLICIES AND EMPLOYMENT €0.73 million

- Support to the implementation of the State Integration Programme and Capacity-Building of Integration-Related Institutions

- Equality between Men and Women – Principle and Goal for Effective and Sustainable Enterprises

AGRICULTURE €0.26 million

- Strengthening of the official food control systems in Estonia related to environmental contaminants in products of animal origin

ENVIRONMENT €0.71 million

- Building up the capacity to handle major environmental accidents and emergency situations

ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1 million

- Institution Building Facility

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS €0.69 million

- Fight Against Corruption in Local Government Agencies

- National Monitoring Centre of the Criminal Proceeds

Implementation

- Phare 2003 – finalisation of payments

At the end of the respective disbursement periods for the 2003 Phare programmes, 84% of the programme had been disbursed

- Transition Facility 2004 – rate of contracting

At the end of the contracting period for the 2004 programme on 15 December 2006, 89% of the programme had been contracted.

- Institution Building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around €60 million of pre-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been deployed in Estonia from Phare programmes (2003) and Transition Facility (2004-2006).

Implementation of Phare in Estonia is considered satisfactory in most areas, where most projects are reaching foreseen objectives and EU assistance provide real value added to scarce public funds.

The Twinning instrument continues to be used successfully in many priority areas and helped Estonia to prepare for the implementation of EU policies and laws.

5.3. Results and Impact

State of play for JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two JMC meetings took place in January and June 2006, in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which establish an integrated monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under implementation.

The JMC meetings were fruitful and helped to address the problems concerning implementation of the ongoing programmes. In particular, issues such as further improvement of project management, sectoral and financial monitoring and reporting were discussed and proposals for remedial actions were made.

In 2006, two rounds of Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings have taken place. The first round of SMSC meetings took place in March-April and second round between October and November. There are nine sectors to be monitored in Estonia: Justice, Home Affairs, Finance, Environment, Internal Market and Transport, Agricultural, Social sector, CBC and Education.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006

Overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of the Phare programme in Estonia lies with the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Currently, the Foreign Financing Department provide services to the NAC in the State Budget Department. Activities in this area were carried out on the basis of the Action Plan on decentralisation of monitoring and Evaluation, which was endorsed by EC in February 2005. The contract for carrying out the Interim Evaluation was signed on 20 April 2006. The independent evaluator prepared one Phare Evaluation Reviews (CPER) for Estonia in March 2006.

The conclusions available from the IE reports are that on the whole, Estonia has performed well in the implementation of Phare assistance and this assistance has successfully supported the institution building related to the accession process. Efficiency varies and is mainly affected by delays in tendering, contracting and implementation in all sectors. In terms of effectiveness, the majority of projects are likely to fulfil their objectives. The contribution made by Phare/TF assistance in all sectors to the achievement of wider objectives is significant and sufficient. Finally, sustainability has been ensured.

I.6. HUNGARY

6.1. Summary

In 2006, Hungary continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the EDIS.

Since June 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Hungarian authorities applying national procurement rules. 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 for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and 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 Budapest as of July 2005, DG Enlargement continues to exercise the residual functions related to the Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

6.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to fund certain Institution Building actions in the new Member States to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Hungarian authorities and the European Commission on 22 June 2004.

Programming

A total of €6,664,400 was allocated to Hungary under the 2006 Transition Facility budget.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before Accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures of the new Member States.

Additional assistance has also been provided through Multi-country/Horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, OLAF, etc.

The Phare Management Committee approved the TF 2004 National Programme for Hungary on 7 July 2005. The programme was then approved by the Commission with Decision C(2006) 3335 of 3 July 2006, which was then notified to the national authorities.

TF funds are used to support IB through twinning, twinning light, technical assistance, and investments to provide the necessary equipment in order to implement the acquis .

The Transition Facility 2006 National programme for Hungary provides €6,664,400 for:

AGRICULTURE €2 million

- Development of e-government solutions in the CAP administration

- Preparation of the county offices of agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and rural Development for their tasks concerning the implementation of CAP and its current reforms in the field of IT

- Strengthening service capacities of veterinary and phyto-sanitary BIPs, and development of veterinary IT systems at country level

ENVIRONMENT €1.1 million

- Steps towards the Monitoring and Management in line with the Birds (79/409/EEC) and the Habitats (92/43//EEC) Directives

- Institutional Development of the Hydromorphological Monitoring, Hungary

GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND CIVIL SOCIETY €1.85 million

- Civil society organisations and the implementation of the anti-discrimination law

- Higher Education institutional capacity building in connection with the Bologna requirements

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION €0.6 million

- Improvement of the efficiency of risk-based selection of taxpayers for audit

- Development of Audit Documentation IT system

ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1 million

- Unallocated IB Envelope

Implementation

- Phare 2003 – finalisation of payments

At the end of the disbursement period for the 2003 Phare national programme, 96.6% of the programme had been disbursed (including CBC).

This data takes into account the extensions granted to certain elements of the Phare National Programme for Hungary in 2003.

- Phare 2004 – rate of contracting

At the end of the contracting period for the 2004 programme on 30 November 2006, 98,5% of the programme had been contracted.

- Institution Building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around € 256 million of pre- and post accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been deployed in Hungary from Phare programmes (2003) and Transition Facility (2004-2006).

Implementation of Phare in Hungary is considered successful in most areas, where most projects are reaching foreseen objectives and Phare assistance provide real value added to scarce public funds.

The Twinning instrument continues to be used successfully in some priority areas and helped Hungary to prepare for the implementation of EU policies and laws.

6.3. Results and Impact

State of play for JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, only one JMC meeting took place in June 2006, in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which established an integrated monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under implementation.

The JMC meeting identified a number of problematic projects and as there was not time to discuss them in detail requested a written report from the NAC services on the impact of these problems on results and objectives as well as possible financial consequences.

In the year 2006, two rounds of Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings took place. The first round of SMSC meetings took place between January and April and second round between June and November. The following sectors to be monitored in Hungary are: Agriculture, CBC, Social and Health, Political Criteria, Environment, Internal Market/Transport and Nuclear Safety, Regional Development, European Social Fund and SME, Public Finance and Customs, Justice and Home Affairs.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006 (lessons learned)

Overall responsibility for monitoring of the Phare programme lies with the NAC in the National Development Office. Activities in this area were carried out on the basis of the Evaluation Plan on decentralisation of monitoring and Evaluation contracted by the NDO on the ground of the requirements of the European Commission.

The independent evaluator prepared Interim Evaluation reports in order to evaluate all Phare sectors in 2006. The evaluator prepared the CSER for the JMC of June 2006.

The conclusions available from the Interim Evaluation reports are that on the whole, Hungary has performed well in the implementation of Phare assistance and this assistance has satisfactorily supported the institution building related to the accession process.

Depending on the sector, the effectiveness was considered satisfactory and management efficiency to overcome delays adequate or unsatisfactory at least for seven sectors. There is a strong need for different training activities in various sectors. The absorption capacity of the beneficiary for very select sectors needs to be improved. Other problems were related to late start of covenant preparation and management of co-financing funds, changing procurement rules and introduction of EDIS.

I.7. LATVIA

7.1. Summary

In 2006, Latvia continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS).

Since May 2004 procurement is carried out under the entire responsibility of the Latvian authorities applying national procurement rules. The Ministry of Finance, Central Financing and Contracting Agency (CFCA) and the Society Integration Foundation are fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continued to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and 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 Riga as of July 2005, residual functions related to the exercising of Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) have been fully exercised by the Commission headquarters.

7.2. Phare/pre-accession and Transition Facility assistance in 2006

For the period 2004 – 2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Latvian authorities and the European Commission on 10 August 2004.

Programming

A total of €4,025,000 was allocated under the 2006 Transition Facility budget for Latvia.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through multi-country/horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, etc.

The Phare Management Committee gave a favourable opinion to the Transition Facility 2005 National Programme for Latvia in May 2006. The programme was then approved by Commission Decision C(2006)3076 of 10 July 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Latvia provides €4,025,000 for:

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS €1.23 MILLION

- To further strengthen the capacity of the State Police, to strengthen the administrative capacity in the areas of visa issuance, migration and implementation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) and to improve circulating, processing and safekeeping of immigration case files;

FINANCIAL CONTROL AND PROTECTION OF EU FUNDS €0.545 MILLION

- To further strengthen the administrative capacity of the State Audit Office in terms of introducing inter alia a quality management system;

ENVIRONMENT €0.220 MILLION

- To build capacity of the State Hazardous Waste Management Agency;

CONSUMER PROTECTION € 0.730 MILLION

- To strengthen the Market Surveillance System;

OVERALL ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1.3 MILLION

- Institution Building Facility for twinning light and technical assistance.

Implementation

- Phare 2003 – finalisation of contracting and payments

By the end of the disbursement periods in 2006, 87 % of the Phare 2003 programmes had been disbursed.

- Transition Facility 2004 – rate of contracting

By the end of the contracting period in 2006, the contracting rate for the programme was 82%.

- Institution building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around € 68 million of pre- and post-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country or nuclear programmes) has been deployed in Latvia from Phare programmes 2003 and the TF 2004 – 2006.

Phare assistance has been particularly successful in the fields of civil society and society integration, statistics and internal market. Good results have also been achieved in the area of public finance in the field of tax control improvement.

In 2006, Twinning continued to be the main implementing instrument in many areas of the acquis in Latvia and has helped the Latvian administration to further strengthen its capacities to implement and enforce EC legislation. On the whole Latvia has made good use of Phare and Transition Facility assistance. Institution building with the support of Phare and the Transition Facility and investment with Phare assistance progressed well.

7.3. Results and impact

State of play of JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two JMC meetings took place in January and July 2006. At these meetings issues such as further improvement of project management and reporting were discussed and proposals for remedial actions were made.

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 SMSC meetings took place in 2006, the first round took place in April and May 2006, the second round was organised in October 2006. The 13 monitoring sectors cover: Civil Society; Society Integration; Justice; Home affairs; CBC; Agriculture; Environment and nuclear safety; Energy and Market and Anti-trust surveillance; Public Finance; Statistics; Regional development; Social matters; Health sector. For each sector a monitoring report is produced.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006 (lessons learned)

Overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of the Phare programme in Latvia lies with the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The contract with the independent evaluator financed under the 2004 Phare programme was signed in June 2006 and is valid until August 2007.

In 2006, six evaluation reports and one country summary evaluation report were prepared by the independent external evaluator. The reports covered all the monitoring sectors which had been regrouped with the agreement of the Commission into six evaluation sectors. The evaluation reports were provided in two parts, in May and December 2006 respectively, as follows:

- Public Finance

- Justice, Interior

- Social policy, Civil Society and Society Integration, Health

- Regional Development/ESC

- Energy and Market and Anti-Trust Surveillance, Statistics

- Agriculture, Environment and Nuclear Safety

The latest Country summary report concluded that the implementation of the Phare and TF programmes for Latvia was evaluated in most sectors as “good”. Sectors relevance was assessed as “excellent”, while in effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability were assessed as good.

EU programmes are considered relevant. Effectiveness problems have developed for several projects due to complications with procurement procedures, contract signing and timely implementation of the projects. Project efficiency varies according to sectors. Impact and sustainability criteria are good; however they still often depend on political will to promote development of the achieved results.

I.8. LITHUANIA

8.1. Summary

In its second year of accession, Lithuania continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis, in line with the 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-ante control and twinning. The CPMA is fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continued to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and 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 Vilnius as of July 2005, residual functions related to the exercising of Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) have been fully exercised by the Commission headquarters.

8.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004 – 2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Lithuanian authorities and the European Commission on 3 November 2004.

Programming

A total of €3,980,000 was allocated under the 2006 Transition Facility budget for Lithuania.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through multi-country/horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, OLAF etc.

The Phare Management Committee gave a favourable opinion to the Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Lithuania in July 2006. The programme was then approved by Commission Decision C/2006/3357 of 31 July 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Lithuania provides €3,980,000 for:

CUSTOMS UNION €0.59 MILLION

- Further improving intelligence and statistical information analysis of the Customs services; enhancing anti-corruption activities in the Lithuanian Customs;

VETERINARY SERVICES €1.065 MILLION

- Strengthening of control on bacterial zoonoses and poultry viral diseases; strengthening the control system for the protection of animals in Lithuania;

NUCLEAR SAFETY €0.825 MILLION

- Support to VATESI in safety assessment of Ignalina NPP; building of institutional capacities in the field of low and intermediate level radioactive waste

OVERALL ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1.5 MILLION

- Unallocated institution building envelope for twinning light and technical assistance.

Implementation

- Phare 2003 – finalisation of contracting and payments

By the end of the disbursement period in 2006, 81% of the Phare 2003 programmes had been disbursed.

- Transition Facility 2004 – rate of contracting

By the end of the contracting period in 2006, the contracting rate for the programme was 90.5%.

- Institution building highlights

During 2006, a total of €95.5 million of pre and post-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country or nuclear programmes) has been deployed in Lithuania from Phare programmes 2003 and the Transition Facility 2004 – 2006.

Phare and Transition Facility assistance have contributed to strengthen the administrative and institutional capacities of many institutions to enable them to implement and enforce EU policies more effectively at Member State level. Phare and TF assistance has been particularly successful in the field of environment and the justice and home affairs sectors.

In 2006, Twinning continued to be the main implementing instrument in many areas in Lithuania and has helped the Lithuanian administration to further strengthen its capacities to implement and enforce EC legislation. On the whole Lithuania has made good use of Phare and Transition Facility assistance. Institution building with the support of Phare and the Transition Facility and investment with Phare assistance progressed well.

8.3. Results and impact

State of play of JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two JMC meetings took place in April and October 2006. At these meetings issues such as further improvement of project management and reporting were discussed and proposals for remedial actions were made.

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 SMSC meetings took place in 2006, the first round from February until May, and the second round from August until December 2006. The sectors cover Environment; Justice and Home Affairs; Public Administration, Public Finance and Customs; Economic and Social Cohesion; Nuclear Safety, Energy and Transport; Preparation for Structural Funds, Cross Border Co-operation; Internal Market and Statistics; Agriculture and Fisheries. For each sector a monitoring report is produced.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006 (lessons learned)

Overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation of the Phare programme in Lithuania lies with the 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 March 2005. The relevant contract financed under the 2004 TF programme was signed in February 2006.

In 2006, nine sectoral evaluation reports and two country summary evaluation reports were prepared by the independent external evaluator in March and September 2006.

The evaluation reports covered the following areas: internal market, statistics and social affairs; public administration, public finance and customs; nuclear safety, energy and transport; economic and social cohesion; preparation for structural funds; environment; justice and home affairs; agriculture.

The main findings of the country summary evaluation reports confirm that overall impact of the Phare programme has been positive as it continued to contribute to strengthen institutional capacities. Sectors that were rated as good included the environment and justice and home affairs sectors. For instance in the environment sector, the Phare programme contributed to put in place necessary legislation and to enhance inter-institutional cooperation, but also raised awareness about nature protection. However, in the agriculture sector the achievements were only rated satisfactory, the results had very often been too ambitious and their achievements were constrained by the absence of the relevant governmental decisions.

I.9. MALTA

9.1. Summary

In 2006, Malta continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the EDIS.

Since June 2004 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Maltese authorities applying national procurement rules. The Department of Contracts (DoC) within the Ministry of Finance is fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continued to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes 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 Transition Team in the Representation in Valletta as of January 2005, DG Enlargement continues to exercise the residual functions related to the Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

9.2. Pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Maltese authorities and the European Commission on 22 July 2004.

Programming

A total of €3,315,000 was allocated to Malta under the 2006 Transition Facility budget.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before Accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

Additional assistance was also provided through Multi-country/Horizontal programmes, Sigma, TAIEX, OLAF, etc.

The Phare Management Committee approved the TF 2006 National Programme for Malta in June 2006. The programme was then approved by the Commission through its Decision C(2006)3343 of 27 July 2006, which was notified to the national authorities on the same day.

Transition Facility funds are used to support institution building through twinning, twinning light, technical assistance, and investments to provide the necessary equipment in order to implement the acquis .

The Transition Facility 2006 National Programme for Malta provides €3,315,000 for:

INTERNAL MARKET €1.25 million

- Malta Customs Programme for Modernisation of IT Systems

ENVIRONMENT €0.46 million

- Institution Building in the Environment Sector

ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY €1.6 million

- Institution Building Facility

Implementation

- PAP 2003 – finalisation of payments

The disbursement deadline of 2003 Pre-Accession programme was 30 November 2006. At that date, 70.5% of the programme had been disbursed. An extension disbursement period was granted concerning a project involving significant amounts.

- Transition Facility 2004 – rate of contracting

At the end of the contracting period for the 2004 programme on 15 December 2006, 95% of the programme had been contracted.

- Institution Building highlights

During the year 2006, a total of around €29 million of pre-accession assistance from national allocation (not including horizontal and multi-country programmes) has been deployed in Malta from PAP (2003) and Transition Facility (2004-2006).

Overall the performance of the PAP and Transition Facility in Malta is considered as satisfactory in terms of relevance and implementation of most projects.

The Twinning instrument continues to be used successfully in many priority areas and helped Malta to prepare for the implementation of EU policies and laws.

9.3. Results and Impact

State of play for JMC / SMSC development

In 2006, two JMC meetings took place in May and November 2006, in line with the revised JMC Mandate introduced in the new Member States in May 2004, which establish an integrated monitoring and evaluation system over the programmes under implementation.

The JMC meetings were fruitful and helped to address the problems concerning implementation of the ongoing programmes. In particular, issues such as further improvement of project management, sectoral and financial monitoring and reporting were discussed and proposals for remedial actions were made.

For the year 2006, two rounds of Sector Monitoring Sub-Committee (SMSC) meetings have taken place in March and September 2006. There are three monitoring sectors in Malta: Environment and Agriculture, Transport and Other sectors.

Monitoring and Evaluation Reports in 2006 (lessons learned)

Overall responsibility for monitoring and interim evaluation of the Pre-Accession and Transition Facility programmes in Malta lies with 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, which was endorsed by EC in February 2005. The new contract with the independent evaluator was signed on 7 August 2006, and 1 Interim Evaluation Report was completed.

Due to the small size of the Malta programmes, the interim evaluation is carried out on the overall programmes and not on a sector by sector basis.

The latest interim evaluation report concluded that the implementation of the Pre-Accession (PAP) and Transition Facility (TF) programmes for Malta is overall satisfactory.

The projects were assessed to be highly relevant to the needs of the respective beneficiaries of the assistance in terms of addressing gaps in the institutional capacity to implement the acquis . For many cases, project design was considered insufficient in terms of Indicators of Achievement.

While efficiency was assessed to be satisfactory overall, there was evidence of a number of weaknesses. These are mostly related to delays in implementation such as late start to the preparation of terms of reference and technical specifications. Effectiveness was rated as satisfactory overall. However, the effectiveness of some projects was affected by staff availability to attend the training envisaged, the poor timing of the related activities, which impacted on the installation of equipment etc., and the squeezing of implementation time due to the late contracting of assistance.

Positive impacts and sustainable results were generated by many twinning and twinning light projects. Staff turnover and staff shortages continue to pose a risk to the sustainability of the assistance although efforts are made to solve this issue.

I.10. POLAND

10.1. Summary

In 2006, Poland continued to implement successfully both pre-accession and post-accession assistance to address the remaining needs related to institution building for the implementation of the acquis , in line with the EDIS.

Since February 2005 implementation is carried out under the entire responsibility of Polish authorities applying national procurement rules. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU), the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PAED) and the Implementing Authority for Phare Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes (IA-CBC) are fully responsible for the daily implementation of the projects.

The National Aid Coordinator (NAC) continues to exercise the programming function for the Transition Facility programmes and monitoring of both Phare and 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 Warsaw as of July 2005, DG Enlargement continues to exercise the residual functions related to Commission responsibilities (monitoring, payments, closure, etc.) in line with the Financial Regulation.

10.2. Phare/pre-accession financial and Transition assistance in 2006

For the period 2004-2006, a Transition Facility has been created by Art 34 of the Act of Accession to address the continued need for strengthening institutional capacity in certain areas through actions which cannot be financed by the Structural Funds. The implementation of EU assistance available under the Transition Facility is managed by the Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Transition Facility signed between the Polish authorities and the European Commission on 5 November 2004.

Programming

A total of € 22,126,800 was allocated to Poland under the 2006 Transition Facility budget.

Although the most urgent needs as regards acquis implementation have been addressed before Accession, the Transition Facility provides further support in order to consolidate the functioning of administrative structures on par with those of other Member States.

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