RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) ON DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION WITH SOUTH AFRICA
Date: 1996-10-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, South Africa, comitology, cooperation policy, development aid

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 04.10.1996 
COM(96) 459  final 

95/0110 (SYN) 

RE-EXAMINED  PROPOSAL  FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION  (EC) ON 
DEVELOPMENT  COOPERATION WITH  SOUTH AFRICA 

(presented by the Commission  pursuant to Article  189 c (d) 
of the EC Treaty) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

(concerning  the  amendments  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  [on  second  reading 
under the cooperation  procedure]  and  accepted  or rejected  by the  Commission) 

Subject: 

Re-examined  proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  (EC)  on  development 
cooperation with  South  Africa. 

Interinstitutional  reference: 
Cooperation  procedure,  second  reading Art.  189 C, d 

95/0110 (SYN) 

Background: 

On  10 May  1995, the Commission presented to the Council  and to the Parliament 
a proposal for  a Council  Regulation1  aiming to give a legal base to Budget Line 
B 7-3200, the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development in South 
Africa. 

The  proposed  Council  Regulation  on  development  cooperation  activities  in  the 
Republic of South Africa,  based on Article  130 W of the Treaty, is subject to the 
cooperation  procedure  (Art.  189 C of the Treaty). 

According  to the  cooperation  procedure,  the Parliament  expressed  its  opinion  in 
first  reading  on  10 October  19952 and presented  a total  of 6 amendments.  Some 
of the Parliament amendments have been included in the draft  Regulation  during 
the discussions between the Commission and the Council which took place in the 
last  quarter  of  1995. 

The Council adopted on 18 March  1996 a common position3 and the Commission 
agreed  to the new dispositions resulting from  the discussions in the Council  as it 
considered  that they  contributed  to a better  definition  of the legal  framework  of 
the  EPRD  in  South  Africa,  the  only  exceptions  concerning  the  comitology,  the 
duration  of the Regulation  and the financing  of the EPRD4. 

The Parliament has expressed its opinion in second reading on  18 July  19965 and 
adopted 4 amendments. These amendments concern: the role of Government and 
civil  society  in the policy  dialogue  and the involvment  of Member  States in the 
programming  exercise;  the  authority  of  the  Head  of  Delegation  in  financial 
matters; the comitology;  references  to a time limit  and to a financial  envelope. 

The  Commission  presents  a  re-examined  proposal  including  the  amendments 
considered  acceptable,  according to Art.  189 C - d of the Treaty. 

1 COM (95)  174 final,  JO C 235 of 09.09.1995, p. 5 
2 JO C 287 of  30.10.1995, p. 29 
3 doc.  12784/1/95  of  18 March  1996 
4 SEC (96)  627 final  of  11.04.1996 
5EP  166.186 

Commentary  on the amendments  adopted  by the European 
Parliament  and  accepted  or rejected  by the  Commission 

The Commission  does not  consider  acceptable  most of Amendment  1 and the whole of 
Amendment  2, whereas  it  considers  as acceptable  part  of  Amendment  3 and  the whole 
of Amendment 4. 

Amendment  N°  1 

The  Commission  agrees  with  the  renewed  reference  to  the  political  dialogue  with  the 
South African  Government, the only possible counterpart,  in the Commission  view, in a 
meaningful  policy  dialogue.  The  Commission  therefore  accepts  this  part  of  the 
amendment,  as formulated  in the text of the Common  Position. 

On the other hand, with  regard  to the role of the National Development  Agency  (South 
African  NGOs umbrella organisation, planned but not yet established) in the cooperation 
policy  dialogue, the Commission considers that this body, not established yet, should not 
be  an  interlocutor  of  the  Commission  on policy  matters  but,  once  established,  a  useful 
umbrella  organisation  for  NGOs, for  channelling  funds  towards NGO projects  coherent 
with  sectoral  priorities  agreed  upon  by  the  South  African  Government  and  the 
Commission.  The  Commission  therefore  does  not  consider  acceptable  this  part  of  the 
amendment. 

The  Parliament  also  deletes  the  reference  to  coordination  measures  between  the 
Commission  and  the  Council  with  regard  to  the  role  of  the  SA  Committee  and  the 
programming exercise, introduced in the common position and not present in the original 
proposal  of  the  Commission.  In this  respect,  the  Commission  rallied  with  the  common 
position on the coordination/programming exercise for the parallelism with the procedures 
of  the  Lomé  Convention  and  therefore  it  does  not  consider  acceptable  this  part  of  the 
amendment. 

Amendment  N°  2 

The Commission  does not favour  a specific  refence to an amount under which the Head 
of Delegation  can authorise expenditures and operations as it is part of the Commission' 
s Mandate  to  execute  Budget  Line B  7-3200  and  such  matters  should  not  be  part  of  a 
Regulation. 

Amendment  N°  3 

The Commission  agrees with the European Parliament that a Il-a type of Committee (as 
proposed  originally  by the Commission) is more appropriate for EPRD matters and that 
the  Common  Position  reached  by  the  Council  (Ill-a  type  of  Committee)  should  be 
amended  accordingly. 

Ci  the  OKÙÔT  mnd, the participation  of a member of the Committee  on Development and 
Cooperation  of the Parliament  does not conform  to the decision  of the Council  in  1987 
concerning comitology procedures. The proposed Committee forms part of the procedures 
organizing  the execution  of the Budget  by  the Commission.  The Commission  therefore 
does not  consider  acceptable  this part  of the  amendment. 

Amendment  N°  4 

The Commission  agrees with the Amendment  proposed by the European Parliament not 
to refer  to an expiry  date and a financial  envelope, as this is an area of responsibility  of 
the budgetary  authority. 

RE-EXAMINED  PROPOSAL  FOR THE COUNCIL REGULATION  (EC) ON 
DEVELOPMENT  COOPERATION  WITH  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Article  8 should  read  as follows: 

1. 

2. 

"The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  a  committee  to  be  known  as  the  "South 
Africa  Committee",  consisting  of  representatives  of  the  Member  States  and 
chaired  by the representative  of the  Commission. 

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

The  Commission  shall  adopt  measures  which  apply  immediately.  However,  if 
these  measures  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  they 
shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith.  In that event 
the  Commission  may  defer  application  of the measures which it has adopted  for 
a period  of not  more than  one month  from  the date  of  such  communication. 

The Council, acting by a qualified  majority,  may take a different  decision within 
the time  limit  referred  to in the previous  paragraph". 

Article  10 should  read  as  follows: 

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

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

The  adoption  of  Article  10 in the  above format,  would  result  in  deleting  the  following 
sentence introduced as the last Recital of the preamble of the Common Position adopted 
by the Council: 

"Whereas  a  financial  reference  amount,  within  the  meaning  of  point  2  of  the 
Declaration  by  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  of  6 
March  1995, is included  in this Regulation  for  the  duration  of  the  programme,, 
without  thereby  affecting  the powers of the budgetary  authority". 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 459  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

11 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-96-468-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-08947-8 

Office  for  Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

s~