Council Regulation (EC) No 851/98 of 20 April 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 relating to aid for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Date: 1998-04-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, Yugoslavia, aid to refugees, economic reconstruction, invitation to tender, works contract

24. 4. 98

‹

EN

‹

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 122/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 851/98

of 20 April 1998

amending Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 relating to aid for Bosnia and
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former
Herzegovina, Croatia,
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof,

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

Having regard to the opinion of
liament (2),

the European Par-

Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 (3) deals with
economic development, the restoration of civil society
and cooperation between the Republics of former Yugo-
slavia in accordance with the regional approach, as well as
infrastructure
with repair work and the renovation of
whilst pressing ahead with political
and economic
reforms;

is

for

recognized in order

Whereas, given the exceptional circumstances in the
countries covered by this Regulation, the need for more
flexible procedures
the
Commission to accelerate implementation of projects
under Regulation (EC) No 1628/96, in order thereby to
deliver more efficiently the assistance of the Community
to this region; whereas the Commission has declared its
intention to increase the effectiveness of reconstruction
aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to speed up imple-
mentation of aid programmes for the return of refugees
and displaced persons, by appointing a delegate with
special authority who would assume responsibility locally
for all Commission activities in this field, enjoy largely
autonomous powers to act and take decisions and be
assisted by a strong management team and supported by
specially recruited technical assistance and monitoring
teams;

Whereas a disparity persists between the amount of
appropriations made available by the budgetary authority
and the unsatisfactory level of implementation owing to
an inadequate legislative framework, which results in a
lack of visibility for the European Union, the biggest
donor;

that

Whereas Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1628/96
service contracts not exceeding ECU
provides
200 000 may be awarded by private treaty, and it is con-
sidered that the circumstances in the region justify spe-
cific provisions for
technical assistance
the award of
contracts not exceeding ECU 400 000 by private treaty,
and monitoring of
especially for
projects;

technical

support

Whereas, according to Article 116 of the Financial Regu-
lation, works and supply contracts may be awarded by
geographically or otherwise restricted tendering pro-
cedures in certain exceptional situations and subject to
certain conditions;

Whereas most of the infrastructure projects by their very
nature have a strong local component
for
reasons of speed and efficiency, award procedures limited
to one of the beneficiary countries;

justifying,

the particular

characteristics of

Whereas
local
market may not allow recourse to this procedure or if this
procedure does not lead to the award of a contract, a
private treaty with international contractors could be justi-
fied;

the

Whereas projects facilitating the return of refugees should
benefit from restricted tendering procedures in order to
shorten the delays to a strict minimum;

(1) OJ C 100, 2. 4. 1998, p. 21.
(2) Opinion delivered on 2 April 1998 (not yet published in

Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 204, 14. 8. 1996, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 2240/97 (OJ L 307, 12. 11. 1997, p. 1).

Whereas in these circumstances and in the context of this
Regulation, Article 116 of the Financial Regulation may
in particular be applied by the Commission to the above
cases;

L 122/2

‹

EN

‹

Official Journal of the European Communities

24. 4. 98

that

Whereas Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1628/96
provides
financing decisions exceeding ECU 2
million need approval of the Committee provided for in
Article 12 of the said Regulation; whereas this amount has
to be increased to ECU 5 million in order to increase
expediency;

Whereas there should be coherence between the approach
of the Council and that of the Commission, and therefore,
Community assistance should be implemented in close
cooperation between the Council and the Commission,
and in this
respect, close coordination between the
Council and the Commission, and when appropriate with
is desirable to establish a
the High Representative,
common view on the fulfilment of commitments under
the peace agreements and/or towards regional stability;

Whereas it is of particular importance that, when the
Commission provides assistance, after consultation with
the Central Government and the High Representative, by
way of
form of
programmes and cooperation schemes, to regional and
the
local government bodies including municipalities,
Commission is also assisted by the Committee referred to
in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1628/96;

and in the

agreements

financial

Whereas, insofar as the High Representative exercises the
functions of the Central Government in accordance with
the powers accorded to him, he shall be eligible for such
assistance;

Whereas, in order to increase transparency of Community
aid and to ensure that the greatest possible synergies are
achieved between the Community’s projects and those of
the Member States in the context of the objective of
decentralization, regular meetings should be held locally
the
between the Commission and representatives of
Member States,
to consult, exchange information and
coordinate activities,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 is amended as follows:

1. the following sentence shall be added to Article 9:

‘When service contracts take the form of technical
assistance, they may be awarded by private treaty for
operations not exceeding ECU 400 000 especially to
prepare, monitor or evaluate Community aid.’;

2. the following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 9a

In the context of this Regulation, Article 116 of the
Financial Regulation may in particular be applied by
the Commission in the following cases:

— works contracts not exceeding ECU 3 million, as
well as supply contracts not exceeding ECU 1
million, may be awarded by procedures limited to
one of the beneficially countries covered by this
Regulation, and in cases of contracts exceeding
ECU 400 000, subject to prior publication or infor-
mation on a local basis,

— in extraordinary circumstances, where the particular
characteristics of the local market do not allow
recourse to the procedures referred to in the first
indent or where these procedures do not lead to
the award of a contract, works contracts not ex-
ceeding ECU 3 million and supply contracts not
exceeding ECU 1 million may be awarded by
private treaty to natural or legal persons in ac-
cordance with Article 9 of this Regulation,

— works contracts, aimed at facilitating the return of
refugees, rebuilding infrastructure and other indi-
vidual or collective facilities damaged in the
fighting, or the integration or reintegration of refu-
gees, displaced persons and former soldiers into
working life, exceeding ECU 3 million and not
exceeding ECU 10 million, may be awarded by
restricted invitations to tender.’;

3. Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

decisions

Financing

5 million are

‘1.
exceeding ECU 5
million shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure provided for
in Article 12(2). The
Committee provided for in Article 12 shall be
informed of projects involving financing of ECU 5
million or less; as far as projects between ECU 2
million and
the
Committee provided for in Article 12 shall be
informed in advance.
in particular,
It
receive prior information and be fully informed as
regards contracts awarded under the procedures
referred to in the second indent of Article 9a. The
Commission shall provide, on a monthly basis, a
list of all legal and natural persons having benefited
from contracts awarded by the Commission under
this Regulation.

concerned,

should,

The Commission shall provide information and
consult regularly, at a monthly conference held
locally with representatives of the Member States in
the recipient countries, on proposed projects and
shall
relevant
programmes of the Member States.’;

them with

coordinate

the

(b) the following paragraph shall be added:

‘3.
The procedures referred to in the first para-
graph of this Article, as well as in Article 12(2),
shall also apply when the Commission provides
assistance to regional and local government bodies
directly eligible for Community assistance by way

24. 4. 98

‹

EN

‹

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 122/3

of financial agreements and in the form of contri-
butions to programmes and cooperation schemes as
referred to in Article 4. The Commission should do
so after consultation with the Central Government
as well as, in the case of Bosnia, the High Repre-
sentative. Such assistance may also be provided to
the High Representative, insofar as he exercises the
functions of the Central Government in Bosnia in
accordance with the powers accorded to him.’;

4. in Article 13 the following paragraph shall be added:

‘4.
The Commission will invite once per year, and
for the first time not later than one month after the
adoption of this Regulation, by publication in the Offi-
cial Journal and via the Internet, expressions of in-
terest from eligible natural or legal persons wishing to

participate in the implementation of Community assis-
tance under this Regulation. Expressions of interest
shall be registered in a database which shall be kept up
to date and which shall form part of the information
resources which the Commission shall consult before
awarding contracts.’.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day fol-
lowing that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.

It shall apply until 31 December 1999.

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

Done at Luxembourg, 20 April 1998.

For the Council

The President

J. CUNNINGHAM