Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on 'Tacis - Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States and Mongolia'
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: Commonwealth of Independent States, EU programme, Mongolia, technical cooperation, trade policy

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will explicitly accept or refuse such shipments. Failure
to respond to a request cannot and should not under
any circumstances be interpreted as tacit agreement to
receive shipments.

2.3.
Consequently, the Committee considers it neces-
sary that the customs authorities of a Member State
should, before authorizing the export of ‘green’ list
waste, check that the customs and environmental au-
thorities of the receiving country have given formal
consent to the shipment. They should also be satisfied
that the applicant Community exporting country has

properly checked and proven that the receiving plant in
the country of destination has the facilities to process,
recycle and upgrade the exported waste. This should
possibly be endorsed by the authorities of the country
of destination before final authorization is given.

2.4.
Lastly, the Committee wishes to echo a request
made by the European Parliament that certain types of
waste, textile waste in particular, which have been
appropriately processed and packaged, should no longer
be considered as waste and should be transferred to the
general regime governing the free movement of goods.

Brussels, 29 April 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘Tacis — Technical Assistance to the
Commonwealth of Independent States and Mongolia’

(98/C 214/22)

At its plenary session on 10 July 1997 the Economic and Social Committee decided to draw
up an opinion on ‘Tacis — Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States
and Mongolia’.

At its plenary session on 29-30 October 1997 the Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its
Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion instead of an information report.

The Section for External Relations, Trade and Development Policy, which was responsible
for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 15 April 1998. The
rapporteur was Mr Hamro-Drotz.

At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 90 votes to one, with one abstention.

1.

Introduction

‘Tacis’ stands for ‘Technical Assistance to the Common-
wealth of Independent States’ and it is the EU’s pro-
gramme for technical assistance to the New Independent
States (NIS) of eastern and south-eastern Europe and
Mongolia.

The twelve NIS are the Russian Federation, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Armenia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and
Tajikistan. Mongolia has been included in the pro-
gramme since 1993. The three Baltic States were included
in 1991 but since 1992 they have been covered by the
Phare programme.

European integration occupies a central position in the
work of the ESC and the Committee has previously
issued opinions and reports on the EU’s relations with
Russia and the other NIS. These have been taken into
account in the present opinion without referring directly
to them.

Key facts and figures on the Tacis programme and the
current situation are presented in Appendix A.

2. Conclusions

In the course of drawing up this opinion, the Economic
and Social Committee wrote to interested parties in the

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Tacis partner countries asking them for their views on
the programme and its effectiveness in their countries.
In January 1998 representatives of these groups in some
of the countries concerned were invited to attend a
hearing organized by the ESC in Brussels. In addition,
the Committee wrote to leading socio-economic organi-
zations in the EU asking them for their views on the
Tacis programme.

3.1.
The sectoral objectives of the Tacis programme
(relating to energy, agriculture, etc.) should be defined
more closely. In Tacis programming, further efforts
should be made to ensure that the economic, political,
social and environmental objectives set for projects are
as clear-cut as possible. Efforts should also be made to
assess the effects of planned Tacis projects, including
their employment impact.

These views are documented separately and are included
in Appendices B and C. They have also been taken into
account in the Committee’s conclusions and recommen-
dations below.

The Economic and Social Committee notes that:

— so far the Tacis programme has been relatively
successful
in achieving the stated objectives of
helping the partner countries make the transition to a
market economy and promoting the democratization
process. The Committee is, however, aware that the
Court of Auditors has singled out Tacis (and Phare)
for serious criticism with regard to its activities in
1996, while the European Parliament is refusing to
approve the European Commission’s account of its
spending in 1996 until it has dealt with these aid
programmes;

— if the partner countries are to meet these objectives
they will continue to need assistance of various kinds
on a large scale from the EU and its Member States,
as well as from other countries and international
financial institutions and organizations;

— the Tacis programme will play a prominent role in
the development of relations between the EU and
the partner countries in the years ahead, particularly
in view of the entry into force of the Partnership
and Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) and the EU’s
current moves towards enlargement in central Euro-
pe. Tacis will have to focus
increasingly on
implementation of the objectives of the PCAs;

— the preparations now under way for a new Tacis
programme offer the EU an excellent opportunity to
significantly step up its cooperation with the partner
countries. This opportunity should be exploited so
that the new Regulation can be introduced with
effect from the beginning of 2000.

3. Recommendations

The present division of Tacis into national programmes,
regional programmes (Inter-state and Cross-border
Cooperation Programmes and the Nuclear Safety Pro-
gramme) and the Facilities is well-founded and the ESC
makes the following recommendations for improving
the effectiveness of the current Tacis programme and,
in particular, for the new Tacis regulation now in
preparation:

The main emphasis in Tacis should continue to be
on assistance, promoting a functioning economy and
entrepreneurship in partner countries, boosting the
international competitiveness of SMEs and industry,
improving management training and know-how, putting
in place effective social legislation and a social security
system and developing infrastructure, transport net-
works and the agricultural sector on a broad front.

These measures should be accompanied by action to
support reform processes which are founded on the
principles of civil society, democracy and the rule of
law. For there to be a well-functioning economy there
must also be an efficient labour market and effective
social dialogue between independent interest groups
representing the two sides of industry, the farming
community etc., as well as between these groups and
government. The partner countries should endeavour to
create and develop these structures, know-how and
tripartite arrangements with Tacis aid.

Consideration should be given to separating the Nuclear
Safety Programme from the overall framework of the
Tacis programme with a view to maximizing efficiency
in administering this important operation, with its heavy
resource requirements.

3.2. More resources should be devoted to regional
programmes so as to strengthen cooperation on a wide
front between the partner countries and between these
countries and their neighbours. There should also be due
regard for this in the preparations for EU enlargement in
central Europe.

There must be marked improvement in the management
and coordination of projects under the Tacis Cross-
border Cooperation (CBC) Programmes so that the
programmes function effectively. The present arrange-
ments for cofinancing under a number of programmes
(Tacis, Phare and Interreg) should be made more flexible.

3.3.
The recommendations for improving the effec-
tiveness of the Tacis programme set out in the Com-
mission’s evaluation report are, by and large, along
the right lines. The ESC is pleased to note that the
Commission has already begun to take appropriate steps
and provide relevant guidance. The shortcomings

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identified in the report should be remedied before the
new Regulation comes into force.

sufficient know-how to carry out this advisory function
on a credible basis, Tacis projects should be initiated
specifically to eliminate this deficiency.

There is still a need to simplify and streamline the
administration of programming under Tacis. The Phare
programme could serve as a general model in this regard.
Efforts to eliminate red tape, overlapping and poorly
coordinated work should be continued. The views of
socio-economic operators in the EU and Member States
could be useful to the EU in its endeavours to improve the
effectiveness of the Tacis programme. The Commission
and Member States should make use of these operators
in implementing the programme and also take account
of the views and priorities of operators in the partner
countries.

3.4.
Responsibility for management of the Tacis
programme should be transferred increasingly to the
partner countries. The Commission’s presence in the
partner countries should be stepped up by, inter alia,
opening new Tacis offices, and administrative pro-
cedures should be developed on a country-specific
basis in accordance with the level of development and
readiness of the country concerned.

Tacis should encourage initiative in the partner countries
so that assistance is channelled to the most important
projects from the point of view of the country concerned.
Increased use of local expertise should be supported,
and the partner countries should, according to the
circumstances in the country concerned, be given a
greater say in deciding on the programme’s guidelines
and implementation. Similarly, it should be endeavoured
to link Tacis projects to partner countries’ own develop-
ment projects and thereby establish a closer connection
with national and regional budgets, in part to secure
better co-financing. Tacis funding must also take account
of the progress made by the partner country in achieving
the objectives set for the programme.

The views of industry and business, employees, farmers,
consumers and other key socio-economic interest groups
in the partner countries should be taken into account in
the management of the Tacis programme by means of
appropriate social dialogue. The Tacis programme is
far more likely to succeed if these groups are consulted
about the programme’s objectives and priority areas
and about planned projects and involved in project
implementation and regular evaluation and monitoring
of projects, thus benefiting from these groups’ know-
ledge, experience and points of view.

With this in mind, the Democracy and Partnership and
Coordination Programmes, for example, should be
made to function in such a way as to enable closer
involvement by socio-economic operators in efforts to
develop society within the framework of the Tacis
programme. It should also be possible to use other
programmes, such as Bistro, for this purpose, and these
programmes should be made accessible to various
independent operators on the basis of objective criteria.

Tacis projects directed at SMEs, in particular, have
generated new business structures which, however, often
find it difficult to do well once Tacis funding has come
to an end. Socio-economic operators in the EU (industry
and business, farmers’ and employees’ groups, etc.) can
pass on expertise and know-how to the Tacis partner
countries and socio-economic operators
in these
countries in order to help them cope with situations like
this.

3.5.
Although every endeavour has been made to
provide ample information on the Tacis programme in
the partner countries, a determined effort is still required
in this regard. Channels for disseminating information
on Tacis in the partner countries should be strengthened
and where necessary specific Tacis projects should be
launched with a view to improving necessary know-how
and arrangements for handling and distributing infor-
mation. This should be done by, for example, involving
socio-economic players and their organizations in these
countries in the provision of information, where neces-
sary reinforcing their capacity to engage in such activity.
Among other things, there is a need in the partner
countries for regular provision of up-to-date information
and feedback on Tacis projects — including those which
have been completed — on a larger scale than at present.

3.6.
It must be ensured that adequate resources are
made available for the new Tacis Regulation in the EU’s
next budgetary framework. Efforts must also be made
to achieve better coordination of financial support with
other international and national donors. The incipient
cooperation between the EU, World Bank and EBRD is
an example of this. Similarly, new donors, such as the
European Investment Bank, should be involved in
coordinated assistance arrangements.

This calls for greater transparency between officials
responsible for Tacis in the partner countries, including
Tacis coordinators and socio-economic operators. To
this end, efforts should be made in the partner countries
to create advisory mechanisms and possibilities for
interaction in connection with the management of
Tacis. If representative socio-economic groups operating
independently in the partner countries do not possess

It should also be endeavoured through Tacis to establish
stable banking systems and stock markets in the partner
countries. This is a necessary precondition for attracting
domestic and foreign capital into productive invest-
ments. The development of the rule of law and a legal
framework supporting stable proprietary rights with the
aid of Tacis will continue to be of key importance for
investment. In particular, better opportunities must be

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created under Tacis for investment, etc. originating from
Member States.

the development of other human resources and adminis-
tration have an important role to play in this regard.

Norway has announced that it is prepared to negotiate
with the EU about taking part in the funding of,
inter alia, infrastructure investment under Tacis. The
Committee endorses the plans to extend Tacis to include
cooperation with Norway as it seems likely that Tacis
will become more effective as a result.

3.7.
In order to speed up structural reforms the Tacis
investment share should be raised significantly, provided
that there is a corresponding increase in the recipient
country’s funding share of such projects. In order to
boost investment in the partner countries it should be
possible to use funds earmarked for project preparation
to support project preparation by productive enterprises.
Part of Tacis funds should be deployed to underpin, inter
alia, environmental and other infrastructure projects in
the partner countries. In addition, it should be possible
to use concessionary interest rates to encourage such
investment.

The Committee would nevertheless stress that Tacis
should remain primarily a technical assistance pro-
gramme for, inter alia, enhancing conditions conducive
to investment. Investment in management training and

Brussels, 29 April 1998.

Tacis programming and project preparation and
3.8.
implementation should be speeded up, thereby also
making for more effective deployment of funds allocated
to the Tacis programme. The total resources allocated
to funding of the type available under the Bistro
Programme should be increased and the maximum rate
of interest for projects funded under this and similar
facilities programmes should be raised, among other
things in order to defray part of the excessive administra-
tive costs in relation to actual support.

3.9.
In future, the Economic and Social Committee
will endeavour to assist the Commission by presenting
its views on the programme and intensifying its contacts
with socio-economic operators in the partner countries.
To this end, the Committee intends to issue additional
opinions, to consolidate cooperation with the European
Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, to apprise
itself of the views and observations of operators in the
partner countries concerning Tacis activities in their
respective countries and to transmit this information to
the Commission and other EU bodies and to lend
its support to strengthening the economic and social
structures in partner countries proposed in this opinion.
By so doing, the ESC aims to support the achievement
of the objectives set for the EU’s Tacis programme.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS