COMMON POSITION (EC) No 63/98 adopted by the Council on 13 October 1998 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No /98 of ... amending Regulation (EC) No 1734/94 on financial and technical cooperation with the Occupied Territories
Date: 1998-10-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, Palestine question, financial cooperation, occupied territory, technical cooperation

C 388/4

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

14.12.98

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  63/98

adopted  by  the  Council  on  13  October  1998

with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No 

/98 of . . . amending Regulation (EC)

No  1734/94  on  financial  and  technical  cooperation  with  the  Occupied  Territories

(98/C 388/02)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION:

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Article  130w  thereof,

Article  1

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in
Article  189c  of  the  Treaty (1),

Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 1734/94 of 11 July
1994  on  financial  and  technical  cooperation  with  the
Occupied Territories (2) recognises that the setting up and
improvement  of  institutions  necessary  for  the  working  of
the  public  administration  are  crucial  to  the  development
process  in  the  West  Bank  and  Gaza  Strip;

Whereas temporary support is necessary for the recurrent
cost  of  the  Palestinian  public  sector;

Whereas  Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1734/94
extends the possibility of the combination of Community
measures  in  the  West  Bank  and  Gaza  Strip  with  Bank
financing  from  own  resources;

Whereas  it  is  considered  desirable  that  the  possibility  of
interest  rate  subsidy  be  extended  to  projects  in  the  West
Bank  and  Gaza  Strip  in  the  priority  areas  laid  down  in
Article  2(1)  of  that  Regulation;

Whereas  it  is  necessary  to  amend  Regulation  (EC)
No  1734/94  in  order  explicitly  to  allow  for  such
measures,  in  particular  those  regarding  recurrent  costs  of
the  Palestinian  public  sector  as  well  as  the  interest  rate
subsidies,

(1) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  16  September  1998
(OJ C 313, 12.10.1998, p. 64), Council Common Position of
13  October  1998  and  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament
of  . . .  (not  yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

(2) OJ  L  182,  16.7.1994,  p.  4.

Regulation  (EC)  No  1734/94  is  amended  as  follows:

1. Article  2(2)  and  (3)  shall  be  replaced  by  the

following:

‘2.
Community  aid  may  be  given  for  investment
projects,  feasibility  studies,  technical  assistance  and
training,  and  for  temporary  support  for  the  recurrent
costs  of  the  Palestinian  public  administration.

financing 

Community 

3.
and
operations  covered  by  this  Regulation  shall  be  in  the
form of grants or interest rate subsidies on lending by
the  Bank  out  of  its  own  resources.  The  subsidy  rate
shall  be  3 %’.

projects 

for 

2. Article  4  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  4

1.
Financing  decisions  on  projects  and  operations
to  which  grants  are  made  under  this  Regulation  shall
be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid
down  in  Article  5.

2.
Financing  decisions  on  overall  allocations  for
technical  cooperation,  training  and  trade  promotion
shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedures
laid  down  in  Article  5.

The  Commission  shall  keep  the  Committee  referred
to  in  Article  5  regularly  informed  of  the  use  made  of
these  overall  allocations.

in
3.
Decisions  amending  decisions  adopted 
accordance  with  the  procedure  provided  for 
in
Article  5  shall  be  taken  by  the  Commission  where
they  do  not  entail  any  substantial  amendments  or
additional  commitments  in  excess  of  20 %  of  the
original commitment.

14.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 388/5

Financing  decisions  on  interest  rate  subsidies
4.
shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure
laid  down 
(EC)
No  1488/96 (*).

in  Article  12  of  Regulation 

Article  2

(*) OJ  L  189,  30.7.1996,  p.  1.  Regulation  as
amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  780/98  (OJ
L  113,  15.4.1998,  p.  3)’.

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  third  day
following  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.

Done  at  . . .

For  the  Council

The  President

C 388/6

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

14.12.98

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On  4  December  1997  the  Commission  submitted  to  the  Council  a  proposal  for  a
Regulation  amending  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1734/94  on  financial  and  technical
cooperation  with  the  Occupied  Territories.  The  proposal  is  based  on  Article  130w  of
the  EC  Treaty.

2. The  European  Parliament  delivered  its  opinion  at  first  reading  on  16  September

1998 (1).

3.

In  keeping  with  Article  189c  of  the  Treaty,  the  Council  adopted  its  Common  Position
on  13  October  1998.

II. AIM

The  aim  of  the  Common  Position  is  to  help  set  up  and  improve  the  institutions  necessary
for the working of the public administration crucial to the development process in the West
Bank  and  Gaza  Strip.  The  scope  of  Community  aid  therefore  needs  to  be  extended  to
include  the  recurrent  costs  of  the  Palestinian  public  administration.  It  allows  the  EIB  to
grant interest-rate subsidies of 3 %, from Community budget resources, on all public sector
loans  in  the  West  Bank  and  the  Gaza  Strip.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

The  European  Parliament  has  tabled  an  amendment  adding  to  the  sixth  recital.

The  Commission  has  proposed  adopting  this  amendment  in  part,  without  the  reference  to
extending the  cooperation period.  The Council has followed the Commission approach, its
reasoning  being  that  extension  of  the  cooperation  period  is  now  covered  by  the
Commission’s  July  1998  proposal  for  a  new  regulation  extending  financial  cooperation  to
assist  the  West  Bank  and  Gaza  Strip.

(1) OJ  C  313,  12.10.1998,  p.  64.