Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89
Date: 1999-06-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, accession to the European Union, coordination of aid, enlargement of the Union, third country

L 161/68

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.1999

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1266/1999

of 21 June 1999

on coordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession
strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

finance
environment fields;

infrastructure

in the

transport and

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof,

regard
Having
Commission (1),

to

the

proposal

from the

Having regard to the opinion of
Parliament (2),

the European

(1) Whereas

the Luxembourg European Council
advocated a substantial increase in pre-accession
aid so as to include, in addition to the PHARE
programme, aid to agriculture and for structural
measures;

(2) Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 622/98 of
16 March 1998 on assistance to the applicant
countries in the framework of the pre-accession
strategy and in particular on the establishment of
Accession Partnerships (3) provides
those
partnerships are to comprise a single framework
for the priority areas and all available resources
for pre-accession assistance;

that

(3) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 (4) set
up an agricultural
for application
mainly in areas such as modernising the structure
of agricultural holdings,
improving processing
and distribution structures, developing inspection
activities and rural development;

instrument

(4) Whereas the structural

instrument created by
Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 (5), is intended to

(1) OJ C 140, 5.5.1998, p. 26 and

OJ C 329, 27.10.1998, p. 13.

(2) Opinion delivered on 6 May 1999 (not yet published in

the Official Journal).
(3) OJ L 85, 20.3.1998, p. 1.
(4) See page 87 of this Official Journal.
(5) See page 73 of this Official Journal.

(5) Whereas

essential priorities

the acquis communautaire,

the PHARE programme set up by
Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 (6), will in future
linked to
focus on the
adoption of
i.e.
building up the administrative and institutional
capacities
and
financing investments designed to help them
comply with Community law as
soon as
possible;

applicant

countries

the

of

(6) Whereas

it

important

is
that
the three pre-
Community operations under
accession instruments achieve optimum economic
impact;

ensure

to

to the

(7) Whereas paragraph 17 of the conclusions of the
Luxembourg European Council on 12 and
13 December 1997 provides
financial
involved in the
support
enlargement process will be based,
in the
allocation of aid, on the principle of equal
treatment,
of
accession, with particular attention being paid to
the countries with the greatest need;

independently

countries

time

that

the

of

(8) Whereas the above instruments should remain
distinct but there must be coordination between
operations under them as well as with operations
funded by the European Investment Bank, the
European
and
Development, the Community’s other financial
instruments and the other international financial
institutions;

Reconstruction

Bank

for

(9) Whereas it is necessary to provide for reciprocal
information
the
Commission and the candidate countries for on
the spot control and verification to ensure

cooperation

between

and

(6) OJ L 375, 23.12.1989, p. 11. Regulation as last amended
by Regulation (EC) No 753/96 (OJ L 103, 26.4.1996,
p. 5).

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 161/69

efficient protection of the financial interests as
well as to combat fraud and other irregularities;

gradually

(10) Whereas management of pre-accession assistance
should
the
be
applicant countries themselves, taking account of
financial
their management
control
and
they can be more closely
capacities, so that
involved in the pre-accession aid process;

decentralised

to

— transport infrastructure measures which promote
sustainable mobility, and in particular those that
constitute projects of common interest based on
the criteria of Decision No 1692/96/EC (1) and
those which enable the beneficiary countries to
comply with the objectives of
the Accession
Partnerships;
interconnection and
this
interoperability of national networks as well as
with the trans-European networks together with
access to such networks.

includes

(11) Whereas the Commission should submit regular
reports on pre-accession aid to the applicant
countries,

Article 4

Funding under the PHARE programme shall be
in accordance with Regulation (EEC)

1.
carried out
No 3906/89.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

and

between

Coordination
assistance
coherence
granted in the framework of the pre-accession strategy
under
development
instrument (hereinafter (cid:28)the Agricultural Instrument’),
the Structural Instrument and PHARE shall be ensured
in accordance with this Regulation.

agricultural

rural

and

the

Article 2

to

support

agriculture

Measures
rural
development as set out in Article 2 of the Agricultural
Instrument set up by Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999
shall be financed in accordance with the provisions of
that Regulation.

and

Regulation

2.
hereby
amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to Article 3 to
read as follows:

(EEC) No

3906/89

is

For

applicant

countries with

accession
(cid:28)3.
partnerships with the European Union,
funding
under the PHARE programme shall focus on the
main priorities for the adoption of
the acquis
communautaire, i.e. building up the administrative
and institutional capacities of the applicant States
and investment, except for the type of investments
financed in accordance with Regulations
(EC)
No 1267/1999 (*) and (EC) No 1268/1999 (**).
PHARE funding may also be used to finance the
measures in the fields of environment, transport
and agricultural and rural development which
indispensable part of
form an incidental but
integrated industrial
regional
development programmes.

reconstruction or

(*) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 73.
(**) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 87.’

Article 5

Article 3

schemes or measures

Aid for
financed in the
framework of pre-accession aid may be granted from
one only of
referred to in this
Regulation.

the instruments

Investment projects in the following areas shall be
Structural
financed
Instrument set up by Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999
and in accordance with the provisions thereof:

pre-accession

from the

aid

Article 6

— environmental measures enabling the beneficiary
to comply with the requirements of
law and with the

countries
Community environmental
objectives of the Accession Partnerships,

Financing of the schemes or measures provided for in
this Regulation shall be subject to compliance with the

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.1999

undertakings contained in the Europe Agreements as
recalled in Regulation (EC) No 622/98 and with the
conditions laid down in the Accession Partnerships, as
well as to the relevant provisions of Regulations (EEC)
No 3906/89, (EC) No 1267/1999, (EC) No 1268/1999
and of this Regulation.

Article 7

2.
Pre-accession aid shall also cover expenditure
relating to the monitoring, inspection and evaluation
of operations.

Financing

and any
or
3.
decisions
implementing instruments
resulting therefrom shall
expressly provide for inspection by the Commission
and the Court of Auditors to be carried out on the
spot, if necessary.

contracts

Beneficiary States shall contribute to the financing of
investments.

Article 12

Article 8

Schemes or measures
three
instruments referred to in Articles 2, 3 and 4 shall be
decided in accordance with the provisions laid down
in the relevant Regulation relating to that instrument.

financed under

the

Article 9

be

shall

operations

The Commission

for
1.
coordinating
three
instruments, and in particular for establishing the pre-
accession aid guidelines for each country. It shall be
assisted for this purpose by the committee set up by
Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89.

responible
said

under

the

The Commission shall

inform the committee
2.
the indicative
referred to in paragraph 1 about
financial allocations for each country and per pre-
accession instrument, about action it has
taken
to Article 10, and about decisions taken
pursuant
pursuant
shall be
to Article 12. Such decisions
communicated to the Court of Auditors.

Project selection, tendering and contracting by
to ex-ante

1.
applicant
approval by the Commission.

shall be

countries

subject

2.
The Commission may, however, decide, on the
basis of a case-by-case analysis of national and
capacity,
sectorial programme/project management
financial control procedures and structures regarding
public
approval
requirement referred to in paragraph 1 and confer on
implementing
countries
management of aid on a decentralised basis. Such a
waiver shall be subject to:

to waive

applicant

agencies

finance,

ex-ante

the

in

— the minimum criteria for assessing the ability of
implementing agencies in applicant countries to
manage aid and minimum conditions applicable to
such agencies
in the Annex to this
Regulation;

set out

— and specific provisions concerning,

inter alia,
invitations to tender, scrutiny and evaluation of
tenders,
the
of
implementation of Community public procurement
directives, which shall be laid down in financing
agreements with each beneficiary country.

contracts

award

and

the

Article 10

The Commission shall adopt rules governing

3.
inspection and evaluation.

ensure

The Commission shall
coordination and
coherence between operations undertaken pursuant to
this Regulation under
the Commission budget,
operations funded by the European Investment Bank
or other financial instruments of the Community, and
operations
financial
institutions.

international

funded

by

Article 11

The

shall

Commission

the
1.
Community aid in accordance with the rules of
transparency and the Financial Regulation applicable
to the general budget of the European Communities,
in particular Article 114 thereof.

implement

Article 13

The Commission shall present an annual report on the
overall pre-accession aid for each country to the
European Parliament and to the Council.

Article 14

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

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

Done at Luxembourg, 21 June 1999.

For the Council

The President

G. VERHEUGEN

L 161/72

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Official Journal of the European Communities

26.6.1999

ANNEX

MINIMUM CRITERIA AND CONDITIONS FOR DECENTRALISING MANAGEMENT TO
IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES IN APPLICANT COUNTRIES (ARTICLE 12)

1. Minimum criteria for assessing the ability of implementing agencies in applicant countries to

manage aid

The following criteria shall be applied by the Commission in assessing which implementing
agencies in partner countries are able to manage aid on a decentralised basis:

(i)

(ii)

there should be a well-defined system for managing the funds with full internal rules of
procedure, clear institutional and personal responsibilities;

the principle of separation of powers must be respected so that there is no risk of conflict of
interest in procurement and payment;

(iii) adequate personnel must be available and assigned to the task. They must have suitable
language skills and be fully trained in implementing

auditing skills and experience,
Community programmes.

2. Minimum conditions for decentralising management

to implementing agencies in applicant

countries

Decentralisation to applicant countries with ex post control by the Commission may be considered
for an implementing agency where the following conditions are met:

(i)

demonstration of effective internal controls including an independent audit function and an
effective accounting and financial reporting system which meets internationally accepted
audit standards;

(ii)

a recent
Community assistance or national measures of similar nature;

financial and operational audit showing effective and timely management of

(iii) a reliable national financial control system over the implementing agency;

(iv) procurement rules which are endorsed by the Commission as meeting requirements of Title IX

of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities;

(v) Commitment by the National Authorising Officer to bear the full financial responsibility and

liability for the funds.

This approach shall not prejudice the right of the Commission and the Court of Auditors to check
the expenditure.