Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on operations to aid uprooted people in Asian and Latin American developing countries
Date: 2000-12-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Asia, Latin America, aid to refugees, cooperation policy, development aid

24.4.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 120 E/163

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on operations to aid
uprooted people in Asian and Latin American developing countries

(2001/C 120 E/11)

COM(2000) 831 final (cid:151) 2000/0338(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 20 December 2000)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

effective, aid must be coordinated at Community level and
with other
donors, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and United Nations bodies.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 179(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) In the context of refugee policy, the United Nations have
adopted the Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the
Status of Refugees, the New York Protocol of 31 January
1967 and many resolutions.

(2) The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
1966 International Treaty on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the
1989 Convention on Children’s Rights also addresses the
issue of refugees.

(3) The European Parliament has adopted several resolutions
in this area,
including the Resolution of 16 December
1983 on assistance to refugees in developing countries (1).

(4) Both the European Parliament and the Council have called

for greater effort by the Community in this field.

(5) Links and synergies between emergency aid, rehabilitation
and development aid must be strengthened to improve
the
ensure
complementarity
Community’s operations.

consistency

and

in

(6) Support

programmes

and
for
demobilised former soldiers are an integral part of an
overall rehabilitation strategy for Latin American and
Asian developing countries. For the programmes to be

uprooted

people

(1) OJ C 10, 16.1.1984, p. 278.

(7) For

the countries in question,

this type of aid is a
necessary pre-condition for development and therefore
contributes
the
to
Community’s cooperation policy.

significantly

objectives

the

of

(8) The specialised bodies and agencies and NGOs have
acquired considerable experience of helping uprooted
people from implementing operations of
this kind in
the past.

(9) Ideally, action to help uprooted people should form part
of an approach that aims to move on from so-called
subsistence to a stage in which they become self-sufficient
or less dependent. Aid to help them settle or resettle
themselves should take the form of measures to develop
self-sufficiency through agricultural production,
livestock
facilities, basic
rearing,
fish farming, setting up credit
education and vocational
ensuring
decent levels of health and hygiene.

training,

and at

(10) Until 31 December 2000, the legal basis for Community
action in this field is Council Regulation (EC) No 443/97
of 3 March 1997 on operations to aid uprooted people in
Asian and Latin American developing countries (2), as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1880/2000 (3).

(11) This Regulation should enable

to
continue its operations in these fields for an indefinite
period.

the Community

(12) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation are management measures within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of
conferred on the
Commission (4), they should be adopted by use of the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that
Decision,

implementing powers

(2) OJ L 68, 8.3.1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 227, 7.9.2000, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(c) helping those people return to and settle in their countries

of origin or third countries;

CHAPTER I

PURPOSE, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

parties to a conflict;

(d) support, where applicable, for any operation to reconcile

Article 1

The Community shall implement a programme of support and
assistance to the persons referred to in Article 4 to contribute
to their urgent requirements not covered by humanitarian aid
and to carry out longer-term projects and programmes aimed
at the self-sufficiency and integration or reintegration of such
persons. In particular, this programme must provide for the
basic needs of those persons from the time a humanitarian
emergency subsides to the adoption of a longer-term solution
to resolve their status.

(e) operations to help persons recover their belongings or
property rights and aid for the legal settlement of human
rights violations against the people in question.

2.
All groups concerned, including local host communities,
shall be involved in evaluating needs and implementing the
assistance programmes.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation:

Article 4

The ultimate beneficiaries of
Article 3(1) shall be:

the operations referred to in

(a) (cid:145)refugees(cid:146) are those persons defined as

such in the
Convention on the Status of Refugees adopted on 28 July
1951 by the United Nations Conference on the Status of
Refugees and Stateless Persons;

(b) (cid:145)displaced persons(cid:146) are persons who have been forced to
seek refuge outside their
region of origin owing to
conflict situations but who do not enjoy refugee status as
defined by the 1951 Convention;

(c) (cid:145)returnees(cid:146) are former refugees or displaced persons who

have returned to their country or region of origin;

(d) (cid:145)demobilised former soldiers(cid:146) are former members of armed
forces, be they regular or opposition forces, who have
agreed to lay down their arms and reintegrate into
civilian life.

(a) uprooted people as such (refugees, displaced persons and
in Latin American and Asian developing
returnees)
countries and persons
countries
provisionally settled in another developing country and,
in duly substantiated exceptional cases,
in another third
country;

from one of

these

(b) demobilised former soldiers of regular armies and armed
families and, where

opposition movements, plus
their
appropriate, their local communities;

the host
economic

(c) the local population of
social,

territories particularly
administrative
affected whose
resources contribute to receiving and assisting uprooted
people and demobilised former soldiers, for the purposes
of longer-term projects designed to bring about the self-
sufficiency, integration or reintegration of such persons.

and

Article 3

The Community shall give financial support to operations

1.
aimed in particular at:

Operations carried out under this Regulation shall complement
those provided for by other Community instruments governing
development cooperation.

Article 5

(a) the

self-sufficiency and reintegration into the

socio-
economic fabric of uprooted people as such (refugees,
displaced persons and returnees) and demobilised former
soldiers;

(b) aid to local host communities and resettlement areas to
foster acceptance and integration of uprooted persons;

Article 6

In the context of the operations referred to in Article 3,
1.
Community support may include the financing of studies
(which shall, as far as possible, be carried out by consultants
of the host country), technical assistance, training and other
services, supplies, works, audits and evaluation and monitoring
missions.

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Community financing may cover both investment expen-
2.
diture, excluding the purchase of real estate, and,
in duly
substantiated cases and taking into account the fact that the
project must, as far as possible, aim at medium-term viability,
recurring expenditure (including administrative expenditure,
maintenance and running costs), so that maximum use is
made of
the
operation of which temporarily represents a burden for the
partner.

the investments referred to in paragraph 1,

and local administrations and agencies, community-based
organisations, and public or private institutes and operators.

Community assistance is available to partners who have
2.
their main office in a Member State or a third country that is a
this Regulation,
recipient of Community assistance under
provided that
centre directing
the actual
is
this office
operations relating to their business activities. In exceptional
cases, this office may be located in another third country.

CHAPTER II

Article 11

PROCEDURES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AID

Article 7

Community financing under this Regulation shall take the

1.
form of grants.

Without prejudice to the institutional and political context in
which the partners conduct
the following
elements shall be taken into consideration for determining
whether a partner may have access to Community financing:

their activities,

2.
A financial contribution from the partners referred to in
Article 10 shall be sought for each cooperation operation. This
contribution will be requested having regard to the capacity of
the partners concerned and the nature of each operation. In
specific cases and when the partner is either a non-govern-
mental organisation (NGO) or a community-based organi-
sation, the contribution may be made in kind.

(a) its experience in the field of assistance to uprooted people;

(b) its administrative and financial management capacity;

(c) its technical and logistical capacity in relation to the

planned operation;

Opportunities may be sought for cofinancing with other

3.
donors, and especially with the Member States.

(d) where applicable,

the results of operations previously
carried out, particularly those that received Community
financing;

Article 8

(e) its capacity to develop cooperation with other actors from

civil society in the third countries concerned;

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for appraising,
deciding or administering the operations covered by this Regu-
lation in accordance with the budgetary and other procedures
in force, in particular those laid down by the Financial Regu-
lation applicable to the general budget of
the European
Communities.

(f)

its commitment to defending, respecting and promoting
human rights and democratic principles.

All operations backed by Community aid shall be imple-
in the

2.
mented in accordance with the objectives set out
Commission’s financing decision.

Assistance shall be granted to partners only if they give a
to comply with the allocation and

1.
contractual agreement
implementation conditions laid down by the Commission.

Article 12

Article 9

Operations financed by the Community under this Regulation
shall be implemented by the Commission, either at the request
of the partners or on its own initiative.

Article 10

Partners eligible for financial support under this Regu-
1.
lation shall be
and international organisations,
including United Nations agencies, NGOs, national, provincial

regional

2. Where operations are the subject of financing agreements
between the Community and countries which benefit
from
operations financed under
the agreements
shall stipulate that the payment of taxes, duties and charges
shall not be financed by the Community.

this Regulation,

3.
Any financing agreement or contract concluded under
this Regulation shall stipulate that the Commission and the
Court of Auditors may
checks
according to the usual arrangements
laid down by the
Commission under the provisions in force, particularly those
in the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities.

carry out on-the-spot

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The necessary measures shall be taken to emphasise the
4.
Community character of aid provided under this Regulation.

Article 13

Participation in invitations to tender and the award of
1.
terms to all natural and
contracts shall be open on equal
legal persons of the Member States and of the host country.
It may be extended to other developing countries and, in duly
substantiated exceptional cases, to other third countries.

2.
Supplies shall originate in the Member States, the host
country, or other developing countries. In duly substantiated
exceptional cases supplies may originate elsewhere.

Article 16

Decisions concerning operations for which financing under this
Regulation exceeds EUR 4 million and any changes to these
operations that entail a cost overrun of more than 20 % of the
amount initially fixed for the operation concerned shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 18(2).

Article 17

1.
The Commission shall be authorised to approve, without
recourse to the procedure referred to in Article 18(2), any
supplementary commitments needed for covering expected or
real cost overruns in connection with the operations, where the
overrun or additional requirement is 20 % or less of the initial
commitment laid down by the financing decision.

Article 14

1.
In order to secure the objectives of consistency and
complementarity referred to in the Treaty and to ensure
maximum effectiveness of these operations as a whole, the
Commission may take all necessary coordination measures,
including:

(a) establishing a system for

the systematic exchange and
analysis of
information on the operations financed and
those which the Community and the Member States
propose to finance;

(b) on-the-spot

coordination

of
of
operations through regular meetings and exchanges of
information between the representatives of the Commission
and the Member States in the recipient country.

implementation

the

less

than EUR 8 million,

2. Where the supplementary commitment referred to in
the committee
paragraph 1 is
referred to in Article 18(1)
the
Commission’s decision. Where the supplementary commitment
is greater
the
less
committee will be asked to give its opinion.

than EUR 8 million but

informed of

than 20 %,

shall be

The Commission shall inform the committee referred to
3.
in Article 18(1) succinctly of the financing decisions which it
intends to take with regard to operations of less than EUR 4
million in value. This information shall be made available not
later than one week before the decision is taken.

Article 18

The Commission shall be assisted by the committee
1.
instituted under Article 15 of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 443/92 (1).

reference

2. Where
the
management procedure laid down in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply,
in compliance with Article 7 and
Article 8 thereof.

to this paragraph,

is made

The Commission, in liaison with the Member States, may
2.
take any initiative necessary for ensuring proper coordination
with the other donors concerned, in particular those forming
part of the United Nations system, including the Office of the
High Commissioner for Refugees.

CHAPTER III

IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONS

Article 15

The budgetary authority shall determine the appropriations
available for each financial year taking account of the prin-
ciples of sound financial management referred to in Article 2
of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities.

The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be one month.

CHAPTER IV

REPORTING AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 19

1.
An exchange of views shall take place once a year on the
basis of a presentation by the representative of the Commission
of the general guidelines for the operations to be carried out in
the year ahead, within the Committee referred to in Article
18(1).

(1) OJ L 52, 27.2.1992, p. 1.

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After each budget year, the Commission shall submit an
2.
annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council,
summarising the operations financed in the course of that year
and the Commission’s conclusions on the implementation of
this Regulation over the previous budget year. The summary
shall in particular provide information about those with whom
contracts have been concluded. The annual report shall also
summarise any independent evaluations of specific operations.

Every three years,

3.
submit an
evaluation report on the implementation of this Regulation
to the European Parliament and the Council with a view to

the Commission shall

establishing whether its objectives have been achieved and
providing guidelines for improving the effectiveness of future
operations.

Article 20

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.