Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey
Date: 2001-04-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU financial instrument, Türkiye, accession to the European Union, agreement (EU), financial aid

28.8.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 240 E/115

Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey

(2001/C 240 E/16)

COM(2001) 230 final (cid:151) 2001/0097(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 25 April 2001)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The conditions to be fulfilled by the candidate countries
wishing to join the European Union were set out at the
Copenhagen European Council of June 1993.

(2) The Helsinki European Council of December 1999 stated
that Turkey is a candidate country destined to join the
Union on the basis of the same criteria applied to the
other candidate countries and that, building on the
existing European Strategy, Turkey,
like other candidate
countries, will benefit from a pre-accession strategy to
stimulate and support its reforms.

(3) The Nice European Council of December 2000 welcomed
the
in the

implementation of

the progress made
pre-accession strategy for Turkey.

fulfil

(4) As Turkey does not yet

the Community has

the political criteria of
to
called on it
Copenhagen,
improve and promote
its democratic practices and
respect for fundamental human rights and more closely
to involve civil society in that process.

(5) The cornerstone of

the pre-accession strategy is

the
Accession Partnership, drawn up on the basis of
previous European Council conclusions while containing
preparation must
priorities
concentrate in the light of the political and economic
criteria and the obligations of a Member State.

on which

accession

(7) The principles, priorities,

intermediate objectives and
conditions for the Accession Partnership with Turkey are
contained in Council Decision 2001/235/EC of 24 March
2001 on the principles, priorities, intermediate objectives
and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership
with the Republic of Turkey (2). As
the other
countries, assistance for Turkey from the
candidate
European Union shall be focused on the priorities
arising from the Accession Partnership.

for

(8) Community assistance will be applied mainly through
promote

institution-building
investments
compliance with the Community acquis.

and

to

(9) The Community will undertake

actions
promote the development of civil society in Turkey.

specific

to

(10) Cross-border co-operation, particularly in the context of
the borders between Turkey and the European Union,
between Turkey and other
countries and
between Turkey and other countries in the region, will
also be the subject of specific actions.

candidate

(11) The Community will co-finance Turkish participation in

Community programmes and agencies.

(12) Community assistance shall be subject to compliance with
the undertakings contained in the EC-Turkey Agreements
and the conditions laid down in Council Regulation (EC)
No 390/2001 of 26 February 2001, Council Decision
2001/235/EC and this Regulation.

(13) The Commission shall

in
accordance with the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of the European Union (3).

the assistance

implement

all

(6) For Turkey, the legal base for the establishment of the
Accession Partnership and the single framework for
sources of pre-accession financial
co-ordinating
assistance
are provided in Council Regulation (EC)
No 390/2001 of 26 February 2001 on assistance to
Turkey in the framework of the pre-accession strategy,
and in particular on the establishment of an Accession
Partnership (1).

(14) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
adopted in accordance with
Regulation should be
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (4).

(2) OJ L 85, 24.3.2001, p. 13.
(3) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1, as last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 2673/1999 of 13 December 1999 (OJ L 326, 18.12.1999,
p. 1).

(1) OJ L 58, 28.2.2001, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 269, 19.10.1999, p. 45.

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(15) As well as natural and legal persons from the Member
States and Turkey, participation in tenders shall be open
to natural and legal persons from the other candidate
countries
from the
and from countries benefiting
financial and technical measures to accompany (MEDA)
the reform of economic and social structures in the
framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (1) and
the assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (CARDS) (2) and, where
specific types of expertise are required, from the countries
of Eastern Europe and Central Asia under the provision of
assistance to the partner States in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia (3).
similar
provisions will need to be introduced in the assistance
programmes for the other candidate countries.

reasons of

symmetry,

For

(21) In the financial perspective 2000-2006, the pre-accession
financial
candidate
assistance was doubled for
countries; in the light of the Helsinki European Council,
subject
to the normal budgetary procedures the aim
should be that this principle be applied for Turkey and
continue to apply during the remaining period of the
current financial perspective.

the

(22) The Treaty does not provide for powers other than those
of Article 308 for the adoption of this Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(16) The Commission shall

programming and implementation of
according to the management procedure.

establish guidelines
the

for

the
assistance

The Community shall provide pre-accession financial assistance
to Turkey to support the priorities defined in the Accession
Partnership for Turkey.

Article 1

(17) The Commission will be assisted in the implementation of
the Community assistance by the committee set up under
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 of 18 December
1989 on economic aid to certain countries of central
and eastern Europe (4). The measures will be adopted in
accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June
1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of
implementing powers conferred on the Commission (5).

(18) Management of pre-accession assistance shall gradually be
decentralised to Turkey, taking account of its management
and financial control capacities, so that it can be more
closely involved in the pre-accession assistance process.

(19) The current diverse sources of

under

eligible

Council

Regulation

financial assistance for
Turkey should be regrouped so that, whilst Turkey
remains
(EC)
No 1488/96, Council Regulation (EC) No 764/2000 of
implementation of
10 April 2000 regarding
measures to intensify the EC-Turkey Customs Union (6)
and Council Regulation (EC) No 257/2001 of 22 January
2001 regarding the implementation of the measures to
promote economic and social development in Turkey (7),
shall be repealed.

the

(20) Annual reports on the implementation of the assistance
programme shall be established and an evaluation report
will be submitted by the end of 2005 for a review to be
carried out before 30 June 2006.

(1) OJ L 189, 30.7.1996, p. 1, as last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 2698/2000 of 27 November 2000 (OJ L 311, 12.12.2000,
p. 1).

(2) OJ L 306, 7.12.2000, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 12, 18.1.2000, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 375, 23.12.1989, p. 11, as last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 2666/2000 of 5 December 2000 (OJ L 306, 7.12.2000,
p. 1).

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(6) OJ L 94, 14.4.2000, p. 6.
(7) OJ L 39, 9.2.2001, p. 1.

Article 2

The assistance:

(cid:151) shall be in the form of grants;

(cid:151) shall be implemented by financing programmes or projects
aimed at the fulfilment of the accession criteria and in
accordance with the programming and implementation
principles set out
in guidelines to be adopted by the
Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to
in Article 9(2);

(cid:151) may take the form of services, supplies and works;

(cid:151) in the case of investment, may not cover the purchase of

either land or buildings.

Article 3

1.
A financial contribution to each programme or project
may be required from the recipients of the assistance. The
contribution shall depend on the nature of the programme
or project. In exceptional cases, for programmes or projects
aimed at
the
contribution may be in kind.

the promotion of civil society development,

Assistance

shall
support,

relating
to
2.
programming
information
activities and the monitoring, inspection, audit and evaluation
of programmes and projects.

cover
communication

expenditure

and

The assistance may either be independent or in the form
the European

3.
of
Investment Bank, third countries or multi-lateral bodies.

co-financing with the Member States,

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Opportunities may be sought for co-financing with other

4.
donors, particularly Member States.

contracts and the implementation of Community public
procurement directives,
to be laid down in financing
agreements with Turkey.

The Community may contribute to the costs related to

5.
the management structures of the assistance.

Article 4

Financing of the programmes and projects shall be subject to
compliance with the commitments contained in the EC-Turkey
Association Agreement, the Customs Union Decision and all
other related agreements and decisions, and the conditions laid
down,
in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 390/2001 of
26 February 2001, in the Accession Partnership with Turkey
and in this Regulation.

Article 5

The Commission shall

1.
the Community
assistance 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

Prior appraisal of programmes and projects shall take

2.
account, inter alia, of the following factors:

(a) their effectiveness and viability;

(b) cultural, social, gender and environmental aspects;

(c) conservation and protection of the environment on the

basis of the principles of sustainable development;

(d) institutional development necessary to achieve programme

and project goals;

(e) experience gained from programmes and projects of the

same kind.

Article 6

Project selection, tendering and contracting by Turkey will

1.
be subject to ex-ante approval by the Commission.

2.
The Commission may, however, decide, on the basis of a
case-by-case analysis of national and sectoral programme/
project management capacity,
financial control procedures
and structures regarding public finance, to waive the ex-ante
approval requirement referred to in paragraph 1 and confer on
implementing agencies in Turkey management of assistance on
a decentralised basis. Such a waiver will be subject to:

(a) the minimum criteria

ability of
for
implementing agencies in Turkey to manage assistance
and the minimum conditions applicable to such agencies
set out in the Annex;

assessing

the

(b) specific provisions concerning,

invitations to
tender, scrutiny and evaluation of tenders, the award of

inter alia,

Article 7

1.
Assistance of more than EUR 2 000 000 will be made
available through financing decisions taken by the Commission
in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 9(2).
For
to the
Committee referred to in Article 9, a financing proposal
describing the programmes and/or projects to be implemented.

the Commission shall

that purpose,

submit

inform the Committee referred to in
The Commission shall
least one week beforehand, of any financing
Article 9, at
decisions
to take regarding programmes and
intends
it
projects of less than EUR 2 000 000.

The Commission may approve, without

2.
seeking the
opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 9, additional
grants needed to cover expected or actual overruns on the
the overrun is not
programmes or projects, provided that
more than 20 % of
in the financing
decision.

the initial grant set

3.
All financing agreements or contracts concluded under
this Regulation shall provide for the Commission and the
Court of Auditors to conduct on-the-spot checks in accordance
with the procedures laid down by the Commission under the
rules in force, and in particular those of the Financial Regu-
lation applicable to the general budget of the European Union.

checks

In order to ensure effective protection of the financial
4.
interest of the Community, the Commission may undertake
on-the-spot
in accordance with
and inspections
Council Regulation No 2185/96/EC of 11 November 1996
concerning monitoring and on-the-spot checks carried out by
the
the Commission to protect
European Communities
irregu-
larities (1).

fraud and other

the financial

interest of

against

The application of Article 15 paragraph 3 of Commission
5.
Regulation 2222/2000/EC of 7 June 2000 laying down
financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC)
for pre-accession
No 1268/1999 on Community support
in the
measures
applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the
pre-accession period (2)
including the communi-
is foreseen,
cation of individual cases of irregularity and the establishment
of a system for the management of information in this field.

agriculture and rural development

for

6. Where programmes and projects are the subject of
financing agreements between the Community and Turkey,
the payment of
such agreements shall stipulate that
taxes,
to be covered by the
duties or any other charges is not
assistance.

(1) OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
(2) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 5.

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Participation in invitations to tender and contracts shall
7.
be open, on equal terms to all natural and legal persons from
the Member States, the candidate countries for accession to the
European Union and countries which are recipients under
(EC)
1488/96
Regulation
No 2666/2000.

Regulation

(EC) No

and

Participation by countries, which are recipients under Regu-
lation (EC) No 99/2000, shall also be authorised by the
if the programmes or
Commission, on a case-by-case basis,
projects
expertise
specific
specifically available in such countries.

concerned

forms of

require

Article 12

At the end of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 3906/89,

1.
the words (cid:145)and Turkey, Cyprus and Malta(cid:146) are added.

2.
At the end of Articles 7(9) and 7(10) of Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 555/2000 of 13 March 2000 on the implemen-
tation of operations in the framework of
the pre-accession
the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of
strategy for
Malta (1),
for
accession to the European Union(cid:146) are added.

(cid:145)and other

the words

candidate

countries

In the case of co-financing, the participation of undertakings
from third countries in invitations to tender and contracts may
be authorised by the Commission on a case-by-case basis.

The provisions referred to in paragraph 7 will apply to

8.
the origin of supplies.

Article 8

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary
authority within the limits of the financial perspective.

Article 9

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee

1.
provided for in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 3906/89.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period provided for in Article 4 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be three months.

Article 10

and the Economic

the Commission shall submit
the Council

to the European
Each year,
Parliament,
and Social
Committee a report on the implementation of the assistance.
The report shall contain information on the programmes and
projects financed during the year, as well as information on the
results of monitoring and evaluation. This information could be
included in the report to which reference is made in Article 10
of Regulation (EC) No 3906/89.

Article 11

Regulations (EC) Nos 764/2000 and 257/2001 are hereby
repealed. However, they shall remain applicable to programmes
leading to the
and projects
Commission financing decision have been started, but not yet
been completed, at the time of entry into force of this Regu-
lation.

for which the procedures

The following paragraph is added to Article 7 of Council
3.
Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 establishing an instrument for
structural policies for pre-accession (2):
(cid:145)8. Natural and legal
persons from Cyprus, Malta and Turkey can participate in
invitations to tender and contracts on the same terms that
applies to all natural and legal persons from the Member
States and the beneficiary countries(cid:146).

The following paragraph is added to Article 3 of Council
4.
Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for
pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development
in the applicant countries in central and eastern Europe in the
pre-accession period (3):
(cid:145)3. Natural and legal persons from
Cyprus, Malta and Turkey can participate in invitations to
tender and contracts on the same terms that apply to all
natural and legal persons from the Member States and the
beneficiary countries(cid:146).

Article 13

The Council will review this Regulation before 1 January 2006.
To that end, the Commission shall submit to the Council before
1 July 2005 an evaluation report on the Regulation and, as
appropriate a proposal to amend it.

Article 14

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.

(1) OJ L 68, 16.3.2000, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 73.
(3) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 87.

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ANNEX

MINIMUM CRITERIA AND CONDITIONS FOR DECENTRALISING MANAGEMENT TO IMPLEMENTING
AGENCIES IN TURKEY (ARTICLE 6)

1. Minimum criteria for assessing the ability of implementing agencies in Turkey to manage assistance

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

(a) there should be a well-defined system for managing the funds with full

internal rules of procedure, clear

institutional and personal responsibilities;

(b) the principle of separation of powers must be respected so that there is no risk of conflict of interest in

procurement and payment;

(c) adequate personnel must be available and assigned to the task. They must have suitable auditing skills and

experience, language skills and be fully trained in implementing Community programmes.

2. Minimum conditions for decentralising management to implementing agencies in Turkey

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

(a) demonstration of effective internal controls including an independent audit function and an effective accounting

and financial reporting system which meets internationally accepted audit standards;

(b) a recent financial and operational audit showing effective and timely management of Community assistance or

national measures of similar nature;

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

(d) 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 Union;

(e) 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.