European Parliament resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community ('Overseas') (COM(2000) 732 - C5-0070/2001 - 2001/2033(COS))
Date: 2001-10-04
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: ACP-EU Joint Assembly, European Development Fund, aid system, association agreement (EU), eligibility criteria, overseas countries and territories

11.4.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision amending Deci-
sion 2000/24/EC so as to extend the Community guarantee granted to the European Investment
Bank to cover loans for projects in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (COM(2001) 356 .
C5-0335/2001 . 2001/0143(CNS))

Thursday 4 October 2001

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

(cid:17) having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2001) 356),

(cid:17) having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 308 of the EC Treaty (C5-0335/2001),

(cid:17) having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:17) having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A5-0300/2001),

1.

Approves the Commission proposal;

Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by

2.
Parliament;

3.

4.

Asks to be consulted again if the Council intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

24. Association of overseas countries and territories with the EC

A5-0276/2001

European Parliament resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the association of the
overseas countries and territories with the European Community (‘Overseas’) (COM(2000) 732 .
C5-0070/2001 . 2001/2033(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:17) having regard to the proposal for a Council decision (COM(2000) 732 (cid:17) C5-0070/2001),

(cid:17) having regard to Article 187 of the EC Treaty,

(cid:17) having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, as amended by the Treaty on
in particular Part Four (Articles 182 to 188) and

European Union and the Treaty of Amsterdam,
Article 299(3) thereof,

(cid:17) having regard to Declaration No 36 on the Overseas Countries and Territories adopted by the Heads
of State or Government on 2 October 1997 and annexed to the Final Act of the Amsterdam Con-
ference,

(cid:17) having regard to the Fourth Lomé Convention and in particular Title XII (Regional Cooperation)

thereof and Annexes XXXII and XXXIV thereto (1),

(cid:17) having regard to the Cotonou Agreement and in particular Protocol No 1 thereto (2),

(cid:17) having regard to Council Decision 91/482/EEC of 25 July 1991 on the association of the overseas
countries and territories with the European Community, as amended by Council Decision 97/803/EC
of 24 November 1997 and extended by Council Decision 2000/169/EC of 25 February 2000 and
Council Decision 2001/161/EC of 26 February 2001,

(1) OJ L 229, 17.8.1991, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.

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(cid:17) having regard to its resolution of 11 February 1999 on relations between Overseas Countries and

Territories (OCTs), the ACP States and the outermost regions of the European Union (1),

(cid:17) having regard to its position of 16 May 2001 on the proposal for a Council regulation on the con-
clusion of the Fourth Protocol laying down the conditions relating to fishing provided for in the
Agreement on fisheries between the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and the Gov-
ernment of Denmark and the local Government of Greenland, on the other (COM(2000) 865 (cid:17)
C5-0028/2001 (cid:17) 2000/0348(CNS)) (2),

(cid:17) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:17) having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A5-0276/2001),

A. whereas the OCTs are characterised by physical, geographical and demographic handicaps, such as
their dispersed location, great distance from the European continent and small populations and the
small size of their territories (with the exception of Greenland and the French Southern and Antarctic
Territories); whereas these shared constraints pose a structural obstacle to their economic devel-
opment;

B. whereas the European Union and the OCTs maintain special relations, as set out in Part Four of the
EC Treaty, and whereas the principles of solidarity and cooperation to which the OCTs are firmly
committed were reaffirmed at the Nice European Council,

C. whereas Declaration No 36 on the OCTs, annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam,
invites the Council to review the relevant arrangements with a fourfold objective, namely to promote
the economic and social development of the OCTs more effectively, to develop economic relations
between the OCTs and the European Union, to take greater account of the diversity and specific
characteristics of the individual OCTs, including where the right of establishment is concerned, and
to ensure that the effectiveness of the financial instrument is improved,

D. whereas the OCTs help extend the European Union’s influence globally and contribute to its wealth
and cultural diversity, whereas they have chosen freely to maintain constitutional ties with the
Member States with which they have links, and whereas the large majority of their nationals are
therefore citizens of the Union, even though the OCTs are not part of Community territory,

E. whereas integration of the OCTs into their geo-economic areas, in particular with the ACP States, has
become increasingly necessary owing to the establishment of the Regional Economic Partnership
Agreements (REPAs) introduced by the Cotonou Agreement,

F. whereas the OCTs in fact wish to be involved more in taking decisions on amendments affecting them
and to see a clearer distinction between them and the ACP States in terms of status as regards the
European Development Fund (EDF), from which they all, with the exception of Greenland, receive
funds,

G. whereas the overriding importance accorded to per capita GNP as a criterion for determining the total
funding granted to the OCTs does not adequately reflect the structural imbalances from which they
suffer, although the share-out does allow for other criteria such as population size or use of the
previous EDFs,

H. whereas the weakness regarding commitments noted in respect of the eighth EDF is largely due to
ignorance of the mechanisms relating to this financial instrument, stemming from the extreme com-
plexity of external aid management procedures,

I. whereas, in addition to the financial instrument, the commercial measures envisaged in this proposal

are of great importance for the economic and social future of the OCTs,

(1) OJ C 150, 28.5.1999, p. 439.
(2)
‘Texts Adopted’, Item 14.

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J. whereas there are real threats to the commercial achievements of the OCTs, given the harmonisation

of Community rules and the globalisation of trade,

K. whereas ACP-OCT and EU-OCT cumulation of origin and transhipment are crucial for the future of
the OCTs and their European citizens, and whereas the quantities of goods from the OCTs are not
such as to distort the Community’s internal market,

Recalls the historic ties between the European Union and the OCTs, which are associated with the

1.
Community but are not integrated into it as the outermost regions are;

2.
Considers that, in the context of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the OCTs should not
simply be informed of the outcome of debates and hopes that the Assembly will be able, as a matter of
course, to invite four members of OCT parliaments to attend its twice-yearly plenary sessions as observers,
which would be warranted in view of the subjects addressed by the Assembly;

Deplores the reduction in the overall budget for regional cooperation when, by 2008, the REPAs laid

3.
down in the Cotonou Agreement are due to take shape;

4. Welcomes the establishment of a partnership bringing together the Commission, the local authorities
of the OCTs and the Member States with which the OCTs are linked; notes that the Commission will chair
and act as the secretariat of the working parties and the forum and consequently provide the necessary
funding;

5.
Reiterates strongly its call for the establishment by 2007 of a development fund specifically for
OCTs, and separate from the EDF, which would accommodate the wishes expressed on numerous occa-
sions by the OCT local authorities and the European Parliament;

6.
Calls for the amount of aid payable to each OCT to be allocated not only on a per capita GNP basis
but also on the basis of other objective criteria, such as population size and geographical constraints
(as stipulated by the Commission for the allocation of funds between budgets A and B and reserve C);
notes with regret that, as things stand, three OCTs out of 20 would be deprived of subsidies; calls, there-
fore, for a transitional period to be introduced for those three OCTs and for those whose allocations have
been considerably reduced;

7.
Questions the appropriateness of setting reserve C at an exaggeratedly high level compared with
previous periods, € 35 million, this reserve being intended to finance humanitarian and emergency aid
for all the OCTs and, if necessary, additional support in the event of fluctuations in export earnings; calls
for this reserve to be reassigned if required in order to release additional funds for the development of the
OCTs; notes that the Council intends to make further allocations from reserve C in the light of the chang-
ing needs and performances of the OCTs;

8. Welcomes the possibility the OCTs now have to adopt Single Programming Documents (SPDs) to set
out their strategic guidelines, which should permit structured identification of the priorities laid down by
OCT authorities in consultation with the Commission;

9.
Is pleased that the Commission is to have an overall evaluation made of the decision, at the latest
two years before it expires, but regrets that such an impact study will be financed to the tune of € 2 million
from the EDF budget, which will correspondingly reduce the appropriations that are strictly meant for
cooperation and development;

10.
Calls firmly on the Commission and the Council to promote the training of local economic and
social actors so that the opportunities offered by the association arrangements are further enhanced and
may be better exploited by those concerned;

Is pleased that civil society will be given a role in drawing up and implementing development

11.
strategies;

12.
Fears that, as a result of the pressures exerted both by the WTO and by the current harmonisation
of rules within the European Union, the principle of specification, which prevails in the case of the OCTs,
will be greatly watered down; calls, therefore, for the specific points contained in the proposal to be taken
properly into account;

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Recalls that the proportion of EU imports that come from the OCTs is still very small and that, in

13.
any case, it could not be such as to seriously distort the Community market;

14.
Recalls that transhipment is an important policy instrument for the OCTs, owing to the transfer of
funds it generates from the Community budget to the OCTs’ budgets; calls, therefore, for the exceptional
nature of transhipment authorisation to be removed;

Calls for an early warning mechanism to be introduced so that the Commission consults the OCTs

15.
concerned where safeguard measures are planned in respect of imports of products from OCTs;

16.
Is pleased that, as regards the right of establishment, the need for prior approval is to be removed
where derogations are adopted to support the most sensitive economic sectors and is to be replaced by
simple notification;

Notes that the guarantee of free, unlimited access to the Community market for products originat-
17.
ing in the OCTs is a founding principle of the association arrangements and therefore regrets that tariff
quotas have been imposed in respect of a number of products;

18.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the ACP-EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of the Regions, the Economic and Social Committee, the govern-
ments of the Member States concerned and the elected bodies of the various local authorities of the OCTs.