Council Regulation (EC) No 2500/2001 of 17 December 2001 concerning pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey and amending Regulations (EEC) No 3906/89, (EC) No 1267/1999, (EC) No 1268/1999 and (EC) No 555/2000
Date: 2001-12-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Cyprus, EU aid, Malta, Türkiye, accession to the European Union, cooperation policy

27.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 342/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2500/2001

of 17 December 2001

concerning pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey and amending Regulations (EEC) No
3906/89, (EC) No 1267/1999, (EC) No 1268/1999 and (EC) No 555/2000

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(6)

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

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.

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.

The Nice European Council of December 2000
welcomed the progress made in the implementation of
the pre-accession strategy for Turkey.

the Community has called on it

As Turkey does not yet fulfil the political criteria of
to
Copenhagen,
improve and promote its democratic practices and
respect for fundamental human rights and more closely
to involve civil society in that process.

The cornerstone of
the pre-accession strategy is the
Accession Partnership, drawn up on the basis of
previous European Council conclusions while containing
priorities on which accession preparation are to concen-
trate in the light of the political and economic criteria
and the obligations of a Member State.

For Turkey, the legal basis for the establishment of the
Accession Partnership and the single framework for
coordinating all sources of pre-accession financial assis-
tance 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 Partner-
ship (3).

(7)

The principles, priorities,
intermediate objectives and
conditions for the Accession Partnership with Turkey are
contained in Decision 2001/235/EC (4). As is the case
for the other candidate countries, assistance for Turkey
from the European Union is to be focused on the priori-
ties arising from the Accession Partnership.

(8)

It is appropriate that Community assistance be applied
mainly through institution-building and investments to
promote compliance with the Community acquis.

(9)

The Community should undertake specific actions to
promote the development of civil society in Turkey.

(10)

(11)

Cross-border cooperation, particularly in the context of
the borders between Turkey and the European Union,
between Turkey and other candidate countries and
between Turkey and other countries in the region, is also
to be the subject of specific actions.

The Commission should ensure that the pre-accession
assistance is coordinated with the Member States' bilat-
eral assistance and with funding from the European
Investment Bank (EIB), other financial
instruments for
cooperation (PHARE, MEDA, TACIS,
cross-border
CARDS, Interreg) and other institutional financial insti-
tutions.

(12)

The Community should co-finance Turkish participation
in Community programmes and agencies.

(1) OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001, p. 115.
(2) Opinion delivered on 25 October 2001 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 58, 28.2.2001, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 85, 24.3.2001, p. 13.

L 342/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.12.2001

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

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

continue to apply during the remaining period of the
current financial perspective.

(20)

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

The Commission should implement the assistance in
accordance with the
Financial Regulation of 21
December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the
European Communities (1).

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should 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 (2).

Participation in tenders should be open, as well as to
natural and legal persons from the Member States and
Turkey, to natural and legal persons from the other
candidate countries and from countries benefiting from
the financial and technical measures to accompany
(MEDA) the reform of economic and social structures in
the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (3)
and from the assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herze-
govina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (CARDS) (4).
Such participation should also be open, where specific
types of expertise are required,
to natural and legal
persons from the countries of eastern Europe and central
Asia under the provision of assistance to the partner
States in eastern Europe and central Asia (5). For reasons
of symmetry, similar provisions should be introduced in
the assistance programmes for the other candidate coun-
tries.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

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

Article 2

The assistance:

— shall be in the form of grants,

— 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 10(2),

— may take the form of services, supplies and works,

— in the case of investment, may not cover the purchase of

either land or buildings.

Article 3

(17) Management of pre-accession assistance should gradu-
ally be decentralised to Turkey, taking account of its
management and financial control capacities, provided
that ex post control of assistance is carried out and the
Turkish authorities undertake to carry out
the same
controls and apply the same guarantees as those laid
down in the relevant Community rules.

The beneficiaries of this assistance may include not only the
Turkish State but also provincial and local authorities, business
support organisations and agencies, cooperatives and civil
society, in particular organisations representing the social part-
ners,
foundations, non-profit-making organ-
isations and non-governmental organisations.

associations,

(18) Annual reports on the implementation of the assistance
programme should be established and an evaluation
report submitted.

(19)

In the financial perspective 2000-2006, the pre-acces-
sion financial assistance was doubled for the candidate
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

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula-

tion (EC) No 762/2001 (OJ L 111, 20.4.2001, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(3) Regulation (EC) No 1488/96 (OJ L 189, 30.7.1996, p. 1). Regula-
tion as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2698/2000 (OJ L 311,
12.12.2000, p. 1).

(4) Regulation (EC) No 2666/2000 (OJ L 306, 7.12.2000, p. 1).
(5) Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 99/2000 (OJ L 12, 18.1.2000, p. 1).

Article 4

A financial contribution to each programme or project
1.
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 promotion of civil society development, the contribution
may be in kind.

2.
Assistance shall cover expenditure relating to program-
ming support, communication and information activities and
of
the monitoring,
programmes and projects.

inspection,

evaluation

audit

and

3.
The Commission shall adopt detailed provisions on infor-
mation and publicity so as to ensure that Community funding
for measures financed by this Regulation enjoys a high profile.

27.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 342/3

The assistance may be either independent or in the form
4.
of co-financing with the Member States, the European Invest-
ment Bank, third countries or multilateral bodies.

implementing agencies in Turkey management of assistance on
a decentralised basis. Such a waiver shall be subject to:

Opportunities may be sought for co-financing with other

5.
donors, particularly Member States.

The Community may contribute to the costs related to

6.
the management structures of the assistance.

7.
The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States,
shall ensure sound coordination with the other providers of
funds concerned,

in particular the EIB.

(a) the minimum criteria for assessing the ability of imple-
menting agencies in Turkey to manage assistance and the
minimum conditions applicable to such agencies set out in
the Annex;

(b) specific provisions concerning,

invitations to
tender, scrutiny and evaluation of tenders, the award of
contracts and the implementation of Community public
procurement directives, to be laid down in financing agree-
ments with Turkey.

inter alia,

Article 5

Article 8

Financing of the programmes and projects shall be subject to
compliance with the commitments contained in the EC-Turkey
Association Agreement, Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey
Association Council of 22 December 1995 on implementing
the final phase of the Customs Union (1) and all other related
agreements and decisions, and the conditions laid down in
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 390/2001, in the Accession
Partnership with Turkey and in this Regulation.

Article 6

1.
The Commission shall implement the Community assis-
tance in accordance with the rules of transparency and the
Financial Regulation,

in particular Article 114 thereof.

2.
account,

Prior appraisal of programmes and projects shall take

inter alia, of the following factors:

(a) their effectiveness and prompt viability;

(b) cultural, social and gender 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 7

1.
Assistance of more than EUR 2 000 000 shall be made
available through financing decisions taken by the Commission
in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 10(2).
For
to the
Committee referred to in Article 10, a financing proposal
describing the programmes and/or projects to be implemented.

the Commission shall

that purpose,

submit

The Commission shall
inform the Committee referred to in
Article 10, at least one week beforehand, of any financing
decisions it intends to take regarding programmes and projects
of less than EUR 2 000 000.

The Commission may approve, without seeking the
2.
opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 10, additional
grants needed to cover expected or actual overruns on the
programmes or projects, provided that the overrun is not more
than 20 % of the initial grant set in the financing decision.

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 Regulation.

In order to ensure effective protection of the Communi-
4.
ty's financial interests, the Commission may undertake on-the-
spot checks and inspections in accordance with Council Regu-
lation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996
concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by
the Commission to protect the European Communities' finan-
cial

interests against fraud and other irregularities (2).

Project selection, tendering and contracting by Turkey

1.
shall 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
to waive the ex ante
structures regarding public finance,
approval requirement referred to in paragraph 1 and confer on

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

(1) OJ L 35, 13.2.1996, p. 1. Decision as amended by Decision No
2/1999 of the EC-Turkey Association Council (OJ L 72, 18.3.1999,
p. 36).

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

L 342/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.12.2001

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

7.
Participation in invitations to tender and contracts shall
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
Regulation (EC) No 1488/96 and Regulation (EC) No 2666/
2000.

Participation by countries which are recipients under Regula-
tion (EC) No 99/2000, shall also be authorised by the Commis-
sion, on a case-by-case basis, if the programmes or projects
concerned require specific forms of expertise specifically avail-
able in such 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 shall apply to

8.
the origin of supplies.

Article 9

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

Article 10

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee
1.
provided for in Article 9(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No
3906/89 of 18 December 1989 on economic aid to certain
countries of central and eastern Europe (1).

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

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

included in the report to which reference is made in Article 10
of Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89. The report shall be submitted
not later than 30 September of the following year.

Article 12

Regulation (EC) No 3906/89 is hereby amended as

1.
follows:

— the words ‘and Turkey, Cyprus and Malta’ shall be added at

the end of Article 7(1).

Council Regulation (EC) No 555/2000 of 13 March 2000
2.
on the implementation of operations in the framework of the
pre-accession strategy for the Republic of Cyprus and the
Republic of Malta (2) is hereby amended as follows:

— the words ‘and other candidate countries for accession to
the European Union’ shall be added at the end of Article
7(9);

— the words ‘or any other candidate country for accession to
the European Union’ shall be added at the end of Article
7(10).

3.
The following paragraph shall be added to Article 7 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 of 21 June 1999 estab-
for structural policies for pre-acces-
lishing an instrument
sion (3):

‘8.
Natural and legal persons from Cyprus, Malta and Turkey
may 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.’

4.
The following paragraph shall be added to Article 3 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21 June 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 (4):

Natural and legal persons from Cyprus, Malta and Turkey
‘3.
may 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.’

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 13

Article 11

Each year, the Commission shall submit to the European Parlia-
ment, the Council and the Economic 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 and the programming for
the
following financial year, as well as information on the results
of monitoring and evaluation, accompanied if necessary by
proposals for changes in the management of the assistance, to
information could be
ensure maximum efficiency. This

The Council shall 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.

(1) OJ L 375, 23.12.1989, p. 11. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 2666/2000.

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

27.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 342/5

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

Done at Brussels, 17 December 2001.

For the Council

The President

A. NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK