Regulation (EC) No 1567/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2003 on aid for policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries
Date: 2003-07-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU aid, developing countries, health policy, reproductive health

6.9.2003

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(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

REGULATION (EC) No 1567/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 15 July 2003

on aid for policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing
countries

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

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

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

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The Community is deeply concerned by the reproductive
in
and sexual health conditions of women and men,
particular those aged 15 to 49, in developing countries.
High maternal mortality and morbidity rates, the lack of
a full range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual
health care and services, supplies and information, and
the spread of HIV/AIDS undermine all efforts to eradi-
cate poverty, enhance sustainable development, expand
opportunities and safeguard livelihoods in developing
countries.

Individual
freedom of choice for women, men and
adolescents through adequate access to information,
education and services in matters concerning their repro-
ductive and sexual health and rights is a significant
element of progress and development and requires
action by governments as well as individual responsi-
bility.

The right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health is a fundamental human right
which is in line with the provisions of Article 25 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right is
being denied to over a fifth of the world's population.

Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union calls for a high level of human health
protection in the definition and implementation of all
Union policies and activities.

(1) OJ C 151 E, 25.6.2002, p. 260.
(2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 February 2003 (not yet
published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the Council of 16
June 2003.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

The Community and its Member States uphold the right
of
individuals to decide freely on the number and
spacing of their children; they condemn any violation of
human rights in the form of compulsory abortion,
compulsory sterilisation,
infanticide, or the rejection,
abandonment or abuse of unwanted children as a means
of curbing population growth.

Both the European Parliament and the Council have
called for greater efforts by the Community in the area
of reproductive and sexual health and rights in devel-
oping countries.

Article 25(1)(c) and (d) and Article 31(b)(iii) of the ACP-
EU Partnership Agreement (3) signed in Cotonou on 23
June 2000 clearly aim to integrate strategies to improve
access to basic social services.

The Community and its Member States will continue to
contribute greatly to the wider effort to support policies
and programmes on reproductive and sexual health and
rights
to
continue to play a leading role in this area, giving
priority to health as part of a global strategy to fight
poverty.

in developing countries,

and undertake

The Community and its Member States are determined
to make a full contribution towards achieving the
Millennium Development Goals of reducing by three-
quarters the rate of maternal mortality, achieving gender
equality, and attaining access to sexual and reproductive
health care and services worldwide.

(10)

The Monterrey Conference stipulates that increased offi-
cial development assistance (ODA) and debt
relief
schemes should be used for the benefit of better health
and education outcomes and the EU has an important
role to play in exploring how increased ODA could be
used more effectively for improved sustainable develop-
ment.

(3) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.

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(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

The International Conference on Population and Devel-
opment (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 and the ICPD + 5
in 1999 set out an ambitious agenda. The Community
and its Member States maintain their commitment to the
specific reproductive health goal that was agreed at the
ICPD, to make accessible, through the primary health-
care system, reproductive health care to all individuals of
appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later than
2015 (ICPD Programme of Action, point 7.6).

The Community and its Member States are committed to
upholding the principles agreed at the ICPD and the
ICPD + 5 and call upon the international community, in
particular the developed countries, collectively to bear
the appropriate share of the financial burden defined in
the ICPD Programme of Action.

Since the ICPD, progress has been made, yet there is still
much to be done to ensure that every woman has the
chance of a healthy pregnancy and of giving birth in safe
conditions, that the sexual and reproductive health needs
of young people are met and that the violence and abuse
suffered by women is stopped, including in refugee and
conflict situations.

is crucial

The sustained supply, availability and affordability of
more effective and acceptable methods of contraception
and protection from sexually transmitted infection,
including HIV/AIDS,
in achieving the ICPD
goals; this calls for an adequate supply and choice of
quality reproductive-health-related supplies
for every
person who needs them. This form of security requires
not only the commodities themselves, but the capacity
to forecast, finance, procure and deliver them to the
places where they are needed, when they are needed.

(15)

The 1995 UN Beijing Conference on Women and the
Beijing + 5 Conference reaffirmed the goals of the ICPD
Programme of Action, recognising that unsafe abortions
threaten the lives of a large number of women, and that
deaths and injuries could be prevented through safe and
effective reproductive health measures.

(16) No support is to be given under this Regulation to
incentives to encourage sterilisation or abortion, or to
the improper testing of contraception methods in devel-
oping countries. When cooperation measures are imple-
mented, the decisions adopted at the ICPD, in particular
point 8.25 of the ICPD Programme of Action, according
inter alia, abortion should in no case be
to which,
promoted as a method of
family planning, must be
rigorously observed. Post-abortion counselling, education
and family planning services should be offered promptly,
which will also help to avoid repeat abortions.

(17)

(18)

Experience shows that population and development
programmes are most effective when steps have been
taken to improve the status of women (ICPD Programme
of Action, point 4.1). Gender equality is a precondition
for improved reproductive health, and men should take
full responsibility for their sexual and reproductive beha-
viour (ICPD Programme of Action, point 4.25).

The effectiveness of programmes to support nationally
led strategies to improve reproductive and sexual health
in developing countries partly depends on the improved
coordination of aid at both the European and the inter-
national level, in particular with the UN agencies, funds
and programmes, and more specifically the UN Popula-
tion Fund.

(19)

Reproductive health providers have a major role to play
in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually trans-
mitted infections.

(20)

(21)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1484/97 of 22 July 1997
on aid for population policies and programmes in devel-
oping countries (1), applicable until 31 December 2002,
is rendered obsolete by this Regulation and should there-
fore be repealed. The experience acquired during its
application should be reflected in the application of this
new Regulation.

This Regulation lays down, for the entire duration of the
programme, a financial
framework constituting the
prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission
on budgetary discipline
the
budgetary procedure (2),
the budgetary authority
during the annual budgetary procedure.

and improvement of

for

(22)

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 (3).

(23) As the objectives of the proposed action, namely to
improve reproductive and sexual health and to secure
respect
for the rights related thereto, with particular
reference to developing countries, cannot be sufficiently
achieved by the Member States, and can therefore, by
reason of the scale and effects of the proposed action, be
better achieved at Community level,
the Community
may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accor-
dance with the principle of proportionality also set out
in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what
is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,

(1) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Chapte r I

Purpose and scope

Article 1

1.
The Community shall support actions to improve repro-
ductive and sexual health in developing countries and to secure
respect for the rights relating thereto.

2.
The Community shall provide financial assistance and
appropriate expertise with a view to promoting a holistic
approach to, and the recognition of, reproductive and sexual
health and rights as defined in the ICPD Programme of Action,
including safe motherhood and universal access to a compre-
hensive range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual
health care and services.

In the allocation of such funding and expertise, priority

3.
shall be given to:

(a) the poorest and least developed countries and the most
disadvantaged sections of the populations of developing
countries;

(b) action that complements and reinforces both the policies
and capacities of developing countries and the assistance
provided through other instruments of development coop-
eration.

Article 2

The purpose of the activities carried out under this Regulation
shall be to:

(a) secure the right of women, men and adolescents to good

reproductive and sexual health;

(b) enable women, men and adolescents to have access to a
comprehensive
safe, accessible,
range of high-quality,
affordable and reliable reproductive and sexual health care
including
services, supplies, education and information,
information on all kinds of family planning methods;

(c) reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates, with parti-
cular reference to the countries and populations where
these are highest.

Article 3

1.
Community financial support shall be given to specific
operations targeting the poorest and most vulnerable popula-
tions in both rural and urban areas, designed to achieve the
in particular, to those
purposes described in Article 2, and,
which aim to:

(a) support and promote policy and operational frameworks
and action, tailored to meet specific targets for the progres-
sive realisation of people's rights to adequate basic health
services and accountable service providers;

(b) ensure better access to high-quality reproductive and sexual
health services, offering, in particular, contraceptive choice
and the prevention and diagnosis of sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV/AIDS, and the provision of volun-
tary confidential counselling and testing;

(c) offer adolescents and young adults educational programmes
that focus on the relationship between family planning,
reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases and the
impact of HIV/AIDS on partnerships, and provide them
with the necessary information, services and skills to
protect
avoid
unwanted pregnancies and involve them in the design and
implementation of such programmes;

and sexual health,

reproductive

their

(d) combat practices harmful to the sexual and reproductive
health of women, adolescents and children, such as female
genital mutilation, sexual violence, child marriages and
early marriages;

(e) ensure the sustained supply, availability and affordability of
more effective and acceptable methods of contraception
and protection from sexually
infection,
including HIV/AIDS;

transmitted

(f) promote

comprehensive maternal health programmes,
including the provision of quality antenatal care, care
during childbirth and post-natal care, and the establishment
and/or expansion of a body of skilled birth attendants;

(g) provide effective emergency obstetric and post-partum care,
including treatment for complications resulting from unsafe
abortion;

(h) reduce unsafe abortions by decreasing the number of
unwanted pregnancies through the provision of
family
planning services, compassionate counselling and informa-
tion, including the use of contraception, and by investing
in the training and equipping of suitable staff,
including
medical service personnel, to manage under hygienic and
safe conditions the complications resulting from unsafe
abortion.

2.
In order to implement the abovementioned operations,
particular attention shall be given to the need to improve the
health systems of developing countries.
In this process, the
participation and consultation of local communities, families
and stakeholders, with special attention to the poor, women
and adolescents, shall be ensured. In addition, with a view to
ensuring that
improvements in health and well-being are
sustainable, all operations shall be conducted in tandem with
broad-based investments in the social sector, covering educa-
tion, community action, equity and gender awareness, environ-
mental improvement, economic well-being, food-security and
nutrition.

Article 4

In the context of the operations referred to in Article 3,

1.
Community support may take the form of:

(a) funding of research and programmes for action (which
shall, as far as possible, be carried out by or in collabora-
tion with experts or institutions of the partner country);

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(b) technical assistance, training, counselling or other services;

(c) supplies, such as medical supplies, commodities and works;

(d) audits, evaluation and monitoring missions.

Priority shall be given to enhancing national capacities with a
view to long-term viability.

Community financing may cover both investment expen-
2.
diture, excluding the purchase of real estate, and, in exceptional
and duly substantiated cases, taking into account the fact that
the operation must, as far as possible, aim at medium-term
viability, recurring expenditure as well (including administrative
expenditure, maintenance and running costs), which tempora-
rily represents a burden for the partner, so that maximum use
is made of the support referred to in paragraph 1.

Ch a p te r II

Implementation of aid

Article 5

Community financing under this Regulation shall take the

1.
form of grants.

2.
A financial contribution from the partners defined in
Article 6 shall be sought for each cooperation operation. In
specifying the amount of the contribution requested, account
shall be taken of the capacity of the partners concerned and the
nature of the operation in question. In certain circumstances,
the contribution may be in kind if the partner is either a non-
governmental organisation (NGO) or a community-based orga-
nisation.

3.
The provision of financial assistance under this Regula-
tion may entail co-financing with other donors, in particular
with Member States, the United Nations, and international or
regional development banks or financial institutions.

4.
In the context of the operations referred to in Article
3(1)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g), efforts shall be made to integrate
interventions targeting reproductive and sexual health and
rights with actions targeting poverty diseases.

(e) international organisations, such as the United Nations and
its agencies, funds and programmes, as well as development
banks, financial institutions, global initiatives and interna-
tional public-private partnerships;

(f) research institutes and universities.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1(e), Community finan-
cial assistance shall be available to partners whose head office
is located in a Member State or in a third country that is a
beneficiary or potential beneficiary of Community assistance
under this Regulation, provided that this office is the actual
centre directing business operations. In exceptional cases, this
office may be located in another third country.

Article 7

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

2.
Any financing agreement or contract concluded under
this Regulation shall stipulate that it is subject to the supervi-
sion and financial control of the Commission which may carry
out spot-checks and inspections, and to audits by the Court of
Auditors, in accordance with 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 (1), hereinafter ‘the Finan-
cial Regulation’.

The necessary measures shall be taken to emphasise the

3.
Community character of aid provided under this Regulation.

Article 8

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

Supplies shall originate in the beneficiary country, other
In exceptional

2.
developing countries or the Member States.
cases, supplies may originate from other third countries.

Article 6

Article 9

The partners eligible for financial assistance under this

1.
Regulation include:

(a) administrative authorities and agencies at national, regional

and local government levels;

(b) local authorities and other decentralised bodies;

(c) local communities, NGOs, community-based organisations
and other not-for-profit natural and legal persons from the
private sector;

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) the establishment of 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;

(d) regional organisations;

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

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(b) on-the-spot coordination of the implementation of opera-
tions through regular meetings and exchanges of informa-
tion between the representatives of the Commission and
the Member States in the recipient country.

For decisions and changes to these operations amounting
inform the

3.
to EUR 3 million or less, the Commission shall
Member States.

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

Chapter III

Financial and decision-making procedures

Article 13

The Commission shall be assisted by the geographically

1.
competent committee for development.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at 45 days.

Article 10

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

1.
The financial framework for the implementation of this
Regulation for the period from 2003 to 2006 is hereby set at
EUR 73,95 million. The annual allocation shall be subject to
the agreement of the budgetary authority on the appropriate
means of financing under the Financial Perspective or through
the use of the instruments provided for by the Interinstitutional
Agreement of 6 May 1999.

2.
The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
budgetary authority within the limits of the Financial Perspec-
tive.

Article 11

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for drafting strategic
programming guidelines, defining the Community's coopera-
tion in terms of measurable objectives, priorities, deadlines for
specific areas of action, assumptions and expected outcomes.
Programming shall be annual and indicative.

2.
An annual exchange of views with the Member States
shall take place, within the Committee referred to in Article
13(1), on the basis of a presentation by the representative of
the Commission of the strategic programming guidelines for
the operations to be carried out. The Committee shall give an
opinion on these matters in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 13(2).

Ch a p te r IV

Reporting and final provisions

Article 14

1.
After each budget year, the Commission shall submit, in
its annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council
on Community development policy, information on the guide-
lines for its annual indicative strategic programme and on the
operations financed in the course of that year, as well as the
Commission's conclusions on the implementation of this Regu-
lation over the previous budget year. The summary shall
in
particular provide information on the strengths and weaknesses
of operations, those with whom contracts have been concluded
and the sums of those contracts, as well as the results of any
independent evaluations of specific operations.

2.
At the latest one year before the expiry of this Regulation,
the Commission shall submit a comprehensive independent
appraisal report on its implementation to the European Parlia-
ment and the Council with a view to establishing whether the
actions undertaken under this Regulation have been effective,
and with a view to providing guidelines for improving the
effectiveness of future operations. On the basis of this appraisal
report the Commission may make proposals for the future of
this Regulation and, if necessary, proposals for its amendment.

Article 12

Article 15

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for appraising,
deciding upon and administering the operations covered by this
Regulation in accordance with the budgetary and other proce-
dures in force, in particular those laid down in the Financial
Regulation.

Decisions concerning operations

2.
for which financing
under this Regulation exceeds EUR 3 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 13(2).

Regulation (EC) No 1484/97 shall be repealed. However, opera-
tions that have been decided upon under that Regulation shall
continue to be implemented under it.

Article 16

1.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

2.

It shall apply until 31 December 2006.

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

Done at Brussels, 15 July 2003.

For the European Parliament

The President

P. COX

For the Council

The President

G. TREMONTI