Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories ( OJ L 405, 30.12.2006 )
Date: 2007-02-03
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU financing, action programme, cooperation policy, industrialised country

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Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument
for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories

(Official Journal of the European Union L 405 of 30 December 2006)

Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 should read as follows:

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1934/2006

of 21 December 2006

establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income
countries and territories

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Article 181a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) Over the past decade, the Community has consistently
strengthened its bilateral relations with a broad range of
industrialised and other high-income countries and terri-
tories across different regions of the world, primarily in
North America, East Asia and Australasia, but also in
South-East Asia and the Gulf region. Furthermore, these
relations have developed to embrace a widening array of
subjects and areas in the economic sphere and beyond.

(2)

It is in the Community's interest to further deepen its
relations with industrialised countries and territories with
which it often shares similar political, economic and
institutional structures and values and which are important
bilateral political and trading partners as well as players in
multilateral fora and in global governance. This will be an
important factor in strengthening the European Union's
role and place in the world, consolidating multilateral
institutions and in contributing to balance and in
developing the world economy and the international
system.

(3)

The European Union and industrialised and other high-
income countries and territories have agreed to strengthen
their relationship and to cooperate across the areas in
which they have shared interests through a variety of
instruments such as agreements, declarations,
bilateral
action plans and other similar documents.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

instruments,

the Community implements

In accordance with the principles laid down in those
bilateral
a
cooperation policy aimed at creating an environment
conducive to pursuing and developing its relations with
those countries and territories. Cooperation activities will
help to strengthen the European presence and visibility in
these countries and encourage economic, commercial,
academic, cultural and other exchanges and interaction
between a diversified range of actors on each side.

The European Union is founded on the principles of
democracy, the rule of law, good governance, respect for
freedoms. Community
human rights and fundamental
action under this Regulation should contribute to the
general objective of developing and consolidating these
principles
through
in partner countries and regions
dialogue and cooperation.

The promotion of diversified bilateral cooperation initia-
tives with industrialised and other high-income countries
and territories within a single instrument will allow
economies of scale, synergy effects, greater effectiveness
and visibility for the Community action.

In order to achieve the objectives of this Regulation it is
necessary to pursue a differentiated approach and to design
cooperation with partner countries taking account of their
economic, social and political contexts as well as of the
Community's specific interests, strategies and priorities.

This Regulation makes it necessary to repeal Council
Regulation (EC) No 382/2001 of 26 February 2001
concerning the implementation of projects promoting
relations between the
cooperation and commercial
European Union and the industrialised countries of North
America,
the Far East and Australasia and repealing
Regulation (EC) No 1035/1999 (1).

(1) OJ L 57, 27.2.2001, p. 10. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1900/2005 (OJ L 303, 22.11.2005, p. 22).

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(9)

Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to promote
enhanced cooperation between the Community and
industrialised and other high-income countries and terri-
tories, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States
and can therefore, by reason of the scale of the action, be
better achieved at Community level, the Community may
in accordance with the principle of
adopt measures,
subsidiarity as set out
In
accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out
in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is
necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

in Article 5 of

the Treaty.

(10) 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
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (1),

for

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Objective

1. Community financing shall support economic, financial and
technical cooperation and other forms of cooperation falling
within its spheres of competence, with industrialised and other
high-income countries and territories.

2. The primary objective of cooperation with the countries and
territories referred to in paragraph 1 shall be to provide a specific
response to the need to strengthen links and to engage further
with them on a bilateral, regional or multilateral basis in order to
create a more favourable environment for the development of
the relations of
the Community with these countries and
territories and promote dialogue while fostering Community's
interests.

Article 2

Scope

similar political,

1. The cooperation with industrialised and other high-income
countries and territories shall be aimed at engaging with partners
economic and institutional
which share
structures and values
to the Community and which are
important bilateral partners and players in multilateral fora and
in global governance. The cooperation also covers newly
industrialised or high-income countries and territories with
which the Community has a strategic interest in promoting links.

2.
For the purpose of this Regulation, industrialised and other
high-income countries and territories shall comprise countries
and territories listed in the Annex and are hereinafter referred to
as ‘partner countries’. However, in duly justified circumstances
and in order to foster regional cooperation, the Commission may

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/

512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).

decide when adopting action programmes referred to in Article 6
that countries not listed in the Annex are eligible, where the
project or programme to be implemented is of regional or cross-
border nature. Provisions may be made for
in the
multiannual cooperation programmes referred to in Article 5.
The Commission shall amend the list in the Annex in accordance
with regular OECD/DAC reviews of
its list of developing
countries and inform the Council thereof.

this

Article 3

General principles

1. The European Union is founded on the principles of liberty,
democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
and the rule of law and seeks to promote commitment to these
principles in partner countries through dialogue and cooper-
ation.

2.
In the implementation of this Regulation a differentiated
approach in designing cooperation with partner countries shall
their
be pursued, where appropriate,
economic, social and political contexts as well as of
the
Community's specific interests, strategies and priorities.

to take account of

3. Measures financed under this Regulation shall cover areas of
cooperation set out notably in the instruments, agreements,
declarations and action plans between the Community and the
partner countries as well as areas pertaining to the Community's
specific interests.

For measures financed under this Regulation, the Commu-
4.
nity shall aim to ensure coherence with other areas of its external
action as well as other relevant Community policies. This shall be
ensured by formulating policy, strategic planning and the
programming and implementation of measures.

5. Measures financed under this Regulation shall complement
and bring added value to the efforts undertaken by Member
States and Community public bodies, including in the area of
commercial relations.

Article 4

Areas of cooperation

Community financing shall support cooperation actions in
accordance with Article 1 and shall be consistent with the overall
purpose,
this
Regulation. Specific attention shall be paid to actions, which
may include a regional dimension,
in the following areas of
cooperation:

scope, objectives and general principles of

(1)

the promotion of cooperation, partnerships and joint
undertakings between economic, academic and scientific
actors in the Community and partner countries;

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(2)

the stimulation of bilateral trade,
economic partnerships;

investment flows and

Article 6

Implementation

the promotion of dialogues between political, economic
and social actors and other non-governmental organisa-
tions in relevant sectors in the Community and partner
countries;

1. The Commission shall adopt annual action programmes
based on the multiannual cooperation programmes referred to in
Article 5.

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

the promotion of people-to-people links, education and
training programmes and intellectual exchanges and the
enhancement of mutual understanding between cultures
and civilisations;

the promotion of cooperative projects in areas such as
research, science and technology, energy, transport and
change,
environmental matters — including climate
customs and financial
issues and any other matter of
mutual interest between the Community and the partner
countries;

the enhancement of awareness about and understanding of
the European Union and of
its visibility in partner
countries;

support for specific initiatives,
including research work,
studies, pilot schemes or joint projects destined to respond
to cooperation
in an effective and flexible manner
objectives arising from developments in the Community's
bilateral relationship with the partner countries or aiming
to provide impetus to the further deepening and broad-
ening of bilateral relationships with them.

Article 5

Programming and allocation of funds

1. Actions to promote cooperation under this Regulation shall
be carried out in the framework of multiannual cooperation
programmes covering cooperation with all or with a selection of
the partner countries. The Commission shall draw-up the
multiannual cooperation programmes and specify their scope.

2. Multiannual cooperation programmes shall cover no more
than the period of validity of this Regulation. They shall set out
the Community's strategic interests and priorities, the general
objectives and the expected results. They shall also set out the
areas selected for financing by the Community and outline the
indicative financial allocation of funds, overall, per priority area
and per partner country or group of partner countries for the
period concerned. Where appropriate, this may be given in the
form of a range. Multiannual cooperation programmes shall be
reviewed at mid-term, or ad hoc if necessary.

2. Annual action programmes shall specify, for all or for a
selection of partner countries, the objectives pursued, the fields
of intervention, the expected results, the management procedures
and the total amount of financing planned. They shall contain a
description of the operations to be financed, an indication of the
amounts allocated for
each operation and an indicative
implementation timetable.

3. Annual action programmes
shall be adopted by the
Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in Article
15(2). This procedure needs not be used for amendments to
action programmes, such as those making technical adjustments,
extending the implementation period, reassigning funds between
the planned operations within the forecast budget, or increasing
or reducing the size of the budget by less than 20 % of the initial
budget, provided these amendments are consistent with the
initial objectives set out in the action programmes.

Article 7

Eligibility

The following entities shall be eligible for funding under this
Regulation for
implementing the action
programmes referred to in Article 6:

the purposes of

(a)

the following entities and bodies in the Member States and
in the partner countries:

(i)

public or parastatal bodies,
consortia thereof;

local authorities and

(ii)

companies, firms and other private organisations and
businesses;

(iii) non-governmental organisations; citizens' groups and
sectoral organisations such as trade unions, organisa-
tions representing economic and social
interests,
consumer organisations, women's and youth organi-
sations; teaching, training, cultural, media, research
and scientific organisations; universities and other
education institutions;

3. Multiannual cooperation programmes and any reviews
thereof shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with
the procedure set out in Article 15(2).

(b)

partner countries and their
decentralised bodies;

regions,

institutions and

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(c)

(d)

including regional organisa-
international organisations,
tions, in so far as they contribute to the objectives of this
Regulation;

countries, may incur for the management of operations financed
under this Regulation.

natural persons of
countries or other
contribute to the objectives of this Regulation;

the Member States and of partner
third countries in so far as they

2. These support measures are not necessarily covered by
multiannual programmes and may therefore be financed outside
their scope.

(e)

joint bodies set up by the partner countries and regions and
the Community;

3. The Commission shall adopt support measures not covered
by the multiannual programmes and shall inform Member States
thereof.

(f)

insofar as
Community institutions and bodies,
implement support measures specified in Article 9;

they

(g)

European Union agencies.

Article 10

Co-financing

Article 8

Types of financing

1. Cooperation projects and programmes will be financed by
the general budget of the European Union either in totality or in
the form of co-financing with other sources as specified in
Article 10.

Financing for the implementation of action programmes

2.
may take in particular the following legal forms:

1. Measures shall be eligible for co-financing, inter alia, with:

(a) Member States, their regional and local authorities, and in

particular their public and parastatal agencies;

(b)

partner countries, and in particular
parastatal agencies;

their public and

(c)

international organisations and regional organisations,
including international and regional financial institutions;

(a)

grant agreements (including scholarships);

(d)

companies, firms, other private organisations and busi-
nesses, and other non-State actors;

(b)

procurement contracts;

(c)

employment contracts;

(d)

financing agreements.

3. Where the implementation of action programmes takes the
form of financing agreements with partner countries, it shall be
established that Community funding shall not be used to finance
taxes, customs duties and other fiscal charges in the partner
countries.

Article 9

Support measures

1. Community financing may cover expenditure associated
with the preparation,
and
evaluation activities directly necessary for the implementation
of this Regulation and the achievement of its objectives, and any
other administrative or technical assistance expenditure that the
in the partner
Commission,

follow up, monitoring, audit

its Delegations

including at

(e)

partner countries in receipt of funding, and other bodies
eligible for funding under Article 7.

In the case of parallel co-financing,

2.
the project or
programme will be split into a number of clearly identifiable
operations which are each financed by the different partners
providing co-financing in such a way that the end-use of the
financing can always be identified.

In the case of joint co-financing, the total cost of a project or
3.
programme will be shared between the partners providing the
co-financing and the resources are pooled in such a way that it is
not possible to identify the source of financing for any given
activity undertaken as part of the project or programme.

4. The Commission may receive and manage funds for co-
financed projects on behalf of the bodies referred to in paragraph
1(a) (b) and (c) for the purpose of implementing joint measures.
Such funds shall be treated as assigned revenue, in accordance
with Article 18 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/
2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of the European Communities (1).

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

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Article 11

Management procedures

2. The Commission shall send its evaluation reports to the
European Parliament and to the Committee referred to in Article
15 for information.

this Regulation shall be
1. The measures financed under
implemented in accordance with Regulation (EC, Euratom) No
1605/2002 and in particular Part Two, Title IV thereof.

2. The Commission may entrust tasks of public authority, and
in particular budget implementation tasks, to the bodies referred
to in Article 54(2)(a) and (c) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No
1605/2002. The bodies referred to in Article 54(2)(c) of that
Regulation may be entrusted with tasks of public authority if
they are of recognised international standing, comply with
internationally recognised systems of management and control,
and are supervised by a public authority.

Article 12

Protecting the Community's financial interests

to irregularities,

in particular with respect

1. Any agreements resulting from this Regulation shall contain
provisions ensuring the protection of the Community's financial
interests,
fraud,
corruption and any other illegal activity,
in accordance with
Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December
1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial
interests (1) and (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November
1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out
by the Commission in order to protect the European Commu-
nities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (2)
and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations
conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) (3).

2. Agreements shall expressly entitle the Commission and the
Court of Auditors to perform audits, including document audits
or on-the-spot audits of any contractor or subcontractor who has
received Community funds. They shall also expressly authorise
the Commission to carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections
in accordance with Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96.

contracts

3. All
implementation of
resulting from the
cooperation shall ensure the rights of the Commission and the
Court of Auditors under paragraph 2 during and after the
performance of the contracts.

Article 13

Evaluation

1. The Commission shall regularly evaluate the actions and
programmes financed under this Regulation, where appropriate
by means of
in order to
independent external evaluations,
ascertain whether the objectives have been met and enable it to
formulate recommendations with a view to improving future
operations. The results shall feed back into programme design
and resource allocation.

(1) OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1.

3. The Commission shall associate relevant
including non-State actors,
Community cooperation provided for under this Regulation.

in the evaluation phase of

stakeholders,
the

Article 14

Annual report

The Commission shall examine the progress made on imple-
menting the measures taken under this Regulation and shall
submit to the European Parliament and the Council an annual
report on the implementation of this Regulation. The report shall
set out the results of implementation of the budget and present
the actions and programmes financed, and as far as possible, set
out the main outcomes and impacts of the cooperation actions
and programmes.

Article 15

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

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 30 days.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 16

Financial provisions

The financial reference amount for the implementation of this
Regulation for the period from 2007 to 2013 shall be EUR 172
million. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework.

Article 17

Repeal

1. Regulation (EC) No 382/2001 shall be repealed as of the
latest of the following dates:

— 1 January 2007,

— the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

2. The repealed Regulation shall continue to apply for legal acts
and commitments of budget years preceding the year 2007. Any
reference to the repealed Regulation shall be deemed to be a
reference to this Regulation.

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Article 18

Review

Article 19

Entry into force

Not later than 31 December 2010, the Commission shall submit
to the European Parliament and the Council a report evaluating
the implementation of this Regulation in the first three years
with,
introducing the
necessary modifications.

if appropriate, a legislative proposal

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013.

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

Done at Brussels, 21 December 2006.

For the Council

The President

J. KORKEAOJA

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ANNEX

List of countries and territories covered by this Regulation

(1) Australia

(2)

Bahrain

(3)

Brunei

(4)

Canada

(5)

Chinese Taipei (1)

(6) Hong-Kong

(7)

Japan

(8)

Republic of Korea

(9)

Kuwait

(10) Macao

(11) New Zealand

(12) Oman

(13) Qatar

(14) Saudi Arabia

(15) Singapore

(16) United Arab Emirates

(17) United States

(1) Although there are no diplomatic or political relations with Chinese Taipei, intensive contacts do take place and should be continued in

the areas of economy, trade, science and technology, standards and norms and on a number of other subjects.