Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability
Date: 2009-04-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU relations, aid system, cooperation policy, development aid, financial instrument, foreign policy

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.4.2009 
COM(2009) 195 final 

2009/0058 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

(1) 

As part of the reform of external action financial instruments for 2007-2013, replacing 
more  than  30  different  legal  instruments  with  seven  new  ones,  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1717/2006  of  15  November  2006  (the  Regulation)  established  the  Instrument  for 
Stability  (hereinafter  the  IfS)  to  enable  the  Community  to  give  a  consistent  and 
integrated  response  to  crises  and  impending  crises,  by  means  of  a  single  legal 
instrument with simplified decision-making procedures.  

(2) 

The  review  of  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation  under  Article  25  may  include 
legislative proposals where the Commission has concluded, on the basis of the review, 
that certain amendments to the Regulation are necessary. This is the case for the IfS. 

(3)  When  the  IfS  Regulation  was  adopted  on  15  November  2006,  the  Council  and  the 
Commission  issued  a  joint  statement  in  which  they  agreed  that  “nothing  in  this 
Regulation shall be construed as prejudging positions taken in Case 91/05. Until such 
time  as  the  Court  of  Justice  rules  on  that  case  the  Commission  will  not  seek  to  take 
measures under Article 3(2)(i). The Council and Commission agree that in the context 
of the review of the Regulation establishing an instrument for stability provided for in 
Article 25 of that Regulation, the scope of Article 3(2)(i) will be revised as necessary, 
on  the  basis  of  a  Commission  proposal,  in  the  light  of  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of 
Justice in Case C-91/05 (Commission v. Council)” .1 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

On  20  May  2008,  the  European  Court  of  Justice  annulled  Council  Decision 
2004/833/CFSP of 2 December 2004 implementing Joint Action 2002/589/CFSP with 
a  view  to  a  EU  contribution  to  ECOWAS  in  the  framework  of  the  Moratorium  on 
Small Arms and Light Weapons (hereinafter ‘the ECOWAS case’).2 The Court found 
that  measures  against  the  proliferation  of  small  arms  and  light  weapons  may  be 
implemented by the Community under its development policy. 

On the basis of the joint statement made by Council and Commission, it is therefore 
necessary to propose a revision of Article 3(2)(i) in order to bring it in line with the 
case law of the Court. For the same reason, Article 4(1)(a) on action in support of the 
fight  against  the  illicit  trafficking  needs  to  be  revised  in  order  to  refer  explicitly  to 
“small arms and light weapons”. 

Article  17  of  the  Regulation  excludes  partners  from  developed  countries  outside  the 
EU  and  the  EEA  from  participating  in  actions  in  support  of  pre-  and  post-crisis 
capacity  building  (crisis  preparedness)  under  Article  4(3)  of  the  Regulation.  Thus 
partners who are eligible to participate in crisis response measures under Article 3 of 
the  Regulation  are  precluded  from  participating  in  crisis  preparedness  under  Article 
17. This is inconsistent and poses a serious setback to the attainment of objectives of 
Article  4(3).  It  is  therefore  proposed  to  open  up  participation  in  the  award  of 
procurement or grant contracts under Article 4(3) to participation on a global basis, as 
is  already  the  case  for  measures  under  Article  3  according  to  Article  17(4),  so  as  to 
align  the  provisions  on  participation  and  rules  of  origin  for  assistance  to  crisis 
response with those concerning crisis preparedness.  

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Council document 14010/06 ADD 1, 27.10.2006. 
ECJ, Case C-91/05 (ECOWAS). 

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(7) 

Article  24  of  the  Regulation  specifies  that  no  more  than  7%  of  the  overall  reference 
amount shall be allocated to measures falling under Article 4(1). However, the share of 
the  financial  envelope  intended  for  measures  under  Article  4(1)  has  proven  to  be 
inadequate  and  needs  to  be  increased,  as  the  areas  covered  by  Article  4(1)  are 
numerous  and,  even  with  multi-purpose  programmes,  only  a  few  can  be  handled 
effectively with the scarce resources available. Developing effective actions in the area 
of  critical  infrastructure,  public  health  risks  and  global  responses  to  trans-regional 
threats  requires  more  substantial  measures  to  allow  real  impact,  visibility  and 
credibility. In addition, developing trans-regional actions which are complementary to 
national  and  regional  envelopes  requires  an  appropriate  level  of  funding  to  reach  a 
critical  mass.  The  budgetary  allocations  so  far  (EUR  9  million  in  2007,  EUR  10 
million in 2008, and EUR 13 million in 2009) and the limit of 7% in Article 24 of the 
Regulation do not allow these objectives to be met. It is therefore proposed to increase 
the maximum share for measures under Article 4(1) from 7% to 10%. 

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2009/0058 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 
179(1) and 181a thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty,3 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

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Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 
November  2006  establishing  an  Instrument  for  Stability4  was  designed  with  the 
objective  of  enabling  the  Community  to  give  a  consistent  and  integrated  response  to 
crisis  and  impending  crisis,  using  a  single  legal  instrument  with  simplified  decision-
making procedures.  

The  review  under  Article  25  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1717/2006  concludes  that  it  is 
appropriate to propose certain amendments to the Regulation. 

Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 needs to be brought into line with the judgment of the 
Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Communities  (Grand  Chamber)  of  20  May  2008 
(Case C-91/05) establishing that measures to combat the proliferation, illicit use of and 
access to small arms and light weapons may be implemented by the Community under 
its development policy, and thus under Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006. 

The  pursuit  of  the  objectives  set  out  in  Article  4(3)  and  consistency  should  be 
improved  by  allowing  participation  in  the  award  of  procurement  or  grant  contracts 
under Article 4(3) on a global basis, as is already the case for measures under Article 
3,  so  as  to  bring  the  provisions  on  participation  and  rules  of  origin  for  assistance  to 
crisis response into line with those on crisis preparedness.  

The  share  of  the  financial  envelope  provided  for  in  Article  24  for  measures  under 
Article 4(1) has proven to be inadequate and should be increased. The areas covered 
are  numerous,  and  even  with  multi-purpose  programmes  only  a  few  can  be  handled 

Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  delivered  on  XXXX  2009  (not  yet  published  in  the  Official 
Journal) and Council Decision of XXXX 2009. 
OJ L 327, 24.11.2006, p. 1. 

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effectively with the scarce resources available. Developing effective actions in the area 
of  critical  infrastructure,  public  health  risks,  and  global  responses  to  trans-regional 
threats  requires  more  substantial  measures  to  allow  real  impact,  visibility  and 
credibility. In addition, developing trans-regional actions which are complementary to 
national  and  regional  envelopes  requires  an  appropriate  level  of  funding  to  reach  a 
critical mass. The maximum percentage allocated under the overall financial envelope 
for measures falling under Article 4(1) should be raised from 7% to 10% in order to 
allow the objectives set out in Article 4(1) to be further met. 

(6) 

Since the objectives of this Regulation 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  adopt  measures,  in  accordance  with  the 
principle  of  subsidiarity  set  out  in  Article  5  of  the  Treaty.  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 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 is amended as follows:  

(1) In Article 3(2), point (i) is replaced by the following: 

“(i)  support  for  measures  to  combat,  within  the  framework  of  Community  cooperation 
policies  and  their  objectives,  the  illicit  use  of  and  access  to  small  arms  and  light  weapons; 
such support could also include survey activities, victim assistance, raising public awareness 
and the development of legal and administrative expertise and good practice.” 

(2) In Article 4(1), point (a) is replaced by the following: 

“(a) strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial and civil authorities involved 
in  the  fight  against  terrorism  and  organised  crime,  including  illicit  trafficking  of  people, 
drugs, firearms, small arms and light weapons, explosive materials and in the effective control 
of illegal trade and transit.” 

(3) In Article 17, paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following: 

“4.  In  the  case  of  Exceptional  Assistance  Measures  and  Interim  Response  Programmes 
referred  to  in  Article  6,  and  in  the  case  of  measures  adopted  in  pursuit  of  the  objectives 
referred to in Article 4(3), participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts shall 
be open on a global basis. 

5. In the case of measures adopted in pursuit of the objectives referred to in Article 4(1) and 
(2), participation in the award of procurement  or grant contracts shall be open, and rules of 
origin shall extend, to any natural or legal person of a developing country or of a country in 
transition,  as  defined  by  the  OECD,  and  to  natural  or  legal  persons  of  any  other  country 
eligible under the relevant strategy.” 

(4) Article 24 is replaced by the following:  

“Article 24 

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Financial envelope 

The financial envelope for implementation of this Regulation over the period 2007 to 2013 is 
EUR  2  062  000  000.  Annual  appropriations  shall  be  authorised  by  the  budgetary  authority 
within the limits of the financial framework. 

In the period 2007 to 2013: 

(a) no more than 10 percentage points of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures 
falling under Article 4(1);  

(b) no more than 15 percentage points of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures 
falling under Article 4(2); 

(c) no more than 5 percentage points of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures 
falling under Article 4(3).” 

Article 2 

Entry into force 

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

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

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the European Parliament 
The President 
[…] 

For the Council 
The President 
[…] 

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