Council Regulation (EC) No 1659/98 of 17 July 1998 on decentralised cooperation

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1659/98 of 17 July 1998 on decentralised cooperation
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130w thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (2),
Whereas decentralised cooperation is a new approach to development cooperation which places the agents at the focal point of implementation and hence pursues the dual aims of gearing operations to needs and making them viable;
Whereas the importance of a decentralised approach to development cooperation has been emphasised in the Fourth ACP-EC Convention, Council Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 of 25 February 1992 on financial and technical assistance to, and economic cooperation with, the developing countries in Asia and Latin America (3), and the Council Resolution of 27 May 1991 on cooperation with NGOs and in numerous European Parliament Resolutions;
Whereas the budgetary authority decided to include in the 1992 budget a heading for the promotion of this approach in all developing countries;
Whereas a financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 2 of the Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 March 1995 on the incorporation of financial provisions into legislative acts (4) is included in this Regulation for the period 1999 to 2001, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as they are defined by the Treaty;
Whereas decentralised cooperation is intended to help bring about a real change in the long term of the Union's development cooperation procedures;
Whereas decentralised cooperation makes an important contribution to achieving the development cooperation policy objectives of the Community as set out in Article 130u of the Treaty;
Whereas administrative procedures should be established accordingly,