In implementing aid to the recipient countries, the Commission shall ensure the application of the policy guidelines for financial and technical cooperation agreed with these countries in the context of the new Mediterranean policy and its updating and of the development cooperation policy laid down by the Council.
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1762/92 of 29 June 1992 on the implementation of the Protocols on financial and technical cooperation concluded by the Community with Mediterranean non-member countries
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1762/92 of 29 June 1992 on the implementation of the Protocols on financial and technical cooperation concluded by the Community with Mediterranean non-member countries
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof,
Having regard to the decisions concerning the conclusion of protocols on financial and technical cooperation between the Community and non-member Mediterranean countries, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Protocols’,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Whereas the Protocols provide for operations financed from the Community budget in the form of grants, special loans, contributions to the constitution of risk capital and loans from the own resources of the European Investment Bank, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Bank’;
Whereas it is necessary to lay down the detailed arrangements and the rules for the administration of financial cooperation;
Whereas, in loan operations involving interest-rate subsidies, the granting of a loan by the Bank from its own resources and the granting of an interest-rate subsidy financed by the budgetary resources of the Community must be linked and are conditional upon each other; whereas the Bank may, in accordance with its statute, and in particular by a unanimous decision of its Board of Directors in the presence of an unfavourable opinion by the Commission, decide to grant a loan from its own resources, subject to granting of the interest-rate subsidy; whereas, on account of this aspect, it is necessary to ensure that the procedure adopted for granting interest-rate subsidies results in every case in an express decision, whether to grant the subsidy or to refuse it, where appropriate;
Whereas it is necessary to make provision for a Committee consisting of representatives of the Member States to assist the Bank in the tasks attributed to it to implement this Regulation;
Whereas on 5 June 1984 and on 16 May 1989 the Council adopted resolutions on the coordination of cooperation policies and operations within the Community;
Whereas, for the purposes of adoption of this Regulation, the only powers provided for by the Treaty are those under Article 235,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Article 2
1.
In order to ensure consistency of cooperation and to improve complementarity between operations, Member States, the Commission and the Bank shall exchange any relevant information on financing that they envisage granting.
Possibilities for co-financing shall be sought when information is exchanged.
Participation in contractual procedures implemented through an international organisation or co-financed with a third country is further defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2112/2005 of 21 November 2005 on access to Community external assistance(3).
2.
Member States, the Commission and the Bank shall also communicate, within the framework of the committee referred to in Article 6, information in their possession on other bilateral and multilateral aid for the recipient countries.
Article 3
1.
Operations in support of a structural adjustment programme shall be implemented on the basis of the following principles:
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support programmes shall be adapted to the particular situation of each country and take economic and social conditions into account,
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support programmes shall provide in particular for measures to alleviate any negative effects which the structural adjustment process may have in social terms and with regard to employment, in particular for disadvantaged population groups,
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rapid disbursement shall be one of the main characteristics of the support programmes.
2.
The following eligibility criteria must be met:
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the country concerned must carry out a reform programme approved by the Bretton Woods institutions or implement programmes recognized as similar in concert with those institutions, although not necessarily backed by them, in line with the scale and effectiveness of the reforms at macro-economic level,
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account will be taken of the economic situation of the country, with particular reference to its level of indebtedness and debt service burden, the balance of payments situation and the availability of foreign currency, the budgetary situation, the monetary situation, per capita gross domestic product and the level of unemployment.
3.
Projects eligible for financing shall take the form, for example, of:
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technical assistance measures linked to the support programme concerned, at macro-economic level and in sectors particularly affected by structural adjustment;
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sectoral or general import programmes or job creation programmes.
4.
The aim of the import programmes is to contribute to the expansion of production capacity. The counterpart funds generated by the import programmes shall be used to finance measures aimed at mitigating the adverse social repercussions of structural adjustment, and, in particular, for job creation.
5.
In analysing the situation of the countries eligible in accordance with paragraph 2 and on the basis of the criteria referred to in that paragraph, the Commission shall appraise the scope and effectiveness of the reforms undertaken in the areas covered by these criteria.
Aid given for structural adjustment must be linked directly to the adjustment operations and measures of the recipient country.
6.
The procedures for the award of contracts must be sufficiently flexible for adaptation to the recipient country's normal administrative and commercial practices. In cases in the private sector where it is genuinely impractical to adhere to the procedures detailed in the Protocols, Articles 116, 117 and 118 of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(4) shall be applied and the precise procedures to be followed explicitly established on a case-by-case basis under the terms of individual finance proposals. For imports in the public and semi-public sectors, however, the usual procedures stipulated in the Protocols for the award of public contracts shall be followed.
7.
The Commission shall inform the Member States, whenever necessary and at least once a year, of the implementation of structural adjustment operations and of any problem arising in connection with the continuing eligibility of these operations.
Article 4
1.
Financing decisions relating to projects or operations financed from the Community budget shall be adopted in accordance with the following procedures.
2.
Financing decisions other than those concerning interest-rate subsidies on Bank loans, risk capital and special loans shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6.
Financing decisions relating to global credits for technical cooperation, training and trade promotion projects shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6; the Commission shall regularly inform the Committee referred to in that Article of the utilization of such global credits.
Decisions amending decisions adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 shall be adopted by the Commission where they do not contain any substantial amendments or additional commitments in excess of 20 % of the original commitment.
3.
Financing decisions relating to interest-rate subsidies on Bank loans shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.
4.
Financing decisions relating to risk capital and loans on special terms shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8.