No L 182/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 7. 94 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1734/94 of 11 July 1994 on financial and technical cooperation with the Occupied Territories 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, Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c of the Treaty ('), Whereas, having regard to the greater requirements that will be generated in the territories of the West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza Strip, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Occupied Territories’, as a result of recent develop- ments in the Middle East peace process, new measures in the form of economic and social cooperation should be implemented in the said Territories in order to foster sustainable economic and social development, taking account of the experience acquired by the Community as a major provider of aid to the Palestinian people ; Whereas to this end there should be a five-year programme (1994 to 1998); whereas this programme should be implemented with financing from the Com- munity budget in the form of grants; Whereas it is necessary to lay down the detailed arrange- ments and rules for administering the operations financed from the budget, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 The Community shall implement financial and technical cooperation with the Occupied Territories under a five- year programme (1994 to 1998) with the aim of aiding their sustainable economic and social development. Article 2 1. The priority areas for projects and measures imple- mented under the programme referred to in Article 1 shall be: infrastructure, production, urban and rural development, education, health, the environment, services, foreign trade, the setting-up and improvement of institutions necessary (") Opinion of the European Parliament of 11 February 1994 (O] No C 61, 28. 2. 1994). Council common position of 4 March 1994 (OJ No C 137, 19. 5. 1994, p. 85) and Decision of the European Parliament of 4 May 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). for the proper working of the public administration and the advancement of democracy and human rights. 2. Community aid may be given for investment projects, feasibility studies, technical assistance and training. : 3.  Community financing for projects and operations covered by this Regulation shall be in the form of grants. 4. In order to ensure consistency of cooperation and to improve complementarity between operations, Member States, the Commission and the European Investment Bank, hereafter referred to as the ‘Bank’ shall exchange any relevant information on financing that they envisage granting. Possibilities for co-financing shall be sought when infor- mation is exchanged. 5.  Member States, the Commission and the Bank shall also communicate, within the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 5, information in their possession on other bilateral and multilateral aid for the Occupied Territories. 6. At least once a year, the Commission and the Bank shall send the Member States the information collected from the administration of the Occupied Territories concerning the sectors and projects already known which could be supported under this Regulation. Article 3 The aid referred to in this Regulation may be combined with the Bank financing from own resources and may be used for co-financing with Member States, non-member countries in the region, multilateral bodies or the Occu- pied Territories themselves. Wherever possible, the Community nature of the aid shall be preserved. Article 4 1. Financing decisions on projects and operations under this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5. 2.  Financing decisions on overall allocations for tech- nical cooperation, training and trade promotion shall be adopted in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 5. The Commission shall keep the Committee referred to in Article 5 regularly informed of the use made of these overall allocations.