24. 4. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 122/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 851/98 of 20 April 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 relating to aid for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liament (3, Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 (°) deals with economic development, the restoration of civil society and cooperation between the Republics of former Yugo- slavia in accordance with the regional approach, as well as with repair work and the renovation of infrastructure whilst pressing ahead with political and economic reforms; Whereas, given the exceptional circumstances in the countries covered by this Regulation, the need for more flexible procedures is recognized in order for the Commission to accelerate implementation of projects under Regulation (EC) No 1628/96, in order thereby to deliver more efficiently the assistance of the Community to this region; whereas the Commission has declared its intention to increase the effectiveness of reconstruction aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to speed up imple- mentation of aid programmes for the return of refugees and displaced persons, by appointing a delegate with special authority who would assume responsibility locally for all Commission activities in this field, enjoy largely autonomous powers to act and take decisions and be assisted by a strong management team and supported by specially recruited technical assistance and monitoring teams; () OJ C 100, 2. 4. 1998, p. 21. (%) Opinion delivered on 2 April 1998 (not yet published in Official Journal). () OJ L 204, 14. 8. 1996, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 2240/97 (OJ L 307, 12. 11. 1997, p. 1). Whereas a disparity persists between the amount of appropriations made available by the budgetary authority and the unsatisfactory level of implementation owing to an inadequate legislative framework, which results in a lack of visibility for the European Union, the biggest donor; Whereas Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 provides that service contracts not exceeding ECU 200 000 may be awarded by private treaty, and it is con- sidered that the circumstances in the region justify spe- cific provisions for the award of technical assistance contracts not exceeding ECU 400 000 by private treaty, especially for technical support and monitoring of projects; Whereas, according to Article 116 of the Financial Regu- lation, works and supply contracts may be awarded by geographically or otherwise restricted tendering pro- cedures in certain exceptional situations and subject to certain conditions; Whereas most of the infrastructure projects by their very nature have a strong local component justifying, for reasons of speed and efficiency, award procedures limited to one of the beneficiary countries; Whereas the particular characteristics of the local market may not allow recourse to this procedure or if this procedure does not lead to the award of a contract, a private treaty with international contractors could be justi- fied; Whereas projects facilitating the return of refugees should benefit from restricted tendering procedures in order to shorten the delays to a strict minimum,; Whereas in these circumstances and in the context of this Regulation, Article 116 of the Financial Regulation may in particular be applied by the Commission to the above cases;