Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89
L 161/68 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 6. 1999 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, finance environment fields; infrastructure in the transport and Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof, regard Having Commission (1), to the proposal from the Having regard to the opinion of Parliament (2), the European (1) Whereas the Luxembourg European Council advocated a substantial increase in pre-accession aid so as to include, in addition to the PHARE programme, aid to agriculture and for structural measures; (2) Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 622/98 of 16 March 1998 on assistance to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and in particular on the establishment of Accession Partnerships (3) provides those partnerships are to comprise a single framework for the priority areas and all available resources for pre-accession assistance; that (3) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 (4) set up an agricultural for application mainly in areas such as modernising the structure of agricultural holdings, improving processing and distribution structures, developing inspection activities and rural development; instrument (4) Whereas the structural instrument created by Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 (5), is intended to (1) OJ C 140, 5. 5. 1998, p. 26 and OJ C 329, 27. 10. 1998, p. 13. (2) Opinion delivered on 6 May 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) OJ L 85, 20. 3. 1998, p. 1. (4) See page 87 of this Official Journal. (5) See page 73 of this Official Journal. (5) Whereas essential priorities the acquis communautaire, the PHARE programme set up by Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 (6), will in future linked to focus on the adoption of i. e. building up the administrative and institutional capacities and financing investments designed to help them comply with Community law as soon as possible; applicant countries the of (6) Whereas it important is that the three pre- Community operations under accession instruments achieve optimum economic impact; ensure to to the (7) Whereas paragraph 17 of the conclusions of the Luxembourg European Council on 12 and 13 December 1997 provides financial involved in the support enlargement process will be based, in the allocation of aid, on the principle of equal treatment, of accession, with particular attention being paid to the countries with the greatest need; independently countries time that the of (8) Whereas the above instruments should remain distinct but there must be coordination between operations under them as well as with operations funded by the European Investment Bank, the European and Development, the Community’s other financial instruments and the other international financial institutions; Reconstruction Bank for (9) Whereas it is necessary to provide for reciprocal information the Commission and the candidate countries for on the spot control and verification to ensure cooperation between and (6) OJ L 375, 23. 12. 1989, p. 11. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 753/96 (OJ L 103, 26. 4. 1996, p. 5). 26. 6. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 161/69 efficient protection of the financial interests as well as to combat fraud and other irregularities; gradually (10) Whereas management of pre-accession assistance should the be applicant countries themselves, taking account of financial their management control and they can be more closely capacities, so that involved in the pre-accession aid process; decentralised to — transport infrastructure measures which promote sustainable mobility, and in particular those that constitute projects of common interest based on the criteria of Decision No 1692/96/EC (1) and those which enable the beneficiary countries to comply with the objectives of the Accession Partnerships; interconnection and this interoperability of national networks as well as with the trans-European networks together with access to such networks. includes (11) Whereas the Commission should submit regular reports on pre-accession aid to the applicant countries, Article 4 Funding under the PHARE programme shall be in accordance with Regulation (EEC) 1. carried out No 3906/89. HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 and between Coordination assistance coherence granted in the framework of the pre-accession strategy under development instrument (hereinafter the Agricultural Instrument’), the Structural Instrument and PHARE shall be ensured in accordance with this Regulation. agricultural rural and the Article 2 to support agriculture Measures rural development as set out in Article 2 of the Agricultural Instrument set up by Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 shall be financed in accordance with the provisions of that Regulation. and Regulation 2. hereby amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to Article 3 to read as follows: (EEC) No 3906/89 is For applicant countries with accession 3. partnerships with the European Union, funding under the PHARE programme shall focus on the main priorities for the adoption of the acquis communautaire, i. e. building up the administrative and institutional capacities of the applicant States and investment, except for the type of investments financed in accordance with Regulations (EC) No 1267/1999 (*) and (EC) No 1268/1999 (**). PHARE funding may also be used to finance the measures in the fields of environment, transport and agricultural and rural development which indispensable part of form an incidental but integrated industrial regional development programmes. reconstruction or (*) OJ L 160, 26. 6. 1999, p. 73. (**) OJ L 160, 26. 6. 1999, p. 87. ’ Article 5 Article 3 schemes or measures Aid for financed in the framework of pre-accession aid may be granted from one only of referred to in this Regulation. the instruments Investment projects in the following areas shall be Structural financed Instrument set up by Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999 and in accordance with the provisions thereof: pre-accession from the aid Article 6 — environmental measures enabling the beneficiary to comply with the requirements of law and with the countries Community environmental objectives of the Accession Partnerships, Financing of the schemes or measures provided for in this Regulation shall be subject to compliance with the (1) OJ L 228, 9. 9. 1996, p. 1. L 161/70 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 6. 1999 undertakings contained in the Europe Agreements as recalled in Regulation (EC) No 622/98 and with the conditions laid down in the Accession Partnerships, as well as to the relevant provisions of Regulations (EEC) No 3906/89, (EC) No 1267/1999, (EC) No 1268/1999 and of this Regulation. Article 7 2. Pre-accession aid shall also cover expenditure relating to the monitoring, inspection and evaluation of operations. Financing and any or 3. decisions implementing instruments resulting therefrom shall expressly provide for inspection by the Commission and the Court of Auditors to be carried out on the spot, if necessary. contracts Beneficiary States shall contribute to the financing of investments. Article 12 Article 8 Schemes or measures three instruments referred to in Articles 2, 3 and 4 shall be decided in accordance with the provisions laid down in the relevant Regulation relating to that instrument. financed under the Article 9 be shall operations The Commission for 1. coordinating three instruments, and in particular for establishing the pre- accession aid guidelines for each country. It shall be assisted for this purpose by the committee set up by Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89. responible said under the The Commission shall inform the committee 2. the indicative referred to in paragraph 1 about financial allocations for each country and per pre- accession instrument, about action it has taken to Article 10, and about decisions taken pursuant pursuant shall be to Article 12. Such decisions communicated to the Court of Auditors. Project selection, tendering and contracting by to ex-ante 1. applicant approval by the Commission. shall be countries subject 2. The Commission may, however, decide, on the basis of a case-by-case analysis of national and capacity, sectorial programme/project management financial control procedures and structures regarding public approval requirement referred to in paragraph 1 and confer on implementing countries management of aid on a decentralised basis. Such a waiver shall be subject to: to waive applicant agencies finance, ex-ante the in — the minimum criteria for assessing the ability of implementing agencies in applicant countries to manage aid and minimum conditions applicable to such agencies in the Annex to this Regulation; set out — and specific provisions concerning, inter alia, invitations to tender, scrutiny and evaluation of tenders, the of implementation of Community public procurement directives, which shall be laid down in financing agreements with each beneficiary country. contracts award and the Article 10 The Commission shall adopt rules governing 3. inspection and evaluation. ensure The Commission shall coordination and coherence between operations undertaken pursuant to this Regulation under the Commission budget, operations funded by the European Investment Bank or other financial instruments of the Community, and operations financial institutions. international funded by Article 11 The shall Commission the 1. Community aid in accordance with the rules of transparency and the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, in particular Article 114 thereof. implement Article 13 The Commission shall present an annual report on the overall pre-accession aid for each country to the European Parliament and to the Council. Article 14 This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. 26. 6. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 161/71 This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Luxembourg, 21 June 1999. For the Council The President G. VERHEUGEN L 161/72 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 6. 1999 ANNEX MINIMUM CRITERIA AND CONDITIONS FOR DECENTRALISING MANAGEMENT TO IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES IN APPLICANT COUNTRIES (ARTICLE 12) 1. Minimum criteria for assessing the ability of implementing agencies in applicant countries to manage aid The following criteria shall be applied by the Commission in assessing which implementing agencies in partner countries are able to manage aid on a decentralised basis: (i) (ii) there should be a well-defined system for managing the funds with full internal rules of procedure, clear institutional and personal responsibilities; the principle of separation of powers must be respected so that there is no risk of conflict of interest in procurement and payment; (iii) adequate personnel must be available and assigned to the task. They must have suitable language skills and be fully trained in implementing auditing skills and experience, Community programmes. 2. Minimum conditions for decentralising management to implementing agencies in applicant countries Decentralisation to applicant countries with ex post control by the Commission may be considered for an implementing agency where the following conditions are met: (i) demonstration of effective internal controls including an independent audit function and an effective accounting and financial reporting system which meets internationally accepted audit standards; (ii) a recent Community assistance or national measures of similar nature; financial and operational audit showing effective and timely management of (iii) a reliable national financial control system over the implementing agency; (iv) procurement rules which are endorsed by the Commission as meeting requirements of Title IX of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities; (v) Commitment by the National Authorising Officer to bear the full financial responsibility and liability for the funds. This approach shall not prejudice the right of the Commission and the Court of Auditors to check the expenditure