Considerations on COM(2009)197 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories SEC(2009)531 SEC(2009)532 SEC(2009)532

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dossier COM(2009)197 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other ...
document COM(2009)197 EN
date December 13, 2011
 
table>(1)Since 2007 the Community has streamlined its geographical cooperation with developing countries in Asia, Central Asia and Latin America, and with Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and South Africa under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation (2).
(2)The primary and overarching objective of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 is the eradication of poverty through the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals. The scope of cooperation for the geographic programmes with developing countries, territories and regions established under that Regulation is furthermore limited materially to financing measures designed to fulfil the criteria for Official Development Assistance (‘ODA criteria’) established by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (‘OECD/DAC’).

(3)It is in the Union’s interests to further deepen its relations with the developing countries concerned, which are important bilateral partners and players in multilateral forums and in global governance. The Union has a strategic interest in promoting diversified links with those countries, in particular in areas such as economic, commercial, academic, business and scientific exchanges. It therefore needs a financial instrument that allows the financing of such measures which, in principle, do not qualify as ODA under the ODA criteria but which are crucially important in terms of consolidating relations and which make an important contribution to promoting the progress of the developing countries concerned.

(4)For that purpose, four preparatory actions were set out in the 2007 and 2008 budget procedures to initiate such enhanced cooperation in accordance with point (b) of Article 49(6) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3). Those four preparatory actions are: business and scientific exchanges with India; business and scientific exchanges with China; cooperation with middle-income group countries in Asia; and cooperation with middle-income group countries in Latin America. Under that Article the legislative procedure further to preparatory actions must be concluded before the end of the third financial year.

(5)The objectives and provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 (4) are appropriate to pursue such enhanced cooperation with countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006. For that purpose, it is necessary to extend the geographical scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 and to provide for a financial envelope to cover cooperation with those developing countries.

(6)Extending the geographical scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 brings the developing countries concerned within the scope of two different external action financial instruments. Care should be taken to ensure that those two financial instruments are kept strictly separate from each other. Measures which fulfil the ODA criteria will be financed under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, whereas Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 will apply exclusively to measures which, in principle, do not fulfil those criteria. It is also necessary to ensure that the countries previously falling within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 — industrialised and other high-income countries and territories — are not placed at a disadvantage, particularly in financial terms, by the extension of that Regulation’s geographical scope.

(7)Since the economic crisis has placed budgets under extreme strain throughout the Union and the proposed extension embraces countries which sometimes demonstrate a similar level of competitiveness to that of the Union and have attained an average standard of living which approaches that of some Member States, Union cooperation should take into consideration efforts made by the recipient countries to comply with the international agreements of the International Labour Organisation and to participate in the general objectives of greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

(8)The review of the implementation of the external action financial instruments has identified inconsistencies in the provisions that exclude costs relating to taxes, duties or other charges as ineligible. For the sake of consistency, it is proposed to bring those provisions into line with the other instruments.

(9)Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,