{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1717/article-4",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1717/article-4.json",
  "legislation": "eur/2006/1717",
  "legislation_title": "Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1717",
  "path": "article/4",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "4",
  "heading": "Assistance in the context of stable conditions for cooperation",
  "text": "The Community shall provide technical and financial assistance in pursuit of the specific aims set out in point (b) of Article 1(2) in the following areas:\n(1) threats to law and order, to the security and safety of individuals, to critical infrastructure and to public health;\nassistance shall cover:\n(a) strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial and civil authorities involved in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, including illicit trafficking of people, drugs, firearms and explosive materials and in the effective control of illegal trade and transit.\nPriority shall be given to trans-regional cooperation involving third countries which have demonstrated a clear political will to address these problems. Measures in this area shall place particular emphasis on good governance and shall be in accordance with international law, in particular human rights law and international humanitarian law.\nWith regard to assistance to authorities involved in the fight against terrorism, priority shall be given to supporting measures concerning the development and strengthening of counter-terrorism legislation, the implementation and practice of financial law, of customs law and of immigration law and the development of international procedures for law enforcement.\nWith regard to assistance relating to the problem of drugs, due attention shall be given to international cooperation aimed at promoting best practices relating to the reduction of demand, production and harm;\n(b) support for measures to address threats to international transport, energy operations and critical infrastructure, including passenger and freight traffic and energy distribution.\nMeasures adopted in this area shall place particular emphasis on trans-regional cooperation and the implementation of international standards in the fields of risk awareness, vulnerability analysis, emergency preparedness, alert and consequence management;\n(c) contributing to ensuring an adequate response to sudden major threats to public health, such as epidemics with a potential trans-national impact.\nParticular emphasis shall be placed on emergency-planning, management of vaccine and pharmaceutical stockpiles, international cooperation, early warning and alert systems;\n(2) risk mitigation and preparedness relating to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or agents;\nassistance shall cover:\n(a) the promotion of civilian research activities as an alternative to defence-related research, and support for the retraining and alternative employment of scientists and engineers formerly employed in weapons-related areas;\n(b) support for measures to enhance safety practices related to civilian facilities where sensitive chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or agents are stored, or are handled in the context of civilian research programmes;\n(c) support, within the framework of Community cooperation policies and their objectives, for the establishment of civil infrastructure and relevant civilian studies necessary for the dismantlement, remediation or conversion of weapons-related facilities and sites where these are declared as no longer belonging to a defence programme;\n(d) strengthening the capacity of the competent civilian authorities involved in the development and enforcement of effective control of illicit trafficking in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or agents (including the equipment for their production or delivery), including through the installation of modern logistical evaluation and control equipment;\n(e) the development of the legal framework and institutional capacities for the establishment and enforcement of effective export controls on dual-use goods, including regional cooperation measures;\n(f) the development of effective civilian disaster-preparedness, emergency-planning, crisis response, and capabilities for clean-up measures in relation to possible major environmental incidents in this field;\nas regards the measures covered by points (b) and (d), particular emphasis shall be placed on assistance to those regions or countries where stockpiles of materials or agents referred to in points (b) and (d) still exist and where there is a risk of proliferation of such materials or agents.\n(3) Pre- and post-crisis capacity building\nSupport for long-term measures aimed at building and strengthening the capacity of international, regional and sub-regional organisations, state and non-state actors in relation to their efforts in:\n(a) promoting early warning, confidence-building, mediation and reconciliation, and addressing emerging inter-community tensions;\n(b) improving post-conflict and post-disaster recovery.\nMeasures under this point shall include know-how transfer, the exchange of information, risk/threat assessment, research and analysis, early warning systems and training. Measures may also include, where appropriate, financial and technical assistance for the implementation of those Recommendations made by the UN Peacebuilding Commission falling within the objectives of Community cooperation policy.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "X",
      "label": "X1",
      "text": "Substituted by Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability (Official Journal of the European Union L 327 of 24 November 2006)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2006/1717/article/4",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T14:53:20.434744+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}