Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 179(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty^f1,

Whereas:

A new framework for planning and delivering assistance is proposed in order to make the Community's external assistance more effective. Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006^f2 establishes an Instrument for Pre Accession (IPA) for Community assistance to candidate and potential candidate countries. Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006^f3 lays down general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006^f4 establishes a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories. Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006^f5 establishes an instrument for stability. Regulation (EC) No …/2007^f6 establishes an instrument for nuclear safety cooperation. Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006^f7 establishes a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide. Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96^f8 concerns humanitarian aid. This Regulation establishes a financing instrument for development cooperation providing direct support for the Community's development cooperation policy.

The Community pursues a development cooperation policy aimed at achieving the objectives of poverty reduction, sustainable economic and social development and the smooth and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy.

The Community pursues a cooperation policy that fosters cooperation, partnerships and joint undertakings between economic players in the Community and partner countries and regions, and promotes dialogue between political, economic and social partners in relevant sectors.

The Community's development cooperation policy and international action are guided by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 8 September 2000, and the main development objectives and principles approved by the Community and its Member States in the context of the United Nations (UN) and other competent international organisations in the field of development cooperation.

With a view to policy coherence for development, it is important that Community non-development policies assist developing countries' efforts in achieving the MDGs in line with Article 178 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

A political environment which guarantees peace and stability, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democratic principles, the rule of law, good governance and gender equality is fundamental to long-term development.

Sound and sustainable economic policies are a prerequisite for development.

The members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) committed themselves at the 4th Ministerial Conference in Doha to mainstreaming trade in development strategies and to providing trade-related technical and capacity-building assistance as well as the necessary measures seeking to facilitate the transfer of technology through and for trade, to enhance the relationship between foreign direct investment and trade, and the mutual interrelation of trade and environment, and to help developing countries take part in new trade negotiations and implement their results.

The Joint Statement by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on European Union Development Policy: ‘The European Consensus’^f9, of 20 December 2005, and any subsequent modifications thereto, provides the general framework for action by the Community on development matters. It should steer the planning and implementation of the development assistance and cooperation strategies.

Development cooperation should be implemented through geographic and thematic programmes. Geographic programmes should support the development of, and reinforce the cooperation with, countries and regions in Latin America, Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.

The Community and its Member States have concluded partnership and cooperation agreements with some of these partner countries and regions aimed at making a significant contribution to the long-term development of the partner countries and the wellbeing of their people. The essential elements on which these partnership and cooperation agreements are based are the common and universal values of respect for, and promotion of, human rights, fundamental freedoms, democratic principles and the rule of law. In this context, attention should also be given to the right to decent work and the rights of people with disabilities. The pursuit and deepening of bilateral relations between the Community and partner countries and the consolidation of multilateral institutions are important factors in making a significant contribution to balancing and developing the world economy and also in strengthening the Community's and partner countries' and regions' role and place in the world.

While thematic programmes should primarily support developing countries, two beneficiary countries as well as the overseas countries and territories (OCTs), whose characteristics do not meet the requirements to be defined as Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/DAC) and which are covered by Article 2(4), second subparagraph, first indent, should also be eligible for thematic programmes under the conditions set out in this Regulation. The Community should finance thematic programmes in countries, territories and regions eligible for assistance under a geographic programme provided for under this Regulation, for assistance under Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 or for geographic cooperation in accordance with the European Development Fund (EDF). Council Decision 2001/822/EC of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community (‘Overseas Association Decision’)^f10, which is applicable until 31 December 2011, lays down the conditions for the eligibility of OCTs for the thematic activities of development assistance funded by the general budget of the European Union, which are not altered by this Regulation.

Thematic programmes should provide distinctive added value and complement programmes of a geographic nature, which constitute the main framework for Community cooperation with third countries. Development cooperation implemented through thematic programmes should be subsidiary to the geographic programmes set out in this Regulation and in Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 and to cooperation under the EDF. Thematic programmes encompass a specific area of activity of interest to a group of partner countries not determined by geography, or cooperation activities addressed to various regions or groups of partner countries, or an international operation that is not geographically specific. They also have an important role in developing Community policies externally and ensuring sectoral consistency and visibility.

Thematic programmes should support actions in the areas of human and social development, environment and sustainable management of natural resources, including energy, non-State actors and local authorities, food security and migration and asylum. The contents of the thematic programmes have been prepared on the basis of the corresponding communications from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council.

The thematic programme on the environment and the sustainable management of resources, including energy should, inter alia, promote international environmental governance and Community environmental and energy policies abroad.

The thematic programme on migration and asylum should contribute to the realisation of the objective set out in the Conclusions of the European Council held in Brussels on 15 and 16 December 2005, namely to intensify Community financial assistance in areas concerning or related to migration in respect of its relations with third countries.

Community policy on food security has evolved towards supporting broad-based food security strategies at national, regional and global level, limiting the use of food aid to humanitarian situations and food crises and avoiding disruptive effects on local production and markets, and needs to take into account the specific situation of countries that are structurally fragile and highly dependent on support for food security, in order to avoid a steep reduction of Community assistance to these countries.

In line with the Council Conclusions of 24 May 2005 actions should be supported to improve reproductive and sexual health in developing countries and to secure respect for the rights relating thereto; financial assistance and appropriate expertise should be provided with a view to promoting a holistic approach to, and the recognition of, reproductive and sexual health and rights as defined in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), including safe motherhood and universal access to a comprehensive range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual health care and services. When cooperation measures are implemented, the decisions adopted at the ICPD must be rigorously observed, where relevant.

Following up on Regulation (EC) No 266/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2006 establishing accompanying measures for Sugar Protocol countries affected by the reform of the EU sugar regime^f11, assistance to ACP Sugar Protocol countries affected by the reform of the Common Market Organisation for sugar should also be provided and aim at supporting their adjustment process.

In implementing the Community's development policy, more effective aid, greater complementarity and better harmonisation, alignment and coordination of procedures, both between the Community and its Member States and in relations with other donors and development actors, are essential to ensuring the consistency and relevance of aid whilst at the same time reducing the costs borne by partner countries as approved in the Declaration on Aid Effectiveness adopted by the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Paris, on 2 March 2005.

In order to achieve the objectives of this Regulation, it is necessary to pursue a differentiated approach depending on development contexts and needs, supporting partner countries or regions with specific, tailor-made programmes, based on their own needs, strategies, priorities and assets.

The key to the success of development policies is whether the partner countries take ownership of the development strategies, and, to this end, the greatest possible involvement of all sections of society, including disabled people and other vulnerable groups, should be encouraged. With a view to ensuring efficiency and transparency and encouraging countries to take ownership, donors' cooperation strategies and implementation procedures should, where possible, be aligned on those of the partner countries.

Taking into consideration the need to ensure effective bridging between humanitarian relief and long-term development assistance, measures eligible under Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 should not, in principle, be funded under this Regulation, except where there is a need to ensure continuity of cooperation from crisis to stable conditions for development.

Untying aid in line with best practices of the OECD/DAC is a key factor in adding value to aid and in building local capacity. Rules on participation in tenders and grant contracts, as well as rules concerning the origin of supplies should be set down in accordance with most recent developments concerning the untying of aid.

Assistance should be managed in accordance with the rules for external aid contained in Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities^f12, with due provisions aimed at protecting the financial interests of the Community. Continued efforts should be made to improve the implementation of development cooperation to achieve a sound balance between financial resources allocated and absorption capacity, as well as to reduce outstanding commitments.

This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for the period 2007-2013 constituting the prime reference for the budgetary authority, within the meaning of Point 37 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management^f13.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission^f14. Programming documents and some specific implementation measures should be adopted by the management committee procedure.

Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely the proposed cooperation with developing countries, territories and regions that are not Community Member States and are not eligible for Community aid under Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 or Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

This Regulation makes it necessary to repeal the current set of Regulations, in view of the restructuring of the external action instruments, notably in the field of development cooperation,

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