# Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation, Article 19: Geographic strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. The preparation and implementation of strategy papers shall apply principles of aid effectiveness: national ownership, partnership, coordination, harmonisation, alignment to recipient country or regional systems and results orientation as laid down in Article 3(5) to (8).
2. Strategy papers shall cover no more than the period of validity of this Regulation and aim to provide a coherent framework for cooperation between the Community and the partner country or region concerned, consistent with the overall purpose and scope, objectives, principles and policy prescriptions of, and Annex IV to, this Regulation. Multiannual indicative programmes shall be based on strategy papers.
Strategy papers shall be reviewed at mid-term, or ad hoc if necessary, in accordance where appropriate with the principles and procedures laid down in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements concluded with the partner countries and regions.
3. Strategy papers shall, in principle, be based on a dialogue with the partner country or region which involves civil society and regional and local authorities, so as to ensure that the country or region concerned takes sufficient ownership of the process and to encourage support for national development strategies, particularly those for reducing poverty.
4. Multiannual indicative programmes shall be drawn up on the basis of the strategy papers for each partner country or region. They shall be the subject of an agreement with the country or region where possible.
Multiannual indicative programmes shall set out the priority areas selected for Community financing, the specific objectives, the expected results and the performance indicators.
The programmes shall also set out the indicative financial allocation, both overall and per priority area; this may be given in the form of a range, where appropriate. These allocations shall be consistent with the indicative allocations set out in Annex IV.
The programmes shall be adjusted where necessary, taking into account any mid-term or ad hoc reviews of strategy papers.
A multiannual indicative allocation may be increased or decreased as a result of reviews, particularly in the light of special needs such as those of a post-crisis situation, or where performance has been exceptional or unsatisfactory.
5. In circumstances such as crises, post conflict situations or threats to democracy, the rule of law, human rights or fundamental freedoms, a special emergency procedure may be used to conduct an ad hoc review of the country's or region's cooperation strategy. Such reviews may propose a country or region strategy to make the transition to long-term cooperation and development.
6. In accordance with Article 2(6), the strategy shall ensure that measures taken under this Regulation are consistent with, and avoid duplication with, measures eligible for funding under other Community instruments, in particular Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 and Regulation (EC) No 1257/96. Where partner countries or groups of partner countries are directly involved in, or affected by, a crisis or post-crisis situation, multiannual indicative programmes shall place special emphasis on stepping up coordination between relief, rehabilitation and development to help them make the transition from an emergency situation to the development phase; programmes for countries and regions regularly subject to natural disasters shall provide for disaster preparedness and prevention and the management of the consequences of such disasters.
7. To foster regional cooperation, the Commission may decide when adopting annual action programmes of the type referred to in Article 22, or the special measures referred to in Article 23 for cooperation measures under this Chapter, that projects or programmes of a regional or cross-border nature carried out with countries listed in Annex V are eligible, in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 2(4). Provisions may be made for this in the strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes, referred to in this Article, and in Article 20.
8. The Commission and the Member States shall consult each other, as well as other donors and development actors including representatives of civil society and regional and local authorities, at an early stage of the programming process in order to promote complementarity among their cooperation activities.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2006/1905/article/19 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1905/article-19
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.