# Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories, and with developing countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, for activities other than official development assistance, Article 5a: The Union’s strategic interests, general objectives, priority areas for financing and expected results for cooperation with partner countries listed in Annex II

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

The multiannual cooperation programmes referred to in Article 5 with partner countries listed in Annex II shall be based on the following general objectives, priority areas for financing and expected results:
(1) Public diplomacy and outreach, having as objectives:
to promote widespread understanding and visibility of the Union,
to promote the Union’s views on important policy issues and the Union’s values of democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,
to encourage reflection and discussion on the Union and its policies, and on Union relations with partner countries listed in Annex II,
to develop new approaches that give momentum to positive, result-oriented relations with countries which have little or no knowledge of the Union.
Activities in support of those objectives should lead to a better perception and enhanced mutual understanding of the Union and of partner countries listed in Annex II, with a consequent beneficial effect on the economic and political relationships of the Union with its partners.
(2) Economic partnership and business cooperation, having as objective:
to facilitate market access for Union companies, notably through programmes supporting them (including relevant regulatory support in relation to trade barriers), drawing on experience from long-standing business cooperation programmes.
Those programmes should, whenever applicable, be complementary to existing support measures. Those programmes should deliver concrete opportunities for improved business and scientific cooperation, increased turnover and investments in target areas and greater trade flows with partner countries listed in Annex II.
Those efforts shall be consistent with, and complementary to, the Commission’s broader strategy to develop Union competitiveness in global markets, and other Union policies towards specific regions and countries.
Resources shall be focused on countries where interventions can increase the participation of Union companies. Small and medium-sized Union enterprises, seeking access to the Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern and South African markets shall be an important focus. Where appropriate, resources shall be focused on countries complying with the core labour standards of the ILO and which contribute to the global efforts to pursue reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
(3) People-to-people links, having as objectives:
to support high quality partnerships between higher education institutions in the Union and in third-countries as a basis for structured cooperation, exchange and mobility, at all levels of higher education (Action 2 — Strand 2: Partnerships with countries and territories covered by the Industrialised Countries Instrument), under Erasmus Mundus II. Action 2,
to supplement Erasmus Mundus Action 2 scholarships, funded from the Development Cooperation Instrument (Action 2 — Strand 1: Partnerships with countries covered by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, the Development Cooperation Instrument, the European Development Fund and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (former External Cooperation Window)), by supporting the mobility of Union students and professors to third countries,
to promote together with civil society in its widest sense a better understanding of the Union as such, its positions on global issues and of economic, social and political integration processes, thus complementing the Union’s formal relationships with governments,
to promote cooperation, partnerships and joint undertakings between economic, social, cultural, academic and scientific actors in the Union and partner countries.
Those activities should help produce mutual benefits from education, culture and civil society cooperation. This shall be done through improvements in the quality of education offered and from confronting the mutual challenges of developing knowledge-based societies. The activities undertaken should add value to the cross-fertilisation of ideas, knowledge, research and technology results through academic and professional exchanges, particularly with partner countries that have higher education systems comparable to those of the Union.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2006/1934/article/5a (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2006-1934/article-5a
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.