Instrument contributing to stability and peace (2014-2020)

The European Parliament adopted by 621 votes to 46 with 8 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an Instrument for Stability (IfS).

Parliament adopted its position in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted in plenary are the result of a compromise between Parliament and Council.

Title of the instrument: the Instrument established will contribute to Stability and Peace in third countries.

General objective: the objective of the IfS II is to contribute to Stability and Peace which provides, for the period 2014-2020, direct support for the Union's external policies by increasing the efficiency and coherence of the Union's actions in the areas of conflict prevention, crisis preparedness and crisis response and peacebuilding, and in addressing global and transregional threats.

Civil society and NGOs as defined in the draft Regulation should seek to contribute to the preparing, programming, implementation and monitoring of Union assistance.

Types of assistance: the draft regulation sets out a clear description of actions that will be financed. Apart from the actions already set out in the text, new elements should be taken into account, particularly:

·        support for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on women, peace and security, in particular in fragile, conflict and post-conflict countries;

·        curbing the use of natural resources to finance conflicts;

·        further development of a structural dialogue on peace-building issues.

·        the fight againstcertain threats, including cyber-crime.

Cross-cutting issues: the following cross-cutting issues shall be included, where possible, including in programming:

·        the promotion of democracy and good governance;

·        human rights and humanitarian law, including children's rights and the rights of indigenous peoples;

·        non-discrimination;

·        gender equality and the empowerment of women;

·        conflict prevention, and

·        climate change .

Human rights: the Commission should ensure that measures adopted under this Regulation in relation to the fight against terrorism and organised crime are implemented in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law whilst paying particular attention to the prevention of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Commission shall carefully monitor the implementation of the measures in order to ensure compliance with human rights obligations and shall include information in this respect in its regular reporting.

Exceptional Assistance Measures and Interim Response Programmes: certain provisions have been inserted into the text to clarify the actions that must be taken in exceptional crisis situations or post-conflict situations. Such measures may have a duration of between 18 months upto a maximum of 36 months. The decision-making procedure depends on whether the financing exceeds EUR 20 million. The European Parliament must be duly informed about Union assistance in this matter.

Provions are also made for special supporting measures.

General framework: measures adopted pursuant to the Regulation may be complementary to, and shall be consistent with, measures adopted under European external policies and the European Parliament.

Implementation: provisions have been included to clarify the technical implementation of the IfS II in terms of its strategic planning and programming.

European External Action Service: the Commission and the EEAS, as appropriate, should hold regular and frequent exchanges of views and information with the European Parliament.

Financial envelope: in accordance with the agreement on the Financial Framework, the financial envelope for the implementation of this Regulation over the period 2014 to 2020 is set at EUR 2 338 719 000.

At least 70 % of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures falling under provions relating to assistance in response to situations of crisis or emerging crisis to prevent conflicts.

Specific percentage points of the financial envelope should be allocated to specific measures of the Programme.

Optimum use of resources: the Union should seek the most efficient use of available resources in order to optimise the impact of its external action. This should be achieved through coherence and complementarity between Instruments for external action, as well as the creation of synergies between the present Instrument, other Instruments for external action and other policies of the Union.   The Commission shall promote close coordination among Union activities and with those of the Member States both at decision-making level and on the ground. To that end, the Member States and the Commission shall operate a system for exchanging information. The Commission may take initiatives to promote coordination with other donors.

It should be noted that the amend draft Regulation is accompanied by a statement by the Commission on the conditions of the strategic dialogue with the European Parliament prior to its programming.