Agriculture and rural development: SAPARD programme for applicant countries (Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999). 1st annual report 2000

PURPOSE: to present the Commission SAPARD Annual Report - Year 2000. CONTENT: This is the first report produced by the Commission on the Special Access Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD). With a Community budget of over half a billion euro per year for the period 2000-2006, SAPARD is to assist 10 applicant countries of central and eastern Europe (CEECs) make structural improvements to their agricultural and rural environment. In addition to primary agricultural production, projects to improve product processing, marketing and quality are eligible for support, as are more general rural development measures. Against this background, the report details the work done in 2000. It also describes certain developments in 2001 where they are closely lnked to that work. This includes the observation that two applicant countries - Bulgaria and Estonia - have now received Community SAPARD funds and others are making significant progress. �