Developing countries: integrate the environment in the development process, sustainable development

The Commission and the Council have seen fit to adopt more than half of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in its first reading, thus revealing a great concordance of views between the three institutions as to the purpose and scope of the proposed Regulation. The Commission maintains its basic reservations concerning the following aspects of the Council's common position: - financial reference amount (the Commission considers that the amount cannot be fixed until agreement has been reached between the two wings of the legislative and budgetary authority), - duration of the Regulation (the Commission considers it preferable not to set an expiry date for the validity of the legal instrument), - committee procedures: (given the nature of the decisions to be taken and the funding envisaged for the duration of the programme, the Commission nonetheless considers that it would be more appropriate for the geographically determined committee assisting the Commission in its implementing powers to be of the advisory type). However, as regards the above-mentioned horizontal aspects, the Commission adopts a position which is essentially different from that of the Council in that it rallies more closely to the concerns expressed by Parliament. Indeed, by maintaining its position on these aspects and not endorsing the common position, the Commission has obliged the Council to adopt the common position by unanimous vote.�