Aid for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

In adopting the report by Mr Hadar CARS (ELDR, S), Parliament approved the proposal for a regulation with the following amendments: - recalling the conclusions it had presented in its resolution of 20 June 1996 on reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia, the EP drew particular attention to the fact that the restoration of Bosnia-Herzogovina as a civil society free of ethnic ties and good-neighbourly cooperation between the Republics of the region are a prerequisite for peace and the application of international law in the Balkans, - with regard to the aid appropriations, it specified that the amount of such aid should be set annually and subject to the availability of budgetary resources, - it also specified that Community aid should be implemented on a multiannual basis until 31 December 1999, and that it should be accompanied by maximum transparency both in its implementation and in respect of the use of appropriations, - it asked in particular: . to be consulted in advance on the aid measures to be implemented as well as on the specific conditions for the granting of appropriations, . for the assistance to include measures in favour of demobilized armed-forces personnel and to cover arms control, good-neighbourly relations, inter-ethnic cooperation, and the consolidation of democracy, . with regard to the democratic basis of the Regulation, for the granting or continuation of aid to be subject to certain conditions which it enumerated (application of the peace agreement, respect for human rights, the right of minorities and the right of refugees to return home, granting of autonomy to Kosovo and special rights in Vojvodina, cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal and observance of the principles of a market economy). In the event of non-compliance, measures should be taken by the Council acting by a qualified majority after consulting the European Parliament, . with regard to the projects, for these to comply with the political conditions enumerated and to be implemented on a decentralized basis (the recipients should be closely involved in project preparation and implementation), . for invitations to tender and contracts to be free of tax and customs duties and for the countries eligible under PHARE also to be able to tender. - at the same time, the EP limited considerbly the remit and powers of the Committee provided for by the Council, and proposed that in principle its meetings be held in public. It asked, in particular, to be informed quarterly of the implementation of the aid (with particular reference to compliance with the political conditions to which it is subject). �