External assistance: a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised countries and territories and other high-income countries and territories

On 1 October 2004, the Commission published a draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council aiming to establish a new financing instrument for development co-operation and economic co-operation in the framework of the forthcoming financial perspectives 2007-2013: please refer to the Commission’s initial proposal (COD/2004/0220, summary dated 01/10/2004).

As far its remit is concerned, it covers all of the world’s countries, territories and regions except:

- The Member States of the Community.

- The Overseas Countries and Territories associated with the Community.

- Countries eligible for the pre-accession instrument (Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey )

- Countries eligible for the new European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (Algeria, Armenia, the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Egypt, the Russian Federation, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Moldavia, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine).

Moreover, a number of general principles guide the Regulation, namely, consistency, co-ordination of co-operation policies, co-ordination with other bi-lateral or multi-lateral donors, redirection of Community assistance towards forms of sectoral and budgetary support and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, democratic principles and the rule of law.

After trilateral consultations between the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, it was decided, in July 2006, to split that proposal into three separate texts:

i) a Regulation establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights world wide (see COD/2006/0116);

ii) a Regulation establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation based on Article 179 TEC (COD/2004/0220);

iii) a Regulation establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories based on Article 181 a TEC (for the present proposal, refer to the initial proposal dated 24 July 2006).

These complementary proposals will breakdown the initial amounts provided by the cooperation instrument: that is EUR 17.053 billion.

For details concerning the financial implications of this proposal, please refer to the financial statement.