European Commission 1 Participation of candidate countries in European Community Programmes, Agencies and Committees By Vicente NIETO, Co-ordinator of this type of participation within the "Co-ordination of Financial Instruments" Unit (DG Enlargement-D-3)

European Commission 2 Pre-Accession Strategy l Europe Agreements l Accession Partnerships l Pre-Accession Funds : 4SAPARD (Agriculture & Rural Develop.) 4ISPA (Environment & Transport) 4Phare 4Specific funds for Malta, Cyprus, Turkey l Part. Community Programmes/Agencies

European Commission 3 Participation of candidate countries in Community Programmes l One of the main Pre-Accession Strategy’s instruments l 13 candidate countries’ familiarisation with the Union’s working methods l Only real integration in most of EU policies in anticipation of accession

European Commission 4 Definition of Community Programme: integrated set of actions adopted by the European Community in order to promote co-operation between its Member States in different specific fields related to Community policies, over a period of several years. [In principle, exclusively conceived for Member States]

European Commission 5 Areas covered by (36) Programmes: 4 research 4 education, vocational training, youth 4 culture, audio-visual 4 environment, energy 4 public health 4 social policy, employment 4 small and medium-sized enterprises 4 indirect taxation, customs 4 Information Society

European Commission 6 Legal basis: Bilateral Agreements or Association Council Decisions Political basis: l Full involvement of citizens and national bodies from candidate countries on an equal footing with respect to those from Member States l Co-responsibility by means of co-financing (Phare and other pre-accession funds) Participation of candidate countries in Community Programmes

European Commission 7 Agreements / Association Council Decisions [CC = Candidate Country] l Formal CC request to participate in programme l Negotiation & conclusion of Agreement or ACD l Projects submitted by participants from CCs  same conditions as participants from Member States l Yearly financial contribution from CCs to cover the full cost of participation ñPhare and other pre-accession funds may co-finance l Representatives from CCs  meetings of the Programme Committees as observers

European Commission 8 New “framework” legal procedures Participation of candidate countries in Community Programmes

European Commission 9 Over the period Association Council Decisions or Agreements established terms and conditions of participation, including financial contribution from the country and – if EU support requested - from Phare or pre-accession funds One ACD per country (BG, HU, PL,) and per programme (A, B, C, D,) with EU Council/Parliament full involvement ACD A PL - A ACD D PL - D ACD A BG - A ACD C PL - C ACD B BG - B ACD C BG - C ACD D BG - D ACD A HU - A ACD B HU - B ACD D SK - D ACD B CZ - B ACD A RO - A ACD SI - C ACD EE -A ACD LT -D ACD LV -B

European Commission 10 As from 2002 Just a “framework”Association Council Decision or Agreement per country establishing only general principles of participation in all possible programmes [one ACD or Agreement once and for all with EU Council/Parliament involvement ] Framework ACD with PL Framework ACD with LT Framework ACD with LV Framework ACD with HU Framework ACD with EE Framework ACD with CZ Framework ACD with BG Framework Agreement with TR Framework Agreement with MT Framework Agreement with CY

European Commission 11 As from 2002 Each “framework”Association Council Decision or Agreement... One instrument per country once and for all with EU Council/Parliament involvement: MoU A BG - A MoU B BG - B MoU C BG - C MoU D BG - D...will lead to several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between authorities of the country and the Commission: Framework ACD with BG...laying down specific conditions of participation in each programme, including financial contribution from the country.

European Commission 12 «Framework» Instruments [CC = Candidate Country] l “Framework” Association Council Decisions for the 10 CEECs l “Framework” Agreements for CY, MT, TR l Simplification of procedures ó establish general principles for the participation in Community programmes ó for all current and future programmes open to all CCs

European Commission 13 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) [DG = Commission’s Directorate-General // CC = Candidate Country] l To be negotiated between the sectoral DG and the CC Ministry concerned l To be signed by Commissioner on behalf of the Commission and member of the CC Government MoU A BG - A MoU B BG - B MoU C BG - C MoU D BG - D DG SANCO - Heath Ministry DG EAC - Education Ministry DG RTD - Research Ministry DG TREN - Energy Ministry

European Commission 14 EU financial assistance [CC = Candidate Country] l CC may request part of its contribution from Phare (or other pre-accession fund) íno amount will be set up in MoU CC request should be made to geographical Unit of DG Enlargement (DG ELARG) íthe agreed amount will be established by DG ELARG annually within the relevant Phare National Programme

European Commission 15 Responsibilities within the Commission l Decentralization/Sub-delegation l Line DGs responsible for the participation of CCs in “their” programmes, including the conclusion of the MoU l DG ELARG responsible for general co- ordination and financial assistance (Phare and other pre-accession funds)

European Commission 16 Responsibilities within DG Enlargement Unit D3 (“Coordination of Financial Instruments”) : l General co-ordination l information l help-desk Country teams (Geographical Units) : l Main contact points for country-specific issues (DGs, Missions, Delegations, national bodies,) l To be kept informed about all steps

European Commission 17 Co-ordination with and within CCs l Flow of information within national administration, particularly between authorities responsible for MoU and those responsible for pre-accession assistance (National Aid Coordinators) l Missions in Brussels and Delegations in capitals to be kept informed

European Commission 18 Our Web site: Our Web site: