Hulpprogramma's EU voor Oost-Europa uitgebreid naar voormalig Joegoslavië (en)

The European Commission proposed today to open tenders under the pre-accession assistance programmes PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD to the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro). This would allow companies in the Western Balkans to establish links with economic operators in the European Union (EU) Member States, the accession countries and candidate countries, to compete alongside European contractors for work under these programmes and potentially, to win more business.

The overall purpose of this initiative set down in the Thessaloniki Agenda,¹ is to prepare the countries of the Western Balkans for future accession by familiarising them with the EU's policies, working methods and tendering procedures. This new opportunity will also provide the Western Balkan countries with an additional incentive to foster reforms and to reinforce regional co-operation.

In this context, the Commission proposed amendments to regulations on PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD and pre-accession assistance to Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, which will enable the countries of the Western Balkans to participate in tenders under these Community financial instruments. This proposal will be submitted to the Council shortly after its approval, and effective participation in tenders under these Community instruments is expected in the course of the first half of 2004.

This is one of the many actions initiated by the European Commission² since the Thessaloniki Summit³, in the framework of the strengthened Stabilisation and Association process (SAp)⁴. The SAp, enriched with elements inspired by the enlargement process, constitutes the EU's policy framework for the Western Balkans and is designed to help each country of the region to progress at its own pace towards closer European integration⁵.

Background:

The PHARE programme is one of the three pre-accession instruments financed by the European Union to assist the acceding and candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania) in their preparations for joining the European Union. In 2000-2006, PHARE is providing some €11 billion of co-financing for institution building support through "twinning" and technical assistance and for investment support to help applicant countries in their efforts to strengthen their public administrations and institutions to function effectively inside the Union, to promote convergence with the European Community's extensive legislation and to promote economic and social cohesion.

ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession) finances major environmental and transport infrastructure in the candidate countries. This structural aid amounts to some €1 billion per year for the period 2000-2006 and is directed mainly towards aligning the applicant countries on Community infrastructure standards.

SAPARD (the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development) aims to help candidate countries deal with the problems of the structural adjustment in their agricultural sectors and rural areas, as well as in the implementation of the Community acquis concerning the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and related legislation. SAPARD is budgeted until the end of 2006, finances major agricultural and rural development projects and has an annual budget of €520 million.

For information on EU-Western Balkans relations:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/see/index.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/index_en.html

¹  IP/03/1681: European Commission reports progress on the Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans

² IP/03/1653: Commission launches preparations for Balkan participation in Community programmes

³ IP/03/860: The Thessaloniki Summit: a milestone in the European Union's relations with the Western Balkans

⁴ IP/03/433: European Commission approves 2003 report on the Stabilisation and Association Process for South East Europe

⁵ IP/03/721: European Commission proposes new European Integration Partnerships for the Western Balkans