Activites

• 1996/07/04 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 1996/1279
  • OJ L 165 04.07.1996, p. 0001
• #1940
• 1996/06/25 Council Meeting
• 1996/06/25 End of procedure in Parliament
• 1996/06/25 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 1996/06/20 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0356/1996 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Peter PEX (PPE, NL), Parliament sharply criticized the Council which, fifteen months after the Commission proposal, had resumed contact with Parliament (requesting urgent procedure) for a new consultation on the TACIS regulation. Mr PEX noted that the Commission had taken over twenty seven of the thirty six amendments tabled by Parliament and wondered why the Council not only rejected these amendments, but refused even to discuss them. Expressing the hope that the TACIS regulation would be adopted before July, Mr PEX urged the Council, pursuant to the 1975 declaration on the conciliation procedure, to seek all means of reaching complete agreement with Parliament on this regulation within the time still available, and said the Council would be to blame for any failure. The Council, for its part, justified its refusal to consider Parliament's amendments on the basis of an urgent need to implement the TACIS regulation. Conscious that the compromise it had reached on 29 January 1996 was already fragile, it considered that calling it into question would make it impossible for the Council yet again to produce a new text and would therefore delay the implementation of the regulation. �

• 1996/06/19 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1996/06/17 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0202/1996
• #1922
• 1996/05/13 Council Meeting
• 1996/05/08 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1996)0213 summary

    In its amended proposal, the Commission took over 27 of the 36 amendments put forward by Parliament in its opinion. The Commission welcomed, in particular, the amendments which: - aimed to extend the duration of the regulation to six years, - hoped to ensure proper monitoring, audits and evaluations of the projects to make it possible to identify and correct implementation problems, - tightened up the provisions requiring the Commission to account for its activities before the other European institutions, - hoped to reinforce cofinancing between the various donors, - aimed to improve the financing of infrastructures, particularly with regard to cross-border cooperation, - strengthened the role of the environment, public health and intercultural exchanges in the programme, - reinforced the conditional nature of assistance and introduced respect for the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples as a key element of assistance, - promoted the future decentralisation of the programme's management towards recipient countries, - proposed the review of some of the programme's implementation methods, such as maintaining the threshold for direct agreement contracts at ECU 300 000, or promoted the participation of enterprises from PHARE and TACIS countries in the programme, - aimed to strengthen the role of NGOs in the provision of assistance, - tried to promote the multiplier and spin-off effects of the projects. However, the Commission did not accept the amendments which: - prevented the Commission from amending the annexes during the programme, - related to comitology issues (a management committee was preferable to an advisory committee), - required the EP to be consulted before aid could be suspended, - permitted the consultation of external experts for the supervision of the projects, - reduced the role of technical assistance in projects eligible for funding, - amended certain implementation methods (particularly with regard to the time limit for tenders). �

• 1996/04/19 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1996/04/15 Committee report tabled for plenary, reconsultation
  • A4-0107/1996
• 1996/04/15 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 1996/02/05 Amended legislative proposal for reconsultation published
  • 04546/1996
• 1996/02/05 Formal reconsultation of Parliament
• #1902
• 1996/01/29 Council Meeting
• #1883
• 1995/11/21 Council Meeting
  • 1883
• 1995/11/16 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0546/1995 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr PEX (PPE, NL), Parliament approved the proposal for a regulation with the following amendments: - the programme is to run for a period of 5 years (from 01.01.1996 to 31.12.2000) and is to be reviewed once every 5 years; - the general objectives of the programme are revised: Parliament added that TACIS II should promote the setting up of new structures in the areas of culture, education, health and social protection, as well as for the protection of democracy and the rule of law. It should also seek to improve environmental protection and public health. In each case attention should be paid to the multiplier and spin-off effects of the projects being funded; - the role of NGOs in the provision of assistance is to be encouraged; - the provision of aid to beneficiary countries is subject to the respect of minority rights and to progress in developing a market economy; - as regards controls, the Commission shall ensure that projects are continuously monitored, audited and assessed. An independent evaluation should also be provided for up to a limit of 3% of the annual TACIS budget. These inspections should be carried out on the spot; - as far as aid is concerned, this is to be granted either autonomously by the Community or as a cofinancing arrangement with the Member States, the EIB, third countries, beneficiary nations or multilateral bodies; - as regards implementation, the Commission shall ensure that there is an appropriate level of local representation involved in the preparation of the projects. In this respect, particular attention will be paid to projects which are cofinanced directly by local authorities or by economic operators in the CCEE, - Parliament called for part of the programme to be devoted to crossborder cooperation. Transfrontier projects would be funded jointly through TACIS II and INTERREG; - the procedure for granting financial aid is modified: the projects are accepted by the Commission and the project list is then sent to the TACIS advisory committee. Parliament also modified the procedures for invitations to tender: . for supply and works contracts: tenders are to be submitted within 90 days, . for services contracts (restricted invitations to tender): 40 days. The contracts are also open to CCEE which are eligible for PHARE and to those Mediterranean countries which are signatories to the GATT agreement on public contracts; - Parliament applied a number of strict criteria for assessing invitations to tender. Undertakings which are not to be selected are entitled to ask why they have been rejected; - as regards commitology and the implementation of TACIS, Parliament is to set up an advisory committee, rather than a management committee. The Commission alone will be responsible for coordinating projects (without involving the Member States); - finally, Parliament asked to be kept informed, on a quarterly basis, of the implementation of the programmes in the beneficiary countries, and that a summary report be sent to it on 01.09 of each year. �

• 1995/11/14 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1995/10/17 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0254/1995
• 1995/07/10 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1995/04/12 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1995)0012 summary

    This proposal for a regulation aimed to provide assistance to the New Independent States of the former USSR and to Mongolia (TACIS II programme) from 1 January 1996. The assistance aimed to help the beneficiaries to commit to a process of economic reform and liberalisation. To benefit from this assistance, the countries concerned (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Mongolia) should unconditionally agree to work towards a political democracy and to implement structural reforms in all the economic sectors covered by the assistance. A flagrant violation of these principles by any country could lead to immediate suspension of the assistance. The assistance would take the form of non-refundable grants. The financial statement annexed to the Commission's proposal provided for an envelope of ECU 2 734 million over five years (1995-1999). A four-year indicative programme established for each of the partner states would determine the principal objectives of and guidelines for Community assistance. Action programmes or national projects would be adopted on the basis of this indicative programme each year in all the areas of action of the TACIS programme: human resources development (education, training, restructuring of public administration, employment services, legal assistance, etc.), enterprise restructuring and development (emphasis was placed on the creation of joint ventures through support for SMEs), transport and telecommunications infrastructures, energy, and food production, processing and distribution. Particular emphasis was placed on nuclear safety, the environment and promotion of the participation of women in social and economic life. Similarly, TACIS would encourage the promotion of cooperation between states (particularly by financing border-crossing facilities on borders between the New Independent States and the Union, between the New Independent States themselves, and between the New Independent States and Central European countries eligible under the PHARE programme). The TACIS programme would be implemented on a decentralised basis as far as possible, particularly with a view to promoting local synergies and placing greater emphasis on the Community presence. With regard to comitology, the Commission proposed implementing the programme with the assistance of a management committee composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission. �

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1995)0012
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0254/1995
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0546/1995
• Debate in Council: 1883
• Amended legislative proposal for reconsultation published: 04546/1996
• Committee report tabled for plenary, reconsultation: A4-0107/1996
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1996)0213
• Committee interim report tabled for plenary: A4-0202/1996
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0356/1996
• : Regulation 1996/1279
• : OJ L 165 04.07.1996, p. 0001

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)