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European Union
2000/zzz (CNS)
Proposal for a
COUNCIL REGULATION
CREATING RAPID REACTION
FACILITY
THE COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
and in particular Article 308 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (OJ
C, p.);
Whereas:
(1) The aim of preserving peace
and liberty is expressed in the Preamble to the Treaty Establishing
the European Community;
(2) The Community is concerned that
the spread of crises affecting political and social stability
and security jeopardise not only international peace and security
but also the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law;
(3) There is a need to prevent the
crises from spreading or escalating into armed conflicts in
order to foster sustainable economic and social development;
(4) The conclusions of the European
Council of Helsinki of 10-11 December 1999, state that " A
non-military crisis management mechanism will be established
to co-ordinate and make more effective the various civilian
means and resources, in parallel with the military ones, at
the disposal of the Union and the Member States";
(5) The Report of the Presidency
on non-military crisis management attached to the above conclusions,
further explains that "Rapid financing mechanisms such as
the creation by the Commission of a Rapid Reaction Fund should
be set up to allow the acceleration of the provision of finance
to support EU activities, to contribute to operations run
by other international organisations and to fund NGO activities,
as appropriate";
(6) There is a need, in support
of existing Community programmes relating to co-operation
with third countries, to undertake rapid and efficient action
to project security and stability beyond the borders of the
European Union wherever the lives and physical integrity of
women and men and the respect for human solidarity depend
on its intervention;
(7) The Community's early awareness
of crises and rapid response mechanisms need further development
with a view to permitting rapid deployment of financial and
other resources to prevent crises from spreading or escalating
into armed conflicts;
(8) There is a need to make available
at short notice, in cases of security related crisis situations,
accelerated decision making mechanisms for specific and immediate
interventions limited in time and acting, if so required,
as precursors of regular Community instruments to which action
can thereafter be transferred;
(9) Community interventions must
be coherent with the European Union's external activities
as a whole in the context of its external relations, security,
economic, social and development policies;
(10) Under this Regulation activities
covered by the ECHO Regulation (O.J. L 163, Reg. No. 1257/96)
will not be funded;
(11) According to Article 2 of Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures
for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission
(OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.), measures for the implementation
of this Regulation should be adopted by use of the advisory
procedure provided for in Article 3 of that Decision;
(12) There is a need for maximum
transparency in the implementation of the Community's financial
assistance as well as for proper control of use of appropriations;
(13) The protection of the Community's
financial interests as well as the fight against fraud and
irregularities which constitute an integral part of the present
Regulation;
(14) The Treaty does not provide,
for the action concerned, powers other than those of Article
308.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The purpose of this Regulation,
in support of existing Community programmes relating to co-operation
with third countries, is to lay down procedures for establishing
a rapid, efficient and flexible mechanism designed to respond
to situations of crisis or the emergence of crisis and to
provide immediate financing for non-combatactivities related
to urgent operations of crisis management and conflict prevention
with a view to fostering international peace and security,
the principles of liberty and democracy, respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, as a
basis for economic and social development in the said third
countries.
2. This mechanism shall be referred
to as the Rapid Reaction Facility. This Facility shall be
triggered by situations of crisis or emerging crisis such
as circumstances of growing violence destabilising law and
order breaches of peace, outbreaks of fighting, armed conflicts,
massive population movements, or exceptional circumstances
with security-related implications and concerns or major environmental
tragedies threatening safety, stability and security.
3. This facility builds upon the scope
of intervention of existing Community Regulations, with the
exception of the Regulation concerning humanitarian aid. Its
specific added value is represented by the rapidity of interventions
in situations of high tension and by the possibility of mixing
different instruments of intervention in order to achieve
a comprehensive and coherent action in security related emergencies.
If actions provided for by this Regulation fall under the
scope of other Regulations the current Regulation shall apply
only if :
(a) the action is intended to be immediate
and ad hoc to meet the most urgent safety and security-related
requirements of societies and people in third countries; and
(b) the action is limited in time, as further
specified in Article 7.
Article 2
1. The principal objectives of actions under the Rapid Reaction
Facility shall be, in situations of crisis or emerging crisis,
the preservation or re-establishment of conditions of public
order, security and safety, the facilitation of dialogue,
conciliation and mediation among different groups in a society
and the fight against human rights abuses, ethnic, religious,
gender discrimination and violence.
2. Interventions financed under this Regulation may comprise
all non-combat activities aimed at counteracting or resolving
emerging crisis situations and serious threats or outbreaks
of conflict, all logistical measures necessary for the planning,
implementation, monitoring and auditing of such interventions,
including information and communication management, technical
assistance and training, the purchase and/or delivery of essential
products and equipment, safe transport and all administrative
expenditure related to such measures as well as the measures
necessary to strengthen the Community's co-ordination with
Member States and other donor countries, international organisations,
non-governmental organisations and their representatives.
3. If the above actions are eligible for ECHO funding, they
shall be financed under the ECHO Regulation. In particular
security or crisis management circumstances, the Commission
may decide that RRF intervention is more appropriate if combined
with ECHO action, as necessary. While in these cases a clear
division of labour between ECHO and the RRF will be maintained
both at headquarters and in the field, close co-ordination
will be established in order to achieve optimal overall coherence
and to ensure the security of humanitarian workers.
Article 3
1. Community financing
under this Regulation shall take the form of grants.
2. The interventions covered
by this Regulation shall be exempt from taxes, charges, duties
and customs duties.
Article 4
1. Implementing partners
eligible under this Regulation may include national governments
and their agencies, regional and international organisations
and their agencies, non-governmental organisations and public
and private operators with appropriate specialised expertise
and experience.
2. The Commission may
conclude framework agreements with relevant government agencies,
international organisations, non-governmental organisations
and private or public operators on the basis of their ability
to carry out rapidly crisis management interventions. In situations
where unique personal expertise is needed, or where the credibility
of the operation and the confidence of the parties is linked
to a specific person as may be the case in mediation, arbitration
or advice activities, the Commission can sign contracts with
individual organisations or /operators even if no framework
agreement had been previously concluded.
3. After a financing Decision
has been taken by the Commission in accordance with article
5 and as soon as practically possible, a financial agreement
will be concluded with NGOs, private or public operators which
have been chosen for conducting the intervention, on the basis
of the provisions of the respective framework agreements.
4. Non-governmental organisations
eligible for financial agreements in view of the implementation
of interventions under this Regulation must meet the following
criteria:
(a) be non-profit-making autonomous
organisations (b) have their main headquarters in a Member
State of the Community or in the third country in receipt
of Community aid. Exceptionally their Headquarters may be
located in a third country.
5. When determining a
private operator or non-governmental organisation' s suitability
for Community funding, account shall be taken of the following
factors:
(a) its administrative and financial
management capacities;
(b) its technical and logistical
capacity in relation to the urgency of planned operations;
(c) its experience in the field
in question;
(d) its readiness to take part,
if need be, in any specific co-ordination system to be set
up for conducting the intervention;
(e) its record and guarantee
of impartiality in the implementation of the tasks assigned.
6. The Commission will
inform the Committee provided for in Article 8 about the choice
of the implementing entity and the reasons for it.
Article 5
Interventions covered by this Regulation shall be decided
by the Commission in accordance with the procedures laid down
in this Regulation
They shall be implemented by the Commission in accordance
with the budgetary and other procedures in force, including
those laid down in Articles 116 and 118 of the Financial Regulation
applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.
Article 6
1. All financing agreements or
contracts concluded under this Regulation shall provide for
the Commission, OLAF and the Court of Auditors to conduct
on-the-spot checks according to the rules in force.
2. In addition, the Commission
may carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections in conformity
with Regulation No 2185/96. The measures taken by the Commission
shall provide for adequate protection of the financial interests
of the Community in conformity with Regulation 2988/95
Article 7
1. No single intervention to
be funded under this Regulation may receive Community contributions
exceeding 12 MEUR.
2. The implementation period
of any intervention under this Regulation may not exceed a
limited period up to nine months.
3. Should it however appear,
in exceptional cases, that this implementation period is insufficient
to achieve the objectives laid down in Article 1.1 because
of the specific nature of the crisis concerned or its intensity,
the Commission will present a report to the Committee provided
for in Article 8 at the latest one month before the expiry
of the original action. Thereafter the Commission may present
to the Committee a draft for an extension of the intervention
and related financial requirements concerning the same crisis.
This further intervention must comply with the requirements
of Article 1.
4. Where interventions foreseen
under this Regulation require a Community contribution in
excess of 5 MEUR, or in the exceptional situation described
in paragraph 3 above, the Commission shall adopt its decision
after having consulted the Committee provided for in Art.
8.
Article 8
1. The Commission shall be assisted
by a committee ("Crisis Committee"), composed of representatives
of the Member States and chaired by the representative of
the Commission.
2. Where reference is made to
this paragraph, the advisory procedure laid down in Article
3 of the Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with
Article 7 (3) thereof.
3. When adopting its rules of
procedure, in accordance with Article 7 (1) of the Decision
1999/468/EC, the "Crisis Committee" shall take into account
the objectives of the Rapid Reaction Facility, in particular:
(a) the need of rapid decisions
and implementation in view of the exceptional and urgent nature
of the circumstances of crisis which trigger the use of the
Rapid Reaction Facility,
(b) the flexibility necessary
to meet the evolving nature of the crisis.
4. The crisis Committee
may also discuss any other questions related to the implementation
of this Regulation, in particular the modalities for follow-up
and the transfer of action, where appropriate, to other instruments
once intervention under this Regulation come to an end.
Article 9
1. The Commission shall, on the
basis of a reciprocal and regular exchange of information,
including exchange of information on the spot, ensure the
effective co-ordination of its crisis management operations
with those of the Member States, in order to increase the
coherence and complementary nature of all interventions.
2. In the interest of overall
coherence of Community strategy for rapid response to crises
with civilian instruments, the Committee provided for in Article
8 may also be a forum for the exchange of information between
Member States and the Commission.
3. The Commission shall promote
co-ordination and co-operation with international and regional
organisations.
4. The necessary measures shall
be taken to give visibility to the contribution of the Community.
Article 10
1. The Commission shall regularly
assess crisis management interventions under this Regulation
in order to establish whether the objectives of the interventions
have been achieved and to provide guidelines for improving
the effectiveness of future interventions.
2. The Commission shall present
a report summarising Community rapid reaction interventions
in the previous year to the European Parliament and to the
Council by 30 April each year and evaluate the implementation
of interventions supported by this Regulation upon their completion.
Article 11
Three years after entry into force of this Regulation, the
Commission shall present an overall evaluation of the interventions
financed by the Community under this Regulation to the European
Parliament and the Council, together with suggestions for
the future of the Regulation and, as necessary, proposals
for amendments to it.
Article 12
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels,
For the Council
The President
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