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European Commission: Strategy Paper and Report 2003
ANNEX 2: THE CHAPTER ``OTHER MATTERS''
The chapter on ``other matters'' will not be treated as the other
negotiating chapters. It essentially constitutes a negotiating box in which a
number of elements, which are largely uncontroversial but do not have their
place in the other negotiating chapters, can be placed.
First, the Accession Treaty will need to provide for the rules applicable
to the management and phasing out of pre-accession funds. Altogether, some
EUR 5 billion of funds under the ISPA, SAPARD and PHARE programmes up to the
end of 2003 will have been committed for the new Member States but will still
need to be contracted or at least paid until the end of 2006. Whereas ISPA
and SAPARD will be continued in a similar setting under the cohesion and
rural development funds, PHARE funding will need to be phased out by 2006.
Certain transitional arrangements including rules related to the further
transfer of responsibility in the management of pre-accession aid to the new
Member States in an extended decentralised implementation system (EDIS)
(including human resources and conditions for the release of funds) will need
to be included in the Accession Treaty. The release of PHARE funds should be
made conditional on the implementation of the extended decentralised system
by the acceding countries. For ISPA, in order not to discriminate the new
Member States vis-à-vis current Member States, such an approach can not be
implemented.
Second, the envisaged transition facility for certain institution building
actions will need to be more closely defined. In order to implement these
actions and since these actions are a continuation of activities under the
PHARE programme, the Commission proposes to use the established structures
for the years 2004 to 2006, i. e. the PHARE committee and to work through the
established EDIS in the new Member States. In order to avoid overlap with the
type of action which can in future be financed by the structural funds, the
Commission proposes at this stage to limit institution building actions to
the following:
- Justice and Home Affairs (strengthening of the judicial system, border
controls, anti-corruption strategy);
- Internal Market, including customs union;
- Environment;
- Veterinary services and administrative capacity building related to
food safety;
- Agricultural administration and control, including IACS;
- Nuclear safety;
- general public administration reform and horizontal technical
assistance (TAIEX/Statistics).
However, other actions may need to be foreseen at a later stage, in
particular to take into account the results of the negotiations.
Third, as to decommissioning of the nuclear power plants of Ignalina in
Lithuania and Bohunice V1 in Slovakia, the results of the negotiations
foresee the need to create a specific decommissioning facility in order to
finance Community support for such activities at least up to the year 2006.
The Commission has proposed, in its Communication of 30 January 2002 to
commit annually an amount of 70 million on a yearly basis from 2004 to 2006
for the decommissioning of Ignalina. Furthermore, the Commission indicated
that funds that would have otherwise been allocated under the PHARE programme
would need to be committed from heading 3 of the budget after enlargement.
The estimated figures will be revised as appropriate on the basis of the
spending profile for the decommissioning activities of the Bohunice and
Ignalina decommissioning funds.
Since the financing of these activities constitutes a continuation of
activities financed under the PHARE programme, the Commission considers that
annual budgetary decisions on the allocation of Community support to
decommissioning efforts should be taken, as in the past, in consultation with
the PHARE management committee. This approach would also allow the necessary
time to prepare the necessary legal basis to provide Community support to
decommissioning activities for Ignalina envisaged for the next financial
perspective. The Commission proposes that this commitment should be laid down
in a Protocol annexed to the Act concerning the conditions of accession.
Fourth, a number of declarations, protocols and additional elements will
need to be included in the Treaty.
For example, with regard to nuclear safety, the commitments by Lithuania
and Slovakia to the early closure of the Ignalina and Bohunice V1 nuclear
power plants will need to be included in the Act concerning the conditions of
accession.
Fifth, a legal base for the facility for the northern part of Cyprus in
order to back up a political settlement.
© European Commission; Last modified: 2003-04-09
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