Council Decision of 22 December 2004 amending Decision 2000/24/EC to take into account the enlargement of the European Union and the European Neighbourhood Policy (2005/47/EC)

Article 1

Decision 2000/24/EC is amended as follows:

1.

Article 1(1) is amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 1 is amended as follows:

(i)

the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The Community shall grant the European Investment Bank (EIB) a global guarantee in respect of all payments not received by it but due in respect of credits opened, in accordance with its usual criteria, and in support of the Community’s relevant external policy objectives, for investment projects carried out in the South-eastern Neighbours, the Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Asia and the Republic of South Africa.’

(ii)

in the second subparagraph, the second sentence is replaced by the following:

‘The overall ceiling of the credits opened shall be equivalent to EUR 19 460 million, broken down as follows:

• South-eastern Neighbours:

  EUR 9 185 million,

• Mediterranean countries:

  EUR 6 520 million,

• Latin America and Asia:

  EUR 2 480 million,

• Republic of South Africa:

  EUR 825 million,

• Special action supporting the consolidation and intensification of the EC-Turkey Customs Union:

  EUR 450 million;

and may be used by 31 January 2007 at the latest. The credits already signed shall be taken into account as a deduction from the regional ceilings.’

(b)

Article 1(2) is amended as follows:

(i)

the first indent is replaced by the following:

• ‘South-eastern Neighbours: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey;’

(ii)

in the second indent the words ‘Cyprus’, ‘Malta’ and ‘Turkey’, are deleted.

2.

In Article 2, the following subparagraph is added:

‘The Commission shall report on the application of this Decision by 31 July 2006 at the latest.’