Council Regulation (EC) No 617/2007Show full title

Article 5 Reviews

1. Strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes as well as the special support programmes and actions referred to in Article 4(7) of this Regulation shall be submitted to annual operational reviews, to reviews at mid-term and at the end of term and, when necessary, to ad hoc reviews. These reviews shall be carried out locally by the Commission and the partner country or region concerned in line with Article 5 of Annex IV of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, and shall be prepared on the basis of the general principles of coordination, ownership and aid effectiveness referred to in Articles 1 and 2. The strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes may also be submitted to ad hoc reviews in between annual, mid-term and end-of-term reviews in line with Article 3(5) of Annex IV of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.

2. The mid-term and end-of-term reviews shall constitute an integral part of the programming process. They shall assess the strategy paper, including the multiannual adaptation strategies for the Sugar Protocol countries and any other programmes funded from Community instruments referred to in Article 4(4), and the multiannual indicative programme in the light of current needs and performance. The review shall include, to the extent possible, an impact assessment of the Community's development cooperation in relation to the general objective of poverty reduction referred to in Article 1(1), to the objectives, allocated resources and indicators set out in the strategy papers and an assessment of the adherence to, and the possibilities for furthering, the aid effectiveness principles referred to in Articles 1 and 2. Following the completion of the mid-term or end-of-term review exercise:

(a) the strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes may be adjusted where the reviews indicate specific problems or lack of progress towards meeting the objectives and indicated results, or in the light of changed circumstances, including as a result of ongoing harmonisation processes such as division of labour among Commission and Member States and possibly other donors;

(b) the national and regional multiannual indicative allocation may be increased or decreased in the light of current needs and performance.

3. The annual operational reviews shall be conducted in accordance with Article 5(4) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. In cases of new or special needs, set out in Articles 3(5) and 9(2) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, such as those resulting from a post-crisis situation, or exceptional performance when a multiannual indicative allocation is totally committed and additional funding can be absorbed against a background of effective poverty-reduction policies and sound financial management, a multiannual indicative allocation may be increased following the completion of the annual operational review exercise.

The general results of the annual operational reviews shall be presented to the EDF Committee for an exchange of views in accordance with Article 11(4) of this Regulation.

4. Ad hoc reviews can be carried out at the request of either the ACP State concerned or the Commission in cases of new or special needs or exceptional performance as described in paragraph 3 of this Article or in the case of exceptional circumstances referred to in Article 72 and Article 73 of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement regarding humanitarian and emergency aid. The Commission shall take into account requests for ad hoc reviews by Member States. The occurrence of sudden and unforeseeable serious humanitarian, economic and social difficulties of an exceptional nature resulting from natural disasters, man-made crises such as wars and other conflicts, post-conflict situations, threats to democracy, the rule of law, human rights or fundamental freedoms or extraordinary circumstances within a country or within a region that have comparable effects, may be considered as cases justifying the conducting of an ad hoc review.

(a) Following the completion of the ad hoc review exercise, special measures referred to in Article 8 of this Regulation may be proposed. If required, the allocation of the multiannual indicative programme or the special action programme may be increased within the limits of available funds set out in Article 2 of the Internal Agreement. Where no strategy paper has been signed, special support can be funded from the allocation for unforeseen needs as referred to in Article 3(2)(b) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.

(b) The measures taken shall be consistent and coherent with and complement other Community instruments, including the instrument for humanitarian aid referred to in Article 4(4).

(c) Where partner countries or groups of partner countries are directly involved in, or affected by, a crisis or post-crisis situation, multiannual programming shall place special emphasis on stepping up coordination between relief, rehabilitation and development to help them make the transition from an emergency situation to the development phase; programmes for countries and regions regularly subject to natural disasters shall provide for disaster preparedness and prevention.

5. In cases of new needs as defined in the Joint Declaration VI referring to Article 12(2) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement regarding intra-ACP cooperation, an increase in the intra-ACP programmable allocation may be financed from the intra-ACP reserves within the global limits set out in Article 2(b) of the Internal Agreement.

6. Any change in strategy papers and/or resource allocation resulting from a review referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the management procedure set out in Article 11(3). The addenda to the strategy papers, including the multiannual indicative programmes and to the special support programmes shall subsequently be adopted by common agreement between the Commission and the ACP State or region concerned and shall, when adopted, be binding on both the Community and that State or region.