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

TITLE IV DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURES

Article 11 Responsibilities of the EDF Committee

1. The EDF Committee set up according to Article 8 of the Internal Agreement shall give its opinion, in accordance with the management procedure set out in paragraph 3, on the substantive issues of development cooperation at country, regional and intra-ACP level funded from the 10th EDF and other Community resources referred to in Article 4(3).

2. The EDF Committee's tasks shall cover the responsibilities spelled out in Titles II and III of this Regulation:

(a) programming of Community aid under the 10th EDF and programming reviews focusing in particular on country, regional and intra-ACP strategies; and

(b) monitoring the implementation of Community aid, covering amongst others the impact of assistance on the reduction of poverty, sectoral aspects, cross-cutting issues, the functioning of field-level coordination with Member States and other donors and progress on the aid effectiveness principles referred to in Article 1.

3. When the EDF Committee is called upon to give its opinion, the representative of the Commission shall submit to the EDF committee within the time-limits set out in the Council Decision on the rules and procedures of the EDF Committee referred to in Article 8(5) of the Internal Agreement, a draft of the measures to be taken. The EDF Committee shall deliver its opinion within a time-limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter but which shall not exceed 30 days. The EIB shall take part in the exchange of views. The opinion shall be delivered by the qualified majority laid down in Article 8(3) of the Internal Agreement on the basis of the votes of the Member States weighted in the manner set out in Article 8(2) of the Internal Agreement.

When the EDF Committee has delivered its opinion, the Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the EDF Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event, the Commission shall defer application of the measures for a period which shall in principle not exceed 30 days from the date of such communication but which may be prolonged for a period of up to 30 days in exceptional circumstances. The Council, acting by the same qualified majority as the EDF Committee, may take a different decision within this period.

4. The EDF Committee shall have an exchange of views on the general conclusions of the annual operational reviews and of the annual report referred to in Article 14(3). Each Member State may also call for an exchange of views on the evaluations referred to in Article 15(3).

Each Member State can invite the Commission at any moment to provide the EDF Committee with information and to have an exchange of views on issues related to the tasks described under paragraph 2.

Such exchanges of view may lead to the formulation of recommendations by the Member States, which the Commission shall take into account.

5. On the basis of conclusions of the reviews prepared by the Commission, the EDF Committee shall also examine the consistency and complementarity between Community aid and aid from the Member States and where appropriate other donors, in line with Articles 1 and 2.

Article 12 The African Peace Facility

In accordance with the Council conclusions of 11 April 2006 to fund the African Peace Facility from the 10th EDF for a three-year period with EUR 300 million, the intra-ACP indicative programme shall earmark funding for the African Peace Facility. Specific management procedure shall apply as follows:

(a)

on a request from the African Union, endorsed by the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors, an action programme shall be prepared by the Commission covering the period 2008 to 2010. This action programme shall among others specify the objectives pursued, the scope and nature of the possible interventions, the implementation arrangements, and an agreed format for background documents and requests and for reporting. An annex to the action programme shall describe the specific decision making procedures for each possible intervention according to its nature, size and urgency;

(b)

this action programme, including the annex referred to in point (a), and any changes thereto shall be discussed by the relevant preparatory Council working groups and the Political and Security Committee and approved by Coreper by qualified majority as defined in Article 8(3) of the Internal Agreement before being adopted by the Commission in accordance with the management procedure set out in Article 11(3) of this Regulation;

(c)

the action programme, excluding the annex referred to in point (a), shall be the basis for the financing agreement to be concluded between the Commission and the African Union;

(d)

each intervention to be implemented under the financing agreement shall be subject to prior approval by the Political and Security Committee; the relevant preparatory Council working groups shall be informed or consulted in due time prior to their submission to the Political and Security Committee according to the specific decision making procedures referred to in point (a) in order to ensure that, besides the military and security dimension, the development related aspects of the envisaged measures are being taken into account. Special attention shall hereby be given to activities recognised as ODA;

(e)

the Commission shall prepare an activity report on the use of the funds for information of the Council and the EDF Committee on an annual basis and at the request of Council or the EDF Committee, distinguishing between ODA and non-ODA related commitments and disbursements;

(f)

An evaluation shall be undertaken in 2010 reviewing the procedures of the African Peace Facility as well as the possibilities of alternative future sources of funding, including common foreign and security policy funding.

Article 13 The IF Committee

1. The IF Committee set up under the auspices of the EIB according to Article 9 of the Internal Agreement shall consist of the representatives of the Member States and a representative of the Commission. Each Government shall nominate one representative and one designated alternate. The Commission shall act in the same way for its representative. With a view to maintaining continuity, the Chairman of the IF Committee shall be elected by and from among the members of the IF Committee for a period of two years. The EIB shall provide the Committee's secretariat and support services. Only the members of the IF Committee designated by the Member States, or their alternates, shall vote.

The Council, acting unanimously, shall adopt the rules of procedure of the IF Committee on the basis of a proposal drawn up by the EIB after consulting the Commission.

The IF Committee shall act by qualified majority. The weighting of the votes shall be as laid down in Article 8 of the Internal Agreement.

The IF Committee shall meet at least four times a year. Additional meetings may be convened at the request of the EIB or of the members of the Committee as set out in the rules of procedure. In addition, the IF Committee may deliver an opinion by written procedure, in the terms established by its Rules of Procedure.

2. The IF Committee shall approve:

(a) guidelines on the implementation of the Investment Facility, its development impact assessment framework and proposals for their revision;

(b) the investment strategies and business plans of the Investment Facility, including performance indicators, on the basis of the objectives of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement and of the broad principles of Community development policy;

(c) the annual reports of the Investment Facility;

(d) any general policy document, including evaluation reports, concerning the Investment Facility.

3. Furthermore, the IF Committee shall deliver an opinion on:

(a) proposals to grant an interest subsidy under Article 2(7), and Article 4(2), of Annex II to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. In such cases, the IF Committee shall also deliver an opinion on the use of such an interest subsidy. In order to streamline the approval process for small operations, the IF Committee may give its favourable opinion to proposals from the EIB for a global allocation for interest subsidies that shall subsequently, without further opinion from the IF Committee and/or the Commission, be sub-allocated by the EIB to individual projects according to criteria set out in the global allocation, including the maximum interest subsidy sub-allocation per project;

(b) proposals for an IF investment for any project for which the Commission has delivered a negative opinion;

(c) other proposals relating to the Investment Facility based on the general principles defined in the operational guidelines.

In addition, the governing bodies of the EIB may, from time to time, request that the IF Committee provides an opinion on all financing proposals, or on certain categories of financing proposals.

4. It shall be the EIB's responsibility to submit to the IF Committee in a timely manner any matters that require the approval or opinion of the IF Committee, as provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. Any proposal submitted to the Committee for an opinion shall be made in accordance with the relevant criteria and principles set out in the operational guidelines.

5. The EIB shall cooperate closely with the Commission and, where applicable, shall coordinate its operations with other donors. In particular:

(a) the EIB shall prepare or revise jointly with the Commission the guidelines on the implementation of the Investment Facility referred to under paragraph 2(a). The EIB shall be held accountable for compliance to the guidelines and shall ensure that the projects it supports respect international social and environmental standards and are coherent with the objectives of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement and of the broad principles of Community development policy and with the relevant country or regional cooperation strategies;

(b) the EIB shall request the opinion of the Commission beforehand on investment strategies, business plans and general policy documents;

(c) the EIB shall inform the Commission on the projects it administers in accordance with Article 14(2) and request the opinion of the Commission at the appraisal stage of a project on the conformity of projects with the relevant country cooperation strategy or regional cooperation strategy or, as the case may be, with the general objectives of the Investment Facility;

(d) with the exception of interest subsidies falling within the global allocation referred to under paragraph 3(a), the EIB shall also request the agreement of the Commission at the appraisal stage of a project on any proposal made to the IF Committee for an interest subsidy, as to its compliance with Article 2(7) and Article 4(2) of Annex II to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, and with the criteria defined in the operational guidelines of the Investment Facility.

The Commission shall be deemed to have rendered a favourable opinion on or to have agreed to a proposal unless it notifies a negative opinion on such a proposal within two weeks following the submission of the proposal. As regards opinions for financial or public sector projects, as well as agreement to interest rate subsidies, the Commission may request that the final project proposal be submitted for its opinion or approval two weeks before being sent to the IF Committee.

6. The EIB shall not proceed with any action mentioned in paragraph 2 unless the IF Committee has given a favourable opinion.

Following a favourable opinion of the IF Committee, the EIB shall decide on the proposal in accordance with its own procedures. In particular it may decide not to proceed with the proposal. The EIB shall periodically inform the IF Committee and the Commission of cases where it decides not to proceed.

For loans from its own resources and for IF investments for which no opinion of the IF Committee is required, the EIB shall decide on the proposal in accordance with its own procedures and, in the case of the Investment Facility, in accordance with the guidelines and the investment strategies approved by the IF Committee.

Notwithstanding a negative opinion of the IF Committee on a proposal to grant an interest subsidy, the EIB may proceed with the loan in question without the benefit of the interest subsidy. The EIB shall periodically inform the IF Committee and the Commission of each occasion on which it so decides to proceed.

The EIB may, subject to conditions laid down in the operational guidelines, and the condition that the essential objective of the loan or Investment Facility investment in question be unchanged, decide to modify the terms of an Investment Facility loan or investment on which the IF Committee has given a favourable opinion under paragraph 2 or of any loan on which the IF Committee has given a favourable opinion regarding interest subsidies. In particular, the EIB may decide to increase the amount of the loan or Investment Facility investment by up to 20 %.

Such an increase may, for projects with interest subsidies referred to in Article 2(7) of Annex II to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, result in a proportionate increase in the value of the interest subsidy. The EIB shall periodically inform the IF Committee and the Commission of each occasion on which it so decides to proceed. For projects falling under Article 2(7) of Annex II to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, if an increase in the value of the subsidy is requested, the IF Committee shall be required to deliver an opinion before the EIB proceeds.

7. The EIB shall manage Investment Facility investments and all funds held on account of the said Investment Facility in accordance with the objectives of the Agreement. It may, in particular, take part in the management and supervisory bodies of legal persons in which the Investment Facility is invested, and may compromise, discharge and modify the rights held on account of the Investment Facility in accordance with the operational guidelines.