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

TITLE V FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 14 Monitoring and reporting requirements regarding the progress in implementation of EDF assistance

1. The Commission and the EIB shall monitor, each to the extent to which it is concerned, the use of EDF assistance by the recipients.

2. The EIB shall periodically inform the Commission regarding the implementation of projects and programmes financed from the 10th EDF resources it administers, following the procedures set out in the operational guidelines of the Investment Facility.

3. The Commission shall examine the progress made in implementing the 10th EDF and shall submit to the Council an annual report on the implementation and results and, as far as possible, the main outcomes, results and impacts of the assistance. This report shall also be sent to the EDF Committee for an exchange of views, to the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

It shall contain information relating to the previous year on the measures financed, the results of monitoring and evaluation exercises, the involvement of and harmonisation with partners, including implementation through delegated cooperation as defined in the Financial Regulation referred to in Article 10(2) of the Internal Agreement, and the implementation of commitments and payments, broken down by country, region and cooperation sector.

It shall assess the results of the assistance on the eradication of poverty, using as far as possible specific and measurable indicators of its role in meeting the objectives of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. Such indicators shall be aligned with partner country or region's monitoring systems and indicators shared between the donor community and the partner country or region for monitoring their development strategy.

Particular attention shall be given to progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The reports shall also address progress made towards implementing the principles of coordination, ownership and aid effectiveness referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation and cover the accompanying measures of the Economic Partnership Agreements.

4. The EIB shall provide the IF Committee with information as regards progress towards the objectives of the Investment Facility. Following Article 6b of Annex II to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, the overall performance of the Investment Facility shall be subject to a joint review at the mid- and end-term of the 10th EDF. The mid-term review shall be carried out by an independent external expert, in cooperation with the EIB, and shall be made available to the IF Committee.

5. The Commission shall provide the Council in 2010 with a proposal for the overall performance review to be undertaken with the ACP States on the basis of paragraph 7 of Annex Ib of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. This review shall assess the financial performance, and in particular the degree of realisation of commitments and disbursements as well as the quantitative and qualitative performance, and in particular the results and the impact, measured in terms of progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The review shall also explore the possibilities for and recommend how to enhance alignment of future Community support to the ACP with partner country or region's existing strategies, programming and budget cycles, and further harmonisation among donors.

Article 15 Evaluation

1. The Commission and the EIB shall regularly evaluate the results of the implementation of geographical and thematic policies and programmes and of sectoral policies and the effectiveness of programming on the eradication of poverty, where appropriate by means of independent external evaluations, in order to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and to enable it to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future operations. Particular attention shall be given to ensuring coherence of Community development policy and progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

2. These evaluations shall be conducted in association with the partner country or region and in coordination with the Member States locally represented. Other interested Member States and, where relevant, also other donors will be involved. The Commission shall strive to implement the aid effectiveness recommendations on joint evaluations.

3. The Commission shall send its country and regional evaluation reports to the Council, the EDF Committee and the EIB for information. In accordance with Article 11(4), Member States may at any moment request a discussion of specific evaluations in the EDF Committee. The results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation, donor coordination and aid effectiveness.

4. The Commission shall associate relevant stakeholders, including non-State actors, in the evaluation phase of the Community assistance provided.

Article 16 Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall be applicable for the same period as the Internal Agreement.