The Commission shall regularly monitor this programme in cooperation with the Member States. The results of the monitoring and evaluation process should be utilised when implementing the programme.

This monitoring shall include the reports referred to in paragraph 3 and specific activities.

This programme shall be evaluated regularly by the Commission in cooperation with the Member States. This evaluation is intended to assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of actions implemented with regard to the objectives referred to in Article 2. It will also look at the impact of the programme as a whole.

This evaluation will also examine the complementarity between action under this programme and that pursued under other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions.

In accordance with criteria established using the procedure described in Article 8(2), there will be regular independent external evaluations of this programme.

Member States shall submit to the Commission by 31 December 2003 and 30 June 2007, respectively, reports on the implementation and the impact of this programme.

The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:

• on the accession of new Member States, a report on the financial consequences of these accessions on the programme, followed, if appropriate, by financial proposals to deal with the financial consequences of these accessions on the programme, in accordance with the provisions of the interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure and with the conclusions of the Berlin European Council of March 1999. The European Parliament and the Council will take a decision on such proposals as soon as possible,

• an interim evaluation report on the results achieved and on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of this programme by 30 June 2004,

• a communication on the continuation of this programme by 31 December 2006,

• an ex post evaluation report by 31 December 2007.