The Community provides assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The European Council, meeting in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000, confirmed that its overall objective remained the fullest possible integration of the countries of the region into the political and economic mainstream of Europe and that the stabilisation and association process was the centrepiece of its policy in the Balkans.

The European Council, meeting in Feira on 19 and 20 June 2000, recognised the countries concerned by the stabilisation and association process to be potential candidates for EU membership.

The existing Community assistance should be expanded and redirected to adjust it to the European Union's political objectives for the region and, particularly, to contribute to the stabilisation and association process and increase the responsibility of recipient countries and entities in relation to that process.

To that end Community assistance will be focused mainly on building up an institutional, legislative, economic and social framework directed at the values and models subscribed to by the European Union and on promoting a market economy, with due regard for priorities agreed with the partners concerned.

A precondition for receiving assistance is that the recipients respect democratic principles, the rule of law, human and minority rights, fundamental freedoms and the principles of international law.

The regional dimension of Community assistance should be given special attention, with a view to stepping up regional cooperation and supporting the European Union's role as a driving force within the Stability Pact.

In view of the political situation in some areas and the nature of the various entities that have responsibility for implementing assistance there, it is desirable to provide that the assistance can be supplied in some cases directly to recipients other than the State.

To make Community assistance more effective and ensure it is properly implemented, the Commission should adopt general guidelines, in accordance with the management procedure laid down in this Regulation, taking into account the objectives of reform of external aid.

To promote cooperation within the region, provision should be made for the candidate countries and, on a case-by-case basis, the countries covered by the TACIS and MEDA programmes to participate in the tendering procedures and contracts.

The Community assistance should be governed by a strategy framework and by annual and multiannual programming, which will be put to the management committee set up by this Regulation for an opinion. This will situate the assistance within a medium-term outlook and will make it possible to ensure that it complements and remains consistent with that of the Member States.

In the case of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, provision should be made for the Commission to be able to delegate implementation of assistance programmes to the European Agency for Reconstruction.

The operations covered by this Regulation are part of the Community's Western Balkans policy and are needed to implement one of the Community's objectives.

The Treaty does not provide, for the adoption of this Regulation, powers other than those under Article 308,