Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 4 U.K. Differentiation, partnership and co-financing

1. Union support under this Regulation provided to each partner country in accordance with point (a) of Article 6(1) shall be incentive-based and differentiated in form and amounts, taking into account all the elements listed below, reflecting the partner country's:

(a) needs, using indicators such as population and level of development;

(b) commitment to and progress in implementing mutually agreed political, economic and social reform objectives;

(c) commitment to and progress in building deep and sustainable democracy;

(d) partnership with the Union, including the level of ambition for that partnership;

(e) absorption capacity and the potential impact of Union support under this Regulation.

Such support shall be reflected in the multi-annual programming documents referred to in Article 7.

2. Following the adoption of the programming documents specified in Article 7, and without prejudice to the other elements outlined in paragraph 1 of this Article, the share of available resources offered to partner countries shall be adapted primarily according to their progress in building and consolidating deep and sustainable democracy and in implementing agreed political, economic and social reform objectives, in line with the incentive-based approach.

For multi-country umbrella programmes, that share shall be determined according to the progress made by partner countries in building deep and sustainable democracy, also taking into account their progress in implementing agreed reform objectives contributing to the attainment of that goal.

The progress of partner countries shall be regularly assessed, in particular by means of ENP progress reports which include trends as compared to previous years.

Support may be reconsidered in the event of serious or persistent regression.

3. The incentive-based approach shall not apply to support to civil society, people-to-people contacts, including cooperation between local authorities, support for the improvement of human rights, or crisis-related support measures. In the event of serious or persistent regression, such support may be increased.

4. The incentive-based approach under this Regulation shall be the subject of a regular exchange of views in the European Parliament and in the Council.

5. Union support under this Regulation shall, in principle, be established in partnership with the beneficiaries. That partnership shall involve, as appropriate, the following stakeholders in the preparation, implementation and monitoring Union support:

(a) national and local authorities; and

(b) civil society organisations,

including through consultation and timely access to relevant information allowing them to play a meaningful role in that process.

6. Union support under this Regulation shall, in principle, be co-financed by the partner countries and other participating countries through public funds, contributions from the beneficiaries or other sources. Co-financing requirements may be waived in duly justified cases and where necessary in order to support the development of civil society and non-state actors, especially small-scale civil society organisations, without prejudice to compliance with the other conditions set out in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1).

(1)

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).