Brussels, 29/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has promised EUR 530 million for regional projects in South-eastern Europe. This promise was made by the Commissioner responsible for External Relations, Christopher Patten, at the opening of the Donors Conference for South-eastern Europe. The additional pledges by EU Member States and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are of the same order, noted the Commissioner, but the details of the promises by the countries was not yet available). The Conference, that continues this Thursday in Brussels, has as objective to gather the undertakings for specific and regional projects, aimed at being launched rapidly.
Commissioner Patten added that these EUR 530 million brought by the Community budget would mainly be contributed in 2000 and 2001, as they concern "quick start" projects, aimed at starting in the next twelve months.
The sum promised by the Commission "must still be approved by the budgetary authority" admitted the commissioner with speaking to the press. However he was sure that the European Parliament and the Council "will ensure that we honour our political engagements." The Commissioner Patten placed the EUR 530 million within the framework of the global Community aid for South-eastern Europe for 2000-2006: i) EUR 6 billion foreseen for Romania and Bulgaria as candidate countries; ii) EUR 5.5 billion for the Balkans (including 2.3 billion for "post-Milosevic Serbia". The Commissioner defended the figure of 5.5 billion, which had been put forward last year by Romano Prodi. "It is realistic if we remain in the framework of the overall budget for financial perspectives decided in Berlin, even though it may need certain readjustments in the overall amount" - a reference, no doubt, to the idea suggested by the Commission in its budgetary guidelines for 2001 to finance Community aid in the Balkans by readjustments within the "external policy spending" heading of the budget and by lowering the ceiling of agricultural spending to the advantage of spending on external policy.
Those close to the Commissioner, on Wednesday, gave their assurance that, at any rate, the 530 million promised are available and that it would not be necessary to carry out revision of financial perspectives in order to finance these projects (without, however, specifying which budgetary lines, and which changes or cuts within the Heading 4/external actions of the budget). This promise comes within a difficult context anyway. On one hand, during the Lisbon Summit, some Member States (Germany and France) declared they were hostile to the idea of inter-heading revision of financial perspectives. For one thing, the question of possible increases, already in the 2000 budget, of Heading 4/external actions of the budget 2000, to finance aid to Kosovo, has not been finally decided.
Apart from the promises mentioned above, the first day of the donors' conference for South East Europe was very political. All stressed in their statements the two-fold dimension of the process: the international community owes it to itself to support South Eat Europe, but these countries must implement major economic and social reforms. "The Stability Pact goes two ways. It is a genuine partnership. The countries of South East Europe undertake to carry out political and economic reforms and cooperate among themselves. The international community backs these efforts in a coordinated manner", as the coordinator for the Pact, Bodo Hombach declared. The Conference has another, dual objective, the Commissioner responsible for external relations, Chris Patten, stressed, for whom "we are beginning to put in place a long-term strategy to assure peace - by building, literally and symbolically - the path for the integration of South East Europe in the rest of Europe and in the Euro-Atlantic community.
Commissioner Patten, the President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, and Bodo Hombach himself, moreover, stressed the "sound coordination" between organisations, and the role of the Stability Pact in preparing the Conference. The participants also placed emphasis on the special nature of the Conference: it is "regional" and concerns "the immediate future"; it is a question of acting rapidly and concretely, stressed Patten. The details of the projects financed will be known Thursday evening, but the global distribution of projects submitted was already announced on Wednesday: 255,083,972 euro for "Table 1" of the Stability Pact (human rights, minorities, administration); 1,449,083,00 for "Table 2" (infrastructure, development of the private sector); 77,817,605 for "Table 3" (defence, justice, home affairs); 5,160,000 for "horizontal" projects (including the ight against corruption) for a total of one billion and 787.14 million euro.