Brussels, 30/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has just published the results of a study requested at the end of 1999 by the Enlargement Commissioner, Gunter Verheugen, on the functioning of the Phare programme and on the impact of the reforms started in 1997. According to a press release by the Commission spokesperson, it can notably be seen from this study that the reforms have positively influenced the programming and the implementation of the projects in the Phare beneficiary countries (mainly the ten candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe), "but more needs to be done with the approach of accession". Thus, it has been notably recommended to: - place greater emphasis on measures aiming to increase the absorption capability of the beneficiaries (better preparation and management by local authorities); - conclude multi-annual indicative financing programmes with the beneficiaries; - increase the responsibility of beneficiary countries in the management of funds; - greater modelling of the management of aid on the procedures and methods used by the EU for the management of structural funds.
The Commission, on a proposal by Mr Verheugen, shared its guidelines. Mr Verheugen announced: "We must consider candidate countries receiving Phare money as countries who will manage large sums from the Community budget in a few years time. This means adapting our approaches to build the right institutions and delegate responsibility where we can. I hope that we can from next year begin to plan interventions that can be supported first by Phare and in the future by Structural Funds, with as little disruption as possible".