Strasbourg, 06/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - At Thursday's plenary session in Strasbourg, the Ursual Stenzel (EPP/DE Austria) report on the European Agency for Reconstruction annual report was adopted (443 for, 11 against and 13 abstentions). Every year this report draws up a balance sheet of the Agency's activities. The independent EU organisation has been working in Yugoslavia and since December 2001, in Macedonia. Parliament congratulated the agency on its "particularly efficient" activities in 2000 but regretted that the director of the agency had not submitted activity reports for 2001. The Parliament also criticised that fact that contrary to the agreement between Commissioner Chris Patten and the European Parliament in November 2001, Mr Patten did not submit his report in March 2002 on the EU management strategy for Southern Europe, which should have accompanied the extension of agency's territorial competencies. "At the end of April, Commissioner Patten indicated that he did not intend to rectify these omissions etc".
The Parliament has listed the political directions that emanate from the agency's territorial extension, notably: 1) its competencies evolve from a policy of reconstruction to a development policy that should focus on the setting up of institutions that strengthen the State of law and economic development; 2) the strengthening of its ability to assess the granting of financial aid from the EU via the CARDS programme and its management of the countries concerned; 3) improved co-operation with other EU agencies, Commission services and donors (Member States and international organisations); 4) improvement in its activities in Kosovo (ensuring the budgetary receipts and co-operation between Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro); 5) improvement of is annual report. The parliament also adopted an amendment submitted by the EPP-DE requesting the Commission "urgently" define the rules governing external delegation missions and the European Agency in Yugoslavia and Macedonia to avoid, "any overlapping or misunderstanding of roles played by the two different structures".