Brussels, 25/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday the European Commission adopted a decision which will allow the signing of the Annual Financing Agreements (AFAs) for 2002 with each of the 10 candidate countries for the implementation of the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) in 2002. In the light of recent experience, the decision amends the Multi-Annual Financing Agreement to allow special provisions for exceptional natural disasters to be included in the agreements (in the wake of the floods in the summer that devastated the Czech Republic.
The EU contribution to finance SAPARD programmes in 2002 amounts to EUR 554.5 million (including the transfer of EUR 9.5 million of technical assistance that has not been spent). This amount is allocated among candidate countries as follows (in millions of euros): Bulgaria 55.582, the Czech Republic 23.527, Estonia 12.942, Hungary 40.579, Latvia 23.298, Lithuania 31.808, Poland 179.874, Romania 160.630, Slovakia 19.502 and Slovenia 6.757.
Compared with the 2000 and 2001 agreements, the main changes for the 2002 agreements are: 1) To strengthen the involvement of local bodies (social partners, NGOs and local representatives) in handling SAPARD, the delegation of responsibility for project selection to these entities will be permitted. However, only Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia wish to avail themselves of this possibility. 2) From now on, certain provisions permit the Commission to authorise particular actions in the event of an exceptional natural disaster and allow funds to flow rapidly to the areas where most needed. The agreement extends the right to participate in invitations to tender and contract under SAPARD to natural and legal persons from Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.