Brussels, 14/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - EU development cooperation with South Africa has been amended to improve implementation of projects with South Africa. On Monday, the Council voted without debate to formally adopt the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation 1726/2000 on development cooperation with South Africa.
The amendments concern mainstreaming of gender issues at all levels of the project cycle from planning to implementation; the streamlining of administrative procedures (changing financial procedures in line with the new Financial Regulation for the EU general budget, and the creation of a South Africa Committee to solve the anomaly whereby the funds would have had to be managed by the Fed Committee); improved criteria for assessing project and programme design; clarification of the conditions for granting contributions from the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development (EPRD) to regional programmes; and increasing the budget from EUR 885.5 million to EUR 905.5 million over five years, though an additional grant of EUR 15 million for wine and spirits. These amendments are based on the outcome of the mid-term review of the development programme.