Home > NGO Romania > Guides > Financing > Glossary

Section 3: Glossary

By Alphabetical Order

Accession Countries
The ten countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia) plus Cyprus, Malta and Turkey have applied for membership to the European Union. These are also known as the applicant countries. (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/agenda2000/index_en.htm)

Accession Partnership
Document that sets out in a single framework the priority areas for further work identified in the Commission’s Regular Report on the relevant accession country (specifying short and medium term priorities); the financial means available to help the relevant accession country implement these priorities; and the conditions that will apply to that assistance. The document is drafted by the European Commission in consultation with the government of the relevant accession country and on the basis of the principles, priorities, intermediate objectives, and conditions that have been decided by the Council. The first Accession Partnerships were drafted on the basis of the Commission’s Opinion on the accession country, and were approved in March 1998. The second Accession Partnerships were prepared on the basis of the Commission’s Regular Reports of October 1999, and were issued in late 1999. (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/docs/index.htm).

Acquis Communautaire
Approximately 20,000 laws and regulations that have been developed over the years by the EU member states. The full acceptance of the rights and obligations by the candidate countries is an important aspect of the accession process.

Agenda 2000
The document which contains the European Commission’s recommendations for the Union’s financial framework for the years 2000-2006; the future development of the Union’s policies; and the strategy for enlargement of the Union. Submitted to the Council and European Parliament on 15 July 1997.

Applicant Countries
See accession countries.

Copenhagen Criteria
In June 1993, the European Union’s Heads of State and Government met in Copenhagen for the European Council and agreed on set of criteria that must be met by countries posing their candidature for EU membership. These criteria are:

• The achievement of stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities (also known as the political criteria);

• The existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union; and

• The ability to take on the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political and monetary union. This involves the adoption of the acquis communautaire (see above).

Council of Europe (CoE)
The Council of Europe is an international organization based in Strasbourg, France. Comprising forty member states, its main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its membership. Its most important instrument is the adoption of conventions, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998, a permanent European Court of Human Rights was established to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights.

Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union (Council) is the organ that represents the 15 EU member states. It performs the role of legislative chamber and also has executive powers.

The Council is comprised of one representative at ministerial level from each member state. Council members are politically accountable to their national parliaments. Each of the members acts as President for a period of six months.

The Council exerts legislative and decision-making powers. It is also the forum in which the representatives of the governments of the EU member states can declare their interests and try to reach compromises.

The Council ensures general co-ordination of the activities of the European Union, in particular the establishment of an internal market. The Council is also responsible for intergovernmental cooperation, in common foreign and security policy and in the areas of justice and home affairs, including matters such as immigration and asylum, combating terrorism and drugs and judicial cooperation.

Each member state has a Permanent Representation (equivalent to an embassy) to the European Union in Brussels. The heads of the Permanent Representations are called Permanent Representatives. The fifteen Permanent Representations meet each week in the Permanent Representative Committee (COREPER). This Committee is divided into two parts, one composed of ambassadors and the other of their deputies. This Committee is tasked with preparing the Council’s work.

Directorates-General (DGs)

The appointment of a new Commission in September 1999 was accompanied by a reorganization of the Commission administration. There are now 36 departments, and directorates-general are no longer referred to by number. DGs cover all areas of Community policy. They are structured hierarchically on a departmental basis similar to a national ministry. DGs act in response to initiatives coming either from the Commission, Council and/or Parliament. In principle, the DGs covering areas of interest to NGOs are:

• DG Development (contributes to the formulation of the Community’s development cooperation policy for all developing countries and Overseas Territories (OCTs). It also manages and co-ordinates Community’s relations with the 71 ACP countries and 20 OCTs);

• DG Education and Culture;

• DG Enlargement;

• DG Enterprise;

• DG Employment and Social Affairs;

• DG Environment;

• DG External Relations (this new DG co-ordinates all the external relations activities of the Commission and administers more than 120 Commission delegations in third countries. The abbreviation used is DG Relex.);

• DG Health and Consumer Protection;

• Humanitarian Aid Office – European Community Humantarian Office (ECHO);

• DG Information Society;

• DG Justice and Home Affairs;

• DG Science;

• Common Service for External Relations (manages all aspects - technical and operational, financial and accounting, contractual and legal - of the Community’ s aid to non-member countries. It is also responsible for audits and evaluations. The abbreviation used is SCR).

Europe Agreements
Bilateral agreements providing for cooperation in political, economic, trade, cultural and other areas such as competition, state aids, and approximation of laws. These agreements form the legal basis for the EU’s relationships with the relevant countries. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia have all signed Europe Agreements.

European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The European Commission fulfils three main functions:

• It initiates European policies, by making proposals for all new legislation on the basis of what is considered best for the Union and its citizens. Once a Commission proposal has been submitted to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, the three institutions work together to produce a law.

• It acts as the guardian of the EU treaties to ensure that EU legislation is applied correctly by the EU member states. If necessary, it may take action against those who fail to respect their treaty obligations.

• It is the executive body of the EU responsible for implementing and managing policy. For instance, it is responsible for managing the Union’s annual budget and running the Structural Funds. The Commission also negotiates trade and cooperation agreements with non-EU member states and groups of countries on behalf of the Union.

Leading the Commission are 20 Commissioners, persons who have often either sat in national parliaments or the European Parliament, or who have held high office in their home countries. The EU heads of state or government, meeting in the European Council, choose the President of the Commission. The remaining Commissioners are nominated by the governments of the 15 EU member states in consultation with the new Commission President. The President and other Commissioners must be approved by the parliament.

European Economic Area (EEA)
The European Economic Area was created in January 1994. It is currently comprised of all EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EEA agreement grants the three countries the freedoms of the single market (free movement of goods, services and people) and requires them to adopt most EU policies on mergers, state aids, consumer protection, labour markets and the environment.

European Parliament (EP)
The power of the European Parliament is divided into three categories:

• Legislative – originally given only a consultative role, the EP now has the power to amend and adopt legislation.

• Budgetary – the EP approves the European Union’s annual budget. It can propose modifications and amendments to the Commission’s initial proposals and positions taken by the EU member states in the Council. In extraordinary circumstances, the EP may even vote to reject the budget. The President of the Parliament signs the budget into law.

• Supervision – the EP exercises overall political supervision over the manner in which the Union’s policies are conducted.

The current Parliament (re-elected in June 1999) consists of 626 members from approximately 100 political parties, organised in eight political groups. Most of the work of the EP is conducted in its 20 committees covering all areas of the Union’s activities from agriculture to common foreign and security policy.

ISPA
The Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) is a program of assistance for the accession countries. ISPA will be effective from the year 2000 until each country’s date of accession. However, at time of writing it is unclear when exactly in 2000 the money will be available. The assistance from this fund will be targeted at two areas: the environment (help to the candidate countries to meet with the investment requirements needed to conform to the Community legislation) and transport (to improve connections between CEE countries and trans-European networks). The annual budget for ISPA will be 1 billion Euro per year (2000-2006).

Member States
There are fifteen member states of the European Union. The EU member states are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

National (Phare) Program
An annual program agreed bilaterally between the European Commission and each applicant country, which defines how the Phare funds for a specific country will be allocated. (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/ enlargement/pas/phare/publications/publist.htm)

National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA)
The NPAA is the document adopted by each applicant country that sets out a timetable for achieving the priorities and intermediate objectives as defined in the Accession Partnership and, where possible and relevant, indicates the necessary staff and financial resources. Thus, the NPAA is the applicant country’s response to the Accession Partnership and outlines how it aims to adopt and apply the acquis.

Newly Independent States (NIS)
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Although technically not part of NIS, Mongolia is often grouped with these countries for the purposes of EU programs.

Opinion
The European Commission’s analysis of the situation in each applicant country and the candidate’s capacity to assume obligations of EU membership designed to assist the Council in its decision on opening negotiations. Published as part of the Agenda 2000 in July 1997. (http://www.europa.eu.int/ comm/enlargement/intro/ag2000_opinions.htm)

Phare

The overall objective of the Phare program is to help the candidate countries prepare to join the European Union. Initially covering only Poland and Hungary, it has since been extended to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. Activities in Croatia are being reviewed in the light of the 2000 elections.

Following the publication of the European Commission’s Opinions (July 1997) on accession of the candidate EU member states, the Phare Program switched from being ‘demand driven’ to ‘accession driven’. From 1998 onwards, the Phare program is based on the Accession Partnerships, which indicate the areas of the Copenhagen criteria (see above) where candidate EU member states need to make further progress in order to become full members of the EU. Phare provides both technical assistance and investment support to help candidate EU member states implement their own National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis. The five-year financial allocation for Phare for 1995-99 was 6.7 billion Euro. For the period 2000-2006, the annual budget of the Phare program for the CEE accession countries will be approximately 1.5 billion Euro per year.

Regular Report from the Commission on Progress towards Accession (Regular Report)
The Regular Reports, prepared by the European Commission for submission to the Council, describe the progress of each candidate country towards accession in the light of the Copenhagen criteria, in particular the rate of adoption of the acquis. The report is based on numerous sources of information, including the governments of the candidate countries, reports and resolutions of the European Parliament, international organizations, and NGOs. The reports are published in October of each year, and the Commission welcomes information to help in drafting the reports in June of that year.
(http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/docs/index.htm)

SAPARD
The Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) will help candidate countries deal with the implementation of the acquis communautaire in the area of common agricultural policy and structural development for the agricultural sector and rural areas. The annual budget for SAPARD will be approximately 500 million Euro per year. Funds will be available from 2000 until each country has joined the EU. As with ISPA, it is not clear when exactly this money will become available as the Commission and candidate countries are still working on the detailed plan for its implementation. Among the priorities for funding under this program are diversifying economic activities in rural areas, and improving vocational training.

Structural Funds
The structural funds are used to finance Community structural aid, mainly to the poorer regions, in order to strengthen the EU’s economic and social cohesion making a single market across the EU possible. The structural funds were reviewed in 1998 and now cover three objectives:

Objective 1: development of regions that are progressing at a slower pace and the development of regions with extremely low population density (regions in Finland and Sweden) (approximately 70 percent of funds);

Objective 2: economic and social conversion of regions in structural crisis (approximately 12 percent);

Objective 3: development of human resources (approximately 12 percent).

At present, these funds are only available to EU member states. However, the candidate countries are being encouraged to build up structures for the use of funds they currently receive which can be used on accession for implementing and managing the structural funds.
(http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/index_en.htm)

Tacis
The Tacis Program is an initiative for the Newly Independent States and Mongolia, which promotes the development of economic and political links between the European Union and partner countries. Since it’s inception in 1991, it has launched more than 3,000 projects worth over 3.3 billion Euro.

A new regulation was adopted on 29 December 1999 for the years 2000-2006. The new program focuses on the following areas: support for institutional, legal and administrative reform; support to the private sector and assistance for economic development; support in addressing the social consequences of transition; development of infrastructure networks; promotion of environmental protection and management of natural resources; and development of the rural economy.

back to contents