Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund
Modified by
Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97of 17 June 1997on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro, 31997R1103, June 19, 1997
Council Regulation (EC) No 1264/1999of 21 June 1999amending Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 establishing a Cohesion Fund, 31999R1264, June 26, 1999
Council Regulation (EC) No 1265/1999of 21 June 1999amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 establishing a Cohesion Fund, 31999R1265, June 26, 1999
Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is foundedFirst Procès-Verbal of Rectificationto the Treatybetweenthe Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Member States of the European Union)andthe Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic,concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Unionsigned in Athens on 16 April 2003(OJ L 236, 23.9.2003), 12003T12003T0000R(01), September 23, 2003
Council Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006of 11 July 2006establishing a Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1164/94, 32006R1084, July 31, 2006
Corrected by
First Procès-Verbal of Rectification, 12003T0000R(01), April 28, 2004
Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94of 16 May 1994establishing a Cohesion FundTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular the second subparagraph of Article 130d thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ No C 39, 9. 2. 1994, p. 6.,Having regard to the assent of the European ParliamentAssent given on 5 May 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal).,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No C 133, 16. 5. 1994.,Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the RegionsOpinion delivered on 5 April 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal).,Whereas Article 2 of the Treaty includes the task of promoting economic and social cohesion and solidarity among Member States as objectives essential to the Community's development and success; whereas the strengthening of such cohesion is referred to in point (j) of Article 3 of the Treaty as one of the activities of the Community for the purposes set out in Article 2 of the Treaty;Whereas Article 130a of the Treaty provides for the Community to develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic and social cohesion, and provides in particular that it shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured regions; whereas Community action through the Cohesion Fund should support the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 130a;Whereas the conclusions of the European Councils held in Lisbon on 26 and 27 June 1992 and in Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992 concerning the establishment of the Cohesion Fund set out the principles governing it;Whereas the promotion of economic and social cohesion requires action by the Cohesion Fund in addition to that taken through the Structural Funds, the European Investment Bank and the other financial instruments in the fields of the environment and transport infrastructure of common interest;Whereas the Protocol on economic and social cohesion annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community reaffirms the Community's task of promoting economic and social cohesion and solidarity between Member States and specifies that a Cohesion Fund will provide a financial contribution to projects in the fields of the environment and trans-European networks in the Member States subject to two conditions: firstly that they have a per capita gross national product (GNP) of less than 90 % of the Community average and secondly that they have a programme leading to the fulfilment of the conditions of economic convergence as set out in Article 104c of the Treaty; whereas the relative prosperity of Member States is best assessed on the basis of per capita GNP, measured in purchasing power parities;Whereas meeting the convergence criteria which are a precondition for moving to the third stage of economic and monetary union calls for a determined effort from the Member States concerned; whereas, in this context, all of the beneficiary Member States are to submit to the Council a convergence programme designed for that purpose and to avoid excessive government deficits;Whereas, with regard to the economic convergence criterion, the current macroeconomic conditionality provisions will continue to apply; whereas, accordingly, no new projects or new project stages shall be financed by the Fund in a Member State in the event of the Council, acting by qualified majority on a recommendation from the Commission, finding that the Member State has not respected the Stability Growth Pact;Whereas the provisions to speed up and clarify the excessive deficit procedure, having as its objective to deter excessive general government deficits and, if they occur, to further their prompt correction were set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6.;Whereas the second subparagraph of Article 130d of the Treaty states that the Council is to set up a Cohesion Fund before 31 December 1993 to provide a financial contribution to projects in the fields of environment and trans-European networks in the area of transport infrastructure;Whereas Article 129c (1) of the Treaty provides that the Community may contribute through the Cohesion Fund to the financing of specific projects in the Member States in the area of transport infrastructure, whilst taking into account the potential economic viability of the projects; whereas projects financed by the Fund should form part of trans-European network guidelines which have been adopted by the Council including those covered by the plans for trans-European networks approved by the Council or proposed by the Commission before the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union; whereas, however, other transport infrastructure projects contributing to the attainment of the objectives of Article 129b of the Treaty may be financed until the Council has adopted the appropriate guidelines;Whereas Article 130r of the Treaty defines the objectives and principles of the Community in the field of the environment; whereas the Community may contribute, through the Cohesion Fund, to actions designed to achieve those objectives; whereas, in accordance with Article 130s (5) of the Treaty and without prejudice to the principle that the polluter should pay, the Council may decide on financial assistance from the Cohesion Fund where a measure based on paragraph 1 of that Article involves costs deemed disproportionate for the public authorities of a Member State;Whereas the principles and objectives of sustainable development are established in the Community's programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development as set out in the Council Resolution of 1 February 1993OJ No C 138, 17. 5. 1993, p. 1.;Whereas a suitable balance must be struck between financing for transport infrastructure projects and financing for environmental projects;Whereas the Commission's Green Paper on the Impact of Transport on the Environment reiterates the need to develop a more environment-friendly transport system which takes into account the sustainable development needs of the Member States;Whereas any calculation of the cost of transport infrastructure projects must encompass environmental costs;Whereas, in the light of the undertaking by the Member States concerned not to decrease their investment efforts in the fields of environmental protection and transport infrastructure, the principle of additionality within the meaning of Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instrumentsOJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 (OJ No L 193, 31. 7. 1993, p. 20). will not apply to the Cohesion Fund;Whereas, in accordance with Article 198e of the Treaty, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is to facilitate the financing of investments in conjunction with assistance from the other Community financial instruments;Whereas it is necessary to coordinate action taken in the fields of the environment and of trans-European transport infrastructure networks through the Cohesion Fund, the Structural Funds, the EIB and the other financial instruments in order to enhance the effectiveness of Community assistance;Whereas with a view, in particular, to helping Member States in the preparation of their projects, the Commission should be in a position to ensure that the necessary technical support is available to them, particularly in order to contribute to the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects;Whereas, particularly in order to ensure value for money, a thorough appraisal should precede the commitment of Community resources in order to ensure that they yield socio-economic benefits in keeping with the resources deployed;Whereas assistance from the Cohesion Fund must be consistent with Community policies, including environmental protection, transport, trans-European networks, competition and the award of public contracts; whereas environmental protection includes the assessment of environmental impact;Whereas there should be provision for an indicative allocation of the global resources available for commitment between the Member States in order to facilitate the preparation of projects;Whereas total annual receipt in any Member State from the Cohesion Fund under this Regulation, in combination with assistance provided under the Structural Funds, should be limited under a general capping dependent on the national absorption capacity;Whereas provision should be made, in conjunction with the fulfilment of the conditions of economic convergence as set out in Article 104 of the Treaty and with the need for sound management of the government deficit, for a form of conditionality in the granting of financial assistance; whereas, in that context, compliance with the obligations arising from the Treaty must also be assessed having due regard to the guidelines adopted in the Resolution of the European Council of 17 June 1997 on the Stability and Growth PactOJ C 236, 2.8.1997, p. 1. and whereas the concept of excessive deficit is to be interpreted in the light of that Resolution; whereas, for each participating Member State, macroeconomic conditionality should be assessed taking account of the responsibilities of that Member State in respect of the stability of the euro;Whereas it is necessary, given the requirements of economic and social cohesion, to provide a high rate of assistance;Whereas, in order to facilitate the management of assistance from the Fund, there should be provision for identifying the stages of projects which may be be considered technically and financially separate and for grouping the projects together, if necessary;Whereas it should be possible to opt for assistance from the Fund either by annual instalments or for the whole of the project; and whereas, in accordance with the principle laid down by the European Council meeting at Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992, payment instalments following an initial advance should be closely and transparently linked with progress towards the completion of projects;Whereas the respective powers and responsibilities of the Member States and the Commission concerning financial control over the Fund's operations should be specified;Whereas, in the interests of the proper management of the Cohesion Fund, provision should be made for effective methods of evaluating, monitoring and checking Community operations, specifying the principles governing the evaluation, defining the nature of and the rules governing the monitoring, and laying down the action to be taken in response to irregularities or failure to comply with one of the conditions laid down when assistance from that Fund was approved;Whereas adequate information should be provided, inter alia, in the form of an annual report;Whereas provision should be made to give adequate publicity to Community assistance from the Cohesion Fund;Whereas publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of calls for public tenders concerning projects receiving assistance from the Fund should mention the assistance;Whereas in order to facilitate the application of this Regulation, the implementing provisions should be defined in Annex II; whereas to ensure the necessary flexibility in their application, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, should be able, if necessary, in the light of experience gained, to amend those provisions;Whereas this Regulation should, without interruption, replace Council Regulation (EEC) No 792/93 of 30 March 1993 establishing a cohesion financial instrumentOJ No L 79, 1. 4. 1993, p. 74.,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: