PHARE programme - Annual Report 1996
The 1996 Annual Report of the PHARE programme, which provides economic aid and technical assistance to 13 partner countries in Central and Eastern Europe, has recently been published by the European Commission. The year in review was of particular significance for EU policies concerning the Central and Eastern European countries, given the consolidation of relations and adaptation of the pre-accession strategy, through instruments such as the Europe Agreements, the Structured Agreements and the PHARE programme. It also provided a major challenge through the mobilization of PHARE to provide essential aid to Bosnia-Hercegovina, following the signature of the Dayton Agreement. The annual report has been re-designed slightly and now includes descriptions of results achieved under programmes initiated in earlier years as well as the difficulties encountered in the implementation of the programme. This should provide a clearer overview of the programme and responds to comments on the 1995 report. The report is divided into sections covering the following: - Developments in EU-Central European relations; - PHARE programme activities in 1996; - Developments in operational management, including the negotiation and signature for the majority of PHARE countries of the Multi-Annual Indicative programmes, which set the basic objectives and strategy for reform in each country; - Financial overview and performance, involving a total of ECU 1,222.9 million in EU funding; - Breakdown by country, providing a brief overview of the year, total budget allocations for each country and main achievements for the year; - A statistical overview of funds allocated per sector and country for the period 1990 to 1996.