Court of Auditors special report on Phare
The Court of Auditors special report concerning Phare cross border cooperation (1994 to 1998) has now been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities together with the Commission's replies. This concerns work carried out to assess the impact of the Phare cross border cooperation programme (CBC) over the first five years of its implementation and evaluate the effectiveness of CBC management, including the coordination with the Interreg programme and national co-financing. The report is divided into sections focusing on the impact of Phare cross-border cooperation in the transport and communications sector, the environment sector and also in the areas of economic and human resource development and small project funds. The impact of the Phare policy on local and regional development, across borders, and in attracting co-financing is also examined. This information is followed by notes of the Court of Auditor's observations on the factors affecting the impact of the cross border cooperation programme. In its conclusion, the Court of Auditors remarks: 'The Court considers that during the first five years of its existence, the Phare CBC programme has already had a positive effect at institutional level as a result of the cooperation developed in the framework of the joint Programme and Monitoring Committees and the wider cooperation between regional and local authorities arising from the planning and implementation of CBC projects. However, over the period 1994 to 1998, the impact of the projects themselves has been less satisfactory'. The report goes on to elaborate the main positive aspects of the programme and the difficulties it has faced. A copy of the report is available from the Official Journal of the European Communities at the reference below.