- two or more ACP States,
- one or more ACP States and one or more neighbouring non-ACP States, countries or territories,
- two or more regional bodies of which ACP States are members.
- one or more ACP States and regional bodies of which ACP States are members.
2. Regional co-operation may also cover operations agreed upon by two or more ACP States and one or more non-ACP non neighbouring developing states, and when special circum- stances so warrant between one ACP State and one or more non-ACP non-neighbouring developing states.
Article 103.
In the context of regional co-operation, special attention shail be paid to:
(a) evaluation and utilization of existing and potential dynamic complementarities in all relevant sectors:
(b) maximization of the use of ACP human resources as well as the optimum and judicious exploration, conservation, transformation and exploitation of ACP natural resources;
(c) acceleration of economic diversification and intensification of co-operation and development within and between the regions of the ACP States;
(d) promotion of food security;
(e) strengthening a network of relations among individual countries or groups of countries which have common characteristics, affinities and problems in order to solve such problems;
(f) fullest use of economies of scale wherever a regional solution is more efficient than a national solution:
(g) expansion of ACP States' markets by promoting trade between ACP States and between the ACP States and neighbouring third countries;
(h) integration of the ACP States' markets by liberalizing intra-ACP trade and eliminating tariff, monetary and administrative barriers;
(i) any action in support of regional integration.
Article 104.
Account being taken of the objective and inherent characteristics of regional co-operation, projects and programmes undertaken in this sphere shall be governed by the arrangements and procedures established for financial and technical co-operation where they apply to that context.
Article 105.
The Community shall provide financial and technical assistance to regional bodies, or for the creation of new ones where they are essential for attaining the objectives of regional co-operation.
Article 106.
A regional operation is one which helps directly to solve a development problem common to two or more countries through joint schemes or co-ordinated national schemes and which meets at least one of the following criteria:
(a) because of its nature or physical characteristics, it necessarily extends beyond the frontiers of one ACP State and can- not be carried out by a single country nor be divided up into national operations to be undertaken by each state on its own account;
(b) the regional formula makes it possible to achieve significant economies of scale in relation to national operations;
(c) the operation does not satisfy criterion (a) or (b) but the accompanying costs and benefits are unequally shared out among the beneficiary countries.
Article 107.
Without prejudice to Article 106, the amount of the Community contribution under regional co-operation shall, in respect of operations which could be undertaken partly at national level, be determined on the basis of the following factors:
(a) the operation strengthens co-operation, between the ACP States concerned, at the level of authorities, institutions or enterprises, or through regional bodies or by removing obstacles whether in the form of regulations or financial:
(b) two or more States have entered mutual commitments in respect of an operation, notably as regards the distribution of the facilities. investment and the running thereof,
(c) the operation is the regional expression of a sectoral strategy.
Article 108.
1. Requests for financing from the funds earmarked for regional co-operation shall be presented by each of the ACP States participating in a regional operation.
2. Wherever an operation of regional co-operation is such as to be of interest to other ACP States, the Commission shall, in agreement with the applicant States, inform the other ACP States or, if need be, all the ACP States. The ACP States interested shall then confirm whether they intend to participate.
Notwithstanding this procedure, the Commission shall ex- amine without delay any request for financing as long as it has been presented by at least two ACP States. The financing decision shall be taken after the States consulted have communicated their intention.
3. Where a single ACP State is associated with non-ACP countries, as provided for in Article 102, its request alone shall suffice.
4. Regional co-operation bodies may present requests for the financing of one or more specific regional co-operation schemes on behalf, and with the explicit agreement, of their members that are ACP States.
5. Each request for regional co-operation funding must include, where necessary, proposals concerning:
(a) the ownership of the goods and services to be financed as part of the operation, and the division of responsibilities for operation and maintenance;
(b) the choice of the regional authorizing officer and the State or body authorized to sign the financing agreement on behalf of all the participating ACP States or bodies.
Article 109.
The ACP State or States or regional bodies participating in a regional operation with third countries as provided for in Article 102 may request the Community to finance that part of the operation for which they are responsible or a part in proportion to the benefits they derive from the operation.
Article 110.
Where an operation is financed by the Community through a regional co-operation body, the financing terms applicable to the final beneficiaries shall be agreed between the Community and that body in agreement with the ACP State or States concerned.
Article 111.
With a view to encouraging regional co-operation between them, the least-developed ACP States shall be given priority in any project involving at least one ACP State in that category, while special attention shall be paid to the landlocked and island ACP States in order to overcome the obstacles holding back their development.
Article 112.
Of the financial resources earmarked in Article 194. for the social, cultural, and economic development of the ACP States. an amount of 1000 million ECU shall be reserved for the financing of their regional projects and programmes.
Article 113.
The scope of regional co-operation shall. having regard to Article 103, include the following:
(a) agriculture and rural development, notably food self-sufficiency and food security;
(b) health programmes, including education, training, research and information related to primary health care and control of major diseases, including animal diseases;
(c) evaluation, development, exploitation and preservation of fishery and marine resources, including scientific and technical co-operation with a view to the surveillance of exclusive economic zones;
(d) preservation and improvement of the environment, especially through programmes to combat desertification, erosion, coastal degradation and marine pollution with a view to ensuring rational and ecologically balanced development:
(e) industrialization, including the setting-up of regional undertakings including inter-regional production and marketing enterprises;
(f) exploitation of natural resources, notably the production and distribution of energy;
(g) transport and communications, namely, roads, railways, air and sea transport, inland waterways, postal services and telecommunications;
(h) development and expansion of trade;
(i) assistance for action programmes undertaken by ACP and ACP-EEC professional and business organizations with the aim of improving production and marketing of products on external markets;
(j) education and training, research, science and technology, information and communication, the establishment and reinforcement of training and research institutions and technical bodies responsible for technology exchanges as well as co-operation among universities;
(k) tourism, including the establishment and strengthening of tourist promotion centres;
(l) cultural and social co-operation activities.
Title VIII. Cultural and Social Co-operation
Article 114.
Co-operation shall contribute to the self-reliant development of the ACP States. a process centred on man himself and rooted in each people's culture. It shall back up the policies and measures adopted by those States to enhance their human resources, increase their own creative capacities and promote their cultural identities. It shall foster participation by the population in the process of development.
Such co-operation shall aim at promoting, in the interests of dialogue, exchange and mutual enrichment and, on a basis of equality, a better understanding and greater solidarity between ACP and EEC governments and peoples.
Article 115.
1. Cultural and social co-operation shall be expressed through:
- the taking into account of the cultural and social dimension in projects and programmes;
- operations with the purpose of enhancing human resources with a view to the judicious and optimum use of natural resources and the satisfaction of basic physical and non-material needs;
- promotion of the cultural identities of the ACP States' peoples, with a view to fostering their self-advancement and stimulating their creativity.
2. Cultural and social co-operation schemes shall be undertaken in accordance with the arrangements and procedures laid down in Title III, Part Three of this Convention. They shall be governed by the priorities and objectives set in the indicative programmes or in the context of regional co-operation, depending on their inherent characteristics.
Chapter 1. Cultural and Social Dimension
Article 116.
1. The design, appraisal, execution and evaluation of each project or programme shall be based on understanding of, and regard for, the cultural and social features of the milieu.
2. This involves in particular:
- thorough knowledge of the human milieu concerned;
- evaluation of the human resources available for executing and maintaining projects;
- assessment of opportunities for participation by the population;
- study of local technology and of other appropriate forms of technology;
- provision of relevant information for all those concerned in the design and execution of operations, including technical co-operation personnel;
- provision of integrated programmes for the promotion of human resources.
Article 117.
The following shall be taken into account in the appraisal of all projects and programmes:
(a) under the heading of social aspects, the impact on:
- reinforcement of capacities and structures of self-development;
- the status and role of women;
- contribution to the satisfaction of the basic cultural and physical needs of the population;
- employment and training;
- balance between demographic structure and other re-sources;
- types of social and interpersonal relationships;
- methods and forms of production and processing:
(b) under the heading of cultural aspects:
- adaptation to the cultural milieu and the implications for that milieu;
- integration and enhancement of the local cultural heritage, notably value systems, way of life, modes of thought and know-how, materials and styles;
- methods of information acquisition and transmission;
- interaction between man and his environment.
Chapter 2. Operations to Enhance the Value of Human Resources
Article 118.
Co-operation shall contribute to enhancing the value of human resources, in the context of integrated and co-ordinated programmes, through operations covering education and training, research, science and technology, information and communications, participation of the population, the role of women and health.
Article 119.
1. In order to meet immediate and foreseeable education and training needs at the levels and in the sectors accorded priority under national and regional programmes, co-operation shall provide support for:
(a) setting up and expanding training and educational estab- lishments;
(b) the ACP States' own efforts to restructure their educational establishment and systems and to update curricula, methods and technology employed, in order to step up the effectiveness and cut back the cost of all types of training;
(c) drawing up an inventory of the skills and training required to achieve each ACP State's development objectives;
(d) educational and training operations proper, notably literacy programmes and programmes of non-traditional forms of training, for practical and vocational purposes;
(e) the training of instructors, educational planners and specialists in educational technology;
(f) identification of the ACP States' needs concerning relevant new technology and its acquisition;
(g) associations, twinning, exchanges and transfers of information and technology between universities and institutions of higher education in the ACP States and in the Community.
2. Training operations shall take the form of integrated programmes aimed at a well-defined objective, either in a given sector or as part of a more general framework.
3. These operations shall, as a matter of priority, be undertaken in the recipient ACP State or region, Where necessary they may be undertaken in another ACP State or in a Member State of the Community. In the case of specialized training particularly suited to the ACP States' needs, training schemes may, by way of exception, be carried out in another developing country.
Article 120.
1. Co-operation shall support the ACP States' efforts to acquire their own scientific and technical skills; it shall contribute towards the execution of research programmes established by the ACP States, integrated into other development operations.
2. Research programmes shall be carried out primarily in the ACP States' national or regional framework; they shall take account of the needs and living conditions of the people concerned. They shall provide support for development in priority areas and comprise the following operations, as needed;
(a) the setting-up or strengthening of basic or applied research institutions;
(b) scientific and technological co-operation between the ACP States or between them and other developing countries;
(c) the promotion of local technology, and the selection of imported technology and its adaptation to the specific needs of the ACP States:
(d) improvement of scientific and technical information and documentation;
(e) dissemination of research findings among users.
Article 121.
Co-operation in the area of information shall be aimed at:
(a) increasing the ACP States' ability to contribute actively to the international flow of information and knowledge, for this purpose it shall support, inter alia, the setting-up and strengthening of national and regional communication media;
(b) ensuring that the people of the ACP States are better informed for the purposes of mastering their own development, through projects or programmes focused on informing the population and enabling it to express itself and making wide use of communications systems at grassroots level.
Article 122.
1. Co-operation shall support the ACP States' efforts to ensure that grassroots communities are closely and continuously involved in development operations. To this end, and with the internal dynamics of the people as the starting point, the following factors shall be taken into consideration:
(a) strengthening institutions capable of encouraging participation by the people, through operations involving work organization, staff training and management;
(b) helping the people to organize themselves, particularly within co-operative-type associations, and placing at the disposal of the different groups concerned means complementary to their own initiative and efforts;
(c) encouraging participation initiatives through education, training and cultural motivation and promotion;
(d) involving the people concerned, including women, young people, the elderly and the handicapped, in the various stages of development;
(e) expanding job opportunities, including those offered by the works undertaken as part of development operations.
2. Existing institutions or associations shall be used as widely as possible for the preparation and execution of development operations.
Article 123.
1. Co-operation shall support the ACP States' efforts aimed at enhancing the work of women, improving their living conditions, expanding their role and promoting their status in the production and development process.
2. Particular attention shall be given to access by women to all aspects of training, to more advanced technology, to credit and to co-operative organizations, and to appropriate techno- logy aimed at alleviating the arduous nature of their tasks.
Article 124.
Operations to improve the ACP peoples' state of health shall be aimed, as a matter of priority, at nutrition, hygiene, health, education, safety of workers, primary health care services and preventive medicine, control of the major endemic diseases, and enhancing the value of traditional medicine and pharmacy. Such operations shall take account of special economic circumstances and the needs of the poorest sections of the population.
Chapter 3. Promotion of Cultural Identities
Article 125.
Co-operation shall contribute to operations forming part of the ACP States' policies and having as their purpose the promotion of their peoples' cultural identities, their cultural productions, the preservation and enrichment of their cultural heritage and the dissemination of the ACP States' cultural property and services.
Article 126.
1. Co-operation schemes aimed at developing ACP States' cultural productions shall be designed as:
(a) components of an integrated programme, notably in the form of the production and distribution of teaching or audio-visual material for information and extension purposes, or
(b) specific projects, inter alia for:
- the production or co-production of radio and television programmes;
- the production and distribution of records and cassettes, films, books, periodicals and the like.
2. Where cultural items are produced for the market, their production and distribution shall be eligible for assistance provided under industrial co-operation and trade promotion.
Article 127.
Support shall be provided for action by the ACP States to:
(a) safeguard and promote their cultural heritage, notably through the establishment of cultural data banks and sound recording libraries for the collection of oral traditions and the enhancement of such traditions;
(b) promote cultural exchanges between ACP States in highly representative areas of their respective identities;
(c) conserve historical and cultural monuments and promote traditional architecture.