The representatives of the Austrian Council Presidency, the European Commission and the European Parliament yesterday agreed the new instruments for funding the EU’s external policy from 2007: "This political agreement sends a powerful signal to our partner countries that the EU not only practises solidarity within its borders, but with the outside world as well”, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said.
The agreement covers the structure of all EU external assistance as well as the content and funding of pre-accession assistance, the neighbourhood policy and the stability instrument. Moreover, the principles of European development cooperation were established, and agreement reached that the promotion of human rights would be anchored in a separate legislative instrument.
"This agreement ensures the necessary legal and planning certainty to enable the deployment from 1 January 2007 of the EUR 49 billion in EU external assistance scheduled for the period 2007 to 2013. This will also permit the simplification sought by the European Commission and increase the efficiency of EU external assistance as a whole”, Plassnik said.
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