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Association of the overseas countries and territories with the EU including EU/Greenland/Denmark relations 2021–2027

2018/0244(CNS)

The Committee on Development adopted, in accordance with the consultation procedure, the report by Maurice PONGA (EPP, FR) on the proposal for a Council Decision on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union, including relations between the European Union, on the one hand, and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, on the other (Overseas Association Decision – ODA).

The committee recommended that the European Parliament approve the Commission's proposal subject to the following amendments:

Objectives

Members said that the association between the EU and the OCTs should contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals as defined in Agenda 2030 and to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The specific objectives would be as follows:

- assist the OCTs in addressing the major challenges they face, including the level of education for Greenland;

- strengthen the resilience of the OCTs, reducing their economic and environmental vulnerability;

- improve the competitiveness of the OCTs, including social standards;

- promote OCT cooperation with other partners.

Members proposed that specific treatment be defined for the least developed OCTs in order to enable them to catch up and to address their permanent structural constraints.

The association should:

- promote the principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms on which it is based, through dialogue and cooperation between the Union and the OCTs;

- promote equality and equity between men and women in the OCTs, as well as the empowerment of women and equal political and economic opportunities for women. All initiatives shall incorporate the gender dimension.

Budget

Members proposed that the financial envelope for the programme for the period 2021-2027 be set at EUR 669 million in current prices instead of the EUR 500 million proposed by the Commission.

The general distribution proposed by the Members is as follows:

- 81% for territorial cooperation;

- 12% for regional cooperation, including EUR 30 million for intra-regional operations;

- 3.5% for technical assistance;

- 3.5% of non-allocated funds.

The envelopes allocated to each OCT have been specified.

Programming

Members proposed to include the programming rules directly in the new ODA by taking over the rules proposed in the NDICI applicable to the OCTs and recalling the principle that the Financial Regulation applies, except where specifically provided in the OAD.