When the Member States Committee has given its opinion on the country strategy papers and any appropriate modifications have been made, programming documents are submitted to the Group of RELEX Commissionners (through RELEX Director-Generals) for final approval (as a rule by written procedure).

Note: The CARDS Regulation requires that the CSPs for the countries of the Western Balkans are adopted by the Commission. For ACP countries, the adoption process will be completed when the Commissioner responsible (or his/her representative) and the partner government have signed the CSP. The indicative programme then becomes binding on both parties.

Once approved, the CSP/NIP is formally sent from DG RELEX/DEV to the EuropeAid Co-operation Office and constitutes the formal “Order for Service” covering the entire programming period.