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In 2000, the Council asked the Commission to draft "country strategy papers" (CSPs) to provide a common framework for programming Community aid to all developing countries which receive assistance from the European Development Fund (EDF), the Asia/LatinAmerica (ALA) programme and the Mediterranean (MEDA) programme.
In November 2000, the Commission adopted this common framework entitled "Commission Staff Working Paper: Community Co-operation: Framework for Country Strategy Papers" (SEC(2000)1049).This "CSP Framework" was later applied by the Commission to the TACIS and CARDS programmes.
In May 2001, the Commission adopted a set of “Guidelines for the implementation of the common framework for Country Strategy Papers”. On 18 March 2003, the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) adopted their Conclusions on the Common Framework for Country Strategy Papers. On 2 March 2006 the Commission adopted its updated “Common framework for drafting Country Strategy Papers”, which is the document that will be the basis for defining the next set of CSPs/RSPs.
Country and regional strategy papers are the main strategic tools for the programming of EU assistance. They set up the political guidelines on the implementation of co-operation policies. They are instruments for guiding, managing and reviewing EC assistance programmes.
The purpose of a country or a regional strategy paper is to provide a “strategic framework” for EU assistance programmes. Accordingly, a CSP/RSP takes into account and outlines the co-operation objectives of the EC, the country’s or region’s policy agenda, an analysis of the political (internal and external), economic, commercial, social and environmental situation in the country or region, as well as lessons from past and ongoing experiences. Country and regional strategy papers should contribute to the better planning of co-operation activities, improved donor coordination and complementarity, and to the overall coherence of external assistance policy with other EU policies.
Country and regional strategy papers constitute the documents from the first phase of the project cycle, called “programming”.
Alongside the CSPs/RSPs, this programming exercise introduces the obligation to develop Country and Regional Environmental Profiles (CEPs/REPs). The material of the CEPs/REPs should be used to mainstream environmental issues into the CSPs/RSPs
Click here to see CSPs and RSPs documents
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