1.The country and regional strategy papers shall be prepared on the basis of the general principles of coordination, ownership and aid effectiveness referred to in Articles 1 and 2, following the common framework for country strategy papers and the principles towards joint multiannual programming adopted by the Council on 11 April 2006.
2.The strategy papers shall aim to provide a coherent framework for cooperation between the Community and the partner country or region concerned, consistent with the overall purpose and scope, objectives and principles of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. The strategy paper shall not only cover the development cooperation funded out of the EDF, but also reflect all other Community instruments having an impact on the partner country or region aiming to ensure policy coherence with other areas of the Community's external action including, where relevant, the EIB.
3.Except in the circumstances referred to in Article 2(5), multiannual indicative programmes shall be drawn up on the basis of the respective strategy papers and shall be the subject of an agreement with the country or region concerned. Emphasis shall be placed on shared assessments of needs and performance and sector analysis, as well as priorities. In the context of Article 11(3) and in cases where the Commission participates in a joint programming process, the multiannual indicative programme shall where appropriate be integrated in a document drafted jointly with the other participating donors. The multiannual indicative programmes shall include:
(a)the priority areas selected for Community financing, the overall objectives, the targeted beneficiaries, the general policy commitments and the expected impact;
(b)the indicative financial allocation, both overall and per priority area. The allocation per priority area may be given in the form of a limited range, where appropriate. Community assistance shall be concentrated in a limited number of priority areas and, where appropriate, through general budget support, and shall ensure alignment with operations financed by the ACP country or region concerned and complementarity and coherence with operations financed by Member States and by other donors;
(c)per priority area, and in case of general budget support, specific objectives and sectoral policy commitments and the most appropriate measures and operations for attaining these objectives and targets. The indicative programme shall also describe the expected impact, and define results and quantitative and qualitative performance indicators and a timetable for implementation, including commitments and disbursement of resources, and for expected results. Indicators shall to the maximum extent possible be aligned with and based on the partner country or region's own monitoring system;
(d)the resources reserved for programmes and projects outside the priority areas and, where possible, the broad outlines of such activities as well as an indication of the resources to be deployed for each of these activities. They may include the priorities and specific resources for the purpose of strengthening cooperation with the Community's outermost regions, OCTs or neighbouring partner countries and regions as referred to in Article 10 of this Regulation and the modalities for identifying and coordinating the selection of those common interest projects;
(e)the type of non-State actors eligible for funding and, where possible, the resources to be allocated and the type of activities to be supported.
Resources may be channelled through different modalities that may be complementary according to what will work best in each country. The use of budget support shall be done in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out in Article 61.2 of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.
4.The strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes shall take account of, and avoid duplication with, measures and programmes eligible for funding under other EDF or Community instruments. Particular care shall be paid to the interaction between national, regional and intra-ACP support strategies and to consistency with Community instruments, in particular Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006, and Regulation (EC) No 1257/96, taking into account the actions undertaken under Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability(1). The multiannual adaptation strategies for Sugar Protocol countries provided for in the instrument for development cooperation shall be integrated in the country strategy papers.
5.The strategy paper referred to in paragraph 4, including its multiannual indicative programme, shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the management procedure set out in Article 11(3). At the same time as the strategy papers referred to in paragraph 1 are transmitted to Member States in the EDF Committee, the Commission shall also transmit them to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly for information, while fully respecting the decision-making procedure according to Title IV of this Regulation.
6.The strategy papers, including the multiannual indicative programmes, shall subsequently be adopted by common agreement between the Commission and the ACP State or region concerned and shall, when adopted, be binding on both the Community and that State or region. Countries without a signed strategy paper remain eligible to funding from the allocation for unforeseen needs referred to in Article 3(2)(b) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.
7.The provisions referred to in Article 2(5) of this Regulation may take the form of special support programmes replacing the national strategy paper in cases as set out in Article 4(5) of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement where the national authorising officer in the partner country is prevented from carrying out his duty, or they may take the form of actions funded from the allocation for unforeseen needs referred to in Article 3(2)b of Annex IV to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement in situations set out in Article 3(4) of that Annex when the partner country can not access the normal programmable funds referred to in Article 3(2)a of that Annex. These special support programmes and actions funded from the allocation for unforeseen needs shall comply with the previous paragraphs and take into account the special considerations referred to in Article 5(4)(c) of this Regulation. They shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the management procedure set out in Article 11(3) of this Regulation.