Proposal for a Council Decision adjusting the financial resources of the 9th European Development Fund further to the accession of Timor-Leste to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement

On 16 May 2003, Timor-Leste was accepted as a signatory to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, hereinafter called the Cotonou Agreement. The Decision of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers approving accession stipulated that Timor-Leste would not have immediate access to the resources of the 9th European Development Fund (EDF), but would only benefit, as a temporary special arrangement, from funds earmarked for regional cooperation. The Joint Council Decision did not take account of the fact that after ratification of the Cotonou Agreement, Timor-Leste will no longer qualify for the development assistance which has been provided until now under Council Regulation 443/92 (the ALA Regulation).

So far Timor-Leste has not ratified the Cotonou Agreement. In order to enable Timor-Leste to ratify and become a full Party to the Agreement, the Commission proposes to make funds available from the 9th EDF to meet the development needs of Timor-Leste until the successor to the 9th EDF enters into force.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2004)0610: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2004:0610:FIN

ESO: Background information: Relations between Timor-Leste and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/relations-between-timor-leste-and-the-european-union/

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