Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament. Eighth annual report 2013 on the implementation of Community assistance under Council Regulation (EC) No 389/2006 of 27 February 2006 establishing an instrument of financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community

Council Regulation (EC) No 389/2006 (the "Aid Regulation") is the basis for the assistance to the Turkish Cypriot community (TCc) and requires annual reporting to the Council and the European Parliament. This report covers the year 2013.

Between 2006 and the end of 2013, €337 million was programmed for operations under the Aid Regulation. The 2013 programming (€31 million) used input from stakeholder workshops and from external evaluations, particularly an overall programme evaluation that took place during the year.

Due to the temporary nature of the assistance (until reunification takes place) and the financing from the margins of the EU Budget, the fundamental changes necessary for the eventual acquis roll-out were difficult to plan for. This problem was acknowledged by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in a 2012 recommendation.

The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-20 provides a multi-annual perspective to the programme with a provision for annual funding for the first time. This will allow better planning for preparation for future implementation of the acquis. This has become more important in view of the reopening of settlement talks in 2014, since the Aid Regulation calls for immediate application of the acquis following the settlement.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)282: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:282:FIN

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