5.
If any measures are necessary to facilitate the transition
from the pre-accession regime to that resulting from the
application of this Article, the Commission shall adopt the
required measures.
Article 33
1.
Tendering, contracting, implementation and payments for
pre-accession assistance under the Phare programme (
1
), the
Phare CBC programme (
2
) and pre-accession funds for Cyprus
and Malta (
3
) shall be managed by implementing agencies in
the new Member States as of the date of accession.
The ex-ante control by the Commission over tendering and
contracting shall be waived by a Commission decision to
that effect, following a positively assessed Extended Decen-
tralised Implementation System (EDIS) in accordance with the
criteria and conditions laid down in the Annex to Council
Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 on coordinating aid to the
applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession
strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 (
4
).
If this Commission decision to waive ex-ante control has not
been taken before the date of accession, any contracts signed
between the date of accession and the date on which the
Commission decision is taken shall not be eligible for
pre-accession assistance.
However, exceptionally, if the Commission decision to waive
ex-ante control is delayed beyond the date of accession for
reasons not attributable to the authorities of a new Member
State, the Commission may accept, in duly justified cases, eligi-
bility for pre-accession assistance of contracts signed between
accession and the date of the Commission decision, and the
continued implementation of pre-accession assistance for a
limited period, subject to ex-ante control by the Commission
over tendering and contracting.
2.
Global budget commitments made before accession under
the pre-accession financial instruments referred to in paragraph
1, including the conclusion and registration of subsequent indi-
vidual legal commitments and payments made after accession
shall continue to be governed by the rules and regulations of
the pre-accession financing instruments and be charged to the
corresponding budget chapters until closure of the programmes
and
projects
concerned.
Notwithstanding
this,
public
procurement procedures initiated after accession shall be
carried out in accordance with the relevant Community
Directives.
3.
The last programming exercise for the pre-accession
assistance referred to in paragraph 1 shall take place in the
last full calendar year preceding accession. Actions under these
programmes will have to be contracted within the following
two years and disbursements made as provided for in the
Financing Memorandum (
5
), usually by the end of the third
year after the commitment. No extensions shall be granted
for the contracting period. Exceptionally and in duly justified
cases, limited extensions in terms of duration may be granted
for disbursement.
4.
In order to ensure the necessary phasing out of the
pre-accession financial instruments referred to in paragraph 1
as well as the ISPA programme (
6
), and a smooth transition
from the rules applicable before and after accession, the
Commission may take all appropriate measures to ensure
that the necessary statutory staff is maintained in the new
Member States for a maximum of fifteen months following
accession. During this period, officials assigned to posts in
the new Member States before accession and who are
required to remain in service in those States after the date of
accession shall benefit, as an exception, from the same financial
and material conditions as were applied by the Commission
before accession in accordance with Annex X to the Staff
Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment
of Other Servants of the European Communities laid down
in Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (
7
). The admi-
nistrative expenditure, including salaries for other staff,
necessary for the management of the pre-accession assistance
shall be covered, for all of 2004 and until the end of July
2005, under the heading ‘support expenditure for operations’
(former part B of the budget) or equivalent headings for the
financial instruments referred to in paragraph 1 as well as the
ISPA programme, of the relevant pre-accession budgets.
5.
Where projects approved under Regulation (EC) No
1268/1999 can no longer be funded under that instrument,
they may be integrated into rural development programming
and financed under the European Agricultural Guidance and
Guarantee Fund. Should specific transitional measures be
necessary in this regard, these shall be adopted by the
Commission in accordance with the procedures laid down in
Article 50(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 laying
down general provisions on the Structural Funds (
8
).
EN
23.9.2003
Official Journal of the European Union
43
(
1
) Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 (OJ L 375 23.12.1989, p. 11), as
amended.
(
2
) Regulation (EC) No 2760/98 (OJ L 345, 19.12.1998, p. 49), as
amended.
(
3
) Regulation (EC) No 555/2000 (OJ L 68, 16.3.2000, p. 3), as
amended.
(
4
) OJ L 232, 2.9.1999, p. 34.
(
5
) As set out in the Phare Guidelines (SEC (1999) 1596, updated on
6.9.2002 by C 3303/2).
(
6
) Regulation (EC) No 1267/99 (OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 73), as
amended.
(
7
) OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation
(EC, Euratom) No 2265/02 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2002, p. 1).
(
8
) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1447/2001 (OJ L 198, 21.7.2001, p. 1).