Executive summary

Please note that in February 2003 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. All EU strategy documents for the country, which were originally conceived for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, are immediately transferred to Serbia & Montenegro.

The purpose of this Regional Strategy Paper is to provide a strategic framework for programming the regional envelope of the European Community's CARDS assistance programme. The CARDS Regulation focuses on supporting the participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the Stabilisation and Association process (SAp) which is the cornerstone of the EU's policy in the region. To this end, €4,650 million will be provided in the period 2000 to 2006 for investment, institution-building and other measures to achieve four major objectives:

1. Reconstruction, democratic stabilisation, reconciliation and the return of refugees.

2. Institutional and legislative development, including harmonisation with EU norms and approaches, to underpin democracy and the rule of law, human rights, civil society and the media, and the operation of a free market economy.

3. Sustainable economic and social development, including structural reform.

4. Promotion of closer relations and regional cooperation among SAp countries and between them, the EU and the candidate countries of central Europe.

This Regional Strategy Paper focuses on promoting closer relations and regional cooperation. Some 10% of the available funds will be directed to supporting this objective as a complement to the five CARDS Country Strategy Papers that focus on the other more national problems that the countries face.

The Strategy Paper first outlines the overall framework of the EC's cooperation objectives in the region and the regional policy agenda agreed by the EU and the five countries concerned. The SAp region's political and economic situation is then analysed, identifying the key challenges as far as regional cooperation is concerned. The Strategy Paper next examines the coherence and coordination of the Cards regional support programme - how it complements the actions of the countries themselves, other donors and, indeed, of the CARDS national support programmes. The Strategy Paper then presents the response of the CARDS regional programme in the four areas identified for support at the regional level: integrated border management, institutional capacity building, democratic stabilisation and regional infrastructure development. These have been selected because of their contribution to regional cooperation or because the support can be best delivered at the regional level.

Annexed to the Regional Strategy is a Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) for the period 2002-2004 that provides further detail on the regional support programmes proposed. Detailed projects will be derived from this MIP and will be set down in Annual Action Plans in 2002, 2003 and 2004. With the exception of integrated border management, all programmes in this MIP will be implemented on a centralised basis by the relevant Commission services responsible for implementation. 1 Council Regulation (EC) No 2666/2000, December 5 2000 - Assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 and amending Regulations EC.3906/89 and EC.1360/90.

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