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Issues for Country Evaluation: The Case of the EU Country Programme in Russia
This is a very complex exercise, since in most cases the CP is not conceived as
a coherent exercise, but is the sum of a number of apparently heterogeneous
programmes.
Especially over the last ten years, many development co-operation agencies
have made an effort to attain CP coherence, and ex-ante country strategy papers
have been prepared. In the case of the European Commission (EC), a number of
mechanisms have been employed such as National Indicative Programmes (NIPs)
and Country Specific Programme (CSPs). Although the importance of these mechanisms
may be increasing, the bulk of a country programme has a strong inertia and
its design and implementation represent the actual levels of partnership between
the donor and the recipient countries more realistically than any country paper.
The case of the Tacis programme in Russia is particularly rich in terms of guidelines
and programming documents. One policy document and three different programming
tools are used. These are:
– The Tacis Regulation, approved by the EU Council in 1991, 1993 and 1996,
which sets out the general objectives, the policy framework, and the basic
guidelines for the whole programme.
– The Indicative Programme, which is agreed upon every three years between
EU and each country participating in the programme, and includes general
policy statements, priority areas of co-operation, sectoral concerns, and a
global financial package.
– The Action Programme, which is set every year, and includes the list of programmes
and projects to be financed during the year, and their relevant budget
allocations.
Just to read these programmes is not sufficient to understand the full strategy
of Tacis CP in Russia. If we consider the Tacis Regulations and the main elements of
the Indicative Programmes, for instance, the objectives of Tacis strategy in Russia –
at least during the period 1993-1999 – could be summarised as follows:
– To build the framework for a market economy:
OECD 1999
Focus on know-how transfers and human resources development.
Enhancing privatisation and enterprise restructuring.
Support the establishment of a new legal and institutional framework.
– To strengthen the democratic process:
Support good governance and decentralisation.
Support the participation of civil society.
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