AGENDA 2000/EU ENLARGEMENT: PARLIAMENT BACKS AID PLANS FOR CANDIDATES.

The report from Spanish Socialist Enrique Bar[cent]n Crespo on the draft Regulation on coordination of regional, agricultural and PHARE programme aid was adopted, with its call to ensure that aid is used efficiently and is properly monitored. Its calls for maximisation of the impact of aid, and for focus on priorities, also received support from MEPs.Enrique Baron Crespo also suggested that the EU should adopt Common Strategies - the new mechanism for foreign affairs under the Amsterdam Treaty - for future work on enlargement, and that further attention needed to be given to social affairs and the safety of nuclear power plants in the candidate countries.The Parliament also backed the report by Ralf Walter (PES, Germany) on the proposal for a Council Regulation establishing an instrument for pre-accession structural policies (ISPA). This too called for better targeting, and included amendments seeking closer involvement of local...