European Union support to Eastern European and Central Asian countries under the TACIS programme
Characteristics of the TACIS programme Launched in 1991 by the European Communities, the TACIS (Technical Assistance for the Central Independent States) programme aimed to support economic transformation in 13 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The TACIS programme has covered 285 million people and 23 million square metres of land. In its early days, the TACIS programme was only support provided as technical assistance. In nearly twelve years of operation, however, it has evolved into a complex system of cooperation, including political cooperation, between the individual countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the European Communities. One of the reasons for this development of the programme can be seen as the process of eastward enlargement of the European Union and the consequent need to meet the new challenges facing both partners. A landmark year in the development of the TACIS programme was 1999, when several Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) signed between the European Communities and several countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia came into force. These agreements gave legal shape to the political, economic and trade relations between the European Union and the partner countries. Each agreement was concluded for a period of 10 years. The main thrust of each is the sustainable development of the partner country, the upholding of fundamental rights and freedoms and the building of a democratic society. The EU also signed a Joint Strategy for Russia (in June 1999) and for Ukraine (in December 1999), its two largest partners in the region (cooperation with Russia and Ukraine accounts for over 70% of the TACIS programme budget), the main aim of which is to strengthen relations between the EU and its member states and the two Eastern European countries.
