In September 1989, the French monthly magazine Le Monde diplomatique analyses the measures taken by the European Community to support the economies in transition in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 19 September 1989, Roland Dumas, on an official visit to Poland as President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities, delivers an address in Warsaw in which he welcomes the signing of the EEC-Poland agreement.

On 17 November 1989, a few days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, former Editor-in-Chief of the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, and Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of the FRG, recommend massive financial support from the West in order to consolidate the democratic aspirations of the countries of Eastern Europe.

On 18 November 1989, during a press conference held at the close of an informal meeting between the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC), François Mitterrand, French President and President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers of the European Communities, outlines the aid plan approved by the Twelve for the countries of Eastern Europe.

At a press conference held in Warsaw on 18 November 1989, Roland Dumas, French Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities, outlines the aid granted by the European Economic Community (EEC) to Poland with a view to supporting the country in its efforts to move to a market economy, in particular through the establishment of a stabilisation fund.

On 22 November 1989, Edwige Avice, Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs, sums up for the National Assembly the measures proposed by the Twelve to aid the countries of Eastern Europe.

On 22 November 1989, François Mitterrand, French President and President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers of the European Communities, reaffirms before the Members of the European Parliament the determination of the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve to support the Movement for Democratic Reforms in Eastern Europe.

At the end of the Strasbourg European Council held on 8 and 9 December 1989, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve welcome the political changes under way in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) and approve the principle of establishing a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

At the meeting of the European Council held on 8 and 9 December 1989 in Strasbourg, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve approve the principle of the establishment of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 3 May 1995, the Commission presents this White Paper as part of the pre-accession policy adopted by the Essen European Council in December 1994 for the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This instrument is designed to help them in their economic transition to the standards of the single market.

On 18 April 1990, the European Commission gives an assessment of the various proposals for economic, political and cultural cooperation between the European Community and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

In April 1990, Frans Andriessen, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for External Relations and Trade Policy, outlines in the NATO Review the role that the Commission intends to play in coordinating the assistance programme for Poland and Hungary established by the industrialised nations, before expanding it to include other countries in the region that have adopted political and economic reforms.

On 9 May 1990, in Brussels, two years after establishing diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community, Bulgaria signs an agreement on trade and commercial cooperation with the EEC.

On 14 and 15 December 1990, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve, meeting as the European Council in Rome, undertake to promote the democratisation process and the introduction of the market economy in the Soviet Union and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Following the coup d’état in the Soviet Union, the Foreign Ministers of the European Economic Community, meeting in The Hague on 20 August 1991, decide to suspend the aid granted by the EEC to the USSR until Mikhail Gorbachev is restored as Soviet Head of State.

During the winter of 1991, the European Community provides emergency food aid to Russia.

On 11 December 1989, the French daily newspaper Libération refers to the functions and the tasks of the future European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 15 January 1990, in Paris, in the presence of the representatives of 34 European countries, the French President, François Mitterrand, opens the first session of the Preparatory Conference for the Establishment of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 16 February 1990, the Group of 24 (G-24) — which comprises the 24 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the 12 Member States of the European Community, the six countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Turkey, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan — reviews the allocation of financial aid and the implementation of programmes to assist political and economic reform in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 17 May 1990, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro outlines the difficulties encountered during diplomatic negotiations in determining the seat and appointing the first President of the future European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD).

On 29 May 1990, in Paris, the representatives of the Twelve, of the European Community and of the European Investment Bank (EIB) sign the Agreement establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 22 June 1990, during debates in the French National Assembly, Edwige Avice, Minister with responsibility for European Affairs attached to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Roland Dumas, outlines the role and operation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 4 April 1991, Jacques Attali, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD), grants an interview to the French economic monthly journal L’Expansion in which he discusses, in particular, the Bank’s tasks in the light of the political and economic changes taking place in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs).

On 19 November 1990, the Council of the European Communities approves the Agreement establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 15 April 1991, at the inauguration in London of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the French President, François Mitterrand, describes the role of this new institution and commends the Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC) for their commitment to democratic values.

On 15 April 1991, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité takes a critical look at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), officially inaugurated that day in London at a ceremony attended by 33 Heads of State or Government.

On 23 April 1991, the French daily newspaper Le Monde takes a critical look at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the tasks entrusted to it.

On 8 July 1992, on behalf of the Senate Delegation for the European Communities, Xavier Galouzeau de Villepin, French Centrist Senator, submits an information report which analyses the initial activities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

On 15 July 1991, Guy Noppen, Executive Director for Belgium and Luxembourg at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), grants an interview to the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir in which he gives an initial assessment of the Bank’s activities.

In 1996, Jacques de Larosière, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), gives an assessment of the first five years of operation of the EBRD and discusses its cooperation with the European Union.

Opened in 1991, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has its seat in London.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), outlines the objectives of the EBRD and the way in which it works, and considers the developments in the geographical areas on which the bank's activities are focused.

On 18 December 1989, at a meeting in Brussels, the Council of the European Communities adopts a programme of economic aid to Hungary and Poland.

On 10 April 1993, the French daily newspaper Le Monde discusses the criticism levelled at the ‘Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies’ (PHARE) Community Programme which aims to support reform in the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

On 9 and 10 December 1994, at the Essen European Council, the Twelve adopt the PHARE programme as the financial instrument of the pre-accession strategy, the objective of which is the accession of the ten associated Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to the European Union.

On 10 April 1996, the European Commission proposes a regional cooperation initiative aimed at strengthening political stability and economic development in the Baltic Sea region.

On 15 June 1998, the European Commission draws up a report on the guidelines for the implementation of the Community Programme for Poland and Hungary: assistance for the restructuring of the economies (PHARE) of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) which have applied for accession to the European Union.

Table showing the total aid granted by the European Communities to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) under the Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies (Phare) programme.

On 27 February 1998, Hans van den Broek, Member of the Commission of the European Communities in charge of External Political Relations and Enlargement Negotiations, seals one of the lorries that, as a consequence of the PHARE programme, is getting ready to leave Brussels in order to take material aid to Estonia.

On 14 and 15 December 1990, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve, meeting as the European Council in Rome, undertake to promote the democratisation process and the introduction of the market economy in the Soviet Union and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

With its regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 2157/91 of 15 July 1991, the Council of the European Communities decides to provide technical assistance to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in order to enable it to stabilise and reinvigorate its economy.

In its Annual Report on the TACIS programme for the years 1991 and 1992, the Commission emphasises the importance of the technical support provided by the European Communities in helping the countries of the former Soviet Union to stabilise their civil and military nuclear structures.

In the Annual Report from the Commission on the TACIS programme for the year 1998, Leon Brittan, Commissioner for External Relations, emphasises that the Community aid programme is able to adapt to the political and economic circumstances in the partner countries.

Following the outbreak of the second war in Chechnya in September 1999, the European Council meeting in Helsinki on 10 and 11 December 1999 decides that the application of the TACIS programme for the Russian Federation should be subject to certain conditions.

In its regulation (EC, Euratom) No 99/2000 of 29 December 1999, the Council of the European Union seeks to promote the transition to a market economy and to reinforce democracy and the rule of law in the partner States in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through the Community’s TACIS programme.

A deux ans de l’échéance du programme TACIS II, le Conseil économique et social de la République française évolue dans son avis du 29 juillet 2004 les réalisations du programme d’aide et propose de faire de TACIS un instrument plus performant de la coopération technique.