12.3.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/21 
Draft Council resolution on the contribution of local employment initiatives to 
combating unemployment 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, 
Having regard to the draft resolution submitted by 
the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament. the ground for the future development of areas 
in which they occur by rebuilding confidence, 
maintaining or developing skill usage and res­
toring the capacity for enterprise. 
Recognizes that local employment initiatives 
generally seek to operate as viable businesses 
but place a higher priority on employment 
creation than on economic or financial 
performance. 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the Council reiterated its profound concern 
regarding the continued high level of unemploy­
ment and recognized the need for additional actions 
in its resolution of 12 July 1982 on Community act­
ion to combat unemployment, in which the Com­
mission was asked to submit the results of its 
research and its thoughts on the contribution of 
local initiatives and cooperatives to the creation of 
employment. 6. Considers that support at regional and local 
level is particularly important for these small, 
locally generated enterprises and notes that they 
are starting to receive an increasing amount of 
encouragement and support from regional and 
local authorities as well as guidance and assist­
ance for managerial and training needs. 
Recognizes the contribution that the social part­
ners can make in ensuring that LEIs develop as 
viable enterprises forming an integral part of the 
small firms sector. 
ADOPTS THIS RESOLUTION: 
1. and notes a new phenomenon in the labour 
market of local employment initiatives (LEIs) 
which have the specific aim of providing addi­
tional, permanent employment opportunities 
through the creation of new, small-scale enter­
prises or the transformation of the viable parts 
of other, failed, enterprises, often involving 
cooperation between individuals, action 
groups, the social partners and local and 
regional authorities. 
2. Notes that such local employment initiatives, 
which include many in the form of coopera­
tives, have grown rapidly in number in the past 
two to three years, and are making a useful con­
tribution in the fight against unemployment by 
creating worthwhile and relatively stable jobs 
notably for women and young people, as well as 
for particularly disadvantaged people, including 
migrant workers and the disabled. 
3. Considers that, in addition to their direct contri­
bution to employment creation, LEIs prepare Recognizes that, while LEIs generally require 
intensive support in their early stages, the total 
demands which they make on public funds are 
modest in proportion to the economic and 
social benefits achieved, notably in terms of the 
use of human and local resources which would 
otherwise have been idle, and the reduction of 
social transfers. 
Recognizes that there is considerable potential 
for transferring to other areas or other Member 
States successful ideas, techniques and experi­
ence in the creation of local employment 
initiatives. 
II 
INVITES MEMBER STATES TO ADOPT THE 
FOLLOWING POLICY GUIDELINES FOR THE 
PROMOTION OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT 
INITIATIVES: 
1. Policies relating to employment creation, local 
and regional development and local labour 
No C 70/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.3.84 
market management should take explicit 
account of the potential contribution of local 
employment initiatives to the fight against 
unemployment and the revival of local econo­
mies. Public recognition of LEIs with a view to 
promoting their development and encouraging 
others to follow the same path should be accom­
panied as necessary by appropriate legal provi­
sions. 
2. Close communication should be developed 
between all those involved in encouraging 
employment creation, especially the social part­
ners and public authorities, particularly at the 
level of the local labour market, in order to 
improve the level of cooperation and the trans­
fer of useful experience. 
3. Practical measures should be encouraged to 
develop the local support structure for local 
employment initiatives, notably by: 
(i) providing initial information and guidance 
on available support to individuals and 
'prime mover' groups wishing to develop 
local employment initiatives; 
(ii) providing financial support towards the 
establishment of development agencies able 
to provide pre-start-up and on-going sup­
port of those seeking to undertake LEIs and 
to facilitate access to various forms of 
financial, training or other assistance avail­
able; 
(iii) converting vacant buildings into suitable 
premises for small enterprises and work­
shops; 
(iv) providing possibilities for tendering for 
public contracts, including those for 
publicly funded collective services; 
having particular regard to the contribution 
which local and regional authorities can 
make in this respect. 
4. Existing measures to improve the access of 
SMEs to finance or to provide public financial 
support should be reviewed to ensure that the 
criteria, conditions, decision-making procedures 
and delivery systems are appropriate to the needs of very small firms, especially LEIs and 
easily accessible to them. 
5. Existing methods of providing public support 
for enterprises which provide community ser­
vices or involve particularly disadvantaged 
people should be reviewed to ensure that 
procedures are coordinated and simplified and 
that decisions on projects requiring continuing 
support are taken on a long-term basis. 
6. New methods of providing finance for LEIs 
should be considered, including the continuing 
payment of unemployment benefits for several 
months to those who undertake LEIs. Schemes 
in operation or under discussion in different 
Member States to create special funds for local 
employment initiatives merit serious considera­
tion as do private initiatives to attract local 
savings into funds. 
7. National legislation should be reviewed and 
measures taken to ensure that: 
(i) it is easy to set up business, by streamlining 
the formalities involved and ensuring that 
costs are reasonable; 
(ii) it is easy to set up business in the form of 
enterprises such as cooperatives or 
community businesses; 
(iii) taxation arrangements encourage the crea­
tion of new businesses by the unemployed; 
(iv) ex-employees are not confronted with a 
sharp increase in income tax and national 
insurance contributions on becoming self-
employed or joining particular forms of 
enterprise, such as worker cooperatives, if 
necessary by allowing them to retain their 
legal and financial status as employees for a 
transitional period. 
8. Initial and continuous training in both operat­
ing activities and management should be 
reviewed in order to ensure that it is available in 
a form appropriate to LEIs. Attention should be 
given to: 
(i) the accessibility at local level of training 
arrangements and their adaptation to local 
requirements; 
12. 3. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/23 
(ii) provisions for pre-training or complemen­
tary educational support for those without 
recent educational or training experience; 
(iii) arrangements for the initial training and 
re-training of educators and trainers to help 
them cope with the total, often varied, 
needs of enterprises in a flexible way; 
(iv) the training needs of vocational guidance 
and placement officials as well as staff who 
come into regular contact with people 
actually or potentially involved in local 
employment initiatives. 
Ill 
1. THE COUNCIL ENCOURAGES THE 
COMMISSION TO CARRY OUT THE LINES 
OF ACTION AT COMMUNITY LEVEL 
DESCRIBED IN THE COMMUNICATION, 
WHICH IS SPECIFICALLY AIMED AT THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT 
INITIATIVES AND OF WHICH THE MAIN 
AXES WILL BE: 
(i) enhancement of the role of existing Com­
munity instruments in promoting LEIs; 
(ii) action to promote the growth of LEIs 
through consultation and the exchange of 
information on a Community-wide basis; 
(iii) continuing evaluation and research to pro­
vide the basis for development of policies 
and future action. 
2. The Council notes in particular the Commis­
sion's intention: 
(i) to place particular emphasis on support 
from the European Social Fund for pilot 
actions which: 
— develop innovative training methods 
for development agents and instructors 
adapted to the needs of local employ­
ment initiatives, including the man­
agement training needs of collective 
enterprises, — develop innovative training and sup­
port methods designed to respond to 
the needs of the more disadvantaged 
categories, the under-employed or 
long-term unemployed, who are likely 
to require pre-training or complementary 
educational support, 
— are designed to meet the needs of young 
people and women for support struc­
tures and training, according priority to 
encouraging the development of LEIs 
involving innovative applications of 
new technologies and activities in 
which women have been traditionally 
under-represented, 
— aim to develop local employment initia­
tives in areas with a particularly high 
immigrant population or a concentra­
tion of ethnic or cultural minorities; 
(ii) to continue and develop its programme of 
consultation and information transfer by 
undertaking a further series of local consul­
tations over a two-year period; facilitating 
the direct exchange of experiences at Com­
munity level between those involved in the 
promotion of local employment creation; 
providing support for the establishment of 
an information exchange network aimed at 
promoting and development of LEIs. 
The Council stresses the desirability of 
ensuring that these actions are closely 
coordinated with the OECD's cooperative 
action programme on local employment 
initiatives; 
(iii) to complement these actions by carrying out 
specific studies on outstanding issues which 
require comparative analysis at Community 
level and which will provide guidance on 
future action, in the first instance relating 
to: 
— the most apt and innovative methods of 
providing finance for LEIs, 
— the legal and fiscal environment for the 
establishment and growth of enterprises 
No C 70/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.3.84 
such as cooperatives and community 
businesses, 
organizational structures and pay and 
working conditions in cooperatives. The Commission is requested to inform the 
Council periodically of progress made in the 
implementation of these actions. 
The financing of the measures to be imple­
mented at Community level shall be provided in 
the framework of the rules and procedure 
governing the Community budget. 
12.3.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/25 
ANNEX I 
COMMISSION CONSULTATIONS OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVES 
1. The research motivations 
The consultations on LEIs were organized under the Commission's programme of research 
and actions on the development of the labour market. This fact-finding exercise did not start 
from any one particular viewpoint or definition but rather from the observation that in at 
least some of the Member States, more specifically in France and the UK, the term 'local 
employment initiatives' had come into increasingly accepted usage to describe a variety of 
different phenomena. 
In France this had led to a national policy, legislation and machinery for implementing the 
legislation. In the UK a more fragmented development comprised the appearance of various 
new units both of local employment creation and enterprise and at the intermediate promo­
tional and supporting level. There, in addition to commonly used forms such as small and 
medium-sized enterprises, self-employment, family business, workers cooperatives, munici­
pal enterprises, a new set of terms was coming into use to describe innovative kinds of units: 
community businesses, local enterprises, neighbourhood cooperatives, community cooper­
atives, and at the intermediary level bodies such as local enterprise trusts, local enterprise 
boards, cooperative development agencies, mutual aid networks, job-creation resource 
centres and others besides. The assumption was made that growing unemployment would 
have elicited a similar response in other countries even if less well-documented (e.g. as in the 
case of Italy) or less-developed or less-acknowledged. 
The consultations therefore set out to discover what existed at the local level and how any 
such units had come into existence. Practitioners of new initiatives and other key individuals 
at the local level were asked to describe their work and reflect on their performance and the 
sort of local, regional, national or Community level support that would unlock its full poten­
tial. 
Practical aims were to stimulate an exchange of information, discuss ideas, expertise and 
necessary support for projects, also to collect data relevant to policymakers on the potential 
contribution to employment of different approaches and the factors constraining their use. 
2. The organization and methodology 
Twenty-two local consultations were held in 1982/83 throughout the Community and 
ranged in numbers from 25 to 125 participants (most were attended by 40 to 60 persons). The 
majority of participants were those actually engaged in or planning new local initiatives 
while the balance consisted of officials, elected representatives and persons from the social 
partners whose interest and support was found to be important to the promotion and success 
of local employment initiatives. 
Meetings were of one or two days' duration and were planned and administered by a local 
associate organization in cooperation with, and under sub-contract to, the Centre for 
Employment Initiatives (CEI), London, chosen by the Commission as project managers ('). 
The organizations acting as local 'associates' could be classified as follows: 
Primarily concerned with employment creation: 7, 
Regional and community development: 4, 
(') Their final report on the consultations will be available at the end of 1983. 
No C 70/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.3.84 
Local government authority: 4, 
Cooperatives: 3, 
Welfare and youth: 2, 
Alternative economy: 2, 
Church training and conference centre: 1, 
Organization of unemployed: 1, 
Cultural activities: 1, 
University research centre: 1, 
Trade union training centre: 1. 
(In some meetings more than one organization was involved; local government authorities 
were associated in many consultations: in the four listed above under local government 
authority, they took the primary organizational role). 
In most consultations, plenary sessions alternated with group meetings. Typical work groups 
in consultations in several countries covered the following areas of interest: local revitaliza-
tion, social insertion and re-insertion through employment, enterprise creation by 
unemployed, workers cooperatives and other collective enterprises, women, innovatory 
technology, and, in rural areas, agriculture. 
3. The locations 
The pilot consultations were in the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin, Federal Republic of 
Germany, known for its small-scale 'alternative' workshops; and in Cork, Ireland, with parti­
cipants from both rural and urban areas of Ireland. 
Other consultations were held between November 1982 and July 1983 in the following areas: 
Belgium: 
— Wallonia, 
— Heuvelland, a rural area of 14 villages in Flanders; 
Denmark: 
— a mixed urban and rural area of Jutland; 
France: 
— the highly industrialized area of Pas-de-Calais, 
— the 'fragile' mountain area of the Pyrenees; 
Federal Republic of Germany: 
— the mixed urban and rural areas of Hesse (Rhein/Main), 
— the land of Lower Saxony, 
— the 'alternative workshop' area of West Berlin; 
Greece: 
— a rural area in central Boetia, 
— the small town of Koropi and parts of Attica; 
Ireland: 
— the town of Cork with rural and urban participants; 
Italy: 
— a'n alpine village area of northern Udine, 
— a group of small towns in Toscana, 
— the rural and urban areas of Brescia province, 
— mixed rural and small town area of Campania; 
12.3.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/27 
Netherlands: 
— mixed rural and urban area of North Brabant with participants from other parts of the 
country; 
United Kingdom: 
— mixed industrial and residential London Borough, 
— highly industrialized area of north-east England, 
— mixed urban and rural area of Belfast and adjoining districts in Northern Ireland, 
— highly industrialized area around Glasgow, Scotland, 
— rural area of north Wales, 
— the industrialized county of Gwent, South Wales. 
No consultation was held in Luxembourg: participants from there took part in the meeting 
in Wallonia, Belgium. 
The size of the area from which participants came varied considerably. In Flanders and 
Udine all came from a group of villages within a few kilometres of each other: in Brescia 
and Loccum, Lower Saxony, they came from a province or 'Land' (in the case of Loccum, 
participants also came from Bremen, Hamburg and West Berlin); in Cork and Den Bosch, 
while most came from the surrounding county or province, some were from different parts of 
the country. 
In total, some 1 200 persons had the opportunity of presenting and discussing their experi­
ences and plans. In several instances the consultation itself had been preceded by informal 
discussion meetings and in some cases — e.g. in Heuvelland, Belgium, and Campania, Italy 
— members of local enterprises elected one of their number to attend the consultation on 
their behalf and express their views. It may be conservatively estimated that over 7 000 
people have taken part or have directly contributed to the conclusions reached. 
4. The intrinsic value of local consultations 
The utilization of local consultations as a form of fact-finding and action-oriented project 
proved to have a number of advantages of which only the most important ones are men­
tioned here: 
— it was possible to elicit a substantial amount of first-hand information about local 
employment initiatives with a minimum expenditure of resources of money and man­
power, 
— the process of pre-consultation surveys and enquiries produced a snowball effect so that 
many hitherto unknown initiatives came to light, 
— the fact that the programme was sponsored by the Commission and in most instances 
involved a 'foreign' organization (Centre for Employment Initiatives, London) gave a 
certain cachet and prestige to initiatives which otherwise might easily have gone 
unrecognized, 
— the process of bringing together local entrepreneurs and representatives of both public 
and private institutions proved to be in itself a form of 'animation' or promotion, and 
the first stage of an ongoing process, 
— the participation in the consultations of representatives of central and other 'distant' 
official bodies proved to be mutually beneficial and educative to both these representa­
tives and the local entrepreneurs, 
— the process of compiling case studies and other forms of preparation for the consul­
tation (local discussions, negotiations, etc.) proved invaluable in clarifying local 
people's understanding of what was involved and indeed what they were seeking 
to do through their initiatives. 
No C 70/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.3.84 
Finally, the success of the local approach can perhaps also be measured by the great res­
ponse at local level: on the one hand, there was from the very beginning a keen interest by 
local bodies in organizing such consultations (resulting in a doubling of the initially planned 
number of meetings, even without taking account of all relevant proposals); on the other 
hand, the follow-up in terms of proposals for projects, requests for information systems, etc. 
submitted to the Commission has been most impressive. 
5. The need for follow-up work 
This field study was, of course, only a beginning and could not by itself provide any com­
plete or convincing framework. Considerably more work is required in that direction, espe­
cially since this random sample of some 20 consultations could not include the total variety 
of local communities and regions within Europe. It can safely be assumed that overall there 
are even more variations in local employment initiatives than came to light in this pro­
gramme of limited duration and extent. 
Moreover, there is great scope for action by using a further series of consultations as a vehi­
cle for 'animation' and promotion of local initiatives. In particular, further consultations 
would be geared to specific local needs such as the establishment of development agencies. 
To this end, such consultations can encourage local actions and alliances, as a preliminary 
step to financial intervention through the European Social Fund. The Commission sets out 
relevant proposals in the main part of this communication. 
ANNEX II 
EXISTING COMMISSION ACTIVITIES AND EXISTING PROPOSALS 
Community support for local initiatives has been given primarily through the European Social 
Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Coal and Steel Community, 
but there has also been some indirect support through the European Agricultural Guidance and 
Guarantee Fund, and the opportunities for obtaining finance through the European Investment 
Bank using its own funds and those of the New Community Instrument have been increased. The 
extent of the support to date has, however, been limited, partly because the need is relatively new 
and partly because of the practical difficulties of ensuring access to Community funds at the 
local level. 
European Social Fund 
Social Fund support has been directed towards stimulating and assisting local employment 
creation as follows: 
— The establishment of a programme of seven actions of training and development at the local 
level in the UK., France and Italy aimed at preparing the ground for the creation of new 
employment. Projects are designed to meet the specific problems of both urban and rural 
areas. The actions cover three years — 1982 to 1984 — and are being subjected to continuous 
monitoring and evaluation. 
— Pilot support for development agencies providing technical assistance and training for local 
employment initiatives. These include support for the first five 'Boutiques de gestion' in 
France (1980 to 1983), Development Training Officers for the Highlands and Islands Devel­
opments Board, UK (Scotland) (1981 to 1983) and the Wales Cooperative Development and 
Training Centre (1983 to 1985). 
— Pilot projects supported in 1982 have included a number which can be categorized as LEIs 
— six concerned with training in small firms and cooperatives, six concerned with employ­
ment creation for young people and others in the craft sector and for disadvantaged groups. 
12.3.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/29 
European Regional Development Fund 
The European Regional Development Fund (') aims to correct the principal regional imbalances 
within the Community resulting in particular from agricultural preponderance, industrial change 
and structural under-employment. With a view to realizing these objectives, the Fund may 
finance two kinds of actions: 
(a) under Article 4 of the Fund Regulation, Community actions in support of regional policy 
measures taken by the Member States, such as: 
1. investments in industrial, handicraft or service activities; 
2. investments financed by public authorities for the creation of infrastructures which con­
tribute to the development of the region or the area in which they are situated; 
3. investments in infrastructures covered by Article 3 (2) of the Council Directive on 
mountain and hill farming and farming in certain less-favoured areas, 
for which the resources of the Fund are distributed according to national quotas, and 
(b) under Article 13 of the Fund Regulation, specific Community regional development mea­
sures which are linked with Community policies and with measures adopted by the Com­
munity in order to take better account of their regional dimension or to reduce their regional 
consequences. The resources of the Fund for those measures are quota-free. 
In the framework of the measures provided for by Article 13, and acting on a proposal from the 
Commission, on 6 October 1980 the Council adopted five Regulations (2) bringing into effect a 
first series of specific regional development measures, certain of which directly affect SMEs. 
These measures are intended to contribute to the development of certain Mediterranean regions 
in the context of future Community enlargement, to the development of new activities in certain 
regions affected by the steel and shipbuilding crisis, as well as to the improvement of secure 
energy supply in the internal regions of the Mezzogiorno. In addition, a measure in favour of the 
border areas of Ireland/Northern Ireland has also been adopted. Within the framework of these 
measures, the intervention envisaged covers a wide range, according to the type of action includ­
ing, notably, making available to SMEs the means and services to allow them to increase their 
possibilities of reaction (investment aids, sectoral analyses, consultancy agencies), the promotion 
of industrial innovation, of craft industries and rural tourism, the cleaning up of run-down indus­
trial and urban areas, the construction and modernization of housing. 
Latterly, in 1982, the Commission has presented to the Council a second series of non-quota 
measures (3), which constitute a follow-up to, and financial reinforcement of, the measures 
already under way in the southern areas of the Community, as well as introducing measures for 
the particular benefit of Greece. It should be added that a new measure, contributing to the 
development of new economic activities in the regions affected by the restructuring of the textile 
and clothing industry, was also included. 
Under this second series, aid can also be offered within the areas eligible, for the establishment of 
economic development agencies whose role is the opening up of possibilities for new ventures 
through direct contacts at local level. 
Meanwhile the Commission adopted and sent to the Council on 3 November 1983 a proposal for 
a Regulation amending the present ERDF Regulation, which suggests that the Fund's interven­
tions be effected through 'Community programmes' and 'national programmes of Community 
interest' under which the Fund can contribute through a range of specific aids, to the exploitation 
of the potential for internally generated development of the less-favoured regions of the Com­
munity. 
Under the revised Social Fund (4), as well as under the proposal for a revised ERDF Regulation, 
priority will be given to integrated development operations which combine and coordinate the 
use of Community instruments and national resources within a limited geographical area. An 
increased level of support from the ERDF is proposed in the context of such operations. 
(') Council Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 and subsequent amendments. 
(2) Council Regulations (EEC) No 2615/80 to (EEC) No 2619/80. 
(3) COM(82) 652 final. 
(4) OJ No L 289, 22. 10. 1983, p. 38. 
No C 70/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.3.84 
Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund 
This Fund was established under Article 40 of the Treaty in order to attain the objectives of the 
common agricultural policy, primarily increased productivity through rational development of 
agricultural production and optimum utilization of the factors of production, in particular labour. 
The principal measures adopted by the Community in furtherance of these structural objectives 
concern: 
— the modernization of agricultural holdings, 
— the encouragement of older farmers to retire and the re-allocation of the land released, 
— the provision of socio-economic guidance to farmers and the acquiring of occupational skills 
by persons engaged in agriculture, 
— the improvement of the methods of processing and marketing of agricultural products, 
— compensation for the natural handicaps affecting farming in mountain, hill and other less-
favoured regions. 
In addition to these more general measures, the Community has adopted a series of specific 
regional measures including a set of pilot integrated development programmes with a view to 
improving the socio-economic situation in the less-favoured regions. 
In its report and proposals (') on ways of increasing the effectiveness of the Community struc­
tural funds, the Commission has proposed that the EAGGF Guidance Section should in future 
concentrate on certain priority tasks, viz: 
— the promotion of modernization and conversion projects in farming, 
— the processing and marketing of agricultural products, 
— the preservation and improved use of non-productive rural areas, 
— an improvement in agricultural income in less-favoured regions. 
To be fully effective, however, the Commission indicated that EAGGF Guidance intervention 
must be dovetailed into a more comprehensive regional development framework alongside, but 
coordinated with, the other Funds. 
The Commission's proposals on integrated Mediterranean programmes (2) and its more recent 
proposals on agricultural structures policy (3) in general have been framed with these policy con­
siderations in mind. 
European Coal and Steel Community 
Article 56 of the Treaty makes it possible, not only to re-train and provide financial support for 
workers who lose their jobs through the re-structuring of the coal and steel industries, but also to 
encourage the creation of new employment through reduced interest rate loans to new or expand­
ing enterprises in the ECSC areas. The technique of global loans to intermediary bodies has 
proved particularly useful for helping provide financial help to small and medium-sized firms 
and there are now possibilities for the co-financing of collective workshops providing space for a 
number of small enterprises with the possibility of using common services. Earlier this year the 
Commission adopted a number of changes to the operating principles of ECSC loans, in parti­
cular raising the interest rate subsidy on global loans from 3 to 5 %. 
(•) COM(83) 501 final. 
(2) COM(83) 495 final. 
0) COM(83) 559 final. 
12. 3. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 70/31 
Access to capital 
The various lending arms of the European Community have for many years provided significant 
amounts of loan capital to SMEs. For the sake of efficiency they do this through a system of 
global loans 
Reduced %y its simplest form, this consists of opening a line of credit to an intermediary financ­
ing institution which then on-lends the proceeds in smaller amounts (which can be as low as 
25 000 ECU) and at its own risk, in favour of ventures falling within the terms of reference of the 
Community financing arm concerned. Projects, which must be financially viable, can be financed 
up to 50% of their fixed asset cost. The volume of such loans has increased considerably in 
recent years (see table). This has reflected the Commission's political will to see SMEs favoured, 
for example 40% of the funds made available for investment under New Community Instru­
ments (') have been allocated to global loans, and it is expected that this trend will continue 
under New Community Instrument-3 (-). 
TABLE 
Global loans granted from 1977 to 1982 
(million Ecu) 
1977 
1978 
1979 
1980 
1981 
1982 ECSC 
3,7 
8,7 
62,6 
148,4 
150,3 
232,8 E1B 
91,3 
99,9 
137,1 
265,5 
318,4 
592,9 NCI 
— 
— 
— 
— 
249,1 Total 
95,0 
108,6 
199,7 
413,9 
468,7 
1 074,8 Annual rate 
of increase 
+ 14% 
+ 84% 
+ 107% 
+ 13% 
+ 129% 
The Commission has taken a further significant step in proposing that the Council empowers it to 
grant innovative small and medium-sized enterprises financial help in the form of European 
Innovation Loans. The scheme, whose details are contained in a communication to the Coun­
cil (3), is intended to operate through national intermediaries. 
(') 1 000 million ECU made available by the Council under the New Community Instrument on 26 April 
1982. 
(:) 1 500 million ECU made available as a first tranche by the Council under the New Community Instru­
ment on 13 June 1983. 
(3) Towards Community financing of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises. Proposal for a 
Council Decision empowering the Commission to help finance innovation within the Community 
(COM(83)241).