12.9.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 245/3 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on the tasks of the structural Funds and their effectiveness 
and on coordination of their activities between themselves and with the operations of the Euro­
pean Investment Bank and the other financial instruments 
COM(87) 376 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 4 August 1987) 
(87/C 245/04) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130 D 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Article 130 A of the Treaty provides for the 
Community to develop and pursue its actions leading to 
the strengthening of its economic and social cohesion 
and in particular for it to aim at reducing disparities 
between the various regions and the backwardness of the 
least-favoured regions; 
Whereas Article 130 C states that the European Regional 
Development Fund (ERDF) is intended to help redress 
the principal regional imbalances in the Community 
through participating in the development and structural 
adjustment of regions whose development is lagging 
behind and in the conversion of declining industrial 
regions; 
Whereas, to that end, Article 130 D of the Treaty 
provides for a comprehensive proposal the purpose of 
which will be to make such amendments to the structure 
and operational rules of the European Agricultural 
Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section 
(EAGGF Guidance Section), the European Social Fund 
(ESF) and the ERDF as are necessary to clarify and 
rationalize their tasks in order to contribute to the 
achievement of the objectives set out in Articles 130 A 
and 130 C of the Treaty, to increase their efficiency and 
to coordinate their activities between themselves and 
with the operations of the existing financial instruments; Whereas, in parallel with the other means referred to in 
Article 130 B, Community operations under the 
structural Funds, the European Investment Bank (EIB) 
and the other existing financial instruments must be in 
support of the objectives set out in Articles 130 A and 
130 C; 
Whereas it is necessary, in order to achieve the aim set 
by Article 130 D, to direct all Community activity in this 
field towards attainment of priority objectives which are 
clearly defined in the light of that aim; 
Whereas it is necessary to specify which Funds are to 
contribute — and to what extent and under what 
conditions they are to do so — to achievement of each 
of the priority objectives and to determine the conditions 
under which the EIB and other existing Community 
financial instruments can make their contributions, par­
ticularly in conjunction with operations under the Funds; 
Whereas the ERDF is the main instrument for achieving 
the objective of ensuring the development and structural 
adjustment of regions whose development is lagging 
behind and whereas it plays a central role in the 
conversion of regions, employment areas and urban 
communities seriously affected by industrial decline; 
Whereas the main tasks of the Funds must be defined so 
as to specify the broad categories of tasks assigned to 
each of them for the purpose of achieving the priority 
objectives; 
Whereas achievement of the priority objective of 
ensuring the structural adjustment of the less-developed 
regions necessitates a significant concentration of the 
resources of the Community's structural Funds on that 
objective; 
Whereas the regions and individuals in the Community 
eligible for Community structural assistance in 
connection with the various priority objectives should be 
determined; 
No C 245/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.9.87 
Whereas Community action is intended to be 
complementary to action by the Member States and 
whereas, in order to impart value added to their own 
initiatives at the appropriate territorial level, close 
consultations should be instituted between the 
Commission and the national authorities, where appro­
priate in association with the regional and local auth­
orities or other agencies acting as partners in the pursuit 
of a common goal; 
Whereas it is necessary to specify the principal forms of 
structural assistance to be provided by the Community 
for the purposes of the objectives set out in Articles 
130 A and 130 C of the Treaty; whereas those forms of 
assistance must add to the effectiveness of the measures 
taken by it and at the same time satisfy the needs of the 
different situations that may arise; 
Whereas the main emphasis must be placed on assistance 
in the form of multiannual operational programmes; 
Whereas, in order to secure joint action between one or 
more Funds, the EIB and one or more of the other 
financial instruments, those programmes may be drawn 
up and implemented on the basis of an integrated 
approach to the measures involved; 
Whereas mechanisms should be established for varying 
Community assistance in line with the particular features 
of the measures to be supported and in the light of the 
context in which they are to be carried out and the 
financing capacity of the Member State concerned; 
Whereas, in implementing this Regulation, it is necessary 
to establish procedures for ensuring close cooperation 
between the Commission and the national, regional and 
local authorities in Member States; 
Whereas it is necessary to establish effective methods of 
monitoring, assessing and carrying out checks in respect 
of Community structural operations and to ensure that 
those methods are adapted to the tasks of the different 
Funds as clarified by this Regulation; 
Whereas it is necessary to lay down in subsequent 
implementing legislation the detailed rules governing the 
individual Funds, together with the arrangements for the 
coordination and joint deployment of the Community's 
various structural Funds and instruments, and the 
necessary transitional provisions; 
Whereas, while performing the tasks assigned to it by 
Articles 129 and 130 of the Treaty, the EIB is to 
cooperate in achieving the objectives set out in this 
Regulation in accordance with the procedures laid down 
in its Statute, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
I. OBJECTIVES AND TASKS OF THE STRUCTURAL 
FUNDS 
Article 1 
Community operations under the structural Funds, the 
European Investment Bank (hereinafter referred to as the 'EIB') and the other financial instruments shall support 
the achievement of the general objectives set out in 
Articles BOA and 130 C of the Treaty by contributing 
to the attainment of five priority objectives: 
1. Promoting the development and structural adjustment 
of the less-developed regions (hereinafter referred to 
as 'Objective No 1'); 
2. Converting the regions, employment areas and urban 
communities seriously affected by industrial decline 
and facilitating, restructuring of declining industries 
(hereinafter referred to as 'Objective No 2'); 
3. Combating long-term unemployment (hereinafter 
referred to as 'Objective No 3'); 
4. Facilitating the occupational integration of young 
people (hereinafter referred to as 'Objective No 4'); 
5. With a view to reform of the common agricultural 
policy, speeding up the adjustment of agricultural 
structures and promoting the development of rural 
areas (hereinafter referred to as 'Objective No 5'). 
Article 2 
1. The structural Funds (the European Agricultural 
Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section, 
hereinafter referred to as the 'EAGGF Guidance 
Section'; the European Social Fund, hereinafter referred 
to as the 'ESF'; the European Regional Development 
Fund, hereinafter referred to as the 'ERDF') shall 
contribute, each according to the specific provisions 
governing its operations, to the attainment of Objectives 
Nos 1 to 5 on the basis of the breakdown given below: 
— Objective No 1: ERDF, ESF, EAGGF Guidance 
Section, 
— Objective No 2: ERDF, ESF, 
— Objective No 3: ESF, 
— Objective No 4: ESF, 
— Objective No 5: EAGGF Guidance Section, ESF, 
ERDF. 
2. The EIB, while performing the tasks assigned to it 
by Articles 129 and 130 of the Treaty, shall cooperate in 
achieving the objectives set out in Article 1 in accordance 
with the procedures laid down in its Statute. The other 
financial instruments may contribute, each according to 
the specific provisions governing its operations, to any 
measure supported by one or more of the structural 
Funds in connection with one of the abovementioned 
five objectives. 
Article 3 
1. The ERDF shall perform the tasks entrusted to it 
by Article 130 C of the Treaty by providing support in 
particular for: 
(a) productive investment; 
(b) the creation or modernization of infrastructures 
essential to the development or conversion of the 
regions, employment areas and urban communities 
concerned; 
12.9. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 245/5 
(c) measures to exploit the potential for internally 
generated development of the regions, employment 
areas and urban communities concerned; 
(d) studies or pilot schemes concerning physical planning 
at Community level, especially where frontier areas 
are involved. 
2. With a view to fostering employment and in 
connection with the task assigned to it by Article 123 of 
the Treaty, the ESF shall provide support for measures, 
notably in the field of vocational training, aimed at: 
(a) securing better use of, and adapting, human 
resources; 
(b) expanding employment opportunities. 
Such support shall take account of labour-market 
requirements and of the need for a consistent selection 
of measures tailored to the priorities laid down in 
Community and national employment policies. 
3. Assistance from the EAGGF Guidance Section shall 
be geared in particular to performing the following tasks, 
having due regard for the principles laid down in Article 
39 of the Treaty: 
(a) strengthening and reorganizing agricultural 
structures, including those for the marketing and 
processing of agricultural and fishery products, in 
particular in the context of the reform of the 
Community's common agricultural policy; 
(b) converting agricultural activities inter alia through 
measures to create alternative activities in rural 
areas; 
(c) ensuring a fair standard of living for those who 
continue in farming; 
(d) helping to develop the social fabric of rural areas, to 
protect the environment, to preserve the countryside 
and to offset the effects of natural handicaps on 
agriculture. 
4. The specific provisions governing operations under 
each structural Fund shall be laid down in the 
implementing decisions adopted pursuant to Article 43, 
127 or 130 E of the Treaty. They shall establish in 
particular the procedures for providing assistance in one 
of the forms defined in Article 5 (2), the conditions of 
eligibility and the rates of assistance. Without prejudice 
to paragraph 5, they shall also establish the arrangements 
for the monitoring, assessment, financial management 
and checking of measures and the necessary transitional 
provisions. 
5. The Council, acting on the basis of Articles 43, 127 
or 130 E of the Treaty, shall adopt the provisions 
necessary for ensuring coordination between the 
different Funds, on the one hand, and between them and the EIB and the other financial instruments, on the 
other. The Commission and the EIB shall establish by 
mutual agreement the practical arrangements for coordi­
nating their operations. 
6. The implementing decisions referred to in 
paragraphs 4 and 5 above shall lay down the transitional 
provisions necessary in relation to existing rules. 
7. The implementing decisions referred to in 
paragraphs 4 and 5 may provide for Community 
financing of operations permitting the exchange of infor­
mation between Member States based on the assessment 
of operational programmes and of innovative operations 
involving a number of Member States. 
II. ARRANGEMENTS FOR STRUCTURAL OPERATIONS 
Article 4 
Complementarity, partnership, assistance 
1. Acting in accordance with the provisions of this 
Regulation and with the provisions referred to in Article 
3 (4) and (5), the Commission shall take the steps and 
measures necessary to ensure that Community operations 
are in support of the objectives set out in Article 1 and 
impart to national initiatives the necessary value added. 
2. Community operations shall be such as to 
complement corresponding national operations. They 
shall be established through close consultations between 
the Commission and the Member State concerned acting 
as partners in pursuit of a common goal. These consul­
tations are hereinafter referred to as the 'partnership'. 
They shall, where appropriate, bring together the 
regional, local or other authorities designated by that 
Member State. The partnership shall cover the 
preparation, financing, monitoring and assessment of 
operations. 
3. Within the framework of the partnership, the 
Commission may, in accordance with procedures laid 
down in the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4), 
contribute to the preparation, implementation and adap­
tation of operations by financing preparatory studies and 
technical assistance operations locally, in agreement with 
the Member State concerned or with the authorities 
referred to in paragraph 2; 
4. For each objective, tasks shall be shared between 
the Commission and the Member States during the 
preparation of operations in accordance with Articles 8 
toll. 
Article 5 
Financial assistance 
1. Financial assistance under the structural Funds, the 
EIB and the other Community financial instruments shall 
be provided in a variety of forms the reflect that nature 
of the operations to be carried out. 
No C 245/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.9.87 
2. In the case of the structural Funds, financial 
assistance shall be provided in one of the following 
forms: 
(a) part-financing of operational programmes; 
(b) part-financing by the Community of an aid scheme; 
(c) provision of general grants managed by an 
intermediary and allocated by the latter in the form 
of individual grants to final beneficiaries; 
(d) part-financing of major projects; 
(e) support for technical assistance or studies in 
preparation for operations; 
Other forms of assistance may be taken into 
consideration in the light of the development of financial 
engineering techniques. 
3. In the case of the EIB and the other financial instru­
ments, each observing its own specific rules, financial 
assistance shall be provided in one of the following 
forms: 
— loans or other forms of part-financing specific 
investment projects, 
— global loans, 
— part-financing of technical assistance or of studies in 
preparation for operations, 
— guarantees. 
4. An operational programme within the meaning of 
paragraph 2 (a) shall consist in a series of consistent 
multiannual measures which may be implemented 
through recourse to one or more of the forms of 
financial assistance described in paragraph 2 (b) to (e) or 
in paragraph 3, to one or more Funds and to one or 
more of the other financial instruments. 
Operational programmes shall be undertaken on the 
initiative of the Member States or of the Commission. 
Where an operational programme involves operations 
under more than one Fund and/or more than one other 
financial instrument, it may be implemented in the form 
of an integrated approach the details of which shall be 
determined by the provisions referred to in Article 3 (5). 
Article 6 
Monitoring and assessment 
1. Community operations shall be monitored to 
ensure that the commitments entered into as part of the 
objectives set out in Articles 130 A and 130 C of the 
Treaty are effectively honoured. Such monitoring shall, 
where necessary, make it possible to adjust operations in 
line with requirements arising during implementation. 2. In order to gauge their effectiveness, Community 
structural operations shall be the subject of an ex ante 
and an ex post assessment designed to highlight their 
economic impact and to analyse their effects on specific 
structural problems. 
3. The procedures for monitoring and assessing 
Community operations shall be established by the 
provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5) and, in the 
case of the EIB, in the manner provided for in its 
Statute. 
Article 7 
Compatibility and checks 
1. Measures part-financed by the structural Funds or 
receiving assistance from the EIB or from another 
financial instrument shall be in keeping with the 
provisions of the Treaty, with the instruments adopted 
pursuant to the latter and with the objectives of 
Community policies, notably with regard to the rules on 
competition, the award of public contracts and 
protection of the environment. 
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the Financial 
Regulation, the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and 
(5) shall lay down harmonized rules for strengthening 
checks on structural operations. They shall be adjusted 
to reflect the special nature of the financial operations 
concerned. The procedures for carrying out checks on 
operations undertaken by the EIB are set out in its 
Statute. 
III. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SPECIFIC 
OBJECTIVES 
Article 8 
Objective No 1 
1. As soon as this Regulation has been adopted, the 
Commission shall decide on a list of the structurally less-
developed regions concerned by Objective No 1. 
2. The Commission shall, in accordance with the 
procedures referred to in Article 16, draw up the list 
referred to in paragraph 1 on the basis of per capita 
GDP in the regions of administrative level NUTS II as 
compared with the Community average. Regions that, 
taking the figures for recent years, have a per capita 
GDP 75 % lower than that average shall be included in 
the list. 
Northern Ireland and the French overseas departments 
shall be included in the list of structurally less-developed 
regions. 
The list shall be valid for five years. On expiry of the 
five-year period, the Commission, acting in accordance 
with the procedures referred to in Article 16, shall decide 
on a new list. 
Member States shall communicate to the Commission 
any information likely to be of assistance in drawing up 
the list. 
12.9.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 245/7 
3. The Member States concerned by the list referred 
to in paragraph 1 shall submit their regional development 
plans to the Commission. Those plans shall include in 
particular: 
— a description of the regional development priorites 
selected and of the corresponding measures, 
— an indication of the use that the competent national 
authorities intend to make of assistance available 
under the Funds, the EIB and the other financial 
instruments in implementing the plans. 
Where appropriate, the regional development plans shall 
be supplemented, at the Commission's request or on the 
initiative of Member States, by other relevant infor­
mation relating in particular to operations to be carried 
out at national, sectoral or interregional level. 
4. The Commission shall examine the proposed plans 
to determine whether they are consistent with the 
objectives of this Regulation and with the provisions and 
policies referred to in Articles 6 and 7. It shall establish, 
in consultation with the competent authorities in the 
Member State concerned and in accordance with the 
procedures referred to in Article 16, the Community 
support framework for Community structural operations. 
The Community support framework shall cover in 
particular: 
— the regional development priorities adopted for 
Community assistance, 
— the forms of assistance, 
— the financing plan, with details of the amount of 
assistance and its source, 
— the duration of the assistance. 
The Community support framework may, if necessary, 
be revised and adjusted to take account of new relevant 
information and of the results obtained during 
implementation of the operations concerned. 
5. The arrangements for the preparation and 
submission of regional development plans and for the 
Community support frameworks shall be laid down in 
the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5). 
6. Assistance in respect of Objective No 1 shall be 
predominantly in the form of operational programmes. 
7. With a view to facilitating the programming of 
operations in the regions concerned, the Commission 
shall, as a guide, share out between Member States for a 
period of five years 75 % of the commitment appro­
priations allocated to the structural Funds for the 
purposes of Objective No 1. This share-out shall be 
based on socio-economic criteria typifying the structural 
backwardness of the regions. The resources not shared 
out in this way shall be used by the Commission, in support of attainment of Objective No 1, to promote 
operations of significant interest to the Community. 
The Member States concerned and the Commission 
shall, as part of their consultations, check on the quality 
and pace of implementation of the proposed operations. 
8. The operations eligible for assistance under the 
various Funds contributing to attainment of Objective 
No 1 shall be specified in the provisions referred to in 
Article 3 (4). 
Article 9 
Objective No 2 
1. As soon as this Regulation has been adopted, the 
Commission shall decide on a list of the regions, 
employment areas and urban communities concerned by 
Objective No 2. The list may be amended in the light of 
the changing situation in the regions, employment areas 
and urban communities concerned. 
2. The Commission shall, in accordance with the 
procedures referred to in Article 16, draw up the list 
referred to in paragraph 1 on the basis of objective 
socio-economic criteria that take account among other 
things of the seriousness and changing pattern of the 
industrial problems and unemployment. Those criteria 
shall be set out in the provisions referred to in Article 3 
(4) and (5). 
Member States shall communicate to the Commission 
any information likely to be of assistance in drawing up 
the list. 
3. The Member States concerned by the list referred 
to in paragraph 1 shall submit their regional conversion 
plans to the Commission. Those plans shall include in 
particular: 
— a description of the conversion priorities selected for 
the regions, employment areas and urban 
communities concerned and of the corresponding 
measures, 
— an indication of the use that the competent national 
authorities intend to make of assistance available 
under the Funds, the EIB and the other financial 
instruments in implementing the plans. 
Where appropriate, the conversion plans shall be 
supplemented, at the Commission's request or on the 
initiative of Member States, by other relevant infor­
mation relating in particular to operations to be carried 
out at national, sectoral or interregional level. 
4. The Commission shall examine the proposed plans 
to determine whether they are consistent with the 
objectives of this Regulation and with the provisions and 
policies referred to in Articles 6 and 7. It shall establish, 
in consultation with the competent authorities in the 
Member State concerned and in accordance with the 
procedures referred to in Article 16, the Community 
conversion support framework for Community structural 
operations. 
No C 245/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 12. 9. 87 
The Community framework in support of regional 
conversion shall cover in particular: 
— the conversion priorities adopted for Community 
assistance, 
— the forms of assistance, 
— the financing plan, with details of the amount of 
assistance and its source, 
— the duration of the assistance. 
The Community support framework may, if necessary, 
be revised and adjusted to take account of new relevant 
information and of the results obtained during 
implementation of the operations concerned. 
5. The arrangements for the preparation and 
submission of regional conversion plans and for the 
Community support frameworks shall be laid down in 
the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5). 
6. In order to facilitate the restructuring — endorsed 
by the Community — of declining industries, the ESF 
may operate outside the regions referred to in paragraph 
1 to help workers directly affected by such restructuring. 
Article 10 
Objectives Nos 3 and 4 
1. Within the framework of the provisions 
implementing this Regulation, the Commission shall 
establish for a period covering a number of years general 
guidelines that set out and clarify the Community 
choices and criteria concerning action to combat long-
term unemployment (Objective No 3) and to facilitate 
the occupational integration of young people (Objective 
No 4). 
2. Member States shall submit their plans for 
combating long-term unemployment (Objective No 3) 
and for facilitating the occupational integration of young 
people (Objective No 4) to the Commission. Those plans 
shall include in particular: 
— information on the employment and labour market 
policy implemented at national level, 
— an indication of the priority operations already under 
way or to be carried out for a specific number of 
years to help those sections of the population 
concerned by Objectives Nos 3 and 4, that is those 
operations corresponding to the general guidelines 
laid down by the Commission, 
— an indication of the use that the competent national 
authorities intend to make of assistance available 
under the ESF — where appropriate, in conjunction 
with assistance from the EIB or other Community 
financial instruments — in implementing the plans. 3. The Commission shall examine the proposed plans 
to determine whether they are consistent with the 
objectives of this Regulation, with the general guidelines 
laid down by it and with the provisions and policies 
referred to in Articles 6 and 7. It shall establish for each 
Member State, in consultation with the competent auth­
orities and in accordance with the procedures referred to 
in Article 16, the Community support framework for the 
attainment of Objectives Nos 3 and 4. 
The Community support framework shall indicate in 
particular: 
— the Community priorities, 
— the particular objectives adopted for Community 
assistance in respect of the sections of the population 
concerned by Objectives Nos 3 and 4, 
— the forms of assistance, 
— the financing plan, with details of the amount of 
assistance and its source, 
— the duration of the assistance. 
The Community support framework may, if necessary, 
be revised and adjusted in the light of relevant new 
information and of the results obtained during 
implementation of the operations concerned. 
4. The arrangements for the preparation and 
submission of plans for combating long-term 
unemployment and facilitating the occupational 
integration of young people and for the Community 
support frameworks shall be laid down in the provisions 
referred to Article 3 (4) and (5). 
5. Assistance in connection with Objectives Nos 3 and 
4 shall be predominantly in the form of operational 
programmes. 
6. The operations eligible for ESF assistance in 
connection with Objectives Nos 3 and 4 shall be 
specified in the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4). 
Article 11 
Objective No 5 
1. The arrangements for the implementation of 
operations connected with the accelerated adaptation of 
agricultural structures shall be decided on within the 
framework of the provisions adopted pursuant to Article 
3 (4)and (5). 
2. The Commission may, in the light of the needs 
expressed by Member States, propose operations 
connected with rural development. Those operations may 
form part of rural development plans for geographical 
areas at the territorial level deemed appropriate. Those 
plans shall include in particular: 
— a description of the rural development priorities and 
of the corresponding measures; 
12.9. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 245/9 
— an indication of the use that the competent national 
authorities intend to make of assistance available 
under the different Funds, the EIB and the other 
financial instruments in implementing the plans. 
The Commission shall examine the proposed plans to 
determine whether they are consistent with the objectives 
of this Regulation and with the provisions and policies 
referred to in Articles 6 and 7. It shall establish, in 
consultation with the competent authorities in the 
Member State concerned and in accordance with the 
procedures referred to in Article 16, the Community 
support framework for rural development. 
The Community support framework shall cover in 
particular: 
— the rural development priorities adopted for 
Community assistance, 
— the forms of assistance, 
— the financing plan, with details of the amount of 
assistance and its source, 
— the duration of the assistance. 
The Community support framework may, if necessary, 
be revised and adjusted in the light of new relevant 
information and of the results obtained during 
implementation of the operations concerned. 
The arrangements for the preparation and submission of 
rural development plans by Member States shall be laid 
down in provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5). 
3. The part-financing of national aids and operational 
programmes shall be the preferred form of assistance. 
4. The operations eligible for assistance under the 
different Funds in connection with Objective No 5 shall 
be specified in the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4). 
In the case of the EAGGF Guidance Section, those 
provisions shall distinguish between operations to be 
financed in connection with the adaptation of agri­
cultural structures and operations to be financed in 
connection with rural development. 
IV. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS 
Article 12 
Within the framework of the multiannual budget 
forecasts, the Commission shall present each year a five-
year projection of the appropriations needed for the 
three structural Funds taken together. The projection 
shall be accompanied by an indicative breakdown of the 
commitment appropriations to be assigned to each objective. In drawing up each preliminary draft budget, 
the Commission shall, where the allocation for the 
structural Funds is concerned, take account of the 
indicative breakdown for each objective. 
The commitment appropriations for the structural Funds 
taken together shall be doubled in real terms between 
1987 and 1992. 
A major effort shall be made to concentrate budgetary 
resources on Objective No 1 (less-developed regions). 
The annual increase in the commitment appropriations 
assigned to Objective No 1 shall be at least equivalent to 
the overall annual increase in the commitment appropri­
ations for the structural Funds. The ERDF may devote 
up to 80 % of its appropriations to Objective No 1. 
Article 13 
The Community contribution to the financing of 
operations shall be differentiated in the light of the 
following: 
— the seriousness of the specific, notably regional, 
problems to be tackled, 
— the financing capactiy of the Member State 
concerned, 
— the special importance attaching to measures from a 
Community viewpoint, 
— the special importance attaching to measures from a 
regional and a sectoral viewpoint, 
— the particular characteristics of the types of measure 
proposed. 
Such differentiation shall take account of the planned 
link between grants and loans mobilized. The purpose of 
combining loan and grant elements shall be to maximize 
the stimulus provided by Community assistance while at 
the same time limiting its budgetary cost. 
V. COMBINATION AND OVERLAPPING OF 
ASSISTANCE 
Article 14 
1. For any given period, an individual measure or 
operation may benefit from assistance from only- one 
Fund at a time. 
2. An individual measure or operation may benefit 
from assistance from a Fund or other financial 
instrument in respect of only one of the objectives set 
out in Article 1 at a time. 
3. When implemented in the less-developed regions, 
operations in connection with Objective No 2 shall be 
planned and financed within the framework of Objective 
No 1. 
4. The arrangements governing the combination and 
overlapping of assistance shall be laid down in the 
provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5). 
No C 245/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.9.87 
VI. FINAL PROVISIONS 
Article 15 
1. The Commission shall be responsible for the 
implementation of this Regulation. 
2. Before 1 November of each year, the Commission 
shall present to the Council, to the European Parliament 
and to the Economic and Social Committee a report on 
the implementation of this Regulation during the 
preceding year. 
Article 16 
1. In implementing this Regulation, the Commission 
shall be assisted by three advisory committees dealing 
respectively with: 
— Objectives Nos 1 and 2, — Objectives Nos 3 and 4, 
— Objective No 5. 
2. The provisions setting out the arrangements 
relating to the functioning of the committees referred to 
in paragraph 1 and the transitional provisions concerning 
the existing committees responsible for managing the 
funds shall be laid down in accordance with Article 3 
(4), (5) and (6). 
Article 17 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1989. 
The date of entry into force may be deferred by the 
Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal 
from the Commission, to allow for the entry into force 
of the provisions referred to in Article 3 (4) and (5). 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.