COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(94) 46 final 
Brussels, 16.03.1994 
The Future of Community Imtiatives 
under the Structural Funds 
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The Future of Community Initiatives 
under the Structural Funds 
Introduction 
/ 
The Commission agreed a Green Paper on this subject on 16 June last year (COM(93)282). 
This described the history of Community Initiatives, set out the general principles which 
should influence the elaboration of initiatives during the 1994-99 period and suggested a 
framework for these initiatives, based on the following themes: 
i. cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation and networks; 
ii. rural development; 
iii. outermost regions; 
iv. employment and the development of human resources; 
v. the management of industrial change. 
The consultation process on the Green Paper has given rise to a large number of submissions 
from Member States, regional and local authorities, industrial and commercial associations, 
the social partners and numerous other bodies and individuals. The European Parliament and 
Economic and Social Committee have adopted formal Resolutions and, in the absence of the 
Committee of the Regions, the Consultative Council of Regional and Local Authorities has 
also submitted its views. A summary of the main points made in these submissions is at 
Annex 1. 
As can be seen from Annex 1, a large number of interesting points were raised in the 
submissions. There was, as could perhaps be expected, a fair degree of special pleading from 
various groups arguing the case for special initiatives in their favour. But as far as the 
framework for future initiatives is concerned, the vast majority of submissions supported the 
approach in the Commission's Green Paper, recognising the advantages of building as much 
as possible on existing initiatives. 
A number of bodies including the European Parliament in its Resolution on the Green Paper1, 
did highlight, however, the particular difficulties of urban areas, including problems linked 
to social exclusion. They pressed the case for an additional theme to the five already 
proposed by the Commission which would tackle the special problems in these urban areas. 
Moreover, the European Parliament and a number of other bodies supported a new, specific 
initiative for the fisheries dependent areas and the sector. 
./. 
Resolution of 28 October 1993, PE 176.537 
-2-
Towards the end of the consultation process, the Council, during its discussions on the GATT 
negotiations, asked the Commission to propose an initiative in favour of the textiles industry 
in Portugal. The Commission agreed to this, thereby facilitating an agreement in the Council 
on the GATT package. It was agreed that 400 million ecus be allocated to this initiative, 
which can be accommodated within the management of industrial change theme in the Green 
Paper framework. 
As stated in Article 7 of Regulation 2052/88, all these actions will be implemented in 
accordance with Treaty dispositions in relation to state-aids and the respect of Community 
competition policy. 
Cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation and networks 
The draft guidelines for the main initiative under this theme, which it is proposed to call 
Interreg II, follow closely those of the first Interreg initiative, but have been modified in a few 
respects. 
First, it has been recognised that all internal land border areas should in principle be eligible 
for assistance. This will mean making use of the geographical flexibility clause introduced 
in the revised Structural Funds regulations recently agreed. 
Second, as far as the external borders with central and eastern Europe are concerned, actions 
under Interreg II should now be planned in close liaison with those to be funded under the 
increased special budgetary provision for border regions within the Phare programme. All the 
external land border regions will be eligible for assistance. Two additional external maritime 
borders will be covered: Andalusia (Cadiz) to Morocco and Southern Italy to Albania. 
Thirdly, views on extending the coverage of Interreg to additional maritime border regions 
were mixed. The proposed guidelines therefore adopt a pragmatic approach on this, accepting 
that in addition to the Sardinia-Corsica and Kent-Nord Pas de Calais maritime borders which 
were eligible during the first phase, the borders between southern Italy-Greece and Ireland-
North Wales, also be eligible. These can be justified given their special problems and 
features, particularly for Greece with the increased difficulties in transport links with the 
Community as a result of the troubles in the Balkans; and for Ireland, the only Member State 
with no land link to the Community and which relies to a large extent on its links to the 
Community via North Wales. 
Two other points mentioned in the Green Paper in relation to Interreg were subject to 
comment in the consultations. The first concerns transnational and inter-regional cooperation 
generally (that is not confined to border areas). There is much support for an expansion of 
Community activities in this field, with the emphasis on supporting the development of 
networks and exchanges of experience, particularly in favour of skills and technology transfer 
towards less favoured regions; environmental management; and cooperation with regions in 
./. 
-3-
neighbouring countries. The Commission should continue to support such actions, but there 
are advantages in continuing to do so through the funds available for innovative actions rather 
than through Interreg. As the cooperation itself takes place at the regional and local level, 
it is more appropriate and in keeping with the subsidiarity principle to manage these measures 
in the same flexible manner as in the 1989-93 period. 
The second concerns the energy projects currently being financed under the Regen Initiative. 
By their nature, these help complete the trans-european energy network, and as such, have an 
inter-regional character. It is proposed to continue to finance the existing projects by 
prolonging the Regen Initiative as a separate strand within the financial amounts allocated to 
Interreg. Some of the projects are now quite far advanced; others have yet to begin. The 
proposed financial allocation takes account of developments on each project in the period up 
to 1993. This initiative complements the funding available from the Community in support 
of the completion of transeuropean networks for energy from budget appropriations 
specifically for this purpose and, in Objective 1 regions, from the Structural Funds in 
Community Support Frameworks. 
Rural Development 
The rural development guidelines build on the existing Leader programme, which has proved 
to be very popular and successful in rural areas. It is proposed to call the new initiative 
Leader II. 
As was the case in the first phase, Leader sets out to support local initiatives for rural 
development and to explore new approaches to tackle the growing difficulties of these areas. 
As already announced in the Green Paper, the principle modifications are as follows: 
the reinforcing of the added-value of the initiative in relation to programmes supported 
under Community Support Frameworks, the accent being put on innovation (interpreted 
in a wide sense and adapted to each particular context) , its demonstration effect and 
transferability; 
extending the scope of cooperation and for the transfer of knowhow between regions and 
rural actors; 
the simplification and decentralisation of implementation methods, the major part of 
project selection and management decisions being undertaken at a local or regional level. 
Lastly, Leader II as a whole is organised around a European network for rural development: 
this follows up a network established in the first phase, and will be extended to the various 
bodies participating in rural development and to new fields, so that it becomes a mechanism 
for active solidarity between all the rural areas. 
./. 
Outermost Regions 
There was a general recognition in the submissions that the Union's outermost regions 
continued to warrant supplementary assistance through a Community Initiative. Certain 
Member States argued for an extension of the definition of outermost regions. Others 
opposed this. The European Parliament preferred the existing definition, and it is proposed 
to continue to limit this initiative to the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores and the French 
Overseas Departments, respecting the declaration relating to outermost regions annexed to the 
Treaty on European Union.. 
Regis has been well appreciated in these regions and it is proposed to call the new initiative 
Regis II. The new initiative would have its scope widened so that Poseidom, Poseican, 
Poseima measures eligible for Structural Fund support can be continued and so that measures 
financed under other initiatives such as Stride, Télématique, Prisma etc, would in future be 
financed in these regions under Regis. This should lead to a simplification in programming, 
committee structures, financial management and control, etc, and reinforce the political 
importance of Regis. 
Employment and development of human resources 
The Green Paper published by the Commission in June 1993, advanced the idea of an 
integrated initiative on Employment and human resources as part of a package of ideas on the 
future of Community initiatives. This idea was widely welcomed in the responses to the 
Green Paper. The detailed proposals for an Employment and development of human 
resources Initiative now put forward follow from the ideas outlined last June and take into 
account the submissions received. The Green Paper envisaged within such an initiative a 
specific strand dealing with the adaptation of the workforce to industrial change. The 
approach now being proposed is that this aspect be dealt with in a separate initiative (see 
below). There would thus be two initiatives under the heading of Employment and the 
development of human resources. The proposals for both initiatives take as a basic point of 
reference the White Paper on Growth, Employment and Competitiveness and represent a 
major part of the Community's initial response to the challenge for action set down in the 
White Paper. 
The first initiative "Employment and the Development of Human Resources" would contain 
three distinct though interrelated strands: Employment-NOW, Employment-HORIZON and 
Employment-YOUTHSTART..... The proposal builds on the success of the existing human 
resources initiatives, NOW and HORIZON. 
The YOUTHSTART programme was proposed by the Commission in its White Paper on 
Growth, Competitiveness and Employment endorsed by the Heads of State and Government 
in December. It reflects the view that a greater effort is required to enable young people to 
participate effectively in the labour market. Young people who have left education without 
./. 
a qualification often cannot compete effectively in an already difficult labour market, and face 
the danger of long-term unemployment. The aim is to stimulate actions by Member States 
leading progressively in the longer term to the provision of a youth guarantee. The ultimate 
aim is that every young person under the age of 20 would eventually have access either to 
full-time employment or to a recognised form of education or training, including 
apprenticeship or other forms of linked work and training. The basis of YOUTHSTART 
Would be 12 national programmes tailored to the requirements of each Member State 
receiving, where appropriate, support through the Community Support Frameworks. The 
Community initiative dimension (Employment-YOUTHSTART) will act as a catalyst for the 
scheme as a whole. It will ensure the development of the innovative and transnational 
dimension of YOUTHSTART as well as the development of structured networks of projects 
and programmes in order to ensure the exchange of good practice and experience. 
Across the three strands of this initiative, four broad categories of measure can be identified: 
Systems measures; 
- Training measures; 
Job Creation measures; 
- Information/communication measures. 
While the initiative shares with Community Support Frameworks the primary objective of 
maintaining and increasing employment in the Community, it is quite distinct in its underlying 
rationale, aims and methodologies, in particular through its transnational dimension, its 
character as a catalyst for innovation and change and its emphasis on a decentralised, bottom-
up approach. 
As regards this initiative as well as the ADAPT Initiative referred to below, it is proposed to 
strengthen the technical assistance effort at Community, national and decentralised level in 
order to assist public authorities, private bodies and other interests concerned in the 
formulation and subsequent implementation of programmes. 
Close coordination will be necessary between these two initiatives and other Community 
activities in the area of employment including the CSFs and the Community vocational 
training programmes. In order to reinforce the mutual added value of Community supported 
action in this area, it is proposed that special coordination structures be put in place between 
DG V and the Task Force on Human Resources and, if necessary, other Directorates General 
of the Commission. This structure will support an active and mutual collaboration on the 
preparation and implementation of actions under both the vocational training programme and 
the Structural Funds including Community initiatives in the field of employment and human 
resources, while respecting the particular management responsibility of the respective services. 
Industrial Change 
Three types of action relating to the developments in the European economy are proposed 
under this heading of industrial change. The first is an action which will apply throughout 
the Union to help the workforce adapt to industrial change and to facilitate changes in 
production systems. This is essentially an employment action which will apply throughout 
the Community. A second type of action will give support to areas particularly dependent 
on declining industries incurring or expecting to incur a high rate of job losses. These actions 
aim to strengthen and diversify the local economies and to help remove the pollution and 
dereliction left behind by declining activities. The third action is intended to help small and 
medium sized enterprises meet the challenge of the Single Market and international 
competitivity more widely. Most of its action is concentrated on the areas of greatest need, 
the Objective 1 regions. 
Each of these three actions is managed separately in view of their particular aims and 
different management structures, but they form part of an overall approach to reinforcing 
European competitivity as set out in the White Paper while seeking to reduce regional 
disparities. Appropriate coordination will therefore be ensured. 
The first initiative concerning employment and adaptation of the workforce to industrial 
change would be called ADAPT. The importance of actions in this regard was recognised 
in the decision to create a new Objective 4 under the Structural Funds and was fully endorsed 
in responses to the Green Paper. 
The interrelated goals of this initiative are: 
- to assist workers, especially those threatened with unemployment as a consequence of 
industrial change, to adapt to increasingly rapid changes in the organisation and structure 
of employment; 
to help enterprises increase their competitiveness, mainly by encouraging organisational 
adaptation and non-physical investment. 
- to prevent unemployment by improving qualifications of the workforce; 
- to facilitate the development of new jobs and new activities. 
These objectives will require major efforts to offer and to implement adequate training 
schemes, to identify and develop new skills and qualifications, to upgrade the level of existing 
skills and improve the ability of the workforce to acquire new skills, to develop and support 
innovative approaches focused on networking between enterprises, and to promote the 
diffusion of R&D results. 
./. 
A Community-wide approach to these issues, allowing cross-fertilisation between enterprise 
strategies, research and development and training provision is an essential condition for 
bringing about a European response to these problems which affect in principle all Member 
States, and which are not limited to particular industries and services. The importance of 
addressing these issues in the context of the Community Initiatives is therefore evident. The 
transnational, innovative and bottom-up approach which is possible in the context of 
Community Initiatives will bring a particular added-value in addressing the problems of 
industrial adaptation. 
The second group of initiatives are regionally based. Within this theme, the submissions gave 
particular support for the continuation of regionally-based initiatives such as Rechar, Résider, 
Retex and Konver, where problems of job losses are particularly acute. The EP in particular 
supported this approach which is geographically focused on the worst hit areas. 
The need for Community support for coal and steel regions is all the more necessary in the 
light of the continuing loss of coal mining jobs and recent steel restructuring decisions and 
taking into account the run-down of assistance from the ECSC budget over the coming years. 
This has been recognised by the Industry Council. It is proposed therefore to continue these 
four initiatives. For the first three, given the degree of restructuring that has already taken 
place in the coal, steel and textiles industries and that the most affected regions have already 
been receiving national and Community support for some time, it is proposed to limit their 
life until the end of 1997. For Konver, an initiative extending to the end of 1997 would also 
be appropriate, given that there has already been an ad hoc programme in 1993. 
As regards the third area of action, the White Paper emphasises the role of SMEs in furthering 
growth and developing employment. As indicated above, the Employment Initiative will give 
special attention to the needs of SMEs and many of the measures under that Initiative will 
apply to the whole of the Community's territory. Other Community Initiatives under the 
heading of Industrial Change will also give special emphasis to the need to encourage and 
develop SMEs. The Community Support Frameworks will also in all cases include measures 
of special relevance to SMEs. To supplement this significant effort and to help SMEs 
principally in Objective 1 areas (where the need is greatest) to face the challenges linked to 
the implementation of the Single Market, a new initiative is proposed. 
Some of the measures now proposed are currently financed under Stride, Prisma and 
Télématique. Others, already indicated in the White Paper concern access to finance and 
credit, support for cooperation and for improving management standards. 
./. 
The Urban Initiative 
As noted above, the draft guidelines for this initiative will be circulated later. It will be 
necessary to identify problem neighbourhoods within cities where an accumulation of factors 
(high unemployment levels, low education attainment, poor housing, environmental decay, 
high crime rates, etc) make for a generally poor quality of life. Unemployment in poor urban 
areas tends to be significantly higher than national averages. The problems will need to be 
tackled in an integrated way, by means of concerted action by the national and city 
authorities. The Structural Funds cannot be involved in all areas eg. housing. Measures 
under this initiative should be complementary, among other things, to some of those envisaged 
under the Employment Initiative for disadvantaged groups. 
Fisheries 
The fisheries sector is confronted today by a very serious structural crisis with several 
worrying aspects (chronic over-capacity of the fleet which requires the withdrawal of a 
number of fishing boats, drastic restrictions on certain fishing methods), in a context of the 
development of a worldwide system of trade and a more and more competitive environment 
which enlargement will accentuate. 
This rapidly changing sector needs accompanying measures in the framework of a Community 
initiative called PESCA which foresees targeted measures to assist the restructuring of the 
sector and to encourage the diversification of economic activity in areas dependent on 
fisheries. The measures will concern both workers and firms in the regions concerned by this 
crisis in order to enable the sector to succeed in adapting while helping it to alleviate the 
social and economic consequences. 
Simplified Management 
The Structural Funds regulations require that any assistance under Community Initiatives shall 
be reflected in the establishment or revision of the relevant Community Support Framework. 
In practice this should mean that, wherever possible, the management of programmes under 
Community Initiatives should be carried out within the programme management structure of 
the relevant CSF. This was in fact the case for many of the initiatives in the first phase. 
Community Initiatives need not therefore result in additional unnecessary Committee 
structures. 
./. 
Financial Framework 
The amended Structural Funds regulations stipulate that "9% of the commitment 
appropriations for the Structural Funds shall be devoted" to funding Community Initiatives. 
In accordance with the Edinburgh European Council Conclusions, the amended Structural 
Fund Regulations and the financial allocation decisions taken by the Commission on 21 
October and 21 December last year, the total possible appropriations available for Community 
Initiatives during the 1994-99 period would therefore be 13.465 billion ecus (1994 prices). 
The regulations require that 8.16 billion be allocated to the Objective 1 regions. 
The table below shows how it is proposed to allocate the 13.465 billion ecus between the 
different initiatives and, on an indicative basis, how each initiative could contribute to the 
obligation to the Objective 1 regions. It is proposed that the allocations to Objective 1 
regions be slightly increased to 8.3 billion ecus to ensure that all Objectives contribute to the 
financing of the special initiative for the Portuguese textiles industry decided last December 
at the General Affairs Council. 
./. 
•10-
Billion ecus (1994 prices) 
Interreg/Regen 
Rural Development 
Regis 
Employment 
Now 
Horizon 
Youthstart 
Industrial Change 
Adapt 
Rechar 
Résider 
Konver 
Retex 
Portuguese Textiles 
Industry 
SMEs 
Urban Policy 
Fisheries 
Reserve 
TOTAL Total 
2.9 
1.4 
0.6 
1.4 
1.4 
0.4 
0.5 
0.5 
0.5 
0.4 
1.0 
0.6 
0.25 
1.60 
13.45 of which Objective 1 
2.3 
0.9 
0.6 
0.8 
0.4 
0.1 
0.1 
0.2 
0.4 
0.4 
0.8 
0.4 
0.1 
0.8 
8.3 
Results of consultations on the Green Paper 
"The Future of Community Initiatives 
under the Structural Funds"1 
I. Organization of the consultation 
Before adopting guidelines for the Community initiatives for the period 
1994-99, the Commission considered it appropriate to hold a wide 
debate, inviting not only the Member States (MS), Parliament (EP), the 
Economic and Social Committee (ESC) and the Consultative Council of 
Regional and Local Authorities (CCRLA) but also local and regional 
authorities, development agencies, the economic and social partners and 
all other interested parties, hereinafter referred to as "organizations 
concerned by the Community initiatives" (OCIs), to participate. 
To that end, a Green Paper was sent to the other Community institutions 
after it had been adopted by the Commission. At the beginning of July 
1993 some 1 500 copies were also sent to the regional and local 
authorities, some 100 copies to the social partners and some 500 copies 
to the lead organisations of networks of socio-professional 
organizations, and to the Leader, Now, Horizon and Euroform networks. 
Following publication of a summary of the Green Paper in the Official 
Journal, about 400 copies were also sent in response to individual 
enquiries. 
The EP, ESC and CCRLA drew up Opinions on the Green Paper while the 
Member States had the opportunity of expressing their views in a number 
of forums: the Consultative Committee for the regions eligible under 
Objectives 1 and 2, the ESF Committee, the Committee on Agricultural 
Structures, meetings of senior civil servants in charge of regional 
policy, the informal Council of Ministers for regional policies and 
land-use planning. Some Member States also sent a written reply. 
Although the Commission had requested the OCIs to reply by the end of 
September 1993 many replies were received in October and more still 
November. A total of 514 different replies were received.2 
II. General summary of the replies received from the OCIs 
A database supported by all the departments concerned (DGs V, VI and 
XVI) was set up to assist the analysis of replies. 
1 COM(93) 282 final of 16 June 1993. 
2 Multiple replies based on standard letters drafted by a head of 
network were treated and counted as a single collective reply. 
A. Breakdown by Member State 
The breakdown of the replies by Member State and by category of 
organization is given in Tables 1, 2 and 3 in the Annex. 
About 60% of the replies came from three countries (France, Ireland and 
the United Kingdom). Those from Spain, Italy and Greece accounted for 
only 10% of the total. 
The country which sent the largest number of replies in proportion to 
its population was undoubtedly Ireland. 
B. Breakdown by category of respondent 
Table 3 gives the breakdown by category of respondent. 
By far the largest category was regional and local authorities, which 
accounted for 39% of replies. Replies were received from all three 
regions of Belgium, 15 of the 26 regions of France, 9 of the 16 German 
Lander, 20 of the 65 counties and regions of the United Kingdom, and 6 
of the 29 county councils in Ireland - but from only three of the 20 
regions of Italy, three of the 17 regions of Spain, and two of the 12 
provinces of the Netherlands. 
Replies were also received from the most representative of the 
associations of local and regional authorities: the Assembly of 
European Regions, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions 
(CCRE), the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of the EC (CPMR) 
and the European Association of Industrial Regions (RETI). 
A comparatively large number of replies was also received from 
consultants, the European networks linked to the Community initiatives, 
and from associations and lobbyists. By contrast, there was little 
reaction from chambers of commerce, employers' organizations and trade 
unions, and public and private industrial firms. 
C. Breakdown by fields covered 
While some replies dealt with only one theme, others covered all of 
them so that the number of fields covered was larger than the number of 
replies received. 
An initial classification was made on the basis of the fields referred 
to: i.e. general matters and each of the five themes suggested in the 
Green Paper.3 Table 1 demonstrates that the amount of interest 
generated by each of these themes was broadly similar, apart from the 
outermost regions, which account for only a small proportion of the 
Community's territory. If the number of times a theme was mentioned is 
related to the amounts involved, rural development heads the list in 
terms of the rate of response. 
Cross-border, trans-national and inter-regional cooperation and 
networks; rural development; outermost regions; employment and the 
development of human resources; the management of industrial 
change. 
Table 1: Fields covered 
Number of fields covered 
General matters 207 
Cooperation and networks 263 
Rural development 212 
Outermost regions 42 
Employment and human resources 244 
Management of industrial change 180* 
III. Analysis of opinions and replies 
The analysis below summarizes the main points made by the Member States 
(MS), Parliament (EP), the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) and the 
Consultative Council of Regional and Local Authorities (CCRLA) and the 
other written replies received by the Commission's services. 
A. General points 
1. Priorities for assistance by Community initiatives 
Overall, there was broad agreement that the initiatives should 
concentrate on the five themes proposed by the Commission. There were, 
however, some requests for the following extra themes or initiatives: 
programmes for urban areas with a high rate of unemployment to 
combat social exclusion (Northern MS, EP, CCRLA and some ten 
replies from the OCIs); 
the continuation of Envireg or specific programmes on the 
environment (EP and some twenty OCIs); 
specific programmes on fisheries (EP and some twenty OCIs); 
- one Member State requested special measures to help customs 
combat illegal imports of drugs. Another Member State asked for 
attention to be given to the tourist sector. 
The 226 standard letters ' supporting the continuation of Rechar 
received from local authorities*'- benefiting from that initiative 
were not counted as individual replies. 
2. Value added by the Community initiatives 
There is general agreement that trans-national cooperation, the 
exchange of know-how and the development of best practice are important 
ways in which the Community initiatives can add value (MS, EP, ESC, 
CCRLA and some 100 OCIs). 
The EP, ESC, CCRLA and some 100 OCIs asked for greater participation by 
territorial bodies and other involved in the local economy, 
particularly the social partners, and the development of a "bottom-up" 
approach. 
Some replies stressed that cooperation and the exchange of know-how 
could not operate effectively without adequate participation by those 
involved at regional level and representatives of the socio-
professional groups. 
Some thirty replies also mentioned the encouragement given to 
innovation and the trying of new approaches as a factor adding value. 
3. Management mechanisms 
There was virtually unanimous agreement that procedures should be 
simplified but few concrete suggestions; some proposals would entail 
greater complication. 
3.1 Reduction in the number of Community initiatives or Community 
initiative programmes 
The Member States wanted the number of initiatives reduced and a number 
asked for only one per theme. 
While Parliament referred to the need to reduce the number of 
initiatives, it asked for all those from the previous period to 
continue and added two new ones (urban areas and fisheries). It also 
proposed that there should be only one initiative for Télématique, 
Stride and Prisma and one for Euroform, Now and Horizon. 
More than 70 OCIs supported reducing the number of initiatives but a 
small minority (about ten replies) were opposed because they feared 
either that regional programmes would disappear or that small groups 
and associations would be excluded. 
3.2 Integrated financial management 
In its budgetary procedures, Parliament has moved from allocating 
appropriations by Fund to allocating them by theme. It is also asking 
for vocational training measures under Objective 4 and other measures 
to help firms to be managed in a more coordinated fashion both at 
Community level and at the level of the Member States. 
It should be noted that the Council decided to have a single Monitoring 
Committee for the Community Initiatives bringing the three Structural 
Funds together in a single framework. 
3.3 Decentralized management and global grants 
Parliament, the ESC and some twenty replies from OCIs (but only one 
Member State) mentioned decentralized management, and in particular 
greater use of global grants as a means of achieving simplification. A 
number of Member States had reservations about global grants. 
3.4 Information and monitoring 
About thirty OCIs mentioned the need for better information on the 
Community Initiatives* By contrast, the idea of including them in the 
CSF monitoring structure was mentioned rarely and opinions were divided 
(10 for, 8 against). Parliament stressed that simplification should not 
detract from the promotion of trans-national and inter-regional 
cooperation. 
3.5 Monitoring 
Some Member States, Parliament, the ESC and some OCIs mentioned the 
need to derive lessons for the future from previous Community 
Initiatives. One Member State asked for prior appraisal of all the new 
Community Initiatives for 1994-99. 
4. Geographical flexibility 
The Member States mentioned geographical flexibility principally in 
relation to Interreg and industrial change. Only one considered that it 
should remain the exception. 
Parliament and the ESC accepted that there should be broad geographical 
flexibility for Interreg. However, in the case of industrial change, 
they stressed the need for it to be limited, either to areas with 
serious problems (ESC) or in accordance with strict criteria (EP). 
Some fifty OCIs supported flexibility but about ten wanted it to be 
limited. However, some replies indicated opposition for fear of a 
reduction in the appropriations available for the areas eligible under 
Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b). 
5. Financial reserve 
Most of the Member States felt that a reserve of 25% as proposed by the 
Commission was excessive. Some wanted 10%; one could support 25% 
initially provided that at least 40% of the reserve was allocated 
during the first three years. 
Parliament wanted a reserve of not less than 25% in order to meet 
unexpected events with a heavy economic and social impact. 
Some forty OCIs were in favour of a reserve of about 25% while two 
wanted only 10% and one was opposed to the idea. 
REACTIONS BY INITIATIVE 
1. CROSS-BORDER, TRANSNATIONAL AND INTERREGIONAL COOPERATION 
(INTERREG) 
Six issues in INTERREG have been the main focus of attention. The 
following paragraphs summarise the position of each of the main groups 
of respondents on these issues: 
1.1 The inclusion of Maritime Regions; 
Among Member States, those without land frontiers with the rest of the 
Union are strongly in favour of including extensively maritime regions 
within INTERREG. The idea is also supported by the European Parliament 
but there is a recognition that this may not be entirely practical. The 
ESC supports a limited inclusion only. The CCRLA does not take a strong 
position. 
Of the 263 written submissions on INTERREG, 114 argue for its extension 
to maritime borders and only 6 argue against. This support comes mainly 
for maritime regions in the UK and France. 
1.2 Reinforcing action on the external borders: 
Among the Member States, those most directly concerned are strong 
advocates of reinforcing action. Other Member States are not opposed 
but do not want any extra effort on the external borders to be at the 
expense of internal borders. The European Parliament is also very much 
in favour. The ESC and CCRLA also favour reinforcement but not as 
strongly as the Parliament. 
Among the written submissions over 60 mention reinforcement favourably. 
These include a wide range of European bodies (AER, AEBR, Eurada, CRPM, 
ETUC etc.) as well as many regional and local authorities not located 
in external border areas. 
1.3 Definition of border areas: 
The issue which respondants addressed is whether coverage should extend 
beyond the NUTS level 3 to a wider area of the territory. Several 
Member States, argue for a more flexible approach, but one is opposed. 
The European Parliament refers to this point but does not argue 
strongly for it. The ESC is generally negative arguing for 
concentration of ressources. The CCRLA supports a wider coverage. 
Among the written submissions received, over 100 respondents argue for 
a flexible position on geographical coverage although this is often 
linked to the argument for including maritime regions. 
1*4 Strengthening the role of regional and local authorities: 
As would be expected this idea is strongly advocated by regional and 
local authorities themselves and by their main representative bodies 
(AER, CEMR, Eurocities etc.). Equally, the CCRLA also argues very 
strongly in this direction. The European Parliament and ESC also agree 
as do some other European bodies such as Unice, ETUC, Eurada and 
Eurochambers, although they also seek a more active role for the social 
partners at local level. 
1.5 Simplification and cross-border management structures: 
Among Member States there is an insistence that procedures should be 
simplified, but few precise proposals. The European Parliament have 
also pressed strongly for more streamlined procedures for the 
management of initiatives while stressing that this must not be to the 
detriment of transnational cooperation. The ESC and CCRLA also support 
simplification and transparency although nothing very specific is 
proposed. 
The question of a legal instrument at Union level to facilitate 
cooperation also arises in this context. Although the European 
Parliament and many regional and local authorities have called for a 
Commission proposal on this, there is almost unanimity among Member 
States that this is not appropriate. 
1.6 Inclusion of transnational and interregional cooperation: 
The reaction on this point is perhaps the most surprising. In the Green 
paper, the Commission was very careful on this issue, but almost 100 
written submissions from a broad cross-section of interests support the 
idea. The European Parliament, CCRLA and ESC are all also in favour. 
What is most interesting is that a majority of Member States have also 
expressed their support most notably at the informal Council of 
Ministers for Regional Policy and Planning in Liège on 12/13 November 
1993. 
2. RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
More than half the replies received referred to this theme and of 
these, a large number were collective replies on behalf of several 
thousand public and private bodies concerned with the development of 
rural areas. 
Almost all these responses were highly positive about the Leader 
initiative. The Green Paper provided an opportunity to verify the 
impact and demonstration effect of this initiative, particularly among 
local bodies and professional organizations and associations. The 
reactions of existing beneficiaries are based mainly on what they have 
directly experienced and stress the principle of continuity as a 
priority. 
2.1 Institutional reactions 
Meeting in the "STAR" Committee, the Member States gave overall 
approval to the Green Paper's guidelines on Leader. The Advisory 
Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development welcomed the 
Commission's proposals while urging that those professionally engaged 
in the sector would be involved in the decision-making process. 
Parliament's resolution supported the Commission's proposals while 
stressing the need to create jobs in rural areas particularly in regard 
to new ways of using land, and the management of agricultural waste. 
Parliament also wanted programmes on a larger scale and covering 
broader areas to be eligible when proposed and implemented through 
cooperation among a number of local bodies and/or socio-economic 
partners. 
The opinion of the Economic and Social Committee "particularly 
welcomed" the Commission's proposals while stressing the need for a 
"bottom-up" approach. 
2.2 Objectives and strategy 
The general strategy based on support for practical and innovative 
initiatives taken at local level to demonstrate new approaches to rural 
development obtained unanimous support. 
Reactions stressed the need for continuity between Leader I and Leader 
II as indispensable in view of the length of time required by the 
development process. 
A strategy which is innovative in terms of both its methods and its 
content should result in specific add value. The reactions of all the 
partners stress the importance of there being a difference between 
Leader and the content of operational programmes under the Community 
Support Frameworks. 
A number of responses from the Member States and from the networks also 
stressed greater transparency and coordination of the various forms of 
Community assistance to support development initiatives in the 
countryside managed by different Directorates-General (rural 
development, local development, local initiatives for job-creation, 
etc.). Leader should provide a structure for grouping these actions. 
2.3 Range of measures 
The three main components of the implementation of this strategy 
(innovation, trans-national cooperation and exchanges within the 
network) received generally favourable comments: 
innovation enjoys broad support provided that it is interpreted 
very broadly, adapted to specific local situations and not 
confined to the economic sphere; 
trans-national cooperation is seen as a useful advance on Leader 
I provided that it does not become a condition of eligibility; 
there was unanimous approval of networking and of its effects in 
terms of exchanges of experience and facilitating cooperation. 
Many replies insisted that this category of measures was a 
priority and that Leader networks should also be supported at 
national level. 
Many replies, particularly those from Ireland and the United Kingdom, 
proposed enlarging eligibility and taking explicit account of social, 
cultural and environmental measures, of specific measures for women in 
the countryside, and of the use of financial engineering techniques 
(revolving funds, mobilization of local savings, loans, etc.). 
2.4 Geographical flexibility 
The proposal in the Green Paper to extend the territorial coverage of 
Leader II beyond the Objective 1 and 5(b) areas was fairly well 
received, provided that such an extension was limited and did not 
undermine the principle of concentration. 
2.5 Implementation 
The principle of decentralizing decision-making and management was 
understood in a variety of ways and received a mixed reception. 
Leader II follows the approach of Leader I in giving local groups and 
others involved a large degree of independence in design and 
management. There was unanimous support for this aspect. 
The Commission's proposal for Leader II included decentralization of 
the process for the submission of programmes and the selection of 
groups, which would become the responsibility of the regional and local 
partners. Replies reflected concern over this point: there was a 
general desire for the Commission to retain some responsibility for the 
process of selecting groups, and that in any case local bodies should 
play an important role. 
At the same time, many replies hoped that implementation could be 
genuinely simplified by avoiding the cumulation of Community and 
national administrative constraints. 
2.6 Conclusions 
Overall, the guidelines proposed by the Commission received broad 
support from all the groups involved. Clearly, this initiative is 
regarded as of great importance and it arouses substantial 
expectations. 
It would be helpful if the Commission attempted to give explanations of 
those points about which misgivings were expressed. 
3. OUTERMOST AREAS 
Comments were made on two points: the areas eligible and the content of 
his initiative. 
3.1 Areas eligible 
Three Member States and Parliament felt that only those regions 
currently benefiting from Regis should be eligible. Two Member States 
requested extension of the initiative to the Scottish and Irish 
islands. The ESC supported this request and added other islands. 
The "islands" Commission of the CPMR (Conference of Peripheral Maritime 
Regions of the EC) asked for eligibility to be restricted to those 
remote regions currently eligible with a new initiative introduced for 
the other islands. 
The regions currently eligible under Regis and UPEC (a Europe-wide 
organization of professional associations in the peripheral regions) 
stressed that only those regions should be eligible. 
Some ten OCIs requested an extension of the eligible area, half to 
embrace the small islands off Ireland and half to include the Scottish 
islands, including the Shetlands. 
3.2 Content of the initiative 
Most of the comments on the content of the initiative came from UPEC, 
which considered that stress should be laid on the diversification of 
productive activities, cooperation between the most remote islands and 
neighbouring non-member countries and the rest of the Community and the 
development of telematics networks. Some OCIs pointed out that the 
existing Envireg, Stride, Télématique and Interreg Initiatives were of 
interest to those islands. 
The CPMR and UPEC referred to extra transport costs, and asked for 
measures to offset them similar to those applied to certain 
agricultural imports under Poseidom, Poseima and Poseican. 
One Member State insisted that large-scale transport infrastructure 
such as airports should remain eligible under the initiative. 
4. EMPLOYMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES 
The theme "Employment and the development of human resources" was given 
considerable importance in the positions adopted by the institutions of 
the Union, several Member States, the social partners and about half 
the organizations which commented on the Green Paper. Altogether, 244 
replies mentioned this theme; their source is shown in Table 3 in the 
Annex. 
10 
Local administrations showed particular interest in this Community 
Initiative, seeing it as a flexible tool for fighting local 
unemployment and a necessary complement for measures under the 
Community support frameworks. The ESC, the ETUC (European Trade Union 
Confederation), Unice and Parliament stressed the importance of 
participation by the social partners at all levels of implementation of 
the Initiative. (The ESC regretted that the social partners were not 
represented on the Management Committee for the Community Initiatives). 
4.1 A majority in support of a framework initiative 
Most of the Member States, Parliament, the ESC, Unice, the ETUC, the 
CCRLA and the vast majority of the organizations supported grouping the 
various priorities into a single framework initiative. The existence of 
a number of separate but interactive aspects was seen as a procedure 
which improves the coordination, monitoring and assessment of measures. 
However, it was considered necessary to improve the definition of the 
target groups to permit a better direction of measures, greater 
visibility of the beneficiary groups and to ensure that specific groups 
received aid. A significant number of replies supported a precise 
breakdown of the budget by aim. 
Parliament, the ESC, Unice and several organizations asked for measures 
under the Euroform, Horizon and Now Initiatives to be continued under a 
new Community initiative. Similarly, Parliament wanted the initiative 
to receive appropriate finance. A number of organizations also proposed 
increasing resources, mainly for measures to promote equal 
opportunities. 
A large number of the OCIs saw greater job creation in small firms, the 
transfer of innovation and the development of applied research as 
horizontal measures to be developed in the three aspects regarded as 
priorities: 
adaptation of the labour force to industrial change; 
promotion of equal opportunities; 
measures to combat exclusion from the labour market. 
4.2 Anticipating and facilitating adaptation to industrial change 
Parliament, the ETUC, Unice and a number of Member States stressed the 
importance of accompanying measures to enable the workforce to adapt to 
industrial change. 
Attention was drawn to the advantages of an approach which would 
anticipate the social consequences of restructuring. Such an approach 
should encourage the diversification of the local economy through new 
qualifications and skills. For this purpose, use should be made of the 
experience acquired through Euroform. 
There was much support for a broad geographical coverage which would 
enable all the firms facing a given problem to receive help. These 
measures should be effectively linked to others dealing with the topic 
of the management of industrial change (EP, Unice). 
11 
4.3 Improving measures to combat exclusion 
Many responses concerned measures to combat the risk of exclusion from 
the labour market. Parliament, some Member States and the social 
partners stressed the socio-economic impact of measures to combat 
exclusion and 79 organizations also considered this aspect a priority. 
However, some regarded it as very widely drawn and relating to a 
heterogeneous groups. They proposed distinguishing the following 
categories: 
- the handicapped; 
immigrants, refugees and cultural minorities (e.g. gypsies); 
- the disadvantaged (drug addicts, prisoners, young delinquents, 
the fourth world, etc.). 
Concerning the nature of the measures, the importance of protected 
workshops, the adaptation of work places and the preparation of 
teaching material to meet the needs of the handicapped were mentioned, 
as were measures to encourage integration into an ordinary working 
environment. 
A number of organization stressed the importance of training for 
immigrants and combating racism and xenophobia in general. 
With reference to other handicapped people, it was stressed that 
exclusion is a process which has to be dealt with at different stages 
and in a broad way, from prevention to counselling and support for the 
person to safeguard his job. 
4.4 Support for the promotion of equal opportunities 
The promotion of equal opportunities for men and women on the labour 
market is also regarded as a priority. Parliament, several Member 
States, the social partners (particularly the ETUC and a number of 
national unions) and 63 organizations mentioned it explicitly. 
Parliament wanted a specific initiative to promote the integration of 
women into working life. While approving the establishment of a 
framework initiative, Parliament asked for the NOW Initiative to 
continue with adequate funding since it had demonstrated its worth. 
Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights, the ETUC, some trade union 
organizations, the European Women's Lobby and some promoters also 
considered that a separate and specific initiative for equal 
opportunities was required. If that proved impossible, the framework 
initiative should include a specific budget allocation for equal 
opportunities which could not be transferred to other aspects. 
It was also stressed that the principle of equal opportunities should 
appear as a standard clause in all measures financed under the 
initiative, and appropriate monitoring mechanisms for that purpose were 
proposed. 
12 
Of the measures suggested, the acquisition of new qualifications in 
areas offering jobs, the recognition and exploitation of acquired 
skills, the development of nurseries and other accompanying measures 
which would provide women with greater access to employment, were 
regarded as particularly important. 
4.5 Encouraging innovation, research and the establishment of small 
firms 
Many replies saw innovation, the transfer of the results of research 
and innovative activities in these areas as a necessary complement to 
policies concerning employment and the integration of certain groups. 
Along the same lines, the ESC and one Member State proposed support for 
the establishment of small and medium-sized firms. Some organizations 
wanted firms and associations in the community, social and cultural 
sector to be included. 
4.6 Other measures proposed 
Parliament, Denmark and the Netherlands and some OCIs proposed addition 
of a new aspect to deal with the socio-economic problems of urban 
areas. Parliament also wanted a series of measures for fisheries. 
Some organizations proposed experimenting with new ways of organizing 
work, (reductions in hours worked, new ways of organizing work, etc.). 
4.7 Maintaining and strengthening the general principles of the 
existing initiatives 
Basing themselves on their experience of the current human resources 
initiatives, the vast bulk of replies stressed the need to retain and 
strengthen the following general principles: 
- their trans-national nature: while stressing the importance of 
this dimension in adding value through the initiatives and for 
exchanges of know-how at Community level, all the European 
institutions, the ETUC, Unice, national authorities and the bulk 
of the OCIs noted that it had been particularly difficult to give 
this concept practical expression because of the lack of adequate 
technical assistance and harmonized procedures for the selection 
of projects, and the very short time allowed for project 
selection. Since the projects are trans-national in character, 
the majority of the OCIs suggested allowing more time for 
implementation, enough time for preparation of the project and 
increasing the amount of technical assistance during this 
preparatory phase; 
13 
local dimension and "bottom-up" approach: all concerned 
considered that an approach including these two elements provides 
a better response to the specific needs of the target groups, 
generates synergy and encourages a global approach which 
determines the success of the measure. Excessively cumbersome 
procedures were also seen as an obstacle to financing for small 
promoters and a desire for simpler procedures was expressed; 
support structures and networks: the results of the Euroform, 
Horizon and Now programmes and experience accumulated by the 
support structures and networks should be exploited in preparing 
a new framework initiative. Some replies suggested fostering 
exchanges by integrating projects into thematic networks (the 
ETUC, CCRLA) while others suggested that the countries of central 
and eastern Europe should join the networks; 
complementarity with the CSFs and other Community programmes: 
cooperation between the Community initiatives on human resources 
and programmes and initiatives on training and employment was 
seen as positive by respondents, who wanted to see this 
complementarity improved and favoured greater coherence and 
coordination of measures (EP, ESC, UNICE). They also stressed the 
need to make the Community initiatives more complementary with 
the CSFs; 
information on the Community initiatives: those replying reported 
a lack of information at regional or local level. Decentralized 
management would permit better dissemination of information. 
5. INDUSTRIAL CHANGE 
Most of the replies concerning industrial change came from the central 
regions. A large number of the replies came from regions or bodies 
which had already benefited from one of the initiatives in this 
category, while few of those potentially eligible under the new 
measures proposed in the Green Paper expressed a view. 
The replies by each group of partners are briefly set out below: 
5.1 Objectives to be pursued 
Some Member States wanted the approach to be limited to the 
diversification of regional economies. Other Member States, by 
contrast, considered that, while emphasizing diversification, the 
sectors undergoing restructuring should not be excluded from 
modernization measures. Parliament did not rule out aid for 
restructuring measures while the ESC had considerable reservations. Of 
the 16 OCIs which commented on this point, the majority wanted 
restructuring to be financed while two of them, including UNICE, were 
opposed. 
14 
Parliament considered that the "industrial change" theme should cover 
measures of four types: remedying the crises in traditional industrial 
regions; preparing modern sectors for changes; helping small firms; 
and; preparing industry in the objective 1 regions for the single 
market, in particular by taking over some of the measures in STRIDE, 
TELEMATIQUE and PRISMA. 
Some countries also stressed the preparation of small firms for the 
Single Market, and several Member States asked for the measures under 
"Stride", "Prisma" and "Télématique" to be continued. 
The ESC, UNICE and the CCRLA emphasized both the diversification of 
regions with sectoral problems and the preparation of industry in the 
Objective 1 regions for the Single Market. The ETUC and UNICE saw the 
solution as lying in the development of networks of firms, aid for 
high-quality services to firms, the promotion of transfers of 
technology and the continuation of measures under "Stride". More 
especially, however, the ETUC stressed the diversification of regions 
affected by closures, and the retraining of workers. 
The OCIs, operating close to the operational reality, saw the 
priorities as being cooperation networks, exchanges of experience and 
the dissemination of technologies. Employment, training and, in general 
terms, the development of know-how was also a major concern. Many 
contributions stressed the need to assist small firms in the process of 
change because they were less capable than large firms of reacting 
unaided. There were many requests for the continuation of measures, 
such as "Stride", "Prisma" and "Télématique", both in the Objective 1 
regions and elsewhere. Many replies also emphasized the importance of 
systematically pursuing a quality policy, as a factor for change in 
firms. 
Other ideas put forward on the subject of industrial change included 
links with environmental protection, the supply and rational 
utilization of energy, urban decay and local development. 
5.2 Geographical flexibility 
Most of the Member States supported geographical flexibility as applied 
to industrial change: Parliament and the ESC emphasized the need for 
geographical flexibility only in areas with serious problems (ESC) or 
limited by strict criteria (EP). Of the OCIs, 44 were in favour of 
flexibility for this theme, four were against and six asked for it to 
be limited. 
15 
5.3 Management methods 
Many counties wanted there to be only one initiative dealing with 
industrial change. One Member State opposed programmes of the sectoral 
type such as Rechar and Retex while another country opposed programmes 
dealing with only one issue, such as "Télématique", "Prisma" and 
"Stride". 
Parliament also suggested that there should be a high-level 
consultative committee comprising representatives of the employers and 
workers at national level, to help the Commission acquire analytical 
tools and information with respect to industrial change. 
Many contributions from the OCIs recommended continuation of measures 
already in progress, which they saw as having made an effective 
contribution to helping solve sectoral problems, particularly in the 
conversion of coal-mining areas, defence, textiles, shipbuilding and 
steel. However, in this regard some drew attention to the need to avoid 
overlapping with the CSFs and from an administrative point of view, 
between the initiatives. 
16 
TABLE 1 - Number of replies by country 
140 
Table 2 - Number of replies by country by 100.000 inhabitants 
Table 3 - Number of replies by type of organisation 
Extra EEC 
European networks 
Members of Community 
institutions 
Associations, lobbying 
groups 
Private and public businesses 
Universities, development 
orgs., consultants 
Chambers of commerce 
Employers organisations 
Trades unions 
Government administrations 
Regional and local authorities 
50 100 150 200 
Organisations concerned by 
the Green Paper (OC.I.) 
Regional or local authorities 
Government administrations 
Trades unions 
Employers organisations 
Chambers of commerce 
Universities, development orgs., 
consultants 
Private and public business 
Associations, lobbying groups 
Members of Communities 
institutions 
European networks 
Extra EEC 
Total by country European 
organisations 
6 
4 
7 
2 
5 
1 
4 
4 
33 B 
8 
2 
1 
5 
6 
7 
29 DK 
5 
2 
1 
1 
3 
12 D 
19 
2 
1 
1 
3 
8 
9 
43 G 
1 
2 
1 
4 
8 E 
9 
3 
1 
4 
1 
1 
4 
23 F 
43 
1 
2 
7 
13 
1 
10 
18 
95 IRL 
10 
1 
1 
3 
9 
3 
22 
7 
56 IT 
8 
1 
4 
7 
2 
1 
1 
24 L 
1 
2 
3 N 
8 
1 
3 
2 
3 
17 P 
3 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
8 
21 UK 
80 
1 
3 
1 
21 
4 
19 
11 
140 Extra 
EEC 
5 
5 
10 TOTAL 
200 
20 
9 
18 
16 
75 
14 
75 
5 
77 
5 
514 
Explanatory Memorandum 
"INTERREG II" Initiative 
The Commission decided in 1990 to introduce a Community initiative in favour 
of border areas of the Community called INTERREG. The purpose of the 
INTERREG initiative was to accelerate the integration of internal border areas 
into a single internal market and to reduce the isolation of external border 
areas, to the benefit of the local population concerned. It was also intended to 
promote cooperation between the Community's external border areas and 
adjoining areas in the countries of Eastern Europe as new opportunities arose. 
The initiative applied to objective 1, 2 and 5(b) border areas. Complementary 
actions in all non-eligible border areas were supported through studies and pilot 
projects under article 10 of the ERDF Regulation, and measures under Article 
1(2) of the ESF Regulation and Article 8 of the EAGGF Regulation. 
The conclusions of the European Council at Edinburgh in December 1992 
concerning the continuation of Community initiatives gave high priority to the 
type of activities pursued under INTERREG for the new programming period 
1994-1999. Cross-border and interregional cooperation met with extensive 
support in the responses to the Green Paper. The European Parliament, 
ECOSOC, CCRLA regarded INTERREG as the main priority for the next set 
of initiatives. Among Member States, it was also, generally considered as the 
most important of the initiatives. 
The first INTERREG initiative has stimulated already joint approaches to 
development between border regions. It was implemented through 31 
operational programmes, of which 24 covered internal border regions and the 
remainder external borders. Programmes for internal borders had to be 
prepared jointly by Member States concerned which - by drawing them up, 
negotiating them and implementing them in genuine partnership - represented a 
significant step forward for interregional cooperation. 
Actions supported under INTERREG I covered almost all areas of economic 
development activity, ranging from transport and communication (45% of 
credits) to support of business and tourism (28% of credits), environment (10% 
of credits), rural development (6% of credits), training and other activities 
(11% of credits). 
The bulk of the credits were concentrated on objective 1 regions (Spain -
Portugal, Greece and Ireland - Northern Ireland) but there was support also for 
regions at the heart of the Community, like EUREGIO between Germany and 
the Netherlands, which have worked together for many years. A special effort 
was made to encourage the dissemination of experience between regions 
already well practised in cooperation and regions for which such actions are 
relatively new. 
4. In the period 1989-1993, the Commission also adopted an initiative entitled 
REGEN whose purpose was to complete selected energy transport and 
distribution networks and ensure links to Community-wide networks. 
The European Council and the Commission have underlined on several 
occasions the importance of trans-European networks, particularly in the field 
of energy, in relation to the completion of the single market and the reinforcing 
of economic and social cohesion. The White Paper on growth, competitiveness 
and employment reaffirms this observation and lists the projects eligible for 
support under this initiative. 
These projects should contribute to improving the competitiveness of 
productive activity, especially industry, in the Objective 1 regions concerned, to 
the improvement of the energy balances of Member States which are still 
isolated in energy terms from the rest of the Community, and finally to the 
reinforcement of the security of their energy supplies and to the improvement 
of the environment. 
5. Six projects were identified for REGEN (1989-93): 
. two projects for the introduction of natural gas in Greece and in Portugal; 
. four transnational links, one concerning electricity interconnections between 
Italy and Greece, the three others concerning gas interconnections between 
Ireland and the United Kingdom, between Spain and Portugal, and between 
Sardinia, Corsica and Italy. 
Four of the above projects started in the period 1991-1993. One of them, the 
gas interconnection between the United Kingdom and Ireland, which obtained 
Community support of 116 MECU, is finished. 
On the other hand, work has not begun on interconnections between Italy, 
Corsica and Sardinia and between Spain and Portugal. 
6. The guidelines for INTERREG II follow closely those of the first INTERREG 
initiative, but have been modified in the context of the completion of the Single 
Market. In future, it is proposed that INTERREG II should have two strands -
cross-border cooperation which continues the action started under INTERREG 
I, and the completion of energy networks, which concludes the action started 
under REGEN. A single budget is proposed for INTERREG II, amounting to 
2 900 MECU of which 2 400 MECU is for the first strand (cross-border 
cooperation) and the remainder, 500 MECU, for the second strand (completion 
of energy networks). 
7. Turning first of all to cross-border cooperation, the adaptations in relation to 
INTERREG I can be summarized as follows: all internal and external land 
borders will be eligible for support from INTERREG II on the basis of the 
flexibility now provided by the amended Structural Fund regulations. 
8. Views on extending the coverage of INTERREG to additional maritime border 
regions were mixed. The proposed guidelines adopt a pragmatic approach, 
accepting that, in addition to the existing maritime borders which were eligible 
under INTERREG I, only a very limited number should be added. As regards 
internal maritime borders it is proposed to add only those between Greece -
Southern Italy and Ireland-Wales. These can be justified given their special 
problems and features, particularly for Greece with its increased transport 
difficulties in view of the troubles in the Balkans, and for Ireland, the only 
Member State with no land link to the Community. 
As regards external maritime borders INTERREG I covered certain Greek 
islands and Bornholm in Denmark. It is now proposed to add the Spain(Cadiz)-
Morocco maritime border, and the Italy (Bari)-Albania maritime border. 
9. The geographical definition of a border zone remains unchanged i.e. the NUTS 
III level. The NUTS III classification coincides with administrative boundaries 
in each Member State. However there are often significant variations in the size 
of regions especially between Member States that may give rise to anomalies 
along certain borders in the preparation of cross-border cooperation 
programmes. The INTERREG I guidelines provided for some flexibility in 
regard to geographical scope, where a clear anomaly would arise if a cross-
border programme was to be rigidly confined to NUTS III areas on both sides 
of a border. This flexibility clause which permits actions beyond these limits in 
exceptional cases, is strengthened in INTERREG II to allow some limited 
infrastructure investment outside the strictly defined NUTS III border area, 
provided this genuinely promotes crossborder cooperation. 
10. INTERREG I allowed a wide choice of eligible measures without any 
particular priority. This principle will be kept. However, it is proposed to 
include some new measures such as: education, health, media services, 
language-training, spatial planning in border areas and measures 
complemantary to Trans-European networks to enable border regions to 
benefit more fully from them. INTERREG II strengthens also provision for 
technical assistance and to support monitoring and evaluation activities. 
11. INTERREG II places a strong emphasis, in particular in the internal borders, 
on the condition that measures should involve a high degree of cooperation. 
The participation of regional and local authorities and other local partners, 
including those representing SMEs, in devising and implementing such 
measures is clearly very important for their success. 
12. For external border areas an important new element is being introduced in the 
new programming period. New opportunities for cooperation arise following 
the opening up of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe The PHARE 
budget now includes a special budget line; amounting for 1994 to 150 MECU, 
which will be devoted to crossborder cooperation projects with bordering 
regions of the Member States of the European Union. Through this, 
cooperation of the Unions external border regions with Eastern and Central 
European countries should be facilitated in future. Because of the different 
regions of the Member States of the European Union. Through this, 
cooperation of the Unions external border regions with Eastern and Central 
European countries should be facilitated in future. Because of the different 
procedures and management methods of INTERREG and PHARE, practical 
mechanisms of co-ordination will have to be established. 
13. INTERREG II does not include a general provision for interregional 
cooperation between regional and local authorities outside border areas. There 
is much support for an expansion of Community activities in this field. 
Emphasis has been put in the responses to the Green Paper on the development 
of networks of cooperation and exchanges of experience particularly between 
poorer regions with more prosperous ones within the European Union. 
Particular interest has been also expressed in networking regions and cities of 
the Union with their counterparts in neighbouring, but not necessarily 
bordering, third countries in central and Eastern Europe and the 
Mediterranean. The Commission will strengthen its support for such actions, 
but there are advantages in continuing to do so through the funds available for 
innovative actions rather through INTERREG, and in managing these 
measures in the same flexible manner as in the 1989-93 period. 
14. In order to attain at least the same level of financing as under INTERREG I, 
there will be a need for supplementary resources for the INTERREG II 
programme. The external border area of the new German Lander alone 
accounts for an increase of eligible population of some 1.6 million people. 
Also, certain border areas of Belgium and France now have Objective 1 status. 
15. As regards the second strand, which is the completion of energy networks, the 
intention is to complete projects which have been started including the 
interconnection between Portugal and Spain. The interconnection between 
Italy and Corsica and Sardinia is not included. On this basis, future 
requirements have been estimated as follows: 
- the high-pressure gas transport network in Greece received ECU 90 million 
from Regen and ECU 59 million from the CSF. The Community 
contribution to the second phase through INTERREG II is estimated at 
ECU 180 million; 
- between 1991 and 1993 the high-pressure gas transport network in Portugal 
between Setubal and Braga received ECU 82 million in Community 
assistance. A further ECU 60 million is required to complete the project. 
In addition, as part of the 1994-99 phase and as foreseen in the 1990 Regen 
guidelines, it is intended to carry out the interconnections between Spain 
and Portugal in order both to link the Portuguese network to the Spanish 
gas pipeline, which will receive gas from Algeria and in due course to link 
Galicia to the Portuguese network. The Community contribution is 
estimated at ECU 160 million; 
16. These estimates assume that ERDF assistance will amount to 40% instead of 
35 % as in the previous period. These estimates should be checked further but 
the information currently available suggests that total Community assistance of 
about ECU 500 million will be required. 
Draft 
Notice C(94) to the Member States, laying down 
guidelines for operational programmes 
which Member States are invited to establish in the framework 
of a Community initiative concerning 
cross-border cooperation and selected energy networks 
(Interreg II) 
At its meeting on 1994, the Commission of the European 
Communities decided to establish a Community initiative concerning 
cross-border cooperation and selected energy networks (hereafter 
called 'Interreg II') within the meaning of Article 11 of Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as modified by Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 2082/93<1), and Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 4254/88, as modified by Council Regulation (EEC) No 
2083/93(2). 
In the context of Interreg II, Community assistance in the form of 
loans and grants and technical assistance is made available for 
measures and in areas which respect the guidelines laid down in 
this Notice, and which are included in operational programmes and 
projects submitted by the Member States and approved by the 
Commission of the European Communities. 
Development aims 
3. The aims of the initiative are: 
- to assist both internal and external border areas of the 
European Union in overcoming the special development problems 
arising from their relative isolation within national economies 
and within the Union as a whole, in the interests of the local 
population and in a manner compatible with the protection of the 
environment; / 
- to promote the creation and development of networks of 
cooperation across internal borders and, where relevant, the 
linking of these networks to wider Community networks, in the 
context of the completion of the single market in 1992; 
- to assist the adjustment of external border areas to their new 
role as border areas of a single integrated market. 
- to respond to new opportunities for cooperation with third 
countries in external border areas of the European Union; 
(1) OJ L 193, 31.7.1993, p.24. 
(2) OJ L 193, 31.7.1993, p. 36, 
- 2 -
- to complete selected energy networks (already defined in the 
initiative "Regen" for the period 1989-93)(3) and to link them 
to wider European networks. 
This initiative will be implemented under two distinct strands: 
- cross-border cooperation 
- completion of energy networks 
A - Cross-border cooperation 
4. Previous experience of efforts to promote cross-border cooperation 
in the European Union indicates that, in general, three types of 
actions can be distinguished: 
(a) the joint planning and implementation of cross-border 
programmes; 
(b) the introduction of measures to improve the flow of 
information across borders and amongst border regions, between 
public agencies, private organisations and voluntary bodies; 
(c) the setting-up of shared institutional and administrative 
structures to sustain and promote cooperation. 
5. In the preparation of operational programmes for submission under 
the Interreg initiative, Member States and regional and local 
authorities are encouraged to present agreed proposals for cross-
border cooperation as far as possible for the three types of 
action defined in paragraph 4 above and to develop their 
strategies for cooperation accordingly. 
6. In providing Community assistance under this initiative to border 
areas, the Commission will accord priority to proposals which are 
made in cooperation with regional and local authorities in border 
areas and, in internal border areas, to those which include the 
establishment or development of shared institutional or 
administrative structures intended to widen and deepen cross-
border cooperation between public agencies, private organisations 
and voluntary bodies. Where possible, these shared institutional 
or administrative structures should have the competence to 
implement jointly determined projects. 
7. Measures assisted under this initiative should be designed to have 
their main development impact on the population of the border 
areas eligible under this initiative. Particular attention should 
be given to creating alternative employment opportunities in areas 
where job losses may arise due to changes in customs and other 
border-related activities, such as customs agencies. 
(3) OJ C 327, 28.12.1990, p.7. 
- 3 -
Definition of eligible areas 
8. For the purposes of cross-border cooperation programmes assisted 
under the initiative, eligible areas include: 
- all areas along the internal and external land borders of the 
Community delineated at administrative level III of the 
nomenclature of Territorial Statistical Units (NUTS III), as 
listed in Annex 1 to this Notice. 
- certain maritime regions delineated at administrative level III 
of the nomenclature of Territorial Statistical Units (NUTS III), 
as listed in Annex 1 to this Notice. 
9. In exceptional cases, and in the context of cross-border 
cooperation programmes, Community assistance may be given to 
measures in NUTS III areas located outside, but adjoining, those 
areas at NUTS III level referred to in paragraph 8, provided that 
they involve a high degree of cross-border cooperation and do not 
account for more than [20%] of the total expenditure of the 
operational programmes concerned. 
10. Infrastructure investments should be concentrated as far as 
practicable in administrative areas smaller than the NUTS III 
level, immediately adjacent to borders. However when, within 
depopulated regions, it is observed that economic development is 
held up by the absence of road infrastructures, these 
infrastructures can be exceptionally taken into consideration in 
the framework of this initiative in an area going beyond the 
strictly defined NUTS III level, to the extent that the main aim 
of these infrastructures is related to the development of the 
regions in question rather than facilitating transit across those 
regions. 
Eligible measures 
11. In this section of the Notice, a list of measures eligible for 
assistance under the Interreg II initiative is given below. When 
submitting operational programmes, Member States are expected to 
choose from this list a more limited but balanced set of measures 
on which Community assistance should be concentrated. This choice 
should have regard to the priorities described in paragraphs 6 
and 7 above and to ensuring coherence with the measures in favour 
of the areas eligible under Interreg II that are envisaged in the 
context of Community Support Frameworks, in relation to which 
Interreg II is a complementary action. Community aid under the 
Interreg II initiative can only be given to areas within the 
European Union. 
12. As regards measures to promote cooperation between internal border 
areas of the Union, schemes may be assisted provided that a 
development impact can be foreseen on both sides of the border and 
that their planning, and where possible implementation, is 
undertaken on a cross-border basis. Special attention should be 
- 4 -
paid to creating alternative employment opportunities in border 
areas affected by significant job losses as a consequence of the 
completion of the single market. 
13. As regards measures for external borders, they should promote 
development of these areas so that they can adapt to new 
situations and encourage cooperation between external border areas 
of the European Union and border areas of neighbouring non-
Community countries. Where appropriate, their planning and 
implementation should be undertaken on a cross-border basis, in 
conjunction with cross-border schemes supported in the 
neighbouring non-Community countries under other Community 
programmes, particularly PHARE. 
14. In both cases the following operations may be assisted: 
(a) studies related to development plans treating border areas as 
an integrated geographical unit; 
(b) aids to investment and the provision of services and 
facilities to support and promote the development of small and 
medium-sized enterprises and craft industries, in particular, 
technology transfer and marketing support services; an 
emphasis should be placed on developing cross-border networks 
of commercial contacts between SMEs; 
(c) the development of tourism (including farm-based tourism) and 
the development and management for tourism purposes of natural 
parks through which a border runs; 
(d) the provision of local water, gas and electricity supplies and 
local telecommunications and the development of renewable 
energy resources; the common development and use of water 
resources and infrastructures; 
(e) pollution prevention and control, rational use of energy, 
waste disposal and environmental conservation programmes and 
the monitoring of environmental standards of new industries 
locating in border areas; 
(f) rural development programmes to diversify farmers' incomes and 
for forestry, fishing, and agricultural waste disposal; 
(g) genetic improvement and animal and plant health measures 
designed to increase agricultural productivity and to 
facilitate cross-border trade; 
(h) measures to improve agricultural products and processes, to 
promote product diversification, to develop quality labels and 
trademarks; measures to improve marketing structures and to 
support cooperative marketing strategies, particularly where 
these facilitate cross-border trade; 
- 5 -
(i) the establishment or development of trade organisations, 
professional associations, and planning and advisory groups 
such as cross-frontier development associations or other 
public, private or voluntary bodies aiming to facilitate 
cross-border contacts in the economic and social spheres and 
the provision of language training for this purpose; 
(j) in areas seriously deficient in infrastructures, improving 
transport and other communications systems (including media 
services) within and between border areas by the creation or 
modernisation of infrastructures, provided that such 
operations have their principal development impact on the 
areas concerned on both sides of the border or are a response 
to problems directly linked to the existence of borders; 
(k) measures to promote cooperation in higher education, between 
research centres, universities and in vocational training, 
particularly the sharing of resources and facilities on a 
cross-border basis; 
(1) training and employment measures particularly for the 
unemployed and for persons directly or indirectly affected by 
changes in border-related activities arising from the 
establishment of a single market and related to measures 
described in subparagraphs (a) to (k); 
(m) measures to promote cooperation in health, particularly the 
sharing of resources and facilities on a cross-border basis; 
(n) measures in the fields of energy, telecommunications and 
transport, aimed at complementing the development of Trans-
European Networks; 
(o) special measures to relieve the problems arising from the 
existence of different languages, administrative procedures 
and legal systems on either side of national borders; 
(p) measures to support the preparation and implementation of 
cross-border spatial planning. 
15. Within the framework of technical assistance, the Commission will: 
- provide assistance to Member States, regional and local 
authorities and other interested parties, especially in 
Objective 1 regions, in the preparation and implementation of 
cross-border cooperation programmes; 
- promote and facilitate the exchange of information and 
experience between border regions of the European Union and the 
exchange of personnel between different border regions; 
- organise bilateral or multilateral meetings between Member 
States to facilitate cooperation. 
- 6 -
B - Completion of energy networks 
16. The aims are: 
- to accelerate the creation of infrastructures for the reception 
and transmission of natural gas in peripheral regions where 
these do not exist at present; 
- to accelerate the completion of Community-wide networks for the 
transmission and distribution of gas and exceptionally 
electricity, so as to ensure appropriate interconnections 
between peripheral regions of the Community and the rest of the 
Community. 
17. These projects should help improve the competitiveness of 
productive activities, and particularly that of industry in the 
regions concerned, and enable these regions to take best advantage 
of the completion of the single market in energy. They should also 
contribute to creating the necessary conditions for more efficient 
energy management and greater security of supply in the Community. 
They should, in addition, contribute in regions reciving natural 
gas supplies for the first time to reduce pollution linked with 
energy use. 
Eligible projects 
18. Under this initiative, the following projects have been chosen to 
receive Community assistance, depending on their degree of 
progress and the estimated expenditure over the period 1994-99. 
- the completion of reception facilities and transmission networks 
for the introduction of natural gas into certain parts of 
Portugal and Greece; 
- completion of the interconnection between the electricity 
networks of Italy and Greece 
- the establishment of interconnections between the gas transport 
systems of Portugal and Spain. 
The Community's contribution to the financing of Interreg II 
19. The Interreg II operational programmes and projects shall be the 
subject of joint financing by the Member States and the Community. 
The total contribution by the European Community's Structural 
Funds to Interreg II during the period 1994 to 1999 is estimated 
at ECU 2 900 million. Community resources will be concentrated 
mainly in Objective 1 regions in accordance with the priorities 
established in the regulations governing the Structural Funds. 
- 7 -
Loans from EIB and ECSC resources may also be made available. For 
the regions of eastern and central European countries neighbouring 
the Union's external borders, cross-border activities can be 
assisted by PHARE. 
Within the total amount of ECU 2 900 million, approximately 
ECU 2 400 million will be allocated to the first strand covering 
cross-border cooperation and in the order of ECU 500 million to 
the strand involving completion of energy networks. 
Community expenditure under the strand covering cross-border 
cooperation in regions not classified as eligible under 
Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) should be less than 10% of the total 
Community contribution of ECU 2 400 million; 75% of the available 
resources will be devoted to Objective 1 regions. 
20. As regards the strand covering cross-border cooperation, the 
Commission's decisions on the amount of the Community budget 
contribution to individual operational programmes will reflect the 
population and level of development of the border areas concerned 
and the quality of the programmes submitted. The rates of 
assistance will be decided in conformity with the provisions of 
the regulations governing the Structural Funds and take account of 
the financing capacity of the national and regional authorities 
concerned. In evaluating the quality of programmes, the Commission 
will take into account the following elements in particular: 
- the presence of a coherent regional strategy for the border 
areas concerned, seen as a single geographical unit, with a 
clear statement of the development aims into which the aims of 
the operational programmes have been properly integrated; 
- the likely development impact of the proposed measures within 
the areas eligible for this initiative, taking into account 
deficiencies in infrastructures and services and the 
consequences for employment of the removal of internal borders; 
- for internal border areas within the Community, the contribution 
the proposed measures will make to promoting cross-border 
cooperation across as wide a number of fields as possible and 
thus assist the completion of the internal market; 
- for external borders, the contribution that the proposed 
measures will make to promoting cross-border cooperation across 
as wide a number of fields as possible with neighbouring non-
Community countries; 
- the character of the resources requested from the Community as 
additional to those to be made available by the national and 
regional authorities for the operational programme, 
- the likely effectiveness of the mechanisms for implementation, 
monitoring and evaluation; in the case of border areas within 
the Union, joint mechanisms should be envisaged; 
- 8 -
- the extent to which an optimal combination is made of loans and 
grants. 
21. As regards the strand involving the completion of energy networks, 
applications submitted under this initiative should identify 
clearly any requirements for complementary investment elsewhere in 
the Community's energy transmission and distribution networks 
necessary for the proper operation of the projects which it is 
intended to implement in the period 1994 to 1999. Community 
assistance under this initiative will be conditional upon an 
undertaking by the responsible authorities that they will 
undertake these complementary investments at an appropriate time. 
22. The Community's contribution will take account, in particular, of: 
- the estimate by the Commission, in consultation with the 
European Investment Bank, of the work that is likely to be 
carried out in the period 1994 to 1999, and the resulting 
requirement for Community payment appropriations, where 
relevant, in addition to those already provided under Community 
support frameworks; 
- an assessment of the financial plans for these projects, so as 
to ensure the appropriate balance between grant and loan 
finance. The Commission may request an independent assessment of 
the costing and financial plan proposed. 
23. Cost-benefit analyses submitted in relation to proposed projects 
should include: 
- the justification for the choice of route and the capacity of 
the system, 
- the expected internal rate of return of the investment, 
- other benefits, for example in terms of the cost of energy to 
users in the regions and the better management and greater 
security of energy supplies for the regions in question and for 
the Community as a whole, 
- the environmental impact of the projects. 
24. The Commission will make available technical assistance as 
required for the design, financing and implementation of projects 
under this initiative. 
Implementation 
25. Member States wishing to benefit from Interreg II are invited to 
present detailed proposals for operational programmes, or 
amendments to an existing or proposed operational programme or 
projects in application of Community Support Frameworks, within 
9 -
four months of the date of publication of this Notice. Proposals 
received after this date need not be taken into consideration by 
the Commission. 
26. As regards the strand concerning cross-border cooperation, 
proposals relating to internal border areas in the European Union 
should be submitted in the form of a single operational programme 
by the two or more Member States concerned. The structures and 
procedures for the implementation of the programme on a cross-
border basis, where appropriate, should be indicated. Where 
relevant, expenditure related to areas which are not Objectives 1, 
2 or 5(b) areas is to be shown separately. 
Proposals relating to each external border in the European Union 
should be submitted by the Member State concerned in the form of a 
single operational programme covering, where appropriate and 
practicable, measures on both sides of the border and indicating 
the measures or parts of measures for which assistance under the 
Structural Funds regulations is requested. The neighbouring 
countries should submit their requests for the cross-border 
projects or programmes for which assistance is sought under other 
Community programmes, in particular PHARE, on the basis of the 
relevant procedures. In order to facilitate the implementation of 
cross-border projects and measures, appropriate coordination 
procedures should be established between the Member States and 
non-Community countries concerned in association with the 
Commission. 
27. As regards the strand concerning the completion of energy networks, 
for projects where the Commission has already financed or been 
associated with the implementation of the necessary feasibility 
studies and these studies have been satisfactorily concluded, 
Member States should submit detailed proposals as soon as possible, 
taking account of the requirements indicated above. 
For projects where feasibility studies have not yet been completed, 
Member States should submit proposals for Community assistance for 
any further studies required as soon as possible. When all 
necessary preparatory studies have been completed, and provided 
that the results of these studies justify a decision to implement 
the projects, Member States should submit appropriate detailed 
project proposals, taking account of the requirements indicated 
above. 
Where a transnational gas or electricity interconnection is 
proposed, a single proposal should be submitted by the Member 
States concerned. 
28. All correspondence relating to this Notice should be addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu 
Director-General 
Directorate-General for Regional Policies, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200 Rue de la Loi, 
B-1049 Brussels. 
LIST OF BORDER REGIONS (NUTS III) ELIGIBLE UNDER INTERREG 
1) Classified by Objectives 
BELGIE/BELGIQUE 
Objective 1 
Alh 
Mons 
Mouscron 
Thuin 
Tournai 
Objective 2 
Arlon(*) 
Eeklo (*) 
Maaseik (*) 
Tongeren (*) 
Tumhout (•) 
Verviers (*) 
Objective 5b 
Bastogne 
Dinant(*) 
leper (*) 
Neuichâteau 
Philippeville (*) 
Veume (*) 
DANMARK 
Objective 2 
Storstroms Amtskommune (*) 
Objective 5b 
Bomholms Amtskommune (*) 
Fyns Amtskommune (*) 
Sonderjyllands Amtskommune (*) 
BR DEUTSCHLAND 
Objective 1 
Annaberg 
Bamim 
Bautzen 
Elstertalkreis 
Frankrurt(OderX Stadtkreis 
Freiberg 
Goltzscntalkreis 
Gôrlitz, Stadtkreis 
Mârkisch-Oderland 
Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis 
Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis 
Oder-Spree 
Ostvorpommem 
Sâchsische Schweiz 
Sâchsischer Oberlausitzkreis 
Spree-Neisse 
Uckermark 
Uecker-Randow 
Weisseritzkreis 
Westerzgebirgskreis 
Objective 2 
Emden, Kretsfreie Stadt (*) 
Grafechatt Bentheim (*) 
Heinsberg (*) 
(*) partly classified under Objective 1,2, 5b Objective 5b 
Aachen, Landkreis (*) 
Aurich (*) 
Cham 
Emsland (*) 
Euskirchen (*) 
Freyung-Gralenau 
Grafschaft Bentheim (*) 
Hof, Landkreis 
Leer 
Lorrach (*) 
Neustadt a.d Waldnaab 
Nordfriesland (*) 
Merzig-Wadern (*) 
Regen 
Rottal-Irm 
Saar-Pfalz-Kreis (*) 
Schleswig-Flensburg (*) 
Schwandorf 
Tirschenreuth 
Trier-Saarburg 
Waldshut(*) 
Wunsiedel i, Fichtelgeb. 
ELLAS 
Objective 1 
Achaia 
Aitoloakarnania 
Chania 
Chios 
Dodekanisos 
Drama 
Evros 
Fiorina 
Ioarmina 
Irakleio 
Kastoria 
Kavala 
Kefallinia 
Kerkyra 
Kilkis 
Lasithi 
Letkada 
Lesvos 
Pella 
Preveza 
Rethymni 
Rodopi 
Samos 
Serres 
Thesprotia 
Thessaloniki 
Xanthi 
Zakinthos 
ESPANA 
Objective 1 
Badajoz 
Caceres 
Cadiz 
Ceuta 
Huelva 
Melilla 
Orense 
Pontevedra Salamanca 
Zamora 
Objective 2 
Gerona (*) 
Guipuzcoa (*) 
Navarra (*) 
Objective 5b 
Gerona (*) 
Guipuzcoa (*) 
Huesca (*) 
Lérida(*) 
FRANCE 
Objective 1 
Corse du Sud 
Nord 
Objective 2 
Aisne (*) 
Bas-Rhin (*) 
Hautes-Pyrénées (*) 
Meurthe-et-Moselle (*) 
Moselle (*) 
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (*) 
Objective 5b 
Ain(*) 
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 
Alpes-Maritimes 
Ariège 
Bas-Rhin (*) 
Doubs(*) 
Haut-Rhin 
Haute-Garonne 
Haute-Pyrénées (*) 
Haute-Savoie (*) 
Hautes-Alpes 
Jura(*) 
Meurthe-et-Moselle (*) 
Meuse 
Moselle (*) 
Pyréenées Atlantiques (*) 
Pyrénées-Orientales (*) 
Savoie (*) 
IRELAND 
Objective 1 
Donegal 
East 
North East 
NorthWest 
ITALIA 
Objective 1 
Ban 
Brindisi 
Lecce 
Sassari Objective 2 
Gorizia (*) 
Torino (*) 
Trieste (•) 
Udine (*) 
Valle rfAosta (*) 
Objective 5b 
Belluno(*) 
Bolzano-Bozen (*) 
Como(*) 
Cuneo (*) 
Imperia(*) 
Novara (*) 
Udine (») 
VaUe cPAosta (*) 
Vercelli (*) 
LUXEMBOURG (G.D.) 
Objectives 2 and 5b 
Luxembourg (Grand-Duché) 
NEDERLAND 
Objective 5b 
Midden-Limburg (*) 
Noord-Limburg (*) 
Noord-Overijssel (*) 
Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen (*) 
PORTUGAL 
Objective 1 
Alentejo Central 
Algarve 
Alto Alentejo 
Alto Tras-Os-Montes 
Baixo Alentejo 
Beira Interior Norte 
Beira Interior Sul 
Cavado 
Douro 
Minho-Lima 
UNITED KINGDOM 
Objective 1 
Northern Ireland (other than Belfast) 
Objective 2 
Kent(*) 
Objective 5b 
Gwynedd(*) 
2) Totally or partly excluded from classification under Objectives 1,2 or Sb. 
BELGIE/BELGIQUE 
Antwerpen (AIT) 
Arlon (») 
Brugge 
Dinant(*) 
Gent 
leper (*) 
Kortrijk 
Liège 
Maaseik (*) 
Philippeville (*) 
Sint-Niklaas 
Tongeren (*) 
Tumhout(*) 
Verviers (*) 
Veurne (*) 
Virion 
DANMARK 
Bornholms Amtskommune (*) 
Fyns Amtskommune (*) 
Sonderjyllands Amtskommune (*) 
Storstroms Amtskommune (*) Rastatt 
Rosenheim, Kreistreie Stadt 
Rosenheim, Landkreis 
Saar-Pfalz-Kr«s(*) 
Saarbrucken, Stadtverb. 
Saarlouts 
Schleswig-Flensburg (*) 
Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis 
Sûdliche Weinstratte 
Traunstein 
Trier, Kreisfreie Stadt 
Viersen 
Waldshut(*) 
Weiden i,d. Opt; Kreistreie Stadt 
Zweibrucken, Kreistreie Stadt 
ESPANA NEDERLAND 
Achterhoek 
Arnhem-Nijmegen 
Midden-Limburg (*) 
Midden-Ncord-Brabant 
Noord-Limburg (•) 
Noord-Overijssel (*) 
Oost-Groningen 
Twente 
West-Noord-Brabant 
Zeeuwsch-Vlaandern (*) 
Zuid-Limburg 
Zuidoost-Drenthe 
Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant 
UNITED KINGDOM 
Gerona (*) 
Guipuzcoa (*) 
Huesca(*) 
Lerida(*) 
Navarra (*) Gwynedd(*) 
Kent(*) 
BRDEUTSCHLAND FRANCE 
Aachen Landkreis (*) 
Aachen, Kreistreie Stadt 
Ahotting 
Aurich(*) 
Bad Tôlz-WoUratshausen 
Baden-Baden, Stadtkreis 
Berchtesgadener Land 
Bitburg-Prûm 
Bodenseekreis 
Borken 
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald 
Daun 
Kmden, Kreistreie Stadt (*) 
Emmendingen 
Emsland (*) 
Euskirchen(*) 
Flensburg, Kreistreie Stadt 
Freiburg im Breisgau, Stadtkreis 
Garmisch-Partenkirchen 
Germersheim 
Grafschaft Bentheim (*) 
Heinsberg (*) 
Hoi; kreistreie Stadt 
Karlsruhe, Landkreis 
Karlsruhe, Stadtkreis 
Kaufbeuren, Kreisfreie Stadt 
Kempten (AllgauX Kreisfreie Stadt 
Kleve 
Konstanz 
Leer(*) 
Lindau-Bodensee 
Lôrrach(») 
Lubeck, Kreisfreie Stadt 
Merzig-Wadern (*) 
Miesbach 
Nordtriesland (*) 
Oberallgau 
Ortenaukreis 
Ostallgau 
Ostholstein 
Passau, Kreistreie Stadt 
Passau, Landkreis 
Pirmasens 
Pirmasens, Kreistreie Stadt Ain(*) 
Aisne (•) 
Alpes-Maritimes (*) 
Ardennes 
Bas-Rhin (*) 
Doubs(») 
Haut-Rhin (*) 
Haute Garonne (*) 
Haute-Savoie (*) 
Jura(*) 
Meurthe-et-Moselle (*) 
MoseUe(*) 
Pas-de-Calais 
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (*) 
Pyrénées-Orientales (*) 
Savoie (*) 
Territoire de Beltôrt 
ITALIA 
BellunoC) 
Bolzano-Bozen (*) 
Como(*) 
Cuneo(») 
Gorizia(*) 
Imperia(*) 
Novara (*) 
Sondrio 
1 orino (*) 
Trieste (•) 
Udine (*) 
VaUe<fAosU(*) 
Varese 
Vercelu(*) 
LUXEMBOURG (G.D.) 
Luxembourg (Grand-Duché) (*) 
(*) Also partly classified under objectives 2, 5b, or both 
LEADER II 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. Under the LEADER I (1991-93) Community initiative, local, often 
innovative, approaches to rural development were tried out. The 
initiative financed projects promoted by local action groups 
implementing an overall development strategy within a limited rural 
area and involving all the local partners. This experiment proved 
the value of such an approach, which enabled those involved and the 
rural areas concerned to develop their own potential within an 
overall policy for stimulating rural development. 
Assistance provided by LEADER I for the "bottom up" aspect of this 
development constitutes a valuable complement to measures under the 
Community support frameworks (in particular with regard to 
operations to assist overall land-use planning and the provision of 
infrastructures and equipment), which can thus be further 
developed. 
2. The Commission Green Paper on the Community initiatives adopted in 
June 1993(1) proposed an initiative specifically for rural 
development and following on from LEADER I. In the context (the 
implementation of the reform of the common agricultural policy 
started in 1993, the persistent problems affecting rural areas with 
weak economies), the Commission said, the new initiative should 
guarantee continuity with LEADER I while putting greater emphasis 
on the following aspects: 
- innovation as a response to major changes occurring in rural 
areas; these changes are creating a need for new measures, 
orientations and forms of development that involve all those 
concerned; 
- the launching of transnational cooperation projects originating 
in rural areas, giving substance to their will to cooperate; and 
- the exchange of experience and know-how among all interested 
parties in the Community through a European rural development 
network. 
(1) COM(93) 282. "The Future of Community initiatives under the 
Structural Funds". ". 
3. Reactions to the Green Paper on the Community initiatives and the 
LEADER II rural development initiative (more than 250 answers, often 
collective, representing several thousand bodies or authorities 
involved in rural development) were very positive, with regard to 
both LEADER I and the Commission proposal for the new initiative. 
They stressed the need to continue the approach of LEADER I more 
vigorously and with better coordination through the introduction of 
more ambitious aims and stiffer requirements to ensure the quality of 
the projects financed. 
The Green Paper's emphasis on innovation, stepping up the network's 
activity and possible transnational cooperation was welcomed. The 
improved transparency of Community assistance, the search for simpler 
management methods and the ability to build on the strong points of 
the various operations carried out in the period from 1989 to 1993 
are all arguments in favour of making LEADER II the instrument for 
productive coordination of Community measures to assist innovative 
development in rural areas (e.g. local development, local job 
creation initiatives), while respecting the specific tasks of each of 
the Structural Funds. 
4. The present LEADER II proposal incorporates and makes more specific 
the approaches outlined by the Commission in the Green Paper, while 
taking account of comments received during the consultation process. 
The new initiative, which will cover the period from 1994 to 1999, 
will provide for Community contributions to the following categories 
of measures: 
- Acquisition of skills by those involved at local level to enable 
them to launch integrated development strategies whose underlying 
objective will be to exploit the potential of the area concerned. 
- Innovative investment programmes that can serve as models and are 
transferable, promoted either by local action groups organizing an 
integrated project following the LEADER I model (the geographic 
approach), or by other public or private collective bodies 
operating in one or more sectors (a more sectoral approach), but 
also as part of a local development plan. 
The concept of innovation is to be understood in a broad sense and 
will be adapted to the specific context in each case (in relation 
to the type of area and the content of the CSF rural development 
programme), although a basic minimum of innovation must be 
demonstrated in all cases. 
" The design and implementation of joint projects by those involved 
at local level in rural areas belonging to at least two Member 
States; such projects very much depend on the existence of a 
network, which will initially establish contact between those 
concerned and enable them to exchange experience and know-how (see 
below). 
All these arrangements will develop over time. During the six-year 
implementation period the emphasis may gradually shift from the 
acquisition of skills to transnational cooperation projects, each 
region progressing at its own pace. 
The categories listed above will supplement and reinforce the 
measures initiated under LEADER I. Furthermore, implementation 
procedures will be simplified and decentralized (projects replaced by 
programmes); essential selection and administration decisions will be 
taken at local or regional level. Not only will the local 
beneficiaries of LEADER II be given planning and management autonomy, 
but the whole process of programme submission and the selection of 
projects and beneficiaries will now be the responsibility of the 
national, regional and local partners. On the other hand, monitoring, 
evaluation and checks will, naturally, be stepped up. 
The whole initiative hinges on the European rural development 
network, which will not replace existing networks but is designed to 
serve as a meeting point for them. Taking over from the network 
established under LEADER I, the European network will be expanded to 
benefit those participating in rural development and its activities 
will be extended so as to form a permanent instrument for the 
exchange of experience and know-how among all rural areas of the 
Community. A European Observatory of Rural Innovation and Development 
will be established to serve it. 
The beneficiaries of the LEADER II initiative will be those involved 
at rural level in Objective 1 and 5b regions. However, in application 
of the flexibility allowed by the Regulation revising the Structural 
Funds, a maximum of 10% of the funds appropriated for Objective 5b 
regions under the initiative may be allocated to areas outside but 
contiguous with Objective 1 and 5b regions. The network's activities 
will concern the whole Community, 
Draft 
NOTICE TO MEMBER STATES 
laying down guidelines for integrated global grants or integrated 
operational programmes for which Member States are invited to submit 
applications for assistance in the framework of a Community initiative 
for rural development. 
"LEADER II" 
(Liaisons Entre Actions de Développement de l'Economie Rurale) 
(Links between actions for the development of the rural economy) 
1. On the Commission of the European Communities, acting under 
Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88(1), as amended by 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93, decided to establish a Community 
initiative which would serve as a model for rural development, 
hereinafter referred to as LEADER II (Liaisons Entre Actions de 
Développement de l'Economie Rurale - Links between actions for the 
development of the rural economy). 
2. Under LEADER II, Community assistance in the form of integrated 
global grants or integrated operational programmes may be provided to 
permit those engaged in the rural economy to implement measures in 
accordance with the guidelines laid down in this notice. 
I. OBJECTIVES 
Under the LEADER I (1991-93) Community initiative, local, often 
innovative, approaches to rural development were tried out. This 
experiment proved the value of such an approach, which enabled those 
involved and rural areas to develop their own potential within an 
overall policy for stimulating rural development. 
Reactions to the Commission Green Paper on the Community 
initiatives^) and to the LEADER initiative (more than 250 answers, 
often collective, representing several thousand bodies or 
authorities involved in rural development) have stressed that this 
approach should be continued more vigorously and with better 
coordination through the introduction of more ambitious aims and 
stiffer requirements to ensure the quality of the projects financed. 
(1) OJ No L 374, 31.12.1988, p. 20. 
(2) COM(93) 282. "The Future of Community initiatives under the 
Structural Funds". 
However diverse rural areas in the Community may be, they are 
generally affected, to differing degrees (reflected in their 
classification under one or other of the Structural Funds 
Objectives), by marked trends (decline in employment and in 
agricultural activity, departure of the best educated young people, 
increase in rural unemployment and in the number of people in 
insecure circumstances, growing isolation as a result of the 
disappearance of certain services for businesses and private persons, 
damage to the environment) which are reducing the attractiveness of 
the countryside. 
Faced with this situation, those responsible within institutions and 
those engaged in rural development agree that the countryside is 
undergoing a major transformation and that new orientations, new 
forms of development and new measures bringing together the various 
parties concerned must be sought. It is also admitted that as yet 
there has been little success in identifying these new directions and 
that European cooperation would be a powerful means of achieving this 
and disseminating experience throughout the Community. 
The aim of LEADER II will therefore be to stimulate innovative 
measures by those, whether public or private, engaged at local level 
in all sectors of rural activity, to make known the results of these 
experiments throughout the Community and to assist rural operators in 
different Member States who wish to profit from the lessons learnt 
elsewhere and to work jointly on some projects. 
II. ARRANGEMENTS 
The various elements of LEADER II are organized around a European 
rural development network, which provides a framework for the 
circulation of information on rural development policies, the 
exchange of experience among those involved in rural development, the 
spreading of innovation and know-how, in particular to assist the 
most handicapped rural areas, and the setting up of joint projects. 
The partners in this rural cooperation network have very varied 
requirements and capacities, and LEADER II must be able to respond to 
these flexibly and, where necessary, in successive stages. Some 
partners need first and foremost to acquire skills (category (a)) in 
order to initiate an integrated development process in areas where 
this is new. Subsequently, or for other more advanced partners, the 
need is rather for finance for specific innovative operations serving 
as models of development for particular geographical areas (run by 
local action groups) or for particular thematic aspects (run by other 
collective bodies) on the basis of a previously agreed analysis and 
strategy (category (b)). Finally, many local collective bodies and 
many rural operators are or will be in a position to take a further 
step forward in qualitative terms by cooperating directly on specific 
projects of a transnational nature (category (c)), after having made 
contact through the network. 
Thus it is in the nature of these arrangements that they should 
evolve over time: during the 6-year implementation period the 
emphasis may gradually shift, at a pace appropriate to each region, 
from technical assistance measures towards transnational cooperation 
projects. 
III. BENEFICIARIES 
8. LEADER II can assist two categories of final beneficiaries: 
- local action groups as defined by LEADER I, i.e. a combination of 
public and private partners jointly devising a strategy and 
innovative measures for the development (or one aspect of the 
development) of a rural area on the scale of a local community 
(less than 100 000 inhabitants as a rough guide). These partners 
are allocated an administrative and financial lead agency which 
must be a public body or local collective body, except for a 
different arrangement with the Member State; 
- other rural collective bodies, public or private (for example, 
Chambers of agriculture, industry, commerce, or crafts, 
cooperatives, business groups, groups of local authorities, non­
profit-making organizations) whose more specific activities relate 
to a plan for rural development at the local level. 
LEADER II is applicable in Objective 1 and Objective 5(b) regions. 
However, a minimum of 10% of funds allocated to Objective 5(b) areas 
under LEADER II may be used outside Objective 1 and 5(b) regions, in 
adjoining rural areas. 
IV. ELIGIBLE MEASURES 
9. Measure (a) - Acquiring skills 
Technical assistance for local development should be provided on 
request with a view to initiating an integrated development process 
in areas where this practice is new. This measure concerns the 
financing of technical assistance prior to investment (analysing the 
area's needs while taking account of the wishes of local people, 
motivating and training local people to participate actively in the 
development process, establishing links between local partners, 
drawing up a strategy, finding finance etc.). The nature of the 
measures, the characteristics of the beneficiaries and the type of 
body responsible for implementation should/be clearly specified. 
This measure should be strongly represented at the beginning of the 
programming period and ceilings will be established in partnership 
with each Member State. 
10. Measure (b) - Rural innovation programmes 
In all matters related to rural development, priority should be given 
to programmes for local action and investment which, besides forming 
part of a general rural development strategy and providing the 
necessary continuity with earlier measures in the area in question 
(particularly if it received assistance under LEADER I), should have 
three key features: they should be innovative in the local context 
(in terms of method, product, production process or market), they 
should be capable of serving as models, and they should be 
transferable. These "projects of excellence" should illustrate the 
new directions that rural development may take. They are promoted by 
either collective or public bodies (in cooperation with others 
professionally involved and associations) following the model of 
LEADER I (overall local development aspects), or by other rural 
collective bodies. 
11. Innovation 
By making innovation and the capacity to serve as a model the 
criteria for eligibility for this category of LEADER II, the 
Commission does not wish to restrict the operational scope of the 
initiative to a few avant-garde operations of little potential use 
elsewhere but wishes to ensure that the programmes financed 
contribute real added value in relation to other operations part-
financed by the operational programmes or other forms of assistance 
under the Community Support Frameworks, and do not serve to finance 
activities already being carried out by others engaged in the rural 
development process. The innovative and model nature of projects 
should thus be adapted to the type of area. 
Whether the projects emanate from local groups (integrated local 
approach) or from other rural collective bodies (with a more sectoral 
or thematic approach), they must meet the basic common criteria for 
eligibility (see Annex I) and offer innovative elements to be 
assessed in relation to the area and to the content of the rural 
development operational programme under the Community Support 
Framework for that area. 
The innovation criteria for the area in question will be specified in 
the application for assistance and will be negotiated in partnership 
when these applications are considered. 
In many situations (in particular in most of the Objective 1 regions) 
establishing a local partnership to support a multisectoral approach 
(along the lines of LEADER I) is still, in the context, a complete 
innovation. 
In other cases (in particular in most Objective 5(b) areas and hence 
also in areas not eligible under any of the Objectives), the 
innovative nature of the project must not be confined to the method 
(on the model of LEADER I), but must also be apparent in the 
technical content of the project, whether in the product, the 
production process, the market or some other aspect. These 
innovations may concern the purely economic aspects, but may also be, 
for example, cultural, environmental or related to social integration 
if these aspects are closely linked to rural development. 
The Commission is proposing, by way of illustration, a series of 
subjects lending themselves to innovation (on which technical 
dossiers that draw on the many innovations made possible by LEADER I 
will be offered to the partners concerned): 
- measures, including environmental and renewable energy aspects to 
offset the impact of the Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy; 
- application of new information and communication technologies in 
the rural environment; 
- provision of services adapted to low population density, including 
as an additional source of income; 
- devising and marketing new products and services; 
- job creation in the rural environment, including the integration 
into the labour market of persons in difficult circumstances and 
involving educational and training institutions in rural 
development; 
- the production and promotion of cultural activities in the rural 
environment as a contribution to local identity and a tourist 
attraction; 
- raising the awareness of the local population of what is to be 
gained from development and their own capacity to take initiatives. 
Local groups' projects and those of other collective operators will 
thus have to demonstrate their: 
- difference and novelty in relation to what is being done under the 
operational programme under the CSF (or Single Programming 
Document) covering the same area, in terms of approach to rural 
development and implementation details and/or content of the 
measures; 
- expected impact (in terms of at least temporary comparative 
advantage for the area or the sector) in relation to a reference 
situation (which will involve an analysis that clearly shows the 
obstacle to development which the innovation is intended to 
overcome). 
The local groups that have benefited from LEADER I are in no way 
excluded from benefiting from LEADER II. However, they will be 
required to submit a proposal that meets the innovation criteria as 
defined in partnership with the area concerned. 
12. Suitability as model and transferability / 
These two criteria are linked and mean that those in charge of the 
project must: 
- identify the conditions under which the innovation concerned can 
emerge, in order to assess its capacity to be reproduced and the 
cost thereof (transfer of know-how and/or technology); 
- ensure that the project is to some extent "visible" and implement 
communication measures; and 
- show the project's potential in market terms where the sale of 
goods or services is involved. 
The promoters of the project will also have to undertake to make 
what they learn about methodology available to the network. 
Finally, each year a European competition could award prizes to the 
best projects with regard to the basic characteristics of the 
initiative (innovation, suitability as a model and transferability). 
13. Measure (c) - Transnational cooperation 
In this case the projects are undertaken at the initiative of 
potential local beneficiaries (defined under section III) that belong 
to at least two Member States. The LEADER II initiative will assist 
with the joint design, production and marketing of goods or services 
in any area of rural development. This category depends very much on 
the existence of the network, which will facilitate the emergence of 
transnational cooperation. In this case innovation is not mandatory, 
since the cooperation itself constitutes an innovation for most of 
the areas and operators concerned. 
This measure would, in most cases, appear progressively after the 
network has been operating for some time, has made known the 
practical innovative experience already acquired in many Member 
States but as yet little known, and has provided technical assistance 
for establishing cooperation. In the case of the LEADER programme, 
some additional costs related to the transnational nature of the 
enterprise may also be part-financed. 
14. Measure (d) - Networking 
The development of active solidarity between rural areas and the 
exchange of achievements, experience and know-how between all parties 
concerned in the Community is a priority of LEADER II which involves 
extending the present LEADER network for the benefit of all those 
participating in rural development: national authorities and their 
decentralized services, local collective bodies, local development 
groups, the social and economic partners and associations. 
The present network must also expand its activities, in particular by 
establishing a methodological instrument, hereinafter referred to as 
the "European Observatory of Rural Innovation and Development", whose 
role will be to identify, specify, validate and facilitate the 
transfer of innovations implemented in rural environments. The 
network's activities will concern the Community as a whole, since 
innovation is needed throughout the Member States. 
Active participation in the network is mandatory for all direct 
beneficiaries of LEADER II (local groups and other local operators), 
which will have a number of obligations (feeding the Observatory's 
data base,publicizing results, making acquired expertise available) 
which will, in turn, enable them to benefit from the network. 
The European network for rural development (LEADER network) will 
neither replace nor constitute an umbrella network for existing 
national or transnational networks of public authorities or 
associations. It is conceived as a meeting point of these different 
networks and will seek to facilitate the work of some of them, by 
coordinating their activities and delegating to them certain 
organizational and information functions to be selected in 
partnership with the Member States. 
Specifically, the network's organizational structure will have to 
provide the following services at Community level: 
- gathering, processing and disseminating information on Community 
measures to assist rural development and on innovative and model 
practices in rural environments (data bases, internal and external 
publications, electronic mail network); 
- organizing contact among beneficiaries of LEADER II and providing 
technical assistance for transnational cooperation (seminars, 
visits by experts); 
- using and processing the assessment work attached to each national 
or regional LEADER programme; 
- organizational and technical support for national networks and non­
governmental organizations identified in partnership with the 
Member States as having proved their added value in respect of 
rural development and as necessary for the good functioning of 
LEADER II; and 
- technical assistance for national authorities and local collective 
bodies to facilitate cooperation and the exchange of expertise 
between authorities responsible for rural development. 
The administrative and organizational tasks relating to the operation 
of the network, to be closely monitored by the Commission, will, in 
the main, be allocated to external providers of services on the basis 
of an invitation to tender to be published in the Official Journal. 
V. IMPLEMENTATION 
15. In keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, the implementation of 
LEADER II will be as decentralized as possible, respecting the 
competences of each local collective body. The Commission will 
negotiate, in partnership with the Member State, the content of 
regional or national programmes and will no longer intervene directly 
in the selection of projects and beneficiaries (action groups and 
other local collective bodies) except where partners responsible fail 
to act. This approach means, on the one hand, drawing up detailed 
specifications of eligibility, (Annex 1 to this notice) and, on the 
other, stepping up monitoring, assessment and checking procedures. 
10 
16. The following system will be established: 
(a) At the regional level (whether the regions concerned have 
institutional competences or are programming regions with 
specific operational programmes under the Community Support 
Framework) or, where that proves impossible at the regional 
level, at the national level a "planning and decision-making 
partnership" will be established, whose scope will be at least as 
wide as that of the operational programmes under the Community 
support frameworks, and which will include, at a minimum, all 
those who will provide part-finance at national level (State, 
region, other local collective bodies). These partners will draw 
Up a regional LEADER programme which will be a synthesis of 
specific applications already submitted by potential local 
beneficiaries (local groups and other collective bodies). This 
summary should use examples to illustrate the type of measures to 
be implemented, demonstrating their appropriateness to the 
objectives of the initiative (innovation, capacity to serve as a 
model, transferability) and to the eligibility criteria defined 
in this notice. The programme should be structured as shown in 
Annex 2. 
The opinions of the other local and regional public authorities 
and rural partners concerned, whether administrative or 
professional bodies (Chambers of agriculture, commerce, industry, 
crafts, Tourist Offices etc.) or associations (in particular in 
the field of culture, environment and social integration) must be 
secured and attached to the programme. At this stage, it is 
important to demonstrate that the programme is not a mere 
theoretical construction but aims to implement an innovative 
strategy for developing local potential, with reference to 
specific needs and to projects formulated by local people and 
local operators with a view to improving the economic situation 
of the area or sector concerned. The programme must also adduce 
proof that public part-financing is available to this end. 
The programme must distinguish between the different eligible 
measures : 
- acquiring skills; 
- local action groups, whose programmes will be funded under a 
single measure financed by the three Structural Funds, in order 
to enhance flexibility; 
- other collective rural operators (also in the form of a single 
multifund measure); 
- transnational cooperation. This measure will have to be the 
subject of a token entry in the regional programme, to be 
completed subsequently on the basis of a specification to be 
adopted by the competent Monitoring Committee. It should be 
noted that the criteria of innovativeness and capacity to 
•• function as a model do not apply to this measure. 
11 
(b) After submission, these programmes are considered by the 
Commission and negotiated in partnership with the Member State, 
taking account of the priorities given to innovation, capacity to 
serve as a model and transferability, on the one hand, and to the 
rural character of the projects and their involvement of the 
rural population on the other. The regional level partners are 
then allocated a budget by a Commission Decision. The form of 
the budget is to be decided in partnership - operational 
programme, integrated global grant committed in the form of 
annual instalments in order to assure greater flexibility between 
the different Funds over the life of the initiative, or multi-
annual contracts within a national programme or subsidy). 
The programmes are implemented by a decision-making partnership 
at regional level (or at national level when this proves 
impossible at regional level), in which at least all the national 
contributors of part-finance (State, region, other local 
collective bodies) are represented. 
The individual selection of the projects and beneficiaries and 
the financial and administrative management of the regional 
LEADER programme falls within the exclusive competence of these 
partners, who must, however, act in compliance with Community 
policies, criteria for the eligibility of measures under the 
Structural Funds and permissible rates of assistance. The other 
rural operators concerned, whether these are professional bodies, 
associations or local authorities, where they do not form part of 
the decision-making partnership, are involved through an advisory 
partnership. However, where the decision-making partnership fails 
properly to fulfil its functions, the Commission reserves the 
right, in agreement with the Member State concerned, to define 
other procedures, including the possibility of intervening in the 
selection process. 
The programme submitted to the Commission must specify how the 
partnerships operate, as well as the procedures for submission of 
projects by local groups and other collective bodies (e.g., may 
projects be submitted at any time, or only annually, when an 
official invitation is published?). 
These programmes will be concluded for the entire programme 
period (1994-99) so as to ensure that they last as long as the 
needs of rural development and all the final beneficiaries (local 
action groups or other collective bodies) require, but must 
contain a clause allowing for a mid-term review in order to 
ensure that available funds are used to the best possible effect. 
VI. MONITORING - CONTROL-ASSESSMENT 
17. Monitoring 
It is the responsibility of the relevant regional (or national) 
Monitoring Committee to ensure that each programme or global grant is 
as complementary as possible to the operational programmes under the 
Community Support Frameworks (or Single Programming Document). 
12 
Moreover, experience acquired under LEADER I and the fact that 
projects are intended to serve as models both indicate that regional 
and national levels should be coordinated in order to provide 
physical and financial monitoring on the basis of which an assessment 
of the initiative as a whole at the level of each Member State can be 
carried out. The partnership should enable the most appropriate 
administrative arrangements to be identified, taking into account the 
institutional arrangements in each Member State. Taking account of 
the specific objectives of LEADER II (support and diffusion of 
innovation), the Monitoring Committee, as well as the national 
coordination structure, in which the Commission will participate, 
constitute the first level where the exchange of experience will 
operate. To this end these bodies will be informed a posteriori of 
the final beneficiaries (local groups and other collective bodies) 
selected by the managers of each programme. 
18. Control 
All the provisions of Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as 
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 apply, and the Member State 
will guarantee all the operations. 
Since the initiative's management is to be decentralized, the Member 
State's description of the management and verification systems it 
intends to establish to ensure that the measures are effectively 
implemented should be attached to the LEADER II proposals and will be 
considered together with the regional programmes. 
19. Assessment 
Since the initiative's management is to be decentralized, and the 
emphasis is on innovation and the model function, continuous 
assessment of LEADER II is essential. 
To qualify for implementation, each regional programme will have to 
include, before it starts up, a mechanism for continuous assessment 
of the different projects and of the programme as a whole. Details of 
the operation of this mechanism will be attached to the programme 
submitted to the Commission. The partners responsible for the 
programme will have to arrange for regular assessment reports to be 
submitted to the Monitoring Committee and the Commission. All the 
data gathered will also be submitted for use by the innovation 
Observatory. 
Each beneficiary of the programme (local group or other collective 
body) will have to provide, in a form to be defined, information for 
assessment purposes, permitting an initial analysis, specification of 
the changes expected, the extent of the innovation and the model 
function of the project. This information will serve as a reference 
point for assessment to analyse over the duration of each project the 
emergence of the innovation in question, its impact, its spontaneous 
spread and the conditions for any transfer. 
More generally, the periodic assessment must show the value added by 
the different categories of the programme in relation to other 
measures in the same area (including transnational cooperation 
projects). 
13 
The network will collect all these assessments and reports and 
redistribute them in the form of bulletins on innovative practices 
and papers synthesizing information on particular aspects. 
This permanent assessment will enable the regional decision-making 
partnership to refine its internal selection criteria, adjust its 
strategy and propose any modifications to its programme. 
LEADER II will also be assessed (mid-term and at the end of the 
programme period) in terms of its impact at the national and 
Community levels. This statutory assessment will be carried out 
within the partnership as for all programmes part-financed by the 
Structural Funds. It will use specific parameters adapted to the 
programme's characteristics. 
VII. COMMUNITY FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION 
LEADER II 
20. The LEADER II initiative will be jointly financed by the Member State 
and the Community. The total Structural Funds contribution to LEADER 
for the period from 1994 to 1999 is estimated at 1400 million ECU in 
1994 prices, of which 900 million ECU in the Objective 1 regions. 
21. Community contribution rates will be applied as defined in the 
Structural Funds Regulations. Within the ceilings fixed by the 
Regulations measures (a) (skills acquisition) and (c) (transnational 
cooperation) may be granted higher rates depending on details to be 
worked out in the partnership. 
22. An indicative amount of not more than 3% of the total Community 
contribution will be reserved to finance the various activities of 
the Community network (including the Observatory of innovation and 
rural development) and any support of national networks (measure 
(d)). 
VIII. APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE BY 
THE MEMBER STATES 
23. The Member States will submit applications for assistance for the 
programmes or integrated global grants within four months from the 
date of publication of this notice. Applications received after this 
date will be taken into account by the Commission of the European 
Communities only in exceptional and duly justified cases. 
When an application is for areas that fall within the scope of more 
than one Objective (Objectives 1 and 5(b)) the expenditure for each 
Objective and area must be clearly distinguished. 
14 
24. Address for all correspondence regarding this notice: 
Mr G. Legras, 
Director-General 
Directorate-General for Agriculture 
Commission of the European Communities 
Rue de la Loi 200 
1049 BRUSSELS 
Belgium 
15 
ANNEX I 
LEADER II - Indicative list of eligible measures 
Since it has limited funds at its disposal, LEADER II will give priority 
to innovative measures to develop the locally-generated potential of 
rural areas. Therefore, with the exception of very small-scale measures, 
to be defined in the partnership, investments in infrastructure are not 
eligible under this initiative, nor is any single productive investment 
entailing an amount exceeding a ceiling to be agreed in the partnership. 
1. Measure (a) - acquisition of skills 
- Analysis of the local area. 
- Informing the population about LEADER. 
- Technical support for the formation of local partnerships. 
- Technical support for drawing up local integrated development 
strategies. 
- Technical support for potential beneficiaries (local groups and 
other collective bodies) in seeking financing and preparing 
applications. 
2. Measure (b) - rural innovation programmes (local groups and other 
collective bodies) 
Projects must include elements of innovation and elements that are 
capable of functioning as a model to be assessed in the light of the 
area's characteristics and the content of the operational programme 
under the Community support framework for that area (cf. para. 11 of 
the notice). 
Local groups that have benefited from LEADER I will be treated on a 
strictly equal footing and their projects will be subject to the same 
criteria as those of other potential beneficiaries. 
In the case of local groups (public and private partners cooperating 
on a multisectorial development strategy in a local-scale continuous 
area), the project submitted must include several of the elements 
listed below. 
In the case of other collective bodies, whether public or private, 
the local project may be limited to a single operational aspect. 
Technical support for rural development 
- Technical assistance for those running development projects 
(identification of initiatives involving starting up or taking over 
businesses, including farms, feasibility studies, technical advice, 
follow-up, etc.). 
ie> 
- Technical assistance for existing small firms and other activities 
(farming, crafts etc.) (identification of potential markets, access 
to finance, innovation management etc.). 
- Single offices providing guidance, advice and support for young 
people who wish to go into business. 
- Raising the awareness of the public, including young people still 
at school, about the area's identity and prospects and the need for 
innovation. 
Aid for data processing and transmission equipment needed by a local 
groups or other collective bodies to implement the project (maximum 
3% of total cost of project). 
Training and recruitment assistance 
- Training of project managers and organizers. 
- Short training courses for specific requirements related to the 
implementation of other project measures that are not financed 
under the CSF operational programme. 
- Development training. 
- Involvement of educational and training institutions in the 
development process. 
- Innovative procedures for the integration of people into working 
life whose employment situation is unstable (training companies and 
workshops, public service jobs, etc.). 
Rural tourism 
- Individual or collective small-scale innovative investment projects 
(including tourist investment linked to farming). 
- Adapting small-scale public infrastructure to new requirements 
relating to tourist facilities. 
- Listing, restoration and development of rural buildings and sites 
of tourist interest. 
- Promotional activities, market studies, introduction of reservation 
systems. 
- Devising and establishing new rural tourism products (including 
cultural tourism). 
Small firms, craft enterprises and local services 
- Access by small firms and craft enterprises (particularly in the 
agri-foodstuff sector, including processing of fisheries products) 
to services (advisory, market studies, transfer of technology, 
innovation, vocational training). 
17 
- Establishment (start-up aid) of local services needed in an area, 
including those providing additional work for farmers (information, 
unified provision of services, call-out transport etc.). 
- Aid for innovative investment in crafts enterprises and small 
firms, in particular to take advantage of local natural resources. 
- Facilitation of tele-working. 
- Aid for setting up businesses. 
Local exploitation and marketing of agricultural, forestry and 
fisheries products 
- Local and regional market studies and analysis of distribution 
channels. 
- Technical assistance and investment for the production of local 
specialities derived from agricultural, forestry and fisheries. 
- Transfer of technologies. 
- Promotion and labelling of local and regional quality products 
stressing their local origin. 
- Marketing (sales structure, participation in fairs, contacts with 
mail order and central purchasing organizations, tele-marketing). 
- Diversification of agricultural production and farmers' activities. 
- Development of aquaculture and non-commercial sports fishing. 
- Production of alternative sources of energy (exploitation of 
biomass and of waste from the wood industry). 
- Development of financial engineering. 
N.B. Should the case arise, actions in the fishing sector must be 
different from those financed under the PESCA programme of 
Community Initiative in the same area. 
Preservation and improvement of the environment and living conditions 
- Renovation and development of villages and the architectural 
heritage. 
- Support for cultural creativity and the promotion of cultural 
products linked with rural development. 
- Protection, rehabilitation and exploitation of natural resources 
(fauna, flora, small streams etc.) and landscapes. 
- Disposal and recycling of waste. 
3. Measure (c) - transnational cooperation 
- Costs of participation in activities of the European rural 
development network (identification of potential partners, setting up 
cooperation projects). 
- Eligible cooperation measures are identical to those under point 2 
(reminder: the innovation criterion does not apply to this category). 
18 
ANNEX II 
LEADER II - Outline application for assistance 
(Integrated operational programme or 
integrated global grant) 
1. PROGRAMME 
1.1. Brief analysis of area concerned. 
1.2. Strategy for LEADER II in the area covered by the programme. 
1.3. Complementarity with operations financed under the Community 
Support Framework and new aspects not included in CSF operations. 
1.4. Procedures for informing potential beneficiaries 
1.5. Financing plan by year, measure and Fund. 
1.6. Measure (a) - Acquiring skills 
- Objective. 
- Summary of applications already submitted (to serve as 
examples) and types of measure eligible (for the purposes of 
Annex I). 
- Nature of beneficiaries (local collective bodies, associations, 
local population). 
(Note: beneficiaries of this measure are not automatically 
beneficiaries of measures (b-) or c)). Assistance is 
intended to precede any investment programmes). 
- Selection procedures and criteria. 
- Authority responsible for implementation. 
- Indicative timetable. 
1.7. Measure (b) - Rural innovation programmes - local development 
groups 
- Objectives. 
- Strategy. 
- Expected impact on the reference situation. 
- Complementarity with operations financed under the Community 
support framework and new aspects not included in CSF 
operations. 
- Summary of applications already submitted (to serve as 
examples) and types of measure eligible (for the purposes of 
Annex I). 
- Nature of beneficiaries. 
- Selection procedures and criteria. 
19 
- Management procedures (nature of multiannual contracts with 
beneficiaries, degree of autonomy of groups). 
- Authority responsible for implementation. 
- Indicative timetable and indication of procedure planned for 
ensuring regular surveys of projects of new beneficiaries for 
the duration of the initiative. 
- Financing plan by Fund. 
1.8. Measure (b) - Rural innovation programmes - other collective 
bodies 
- Same information as under 1.7. 
- Priority aspects or sectors if any. 
- Selection criteria should make it possible to ensure that 
the measure fits into the overall rural development plan at the 
local level. 
1«9. Measure (c) - Transnational cooperation 
- Same information as for 1.7 and 1.8.. 
- If this is not available, indicate the amount of the LEADER 
budget set aside for this purpose; the specification must be 
submitted subsequently to the Monitoring Committee. 
- Planned preparatory measures (identification and linking up 
of partners). 
1.10. Monitoring and continuous assessment 
- Specific monitoring procedures established at regional 
(national) level, taking into account the very decentralized 
nature of the initiative. 
- Description of the mechanism for assessing the various projects 
and the programme as a whole. 
- Timetable and procedures for selecting the body responsible 
for this assessment. 
- Estimated cost of assessment, to be funded from the LEADER 
grant (maximum 1% of the programme). 
PARTNERSHIP 
- Composition of planning and decision-making partnership. 
- Composition of local and regional advisory or associated 
partnership. 
- Opinion of the advisory or associated partnership. 
- Procedures for decisions and selection of final beneficiaries by 
the partnership. 
PARTICIPATION IN THE EUROPEAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK 
- Planned arrangements for ensuring participation in the network by 
partners and final beneficiaries (local groups and other collective 
bodies). 
20 
- Planned measures for disseminating results and assessments through 
the network. 
- Specific contribution of rural development know-how which the 
partners presenting the programme are prepared to make available to 
all Community rural areas. 
PART-FINANCING - CONTROL 
- Undertaking by those providing national part-finance to do so in 
respect of the programme and assurance that budgets will be 
available for this purpose for the entire programme period. 
- Financial control procedures. 
21 
Explanatory memorandum 
REGIS II INITIATIVE 
1. The aim of the Regis II initiative is to contribute to the better 
balanced development of the outermost regions (as defined in 
Declaration No 26 annexed to the Treaty on European Union) in 
order to facilitate their integration into the European economic 
system 
2. It is a continuation of the Regis initiative which was decided on 
by the Commission on 25 July 1990 and forms part of the Community 
approach based on Poseidom, Poseima and Poseican. 
3. It applies to the same seven regions (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, 
Martinique, Réunion, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores) 
which have special features clearly distinguishing them from the 
rest of the Community (great distance from continental Europe, 
island nature and/or isolation, small local markets, mainly 
tropical agricultural production, under-developed economies). 
4. In order to simplify the management of Community assistance for 
the economic and social development of the most remote regions of 
the Community, give such assistance a higher profile and promote 
an integrated development strategy which would take account of the 
special situation of these regions, it is proposed to group under 
Regis II the specific measures in Regis I, all the measures under 
the other Community initiatives which take account of the specific 
features of these regions and measures eligible under the 
Structural Funds in Poseidom, Poseima and Poseican. 
This means that the financial resources allocated to Regis II are 
considerably higher than those available for the preceding period. 
5. The Regis programmes implemented between 1991 and 1993 were 
concerned principally with the diversification of productive 
activity. Some 60% of the appropriations programmed were used for 
that purpose. 
In the French overseas departments priority was given to the 
diversification of agriculture and building up the agri-foodstuffs 
industries in each region (e.g. through the development of 
horticulture, market gardening and fruit production, stockraising 
and the growing of forest trees). Particular attention was also 
given to the development of rural tourism which paid due attention 
to the landscape, flora and fauna. Regis also enabled each region 
to complete infrastructure works to facilitate access (ports and 
airports) and contributed to the integration of each region into 
its regional environment. 
In the Canary Islands, Regis concentrated on development of the 
islands' local potential with measures to stimulate craft 
industries, small businesses and adventure holidays. The measures 
for craft industries and small businesses concentrated on 
improving know-how on management, R&D, new technologies and the 
reduction of pollution and on the preparation of industry and 
craft parks and the construction of craft centres and technology 
institutes. In the case of tourism, the stress was on the laying 
out of marked walks, the restoration of traditional villages, the 
promotion of rural accommodation and the establishment of small 
museums, covering folklore, crafts, flora and fauna. 
In the Azores and Madeira, Regis programmes were concerned mainly 
with the improvement of transport infrastructure. An example in 
the Azores is the airport on the island of Flores which is being 
modernized to permit regular flights even in bad weather. Regis 
has also contributed to infrastructure improvements in a number of 
small fishing ports. Work on Madeira has been concerned mainly 
with improving road access to Funchal airport and preparations for 
lengthening the runway there, which is essentialto enable loaded 
large aircraft to take off there, so reducing the cost of 
transport between Madeira and Europe. 
6. In addition to the inclusion in Regis II of measures under other 
Community initiatives, as mentioned in paragraph 4, some 
adjustments and additions have been made to the specific measures 
provided for in Regis I. 
- As requested by Parliament and those involved in the most remote 
regions, measures previously financed by Envireg are to be 
incorporated in Regis II. 
- Greater stress is being laid on measures for the exchange and 
transfer of know-how with other Community regions. 
- The measure concerning energy has been extended by making it 
possible to finance energy-saving investment projects. 
Draft notice to Member States laying down guidelines 
for operational programmes 
which Member States are invited to establish 
in the framework of a Community initiative 
concerning the most remote regions, 
(Regis II) 
1. At its meeting on , the Commission of the European 
Communities decided to establish a Community initiative concerning 
the most remote regions as defined in Declaration No 26 annexed to 
the Treaty on European Union (hereinafter referred to as 'Regis 
IIj_ - initiative pour regions isolées - initiative for the most 
remote regions) within the meaning of Article 11 of Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 
2082/93(1). This initiative is a continuation of the Regis 
initiative^) f which was adopted in July 1992 and came to an end 
on 31 December 1993. 
2. Community assistance in the form of loans and grants may be 
provided under Regis to the regions of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, 
Martinique, Réunion, Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira to 
finance operational programmes submitted by the Member States and 
approved by the Commission of the European Communities. These 
regions were selected on account of their great distance from the 
rest of the Community, their economic dependence, in most cases, 
on tropical agriculture, and their proximity to non-member 
countries which are party to preferential agreements with the 
Community. 
I. Objectives 
3. The reason for the initiative is the need to undertake development 
measures complementary to those agreed under the Community Support 
Frameworks (CSFs) to speed up adaptation of the economies of the 
recipient regions so that they may be better integrated into the 
European Community's internal market. The initiative forms part of 
the Community's policy towards its most remote regions. 
4. The specific objectives of Regis are: 
- to promote economic diversification, 
- to consolidate the links between these regions and the rest of 
the European Community, 
(1) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p. 24. 
(2) OJ No C 196, 4.8.1990, p. 15. 
- to stimulate cooperation between neighbouring remote regions, 
and between them and nearby non-member countries, particularly 
those party to preferential arrangements with the Community, 
- where appropriate, to increase their capacity to cope with 
natural disasters. 
5. In drawing up operational programmes, priority should be given to 
economic diversification by developing products and services for 
the local markets, for the markets of neighbouring non-member 
countries and for the Community market. 
II. Eligible measures 
6. In this section a list of eligible measures is proposed. In 
submitting operational programmes, the Member States may choose a 
more limited, but balanced, set of measures on which Community aid 
will be concentrated. 
7. In order to encourage economic diversification, the following 
measures are eligible: 
(a) Agriculture; assistance for the diversification of 
agricultural production in order to increase self-sufficiency 
and develop products for export. This may involve the 
financing of investments in farming, packaging and processing, 
marketing schemes, the organization of agricultural producers 
and measures to improve the genetic quality and health of 
livestock. Similar assistance to upgrade traditional 
agricultural activities can be granted provided that economic 
viability in the medium-term can be demonstrated; 
(b) Tourism; assistance for investment related to the development 
of adventure holidays outside the main tourist centres which 
takes account of the local context and does not endanger 
environmentally sensitive zones (e.g. rural accommodation, 
family-run hotels, tourist facilities linked to the creation 
or development of national parks, forest and tropical river 
trails and hiking paths); 
(c) Industry and services : measures under the initiative to 
assist small and medium-sized firms are eligible under that 
initiative and financed by it; 
(d) Energy: assistance for investments in energy saving and local 
energy production with particular emphasis on renewable 
energies, including geothermal energy; 
(e) Environment: measures to preserve coastal areas and their 
natural beauty and investment in the treatment of waste water 
and urban waste. 
8. In order to consolidate the links between these regions and the 
rest of the Community, the following measures will be eligible: 
(a) investment in transport and telecommunications infrastructures 
and services, both over long distances and between 
neighbouring regions; 
(b) measures to exchange and transfer know-how from other 
Community regions through, for example, study visits, 
seminars, training courses and participation in networks; 
product promotion campaigns to secure outlets throughout the 
Community market. 
9. The following measures will be eligible in the context of 
cooperation between the most remote regions and with neighbouring 
countries, particularly countries party to the Fourth ACP-EEC 
Convention: 
(a) assistance for organizing seminars, meetings, missions and 
studies and for setting up agencies through which to find 
potential partners and to define and implement joint 
cooperation measures; 
(b) assistance for setting up services and purchasing equipment 
required for other joint initiatives, particularly in the 
fields of tourism and trade; 
(c) assistance for the purchase of equipment and the construction 
of buildings needed for the development and improvement of 
services at the disposal of a geographical area extending 
beyond the Community regions and assistance with the costs of 
setting up bodies to develop services for the export of local 
know-how; 
(d) assistance for small inter-regional transport infrastructures. 
10. Assistance to cover the additional costs of business investments 
resulting from the need to take account of natural hazards. Such 
additional costs will be calculated on the basis of criteria 
agreed jointly with the Commission of the European Communities. 
11. Measures concerning vocational training and employment linked with 
the foregoing measures are eligible. These will include: 
- aid for the setting up of self-employed businesses and for 
recruitment to newly created stable jobs, 
- vocational training in management and marketing, new 
technologies, renewable energy and energy control, tourism, 
environmental management and language training, 
- vocational training in reducing the risks resulting from 
hurricanes, particularly for the agricultural sector, 
- in view of the extent of unemployment or under-employment, it is 
also intended to provide assistance to social policies which 
help young people and the long-term unemployed to find 
employment and help the under-employed to be more fully 
employed. 
Measures under the Employment initiative are also eligible. 
12. The measures under the Leader II initiative are eligible as 
regards local and rural development. 
III. The Community's contribution to the financing of Regis 
13. The Regis operational programmes will be jointly financed by the 
Member State and the Community. The total contribution by the 
Structural Funds to Regis for the period 1990 to 1993 is estimated 
at ECU 600 million. Loans may also be made by the European 
Investment Bank. 
14. The Community contribution to the operational programmes will take 
account of the quality of the programmes and the remoteness of the 
regions, their population, their level of economic development and 
their specific handicaps. 
In evaluating the quality of the programmes, the Commission will 
take into account the following elements in particular: 
- specific objectives for medium-term economic diversification, 
and the mechanisms for achieving them, 
- the expected impact of the proposed measures on economic and 
social development, 
- an exact timetable giving milestones at which an evaluation of 
the impact on economic development will be made, and the methods 
of monitoring and assessment to be used, 
- a demonstration of the additional character of the resources 
requested from the Community as well as those made available by 
the regional and national authorities in support of the 
operational programme, 
- the appropriate use of loans and grants. 
IV. Implementation 
15. Member States should submit detailed proposals for operational 
programmes within four months of the date of publication of this 
notice. The Commission need not take account of proposals received 
after that date. 
16. Community assistance may be granted to public bodies or, in the 
form of global grants, direct to the bodies responsible for 
implementation as designated by the Member State concerned, 
including bodies responsible for trans-national measures which 
entail expenditure in more than one Member State. 
17. Cooperation between beneficiaries will be encouraged both within 
the Member States concerned and between regions in different 
countries to enhance exchanges of experience, the spreading of 
best practice, joint measures and comparative assessments. The 
Commission will encourage the Member States to take this objective 
into account in preparing and subsequently managing the programme. 
18. All correspondence relating to this notice should be addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu, 
Director-General, 
Directorate-General for Regional Policy, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200 rue de la Loi, 
1049 Brussels 
Belgium. 
PROPOSAL FOR A 
COMMUNITY INITIATIVE ON "EMPLOYMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
HUMAN RESOURCES" 
Explanatory Memorandum 
Introduction 
The Green Paper published by the Commission in June 1993, advanced the idea of an 
integrated initiative on Employment and Development of Human Resources as part of a 
package of ideas on the future of Community initiatives as a whole, to be introduced under 
the Structural Funds regulations for the period 1994/1999. This idea was widely welcomed 
in the responses to the Green Paper. The detailed proposals for an initiative on Employment 
and the Development of Human Resources now put forward by the Commission follow from 
the ideas outlined last June and take into account the submissions subsequently received . 
The green Paper also envisaged the possibility of including a specific strand within the 
initiative concerned with the adaptation of the workforce to industrial change. It is now 
proposed that this be the subject of a separate initiative-Adaptation of the Workforce to 
Industrial Change (ADAPT). Insofar as both initiatives are particularly focused on 
employment and human resources, it will be necessary to ensure that their planning and 
implementation are closely coordinated. 
The proposals for this initiative build on the success of the existing human resources 
initiatives, NOW and HORIZON. 
The proposals also take as a basic point of reference the White Paper on Growth, Employment 
and Competitiveness which was endorsed by the Heads of Government of the Union at their 
meeting in Brussels on 10/11 December 1993. In this context, the proposals include a major 
strand to support the introduction of a Community-wide YOUTHSTART programme along 
the lines described in chapter 8 of the White Paper. 
The Employment and Development of Human Resources initiative represents a significant part 
of the Community's response to the challenge set out in the White Paper. The measures which 
the Community will support under this initiative are designed to encourage Member States to 
initiate the reforms prescribed in the White Paper. The initiative is about stimulating and 
supporting change. 
An integrated initiative 
The initiative is based on an integrated approach, drawing together various measures which 
are targeted directly at groups who face specific difficulties in the labour market. In proposing 
a strategy for job protection and creation in Europe, Chapter 8 of the White Paper identified 
four inter-dependent tasks for the Community - improving the adaptability of the labour 
market, improving access to the labour market among disadvantaged groups, raising the stock 
of human capital and anticipating and accelerating the development of new job-intensive 
activities. The three strands of the initiative, as described below, will contribute to the 
achievement of these interdependent tasks, each in its own distinctive way. Thus the strands 
are interconnected. It is also clear that success in any one strand will impact on the others. 
At the operational level, the integrated approach will lead to more streamlined and simplified 
management structures (e.g. one single monitoring committee), to a more active cross-
fertilisation of ideas and a more dynamic Community-wide transfer of experience and know-
how. It will also make it easier to ensure more efficient monitoring and evaluation procedures 
and thus enable any necessary changes in the focus of the initiative to be introduced quickly 
and effectively during its implementation. 
The idea of a more integrated and focused approach has been widely welcomed in the 
response to the Green Paper. It is also in line with the wishes of Member States, the Euro­
pean Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Consultative Council of 
Regional and Local Authorities, as well as of the European Confederation of Trades Unions 
and the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe. 
At the same time, it is recognised that the initiative should contain three distinct strands, 
which cover the specific needs of: women; the disabled and other disadvantaged groups; the 
young unemployed. 
Strand 1 -Equal employment opportunities for women ("Employment -NOW"): 
This strand is aimed at the development of equal opportunities for women in the labour mar­
ket and at ensuring access for women to jobs in growth sectors as well as their professional 
development in the sectors where they form a major part of the workforce. Whilst the Com­
munity has a longstanding commitment to promoting equal opportunities in the labour market, 
innovative action in this regard needs to be continued and strengthened. In particular the 
initiative will build on the success of the first NOW programme. 
Strand 2 - Improving the employment prospects of disabled people and of other 
disadvantaged groups ("Employment -HORIZON"): 
This strand will address the root causes of marginalisation and the resultant poor employment 
prospects of those who face specific obstacles to their entry into and effective participation 
in the labour market (disabled people, ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees, etc). In doing 
so it will draw on the successful experience of the first Horizon programme. 
Since the problems of exclusion extend beyond insufficient income and unemployment to 
specific barriers to the labour market, emphasis will be placed on an integrated approach to 
cater for the global needs of the individuals who make up the various target groups. Local 
area-based and partnership-based measures aimed at coordinating and delivering local 
solutions to labour market problems will be emphasised. 
Strand 3 - Assisting the integration of young people into the labour market 
("Employment-YOUTHSTART"): 
This strand is aimed at preventing youth unemployment, especially of those without adequate 
basic qualifications who face the risk of life-long unemployment. In order to respond more 
effectively to the problems facing these people this strand will help to promote access to work 
or a recognized form of education or training to all young people under the age of 20. 
Categories of eligible measures 
Across the strands, four broad categories of measure can be identified. 
(1) Systems measures: aimed at initiating and supporting changes in the way training 
systems, employment services and the promotion of job creation are organised. 
(2) Training measures: covering the delivery and content of training, guidance, placement 
and counselling services that are being introduced or developed as part of an overall 
strategy for change in the operation of the labour market. 
(3) Job creation measures: which focus on innovative ways to develop new enterprises, to 
expand the job opportunities available and the more effective deployment of employment 
aids. Particular emphasis is given to expanding sectors where new employment 
opportunities are most likely to arise, and to new approaches to the organisation of work 
as referred to in the White Paper. 
(4) Information/communication measures: concerned with encouraging the dissemination of 
information throughout the labour market to heighten awareness of the need for change 
and to encourage an acceptance of new initiatives and new practices. 
Distinguishing characteristics of the Employment and Development of 
Human Resources initiative 
In presenting its proposals for the initiative, the Commission wishes to stress that while it 
shares with Community Support Frameworks the primary objective of maintaining and 
increasing employment in the Community, it is quite distinct in its underlying rationale, aims 
and methodologies. 
The distinguishing features, which seek to achieve a special added value for the Community, 
can be summarised as follows: 
Transnationalitv: a key element of the new initiative should be, as in the past, its transnational 
dimension. One of the most significant achievements of the current Human Resources 
initiatives has been to introduce transnational cooperation on a major scale. The new initiative 
will continue to place particular emphasis on the transfer of know-how to the least advanced 
regions of the Community and on the undoubted advantages of cooperation. In this context, 
the initiative will draw on the experienced gained in transnational cooperation through the 
existing Community initiatives on Human Resources, the Community Support Frameworks 
and also within the framework of Community programmes for vocational training, especially 
PETRA and LEONARDO. The creation of new networks of cooperation and the further 
development of existing ones at regional, national and Community level will play an 
important role in pooling resources on a Community-wide basis. 
Innovation: the initiative will seek to act as a catalyst for innovation and change. Experience 
to date has shown that, in the mainstream Community Support Frameworks, Member States 
tend to favour more traditional forms of labour market measures. The initiative, on the other 
hand, should provide an incentive for carrying out innovative operations requiring extra 
developmental work and financial and managerial support. 
A"bottom-up" approach: by combining a decentralised approach with increased involvement 
at regional and local level, the initiative will enable the Community to identify and act 
promptly on local problems and needs. The initiative aims, in particular, to mobilise the 
expertise and experience of private sector actors, as well as non-governmental and voluntary 
organisations in delivering targeted training to people who are particularly disadvantaged in 
the labour market. 
Reinforcing Communitv policies and programmes: the initiative will promote and support 
closer interaction between different aspects of Community policy on Human Resources. The 
reinforcement of Community programmes and networks in the field of vocational training and 
employment, social and professional integration of disadvantaged groups and equal 
opportunities for men and women will be an important feature of the initiative. Common 
policy guidelines, joint transnational measures and networks and common research and 
evaluation will be amongst the principal means of ensuring a coordinated and coherent 
approach. 
Technical Assistance 
The main guiding principles which will shape the content of operational programmes or global 
grants supported under this initiative are that they should have a strong transnational 
dimension, be concerned with effecting change through innovation in the operations of the 
labour market and stimulate a more active "bottom-up" involvement. Experience of the 
current Community initiatives in the field of human resources suggests that these key 
principles are sometimes difficult to apply in practice. The Commission therefore wishes to 
strengthen substantially the technical assistance effort at Community, national and 
decentralised level in order to assist public authorities, private bodies and other interests 
concerned in the formulation and subsequent implementation of programmes. This technical 
assistance will take various forms including support for consultancy and expert services to 
advise and assist in the preparation of programmes, as well as the organisation of an intensive 
programme of information both during the preparatory and the implementation phases. In this 
context also, a determined effort will be made to involve the Social Partners in the policy 
formulation process and in the subsequent implementation of agreed measures. 
Finance 
Employment protection and creation are now at the top of the agenda of the European Union. 
The Employment and Development of Human Resources initiative is a major part of the 
Community's initial response to the challenge for action set down in the White Paper. In line 
with the broad thrust of policy proposed in the White Paper, which was endorsed by the 
Heads of Government in Brussels during December 1993, it seeks to shift the focus in 
Community initiatives as a whole and to place more emphasis on investment in human 
resources. The Commission therefore proposes that, of the total resources available for 
Community initiatives, 1.4 billion ECU should be allocated to the initiative. It also proposes 
that the amounts set for each strand within the initiative should be as follows: 
MECU 
"Employment -NOW" 370 
"Employment - HORIZON" 730 
"Employment - YOUTHSTART" 300 
TOTAL 1,400 
The initiative will draw mainly from the European Social Fund for resources. It will also be 
funded in part from the European Regional Development Fund to support, where appropriate, 
complementary investment in infrastructure and business support services. 
It will apply throughout the whole territory of the Union but, in accordance with the social 
and economic cohesion objective, priority will be given to Objective 1 areas. 
Evaluation 
In keeping with the stronger commitment to evaluation made during the negotiations on the 
new Structural Funds regulations, the Commission will require Member States to specify, in 
quantifiable terms, the targets it seeks to achieve within the operational programmes submitted 
under the initiative. These targets will be used as the main benchmark against which to assess 
progress during, and at the end of, the planning period. 
Draft 
Communication to the Member States laying down guidelines for operational programmes or 
global grants which Member States are invited to propose within the framework of a 
Community initiative on Employment and Development of Human Resources aimed at 
promoting employment growth mainly through the development of human resources. 
1. At the meeting of the Commission of the European Communities 
decided to introduce a framework initiative on "Employment and Development of 
Human Resources" in the context of Article 11 of the Council Regulation (EEC) n° 
4253/88 as modified by the Council Regulation 2082/93. 
2. Within the framework of this initiative the Community may grant subsidies for 
measures which satisfy the guidelines laid down in this communication and which 
are included in proposals for operational programmes or global grant submitted by 
the Member States and approved by the European Commission. In addition, other 
Community financial instruments may make an appropriate contribution to this 
initiative. 
!• Objectives 
3. This initiative aims to contribute to the development of human resources and to 
improve the workings of the labour market with a view to enhancing employment 
growth and to promoting social solidarity in the European Union. As such it is a 
direct follow-up to the Commission's White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and 
Employment, the main thrust of which is to put the highest possible premium on pro­
active labour market measures to stimulate employment-intensive growth. 
4. The initiative has three inter-related objectives corresponding to three distinct but 
inter-connected strands: 
a. to promote equal employment opportunities for women ("Employment-NOW"); 
b. to improve the employment prospects of the disabled, and other disadvantaged 
groups ("Employment-HORIZON"); 
c. to promote labour market integration of young people, in particular those 
without basic qualifications or training ("Employment-YOUTHSTART"). 
5. Positive benefits will accrue right across the initiative from the active cross-
fertilisation of ideas and experiences promoted within each strand. A coordinated 
response is called for in submitting requests for support under this initiative. Member 
States should ensure that the overall package of proposals is a well-balanced set of 
measures related to each of the strands of the initiative. The proposals should also 
ensure coherence of action between the three strands. 
The Commission, in partnership with Member States, will aim to ensure 
complementarity between measures assisted under this initiative and those supported 
under other Community programmes, in particular in the field of vocational training. 
II. Priorities 
6. Over and above the measures taken by Member States themselves and the other 
activities supported by the European Social Fund, this initiative is intended to serve 
as a catalyst for Community-wide innovation as well as for the organised transfer of 
expertise and the dissemination of good practice between Member States. 
In order to achieve higher added value for the Community, Member States' proposals 
should, in particular : 
a. demonstrate an overall transnational dimension, giving priority to transnational 
exchange, cooperation and dissemination of information, in particular involving 
partners in Objective 1 regions; 
b. consist of measures and actions which are innovative; 
c. give priority to improving the efficiency of training and employment systems 
and services; 
d. actively encourage a more pro-active and co-ordinated approach at local level 
to obtain a greater employment impact, involving all relevant actors, including 
local and regional authorities, economic and social partners and voluntary 
bodies; 
e. reinforce Community policies as well as Community programmes especially in 
the field of human resources and labour market integration; 
f. provide for the necessary flexibility to accommodate needs which cannot be 
foreseen at the first planning stage, and which call for a special effort from the 
Community. 
III. Regional eligibility and concentration 
This initiative is applicable to the whole of the territory of the Union. However, 
particular emphasis will to be placed on the needs of the less favoured regions. A 
number of measures will therefore apply only to priority regions (Objectives 1, 2 and 
5b). 
IV. Eligible measures 
8. The list of measures which follows presents all eligible measures which may be 
financed under this initiative. When preparing their proposals for operational 
programmes or for global grants, Member States are invited to select, in cooperation 
with the Commission, a more limited list of measures per strand on which to 
concentrate financial assistance. 
9. "Employment-NOW "(equal employment opportunities for women). 
This strand aims to help to reduce unemployment among women and to improve the 
position of those already in the workforce, through the promotion of equal 
employment opportunities. It will support the development of innovative strategies to 
respond to changes in the organisation of work and changing job requirements. 
The transnational dimension of the initiative will permit a comparison of different 
experiences, as well as the transfer of know-how and experience and cooperation. It 
will also reinforce the development of innovatory actions in favour of women, 
especially in Objective 1 areas and in sectors where such actions are at present less 
developed. To ensure a maximum multiplier effect, particular attention will be given 
to the development of the training of trainers as well as the structure of training 
programmes, methodologies and tools. 
The first NOW Initiative demonstrated the need to develop strong and active 
partnerships at local, national and transnational level. These should involve enterprises, 
public and private bodies responsible for training and employment, bodies responsible 
for equality issues, regional and local authorities, non-governmental organisations and 
women's organisations, in such a way that best practice is gradually taken up and 
incorporated into mainstream training and employment systems. Priority should be 
given to actions in which Social Partners are actively involved at all levels. 
Within this strand the following measures will be eligible for assistance: 
a) the development in particular through transnational cooperation, of appropriate 
training, guidance, counselling and employment systems, including: 
- development of cooperation and networking between public training bodies in order 
to promote equality of opportunities for women in the labour market, with particular 
emphasis on improving access to and promoting women's progress in, rapidly 
developing sectors and new areas of work, and to their access to management 
responsibilities; 
- the strengthening of links between training bodies, higher educational establishments 
and enterprises to improve the professional integration of women (Objective 1 
regions only); 
- support to educational establishments for the development of innovatory educational 
material which improves equality of opportunity for women in the labour market 
(Objective 1 regions only); 
- support for the creation of guidance/counselling and pretraining services for women 
- support at local level for advisory services to facilitate the start-up of SMEs and 
cooperatives; 
- support for the creation of relevant care services infrastructure, where they are less 
developed (Objective 1 regions only); 
b the delivery, in particular on a transnational basis, of training, including: 
- the provision of a comprehensive package of t flexible training and other 
accompanying measures, including information, guidance, counselling, pre-training, 
personal development, upgrading of basic skills and qualifying training, re-training, 
job-search assistance, business traineeships and in-job support. Particular attention 
should be given to new job requirements, new qualifications and skills, notably in 
the area of RTD and innovative technologies . 
- vocational training measures, including preparatory training, geared specifically to 
the needs of running businesses or cooperatives; 
- training for trainers, for those responsible for personnel or for negotiating training 
matters within enterprises, in order to make them more aware of and active in 
equality issues; 
- training in equality of opportunities for those responsible for personnel in the public 
sector, for educational personnel and for equality advisors in educational 
establishments (Objective 1 regions only); 
- the development of innovatory assessment methods to integrate within career 
structures all the experiences and activities carried out by women, including those 
that are not formally recognised, in order to promote accreditation of prior 
learning; 
- initial and continuing training especially in SMEs and in sectors subject to industrial 
change, to adapt the female workforce to the changing labour market and to 
improve their career development; 
- initial and continuing training for appropriate care services personnel with a view 
to improving the quality of these services. 
c) job creation and support, particularly through transnational cooperation, for the start 
up of small businesses and cooperatives bv women, including: 
- development of networking and cooperation on local employment initiatives, aimed 
at mobilising the capacities of women to build on local resources, in particular in 
areas such as tourism, culture, environment, care and for job creation in rural areas; 
- aid for the creation of self-employed activities, small enterprises and cooperatives 
including recruitment aid; 
- aid for the setting up of financial support instruments for enterprise creation by 
women; 
Within the framework of measures provided under a), b) and c), the Commission will 
support the operating costs of care services for dependants in order to facilitate 
participation in training and employment of women with children and/or other 
dependants. 
d) information dissemination and awareness actions, particularly through transnational 
cooperation, including: 
- measures directed in particular at the Social Partners, personnel of education, 
training and employment services, local and regional authorities and the general 
public to heighten awareness about the need to act in favour of equal opportunities 
between men and women in the labour market; 
- the setting-up of networks, creation or improvement of data bases and the carrying 
out of studies linked with the objectives of this strand and the dissemination of the 
results of best practice; 
- gender-related monitoring and assessment of vocational training and employment 
actions. 
- 11 -
10. "Employment -HORIZON" (improving the employment prospects of the disabled 
and other disadvantaged groups). 
This strand will promote, with an important emphasis on the transnational dimension, 
measures to improve access to the labour market for those who fmd themselves excluded 
from it or those at the risk of being excluded. It is aimed at those people who are not 
merely unemployed but who face severe obstacles to their integration due to the degree 
of their marginalisation. This group includes, on the one hand, the disabled, and, on the 
other hand, the disadvantaged, in particular, people at high-risk, including drug addicts 
and marginalized persons, immigrants, refugees, itinerants, isolated people, single-parent 
families, the homeless, prisoners and ex-prisoners. Increasingly some of the long-term 
unemployed will also fall into this group. 
Overcoming the problems of these groups has to be tackled through two main types of 
action. The first is the improvement of the quality of training especially the development 
of new employment skills and qualifications. The second includes job creation actions, 
in particular through new forms of work organisation, through employment aids and 
support for work in the open labour market and through developments in relation to 
sheltered employment. Emphasis should be placed on a bottom-up approach. 
The strand will reinforce in particular measures under Objective 3 of the Structural Funds 
to facilitate the occupational integration of those exposed to exclusion from the labour 
market. There will be a particular focus on the disabled and other disadvantaged groups. 
It will also draw on the previous experiences of relevant Community programmes and 
particularly on the lessons of the first Horizon programme. 
The partners involved at national and transnational level will include enterprises, public 
and private bodies responsible for training and employment, universities and research 
institutes, regional and local authorities, and non-governmental organisations. Priority 
should be given to actions in which the Social Partners are actively involved at all levels. 
Within the scope of this strand, the following measures will be eligible for assistance; 
a) the development, in particular through transnational cooperation, of appropriate training, 
guidance, counselling and employment systems, including: 
- suport for the creation or development of tailored advisory services and local 
development agencies to help to create jobs for disabled and 
disadvantaged people particularly in the sectors where potential employment growth 
appears high, (Objective 1, 2 and 5b only) ; 
- the adaptation of the work place, in particular through the introduction of new 
technologies, and the development of conditions for distance work; 
- support for the implementation of flexible training and learning systems such as 
- 12 -
distance and interactive computer learning; 
- the improvement of access to training and work-related services through the adaptation 
of buildings and transport systems, (Objective 1 regions only); 
- the occupational integration of disadvantaged people within urban communities with 
the help of community infrastructure, information, advice and development of 
services, (Objective 1, 2 and 5b regions only); 
- setting up reception/guidance and employment centres, including places of transit, for 
multiple use, for the initial integration of refugees, (Objective 1 regions only); 
b) the delivery, in particular through transnational cooperation, of training, including: 
- training for qualifications and skills related to the use by disabled people of 
technologies in the work or training place; 
- training of disabled and disadvantaged people, in new skills and qualifications 
especially for sectors where employment growth appears high and in the areas of 
RTD and innovative technologies 
- development of Community-recognized qualifications and accreditation of prior 
learning; 
- training of disabled and disadvantaged people (functional, psychological and social 
rehabilitation, pre-training, upgrading of basic skills, retraining) preceded and 
accompanied by on-going assessment and counselling.This will include inter alia "on 
the job" training modules linked to special courses for specific target groups to 
improve integration into the labour market; 
- training schemes for experts and for human resources personnel in the field of 
reorganisation of work and adaptation of the workplace; 
- training or upgrading of skills and qualifications of advisers, local development agents, 
trainers, social workers, representatives of the Social Partners and those responsible 
for personnel in the private sector in order to improve their understanding and 
awareness in matters concerning the integration of the disabled and disadvantaged and 
into sectors where employment growth appears high; 
13 
c) job creation and support particularly on a transnational basis, for the start-up of 
enterprises, cooperatives and public-private partnerships, including: 
- job creation measures designed to exploit local potential for developing new types of 
employment based on innovative approaches to work organisation. Introduction of such 
approaches into enterprises in order to prevent job loss of disabled workers; 
- innovative approaches to reducing the labour costs for employers of groups with lower 
productivity in the labour market; 
- development of supported employment places and new employment schemes (through, 
for example, sheltered employment and cooperatives); 
- job creation actions to facilitate integration into the labour market and to offset possible 
loss of benefits in the transition from a protected environment; 
- support to local employment initiatives including public-private partnerships and 
involving local communities in particular in sectors where employment intensive growth 
appears high. 
d) information dissemination and awareness actions, including: 
- support for wide dissemination of information on employment and training opportunities 
in a format accessible to disabled and disadvantaged groups. 
- actions to raise the awareness of the general public, the Social Partners and education, 
training and employment services personnel with regard to the employment potential of 
disabled and disadvantaged people, in particular through the publication of codes of good 
practice. 
- support for information services and support structures such as networks for the 
dissemination of this information. 
14-
11. "Employment-YOUTHSTART" (promoting labour market integration of young 
people). 
One of the main conclusions of the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and 
Employment is that more effort is required to enable young people to participate 
effectively in the labour market. Young people who have left education without a 
qualification face particular problems of integration. They often cannot compete 
effectively in an already difficult labour market, and they face the danger of long-term 
unemployment and potential alienation from society. 
In order to address this fundamental problem the Commission proposed in its White 
Paper, endorsed by the Heads of State and Government in December, a scheme called 
YOUTHSTART. The aim of the scheme is to stimulate actions by Member States 
leading progressively in the longer term to the provision of a youth guarantee 
throughout the Union. The idea is that every young person under the age of 20 would 
eventually be guaranteed access either to full-time employment or to a recognized 
form of education or training, including apprenticeship or other forms of linked work 
and training. Special efforts would be targeted at young people leaving school with 
no diploma or basic qualifications. As far as possible, work experience would be 
industry or service based. However, the huge scope for employment in the fields of 
environment, urban regeneration and the care sector would also be exploited. 
YOUTHSTART would guarantee each of its citizens a stake in the development of 
the Union. At the same time it would guarantee the Union the development of its 
greatest resource, namely its young people who all too often and all too quickly can 
drift into unemployment, often long-term, and eventually exclusion. 
The basis of YOUTHSTART would be 12 national programmes tailored to the 
requirements of each Member State receiving where appropriate support through the 
Community Support Frameworks. More limited but carefully targeted resources will 
be channelled through Employment-YOUTHSTART mainly for pilot actions. The 
Community initiative dimension will act as a catalyst for the scheme as a whole. It 
will ensure the development of the innovative and transnational dimension of 
YOUTHSTART. Employment-YOUTHSTART will assert the development of 
structured networks of projects and programmes in order to ensure the exchange of 
good practice and experience. 
To maximize the value of YOUTHSTART, it will be linked to the establishment of 
agreed standards and targets. These standards and targets, to which the initiative would 
make an essential contribution, would include: a coherent link with the labour market; 
minimum training/qualification standards; independent counselling; adequate post-
activity placement; remuneration ; a full range of " soft infrastructure" support 
(childcare, literacy etc); role of social security and planned, structured transnational 
exchange opportunities. 
- 15 
Within this strand of the initiative the following measures, designed to complement 
the introduction or development of appropriate measures within national programmes, 
will be eligible for assistance : 
a) the development in the context of assuring the necessary complementarity with other 
related actions of the ESF and those supported under the LEONARDO programme 
and in particular on a transnational basis, of appropriate training, guidance, counselling 
and employment systems, in the public and private sectors as appropriate, including 
- the setting of targets and standards in regard to careers guidance, pre-training, 
vocational training, apprenticeships, placement activity, supporting measures and 
evaluation; 
- identification, adaptation and transfer of existing good practice models relating to 
labour market integration of young people; 
- the conception, development and delivery of innovatory approaches to labour 
market integration of young people especially through distance learning; 
- facilitating a more active interaction between education, vocational training and the 
labour market to enhance job opportunities generally. 
b) the provision, where appropriate on a transnational basis, mainly by building on pilot 
actions and experience gained in related Communitv programmes, especially under the 
proposed LEONARDO programme, of training and placement, including: 
- structured training and placement programmes for young people, with a particular 
emphasis on enhancing and reinforcing vocational, personal, entrepreneurial and 
linguistic skills, to be co-ordinated effectively with local programmed training and 
placement activity; 
- the training of trainers and placement personnel particularly those designing and 
delivering services at local level, in order to improve labour market integration of 
young people; 
- facilitating special training and placement experience, particularly in the fields of 
the arts, cultural heritage, environmental protection, urban regeneration and care 
services; 
- the application of innovatory models which can support and enhance local activity. 
- 16-
c) assisting job creation, in particular through transnational cooperation, including : 
- measures aimed at young people wishing to become self employed with particular 
emphasis on developing relationships with young entrepreneurs in other Member 
States, transnational trading agencies, and self help networks ; 
- transnational exchanges between local development agencies in order to identify and 
apply innovative support and development models ; 
- support for local employment initiatives aimed at the integration of young people, 
particularly in the fields of the arts, cultural heritage, environmental protection, 
urban regeneration and the care sector; 
d) information dissemination and awareness actions, in particular on a transnational basis, 
including : 
- measures aimed at raising awareness, especially among the Social Partners and of 
agencies concerned, of the particular integration problems facing young people and 
of possible responses; 
- support for related information services at national, regional and local level; 
- information activities aimed at promoting the Employment-YOUTHSTART 
programme among young people. 
- 17 
V. Technical Assistance 
12. Technical assistance will be available at the initiative of the Member States or of the 
Commission and will be supported during both the stage of preparation of proposals 
and the subsequent stage of implementation. Technical assistance may include: 
- the dissemination of information and other awareness actions; 
- the provision of consultancy and expert services; 
- the organisation of bilateral or multilateral meetings between Member States to 
facilitate cooperation; 
- the development and sharing of databases on training and employment services and 
other aspects of labour market organisation; 
- the carrying out of studies regarding innovative methods and the results of training, 
training of trainers and vocational guidance activities; 
- assistance on evaluation procedures and practices; 
- the creation or development of Community-wide networks to facilitate innovation 
and transnational cooperation. 
VI. Communitv financing 
13. The actions covered by this initiative shall be jointly financed by the Member States, 
the Community and by enterprises and other bodies where appropriate. Where 
employees of companies take part in the various operations, the enterprises concerned 
shall finance an appropriate part of their cost. 
14. The total contribution from the Structural Funds for the period 1994-1999 is estimated 
at 1.4 billion ECU of which 0.8 billion ECU will be allocated to Objective 1 regions. 
15. The distribution of resources between Member States under this initiative will be 
based on the relative severity of structural problems, including in particular relevant 
unemployment levels, aswell as the quality of the proposals submitted for operational 
programmes and global grants. 
- 18 -
16. Amounts will be allocated to each strand as follows: 
MECU 
"Employment-NOW" 370 
"Employment-HORIZON " 730 
"Employment-YOUTHSTART" 300 
17. Rates of assistance will respect the provisions of the Structural Funds regulations. 
Under the Technical Assistance provisions, a maximum rate of assistance may be 
accorded for transnational actions. 
VII. Implementation 
18. Member States are invited to present proposals for support in the form of operational 
programmes or of global grants within four months of the date of publication of this 
communication. In the latter case, Community assistance may be granted directly 
to decentralised organisations responsible for implementation, including organisations 
responsible for managing transnational actions and designated by the Member State 
concerned. 
19. During the preparation of proposals, Member States are invited to discuss with the 
Commission the main priorities and eligible measures and the mechanisms of 
implementation. 
20. Use can be made of the provisions for transnational operational programmes whereby 
two or more Member States may, on their own initiative or at the invitation of the 
Commission, present a single application for assistance. In response to these 
applications the Commission may, in consultation with the Member States concerned, 
take a single decision granting financial support. 
21. Within the context of operational programmes or global grants measures should be 
identified by the main Objectives of the Structural Funds. The proposals must 
include a general appreciation of the situation indicating the objectives to be attained 
and should include a timetable, criteria and procedures for implementation, 
monitoring and assessment. 
22. A single Monitoring Committee within each Member State will be responsible for 
the initiative as a whole. 
23. It is proposed to develop special support structures under the various strands of the 
initiative. Cooperation with other Community action programmes concerned will also 
be reinforced in terms of guidelines, technical assistance, joint operations and 
networks, follow-up of projects, evaluation, research and dissemination of 
information. National representatives of related Community action programmes will 
be involved in the selection of projects at national level. 
- 19 -
24. The Commission will require Member States to formulate and implement 
programmes so as to optimise the conditions for transnational cooperation. 
25. The Commission will set up a high-level advisory committee made up of 
representatives of non-governmental organisations and of experts nominated by 
Member States in agreement with the Commission. This committee will be asked 
to advise the Commission and the Member States on the overall implementation of 
the initiative and on the promotion of transnational actions. 
26. Correspondence concerning this communication should be sent to: 
Mr. H.C. Jones 
Acting Director-General 
Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs, 
Commission of the European Communities 
Rue de la Loi 200 
B - 1049 Brussels 
20-
PROPOSAL FOR A 
COMMUNITY INITIATIVE ON 
ADAPTATION OF THE WORKFORCE TO INDUSTRIAL CHANGE 
(ADAPT) 
Explanatory Memorandum 
Introduction 
This initiative aims at implementing a major transnational action programme linked to the 
new Objective 4 of the Structural Funds and takes also as a basic point of reference the 
White Paper on Growth, Employment and Competitiveness which was endorsed by the 
Heads of Government of the Union at their meeting in Brussels on 10/11 December 1993. 
As the White Paper makes clear, reducing the risk of unemployment, the maintenance and 
creation of jobs, at a time of high and rising unemployment, is amongst the greatest 
challenges facing the Union as it moves in an increasingly competitive environment 
towards the 21st century. Meeting this challenge is not only, dependent on higher rates of 
investment and better macroeconomic conditions to achieve faster growth, it also requires 
a world-class workforce capable of adapting to economic and technological change and 
developing the Union's competitive edge. It will also require at the same time the creation 
of new job opportunities through more employment-intensive activities and more flexible 
work practices. In this way it will be possible to ensure that economic activity and 
employment adapt to the changing needs resulting from increased competition and, at the 
same time, to improve employment prospects for persons affected by changes in work 
content, organisation and methods, reconversion and restructuring, which represent a threat 
to an increasing number of workers lacking suitable transferable skills. 
This initiative represents a significant part of the Community's response to the challenge 
set out in the White Paper. The measures which the Community will support under this 
initiative are designed to encourage Member States to initiate the reforms prescribed in 
the White Paper. The initiative is about stimulating and supporting change. 
The Green Paper published by the Commission in June 1993, advanced a package of 
ideas on the future of Community initiatives to be introduced under the Structural Funds 
regulations for the period 1994/1999. In the context of its proposals on employment and 
development of human resources, special emphasis was put on the adaptation of the 
workforce to industrial change. This emphasis was widely welcomed in the responses to 
the Green Paper. 
The detailed proposals for an initiative on "Adaptation of the workforce to Industrial 
Change (ADAPT)" now put forward by the Commission follow from the ideas outlined 
last June and take into account the submissions subsequently received. In view of the 
complementarity between this initiative and that for Employment and the development of 
Human Resources, their planning and implementation will be closely coordinated. 
The four interrelated objectives of this initiative are to : 
assist workers, especially those threatened with unemployment as consequence of 
industrial change, to adapt to increasingly rapid changes in the organisation and 
structure of employment; 
help enterprises increase their competitiveness, mainly by encouraging 
organisational adaptation and non-physical investment. 
prevent unemployment by improving qualifications of the workforce; 
to facilitate the development of new jobs and new activities. 
These objectives will require major efforts to develop and to implement adequate training 
schemes, to identify and develop new skills and qualifications, to upgrade the level of 
existing skills and improve the ability of the workforce to acquire new skills, to develop 
and support innovative approaches focused on networking between enterprises, and to 
promote the diffusion of R&D results. 
A Community-wide approach to these issues, allowing cross-fertilisation between 
enterprise strategies, research and development and training provision, is an essential 
condition for bringing about a European response to these problems which affect in 
principle all Member States, and which are not limited to particular industries and 
services. 
At the same time, this initiative should contribute to the diversification of the local 
economy by improving the qualifications and skills of the workforce. This should be 
achieved across the Community in all economic sectors and regions where the need to 
change appears to be crucial for the promotion of the competitiveness of industries, 
services and commerce. 
In principle, actions under this initiative will be horizontal, covering the economy as a 
whole without reference a priori to specific sectors. In practice, there will be a 
concentration of measures along different axes depending on the priorities agreed between 
the Commmission and the Member States. Priority axes for concentration might include: 
the sectors which are confronted with common difficulties as a result of the 
industrial changes throughout the Community (multisectoral and transnational 
approach) ; 
the companies in regions strongly affected by similar requirements of 
transformation (multisectoral, regional and transnational approach); 
the networks subcontractors and SMEs strongly dependent on the structural 
adjustments of large firms (multisectoral, cooperational and transnational 
approach); 
the themes related to new production technologies, new production methods, total 
quality, the organization of work, means of communication, systems of marketing 
and of distribution (thematic, multisectoral and transnational approach). 
Distinguishing characteristics of the initiative 
In presenting its proposals for this initiative, the Commission wishes to stress that, while 
it shares with Community Support Frameworks the primary objective of maintaining and 
increasing employment in the Community, it is quite distinct in its underlying rationale, 
aims and methodologies. The distinguishing features, which seek to achieve a special 
added value for the Community, can be summarised as follows: 
Transnationalitv : of its nature the challenge of adapting the Communities workforce is 
transnational. The initiative will place particular emphasis on the transfer of know-how, 
especially to the least advanced regions of the Community and on the undoubted 
advantages of cooperation. In this context, the initiative will draw on the experienced 
gained in transnational cooperation through the existing Community initiatives on Human 
Resources, the Community Support Frameworks and also within the framework of 
Community programmes for vocational training, especially FORCE, COMETT and 
LEONARDO. The creation of new networks of cooperation and the further development 
of existing ones at regional, national and Community level will play an important role in 
pooling resources on a Community-wide basis. 
Innovation : the initiative will provide an incentive for carrying out innovative operations 
requiring extra developmental work and managerial support. 
A "bottom-up" approach : the initiative will enable the Community to identify and act 
promptly on local, regional and multisectoral problems and needs which are common 
across the Community. The initiative aims, in particular, to mobilise the expertise and 
experience of private sector actors, as well as economic and social partners, research 
institutes, chambers of commerce and industry and training organisations in delivering 
targeted advice and training to people who are affected by different aspects of the 
transformation process. 
Reinforcing Communitv policies and programmes : the initiative will promote and support 
closer interaction between different aspects of Community policy on Employment, Labour 
Market and Human Resources, in particular the vocational training policy. The 
reinforcement of other Community initiatives related to industrial change - in particular 
the SMEs initiative - and Community action programmes and networks in the field of 
vocational training and employment will be an important feature of the initiative. 
Common policy guidelines, joint transnational measures and networks and common 
research and evaluation will be amongst the principal means of ensuring a coordinated and 
coherent approach. 
Technical Assistance 
The main guiding principles which will shape the content of operational programmes or 
global grants supported under this initiative are that they should have a strong 
transnational dimension, be concerned with effecting change through innovation in the 
operations of the labour market and stimulate a more active "bottom-up" involvement. 
Experience of the current Community initiatives in the field of human resources suggests 
that these key principles are sometimes difficult to apply in practice. The Commission 
therefore wishes to strengthen substantially the technical assistance effort at Community, 
national and decentralised level in order to assist public authorities, private bodies and 
other interests concerned in the formulation and subsequent implementation of 
programmes. This technical assistance will take various forms including support for 
consultancy and expert services to advise and assist in the preparation of programmes, as 
well as the organisation of an intensive programme of information both during the 
preparatory and the implementation phases. In this context also, a determined effort will 
be made to involve the Social Partners in the policy formulation process and in the 
subsequent implementation of agreed measures. 
Evaluation 
In keeping with the stronger commitment to evaluation made during the negotiations on 
the new Structural Funds regulations, the Commission will require Member States to 
specify, in quantifiable terms, the targets it seeks to achieve within the operational pro­
grammes submitted under the initiative. These targets will be used as the main benchmark 
against which to assess progress during, and at the end of, the planning period. 
Finance 
Employment stability and creation of new employment opportunities are now at the top 
of the agenda of the European Union. This initiative is a major part of the Community's 
initial response to the challenge for action set down in the White Paper. In line with the 
broad thrust of policy proposed in the White Paper, which was endorsed by the Heads of 
Government in Brussels during December 1993, it seeks to shift the focus in Community 
initiatives as a whole and to place more emphasis on investment in human resources. The 
Commission therefore proposes that, of the total resources available for Community 
initiatives, 1.4 billion ECU should be allocated to this initiative. 
This initiative will draw mainly from the European Social Fund for resources. [It will 
also be funded in part from the European Regional Development Fund to support, where 
appropriate, complementary investment in infrastructure and business support services]. 
It will apply throughout the whole territory of the Union but, in accordance with the 
social and economic cohesion objective, it will place special emphasis on less-favoured 
regions. 
Draft 
Communication to the Member States laying down guidelines for operational programmes 
or global grants which Member States are invited to propose within the framework of the 
Community initiative, Adaptation of the Workforce to Industrial Change (ADAPT), aimed 
at promoting employment and the adaptation of the workforce to industrial change. 
1. At the meeting of the Commission of the European Communities 
decided to introduce an initiative on and "Adaptation of the Workforce to 
Industrial Change (ADAPT)" in the context of Article 11 of the Council Regulation 
(EEC) n° 4253/88 as modified by the Council Regulation 2082/93. 
2. Within the framework of this initiative the Community may grant subsidies for 
measures which satisfy the guidelines laid down in this communication and which 
are included in proposals for operational programmes or global grants submitted by 
the Member States and approved by the European Commission. In addition, other 
Community financial instruments may make an appropriate contribution to this 
initiative. 
I. Objectives 
3. This initiative aims to contribute to the adaptation of the workforce to industrial 
change, and to improve the workings of the labour market with a view to growth, 
employment and the competitiveness of companies in the European Union. As 
such, it is a direct follow-up to the Commission's White Paper on Growth, 
Competitiveness and Employment presented to the European Council in December 
1993. 
4. The initiative has four inter-related objectives : ' 
a. to accelerate the adaptation of the workforce to industrial change; 
b. to increase the competitiveness of industry, services and commerce; 
c. to prevent unemployment by developing the workforce through improving 
qualifications and their internal and external flexibility and ensuring greater 
occupational mobility; 
d. to anticipate and accelerate the development of new jobs and new activities, 
particularly labour intensive ones; this includes exploiting the potential of SMEs. 
5. Positive benefits will accrue right across the initiative from the active cross-
fertilisation of ideas and experiences. In submitting requests for support under this 
initiative. Member States should ensure that the overall package of proposals 
contains a well-balanced set of actions related to each of the main categories of 
eligible measures listed in paragraph 7 of this Communication. 
The Commission, in partnership with Member States, will aim to ensure 
complementarity between measures assisted under this initiative and introduced 
under the Employment and Development of Human Resources initiative, as well 
as those supported under other Community programmes, in particular in the field 
of vocational training. 
II. Priorities 
6. Over and above the measures taken by Member States themselves and the other 
activities supported by the European Social Fund, this initiative is intended to 
serve as a catalyst for Community-wide innovation as well as for the organised 
transfer of expertise and the dissemination of good practice between Member 
States. 
In order to achieve higher added value for the Community, Member States' 
proposals should aim, in particular : 
a) to facilitate the adaptation of the workforce at risk through vocational training and 
retraining, guidance and counselling actions, especially for workers confronted 
with evolving job requirements related especially to changes in particular: 
- new technological production systems; 
- new production procedures; 
- management and organisation of work (strategies of total quality); 
- use of modern communication and information systems; 
- increasing of environmental requirements; 
- rational use of energy; 
- design of products; 
- changing in marketing strategies. 
b) to promote partnership and cooperation between research centres, enterprises, 
training bodies and public authorities, in particular : 
- to stimulate enterprises to train their employees in order to allow for rapid 
application of research and development results which respond to the concrete 
needs of enterprises especially as regards the application of new technologies; 
to improve the capacity of training providers to deliver the necessary training 
in this regard. 
c) to develop networks and cooperation between producers, suppliers and customers; 
this will involve both large companies and suppliers as well as SMEs. In this 
context, the aim is in particular : 
- to stimulate the transfer of relevant know-how and good practice in order to 
improve ability of firms to train their workforce; 
to ensure the essential synergy of interrelated business and training plans, 
to promote the development of competitive cluster activities and the 
participation of SMEs in enterprise networks; 
This list of priorities is not exhaustive and may need to be adapted in the light of the 
changing industrial situation. 
III. Eligible measures 
7. The list of measures which follows presents all actions which may be financed 
under this initiative. When preparing their proposals for operational programmes or 
for global grants, Member States are invited to select, in cooperation with the 
Commission, a more limited list of measures on which to concentrate financial 
assistance. 
The eligible measures should have some specific features : 
a. demonstrate an overall transnational dimension, giving priority to transnational 
exchange, cooperation and dissemination of information, involving partners in 
Objective 1 regions; 
b. be innovative; 
c. give priority to improving the efficiency of training and employment systems and 
services; 
d. actively encourage a more pro-active and co-ordinated approach at local level to 
obtain a greater employment impact, involving all relevant actors, including local 
and regional authorities, economic and social partners and training bodies; 
e. reinforce Community policies as well as Community programmes especially in the 
field of employment, human resources and labour market integration; 
provide for the necessary flexibility to accommodate needs which cannot be 
foreseen at the first planning stage, and which call for a special effort from the 
Community. 
The following measures will be eligible : 
(1) Supply of Training. Counselling and Guidance, including ; 
- support in the form of expertise for groups of firms designed to help them to 
identify the implications of changes to the industrial environment and to define 
and set up business plans and to implement the corresponding training plans and 
actions; 
- support for the development and supply of training schemes related to new 
qualifications and skills of the workforce in firms concerned linked to change in 
production systems, by developing cooperation between training institutes, 
research centres, economic development agencies and firms; 
- development and supply of guidance and counselling systems for workers 
affected by industrial change in different economic sectors, in particular those 
threatened by unemployment and those working within SMEs. 
- assistance to SMEs for the setting-up and implementation of internal and external 
ongoing training programmes; 
- training actions aimed at improving the capacity of entrepreneurs and managers 
to adapt to change and to design the relevant business plans; particular attention 
will need to be paid to improving management quality in SMEs; 
(2) Anticipation, promotion of networking and new employment opportunities 
including: 
- anticipation of labour market trends and skill/qualification needs relating to the 
changing environment of industry and services through the creation or 
development at European level, of sectoral and regional networks set up to 
analyse trends in : markets, production systems, enterprise organization, industrial 
relations, employment and related qualifications and the local development 
support structures and services offered to firms; these networks should work in 
close association with the economic and social partners, training providers and 
employment services; 
- encouragement for cooperation and training in new fields of economic activities 
with a view to the creation of new employment opportunities; 
support for local employment development initiatives including public-private 
partnerships to combine economic development strategies with training activities 
for the affected workforce. 
(3) Adaptation of support structures and systems including : 
- promotion of cooperation and exchange between companies and research in the 
field of technology transfer to local labour markets and economic sectors most 
affected by change in employment and training to firms and vocational training 
bodies; 
- support for the development of schemes for the training of trainers of adaptation 
of workers to industrial change and change in production systems outlined for 
this initiative; 
- support to actions promoting regional, inter-regional and transnational cooperation 
between enterprises; in particular training for the setting up of shared service 
provision (eg research, design, marketing); 
(4) Information, dissemination and awareness actions including : 
- development of databases on employment and adaptation actions geared towards 
the adaptation of workers to change, and interlinkage with databases on 
continuous training; 
- promotion of the diffusion of best practice and exchange of experience based on 
an inter-regional and transnational approach stimulating the application of 
adequate training schemes and to enhance the multiplier effect; 
studies related to industrial change with particular reference to management, 
organisation, technological innovation, new production systems and procedures, 
communication and information systems, environmental factors and their impact 
on occupation and skill/qualifications of the workforce interlinked with the 
methods and results of training, training of trainers and vocational guidance 
activities; 
actions to raise awareness of the different economic sectors, training and 
employment services, research institutes, chambers of commerce and industry, 
employers and workers organisations and the public authorities, amongst other 
relevant actors in particular through specific exchange seminars and publication 
of examples of good practice; support for information services and support 
structures such as networks for the dissemination of this information. 
10 
IV. Regional eligibility and concentration 
This initiative is applicable to the whole of the territory of the Union. However, 
particular emphasis will be placed on the needs and of the less favoured regions. 
V. Technical Assistance 
9. Technical assistance will be available at the initiative of the Member States or of 
the Commission and will be supported during both the stage of preparation of 
proposals and the subsequent stage of implementation. Technical assistance may 
include: 
- dissemination of information and other awareness actions; 
- provision of consultancy and expert services; 
- organisation of bilateral or multilateral meetings between Member States and 
acting organisations to facilitate cooperation; 
- development and sharing of databases on labour market, employment training 
and employment services and other aspects of labour market organisation; 
- carrying out of studies regarding innovative methods and the results of training, 
training of trainers and vocational guidance activities; 
- assistance on evaluation procedures and practices; 
- creation or development of Community-wide networks to facilitate innovation 
and transnational cooperation. 
VI. Community financing 
10. The actions covered by this initiative shall be jointly financed by the Member 
States, the Community and by enterprises and other bodies where appropriate. 
Where employees of companies take part in the various operations, the enterprises 
concerned shall finance an appropriate part of their cost. 
11 
11. The total contribution from the Structural Funds for the period 1994-1999 is 
estimated at 1.4 billion ECU of which 0.4 billion ECU will be allocated to 
Objective 1 regions. 
12 The distribution of resources between Member States under this initiative will be 
based on the relative severity of structural problems, including in particular relevant 
unemployment levels, as well as the quality of the proposals submitted for 
operational programmes and global grants. 
13. Rates of assistance will respect the provisions of the Structural Funds regulations. 
Under the Technical Assistance provisions, a maximum rate of assistance may be 
accorded for the transnational actions. 
VII. Implementation 
14. Member States are invited to present proposals for support in the form of 
operational programmes or of global grants within four months of the date of 
publication of this communication. In the latter case, Community assistance may 
be granted directly to decentralised organisations responsible for implementation, 
including organisations responsible for managing transnational actions and 
designated by the Member State concerned. 
15. During the preparation of proposals, Member States are invited to discuss with the 
Commission the main priorities and eligible measures and the mechanisms of 
implementation. 
16. Use can be made of the provisions for transnational operational programmes 
whereby two or more Member States may, on their own initiative or at the 
invitation of the Commission, present a single application for assistance. In response 
to these applications the Commission may, in consultation with the Member States 
concerned, take a single decision granting financial support. 
17. Within the context of operational programmes or global grants measures should be 
identified by the main Objectives of the Structural Funds. The proposals must 
include a general appreciation of the situation indicating the objectives to be 
attained and should include a timetable, criteria and procedures for implementation, 
monitoring and assessment. 
12 
18. A single Monitoring Committee in each Member State will be responsible for this 
initiative. 
19. It is proposed to develop special support structures for the initiative. Cooperation 
with other Community initiatives in the context of human resurces and of industrial 
change, in particular the regional reconversion initiatives and the SMEs initiative, 
and Community action programmes concerned, in particular the action programmes 
of vocational training, will also be reinforced in terms of guidelines, technical 
assistance, joint operations and networks, follow-up of projects, evaluation, research 
and dissemination of information. National representatives of related Community 
action programmes will be involved in the selection of projects at national level. 
20. The Commission will require Member States to formulate and implement 
programmes so as to optimise the conditions for transnational cooperation. 
21. The Commission will set up a high-level advisory committee made up of 
representatives of non-governmental organisations, economic and social partners and 
of experts nominated by Member States in agreement with the Commission. This 
committee will be asked to advise the Commission and the Member States on the 
overall implementation of the initiative and on the promotion of transnational 
actions. 
22. Correspondence concerning this communication should be sent to: 
Mr. H.C. Jones 
Acting Director-General 
Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs, 
Commission of the European Communities 
Rue de la Loi 200 
B - 1049 Brussels 
13 
Explanatory memorandum 
Rechar II initiative 
1. The Rechar Community initiative was introduced by the 
Commission in December 1989 to help accelerate the process 
of economic conversion in the areas hardest hit by the rapid 
decline in the coal-mining industry and most exposed to the 
resulting difficulties. 
The aim was to promote the creation of alternative 
commercial activities, in particular by supporting the 
development of small and medium-sized businesses, financing 
vocational training for miners made redundant or under 
threat of becoming unemployed, improving the environmental 
surroundings of areas affected by mining operations, 
contributing to the renewal of infrastructures and generally 
supporting all measures likely to assist in the economic 
conversion of the areas in question. 
2. All of the 26 areas eligible under Rechar, covering a total 
population of around 14 million, have benefited from an 
operational programme. Most of these areas are also in areas 
eligible under Objective 1 or Objective 2. However, some 
were added to Objective 2 specifically for the purpose. 
The total value of the Rechar programmes came to ECU 970 
million at 1992 prices, of which ECU 313 million was 
provided by the ERDF and ECU 56 million by the ESF. The 
assistance from the Structural Funds was augmented by a 
contribution from the ECSC (redeployment aid under 
Article 56 ECSC, interest subsidies). The EIB also granted 
loans. 
The allocation of the Rechar budget among the 26 areas was 
based on the number of coal-mining jobs lost, included 
losses announced and jobs at risk. 
3. In terms of economic impact, most of the Rechar projects 
involved investment in infrastructure (56% of the total), 
the promotion of new activities (27%) and training and 
retraining (17%). The bulk of the investment in 
infrastructure related to the environment in areas which had 
become run-down as a result of the declining mining 
industry, which is essential if these areas are to become 
attractive again to live and work in. 
Out of the ECU 369 million from the Structural Funds for 
Rechar, the main beneficiaries were the United Kingdom 
(ECU 175 million), Germany (ECU 87 million), France (ECU 52 
million), Spain (ECU 26 million), and Belgium (ECU 25 
million). The use made of these funds varied among the 
Member States: France, Belgium and the United Kingdom 
concentrated on infrastructures, while Germany and to a 
lesser extent Spain tended to stress the promotion of new 
activities and of training. 
4. The impact of the decline in coal-mining on the regions 
concerned will continue over the longer term: rising 
unemployment, loss of earnings in the local economy, 
declining private and public services and loss of vitality 
in the areas affected. It is thought that the mining 
industry, while continuing to restructure itself, will see 
further large job losses between now and 1995 in the order 
of 90 000 jobs or 41.5% of 1992 employment levels. 
Given the special powers of the Commission in this field 
under the ECSC Treaty, and taking into account the effect on 
the coal industry of the liberalization of energy markets 
which is going on at present, it is desirable to propose 
continuing the Rechar initiative for another four years 
(1994-97). 
5. Areas previously eligible for Rechar may continue so 
provided they are still eligible under Objectives 1, 2 
or 5(b) of the Structural Funds. Furthermore, the Member 
States may propose adding to the list of Rechar areas any 
other areas eligible for one of the Objectives and meeting 
the criterion of a minimum number of job losses in the 
activities concerned from the reference date of 1990. 
It is also proposed that account be taken under Rechar of 
areas affected by the decline in lignite (brown coal) 
extraction, on the same criteria. These areas are mainly in 
eastern Germany, but there are some also in Greece, Spain 
and France. 
6. It is further proposed that the types of scheme supported 
continue to be the same as during the previous period. None 
the less, in the forthcoming operational programmes it would 
be desirable to place more emphasis on supporting non-
physical investment projects designed to improve the 
integration of small and medium-sized businesses into their 
local commercial environment, especially as regards 
innovation and technology transfer. Likewise, it would be 
desirable to reinforce technical assistance and exchanges of 
experience. 
Draft 
Notice to the Member States laying down guidelines for 
operational programmes or global grants 
which they are invited to establish in the framework 
of a Community initiative concerning the economic conversion 
of coal-mining areas 
At its meeting on 1994, the Commission of the European 
Communities decided to extend over the period 1994-97 the Community 
initiative concerning the economic conversion of coal-mining areas 
(hereinafter referred to as 'Rechar'), within the meaning of the 
Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as amended by Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93(x>, and Article 3(2) of Regulation 
(EEC) No 4254/88, as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 2083/93(2). 
In the context of Rechar, Community assistance in the form of 
loans and grants is made available for measures and in areas which 
respect the guidelines laid down in this notice, and which are 
included in operational programmes or requests for global grants 
submitted by the Member States and approved by the Commission of 
the European Communities. 
I. Development: aims 
3. The Commission has taken this decision because many coal-mining 
areas are amongst the areas of the Community which have been or 
are likely to be hardest hit by problems of industrial 
restructuring, and because they have special difficulties in 
adjusting rapidly to changing economic circumstances. Thus, the 
Community initiative is designed to help resolve problems common 
to certain categories of region (Article 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 4254/88). 
4. The Community initiative is intended to accelerate economic 
conversion concentrating on the most seriously affected coal­
mining areas, by means of an effort which is additional to that 
foreseen in Community support frameworks drawn up in accordance 
with Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88. Priority will be 
given to improving the environment, to promoting new economic 
activities and to the development of human resources. Regional and 
local authorities and the social partners should be involved in 
the preparation and implementation of operational programmes in 
the manner appropriate to each Member State. 
(1) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.24. 
(2) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.36. 
II. Definition of eligible areas for the purpose of Rechar 
5. Assistance from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), from 
the European Social Fund (ESF), from the European Coal and Steel 
Community (ECSC) and from the European Investment Bank (EIB) may be 
made available in areas which figure on the existing list of areas 
eligible under Rechar(^), provided these areas are still eligible 
under Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b), as defined pursuant to Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93(4). 
Member States may propose to the Commission the addition of other 
areas to this list, provided these areas: 
(a) are eligible under Objective 1, 2 or 5(b), as defined pursuant 
to Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, as amended by Regulation (EEC) 
No 2081/93(4>; 
(b) meet the following criteria set out in paragraph 6 below. 
In accordance with paragraph 11 of this Notice, the Commission 
shall determine and publish the areas that it is intended to add to 
the existing list of eligible areas. 
6. Eligible areas added to the list of areas already eligible for 
Rechar from 1994 onwards will be delineated in terms of small 
spatial units, below administrative level III of the Nomenclature 
of Territorial Statistical Units (NUTS), or geographically 
contiguous groups of such units, which: 
1. contain coal-mining activities defined as the extraction from 
deep or open-cast mines of hard coal or black lignite 
(coal-mining activities as defined under the ECSC Treaty), as 
well as the extraction of brown lignite; 
2. and satisfy one of the following conditions: 
- they have lost at least 1 000 coal-mining jobs (all workers 
employed by any undertaking engaged in coal-mining activities 
such as defined above, referred to hereafter as coal-mining 
jobs) since 1 January 1990, 
- the total number of coal-mining jobs lost since that date and 
future coal-mining job losses publicly announced equals or 
exceeds 1 000 jobs, 
- the total number of coal-mining jobs lost since 1 January 1990 
and the number of such jobs at risk equals or exceeds 1 000. 
As regards the number of coal-mining jobs at risk, only those 
jobs will be taken into account which the Commission and the 
Member State jointly accept to be at risk, in particular 
because of the high cost of coal production relative to the 
Community average or the geological conditions which the coal­
mining industry is facing in the area concerned. These 
conditions must be demonstrated by the Member State concerned 
with the necessary supporting information. 
(3) OJ No C 177, 18.7.1990, p.2. 
(4) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.7. 
III. Eligible measures 
7. Community assistance, in the form of loans or grants in aid as 
appropriate, may be made available within the framework of the 
Rechar programme, in favour of the following measures: 
(a) environmental improvement of areas seriously damaged by 
coal-mining activity, including coal-tip reclamation, the 
cleaning-up and conversion of disused coal-mining buildings 
and their surroundings, the modernization of such premises for 
small and medium-sized entreprises, landscaping, works to 
overcome the problem of subsidence, minor works for improving 
the appearance of buildings and their surroundings, and roads 
giving access to new activities; 
(b) renovation and modernization of social and economic 
infrastructure (community facilities, roads, water and 
electricity supplies) in mining villages provided that such 
operations are demonstrated to be an integral and essential 
element of a strategy for the economic regeneration of the 
areas concerned; 
(c) construction of new advance factory units and workshop 
premises; 
(d) promotion of alternative economic activities, and in 
particular the creation or development of small and medium-
sized entreprises, in particular by means of: 
- the provision of assistance for productive investment, 
- better access to venture capital, 
- the establishment or development of common services, 
- assisting the carrying-out of market research and studies, and 
the establishment and operation of business networks, 
- promotion of cooperation between companies and research 
centres, universities, centres of technology transfer and 
training centres, 
- assisting the promotion of innovation in industry and 
services, by means of the collection of information relating 
to product or process innovation and its dissemination and by 
means of aids to the commercial application of innovations in 
small and medium-sized enterprises; 
(e) assisting the promotion of tourist activities, especially 
those based on industrial heritage; 
(f) assisting the creation or increased activity of economic 
conversion bodies and regional development teams; 
(g) assisting vocational training and employment measures for any 
person, especially the unemployed, persons threatened with 
unemployment and persons employed in small and medium-sized 
enterprises, and especially those involved in an operation 
which is essential for the achievement of the development and 
conversion aims of the Rechar initiative; the construction of 
new facilities for vocational training of all kinds in 
coal-mining areas; 
(h) interest rebates on ECSC loans for investments in small and 
medium-sized enterprises (ECSC definition), and for the 
reclamation of sites for industrial use; 
(i) redeployment aids available under Article 56 of the ECSC 
Treaty, in particular assistance for the provision of 
vocational training designed to provide miners or unemployed 
ex-miners with skills relevant to market requirements and to 
assist their integration within a changing economy; 
(j) any other measure which contributes to the economic conversion 
of the area concerned and for which loans from the European 
Investment Bank (EIB) can be approved. 
IV. The Community's contribution to the financing of Rechar 
8. The Rechar programmes will be the subject of joint financing by the 
Member State and the Community. In coal-mining areas eligible for 
Rechar, the total contribution by the ERDF and ESF during the 
period 1994 to 1997 is estimated at ECU 400 million. 
In addition to this, the ECSC could provide interest rebates on 
loans and supplementary redeployment aids under Article 56 of the 
ECSC Treaty, to be determined in the light of the availability of 
resources. Loans from EIB and ECSC resources may also be made 
available. 
9. The Commission's decision on the amount of the Community's budget 
contribution to individual operational programmes will reflect the 
quality of the programme and the economic and social conditions and 
development needs of the area at the time of the decision as well 
as future job losses. The rates of assistance will be decided in 
conformity with the regulations governing the Structural Funds and 
take account of the financing capacity of the national and regional 
authorities concerned. In evaluating the quality of the programmes, 
the Commission will take into account, in particular, the following 
elements: -
the presence of a coherent regional strategy with a clear 
statement of the development and conversion aims into which the 
aims of the operational programmes for coal-mining areas have 
been properly integrated, 
- the likely development impact of the proposed measures and in 
particular their contribution to the achievement of the aims of 
the operational programme, 
a demonstration of the additional character of the resources 
requested from the Community as well as those made available by 
the national and regional authorities in support of the 
operational programme, 
the likely effectiveness of the mechanisms for implementation, 
monitoring and evaluation, 
the extent to which an optimal combination is made of loans and 
grants. 
V. Implementation 
10. Member States wishing to propose areas to benefit from Rechar not 
already included in the list published in OJ No C 177 of 18 July 
1990 should submit to the Commission their proposals in conformity 
with the criteria and thresholds given in Section II of this Notice 
within one month of the date of publication of this Notice in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. Proposals received 
after this date need not to be taken into consideration by the 
Commission. 
11. The Commission will, after consulting the Member States concerned, 
determine and publish a revised list of eligible coal-mining areas 
for the purpose of Rechar in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities within two months of the latest date for the receipt of 
the above proposals from Member States. The Commission may extend 
this list subsequently. 
12. Member States wishing to benefit from Rechar having eligible 
coal-mining areas in the revised list published by the Commission 
are invited to present detailed proposals for new operational 
programmes or global grants, or amendments to an existing 
operational programme specific to Rechar or to a decision in 
application of a Community support framework, within four months of 
the date of publication of this notice. Proposals for operational 
programmes and global grants received after this date need not to 
be taken into consideration by the Commission. 
13. Cooperation between beneficiaries will be encouraged both within 
and between Member States, to foster the exchange of experience, 
the dissemination of best practice, joint operations and 
comparative evaluations. The Commission urges Member States to take 
account of this aim when preparing and subsequently when managing 
the programmes. 
14. All correspondence related to this Notice should be addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu, 
Director-General, 
Directorate-General for Regional Policy, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200, rue de la Loi, 
B-1049 Brussels 
Explanatory memorandum 
Résider II Initiative 
The Résider Community programme decided on by the Council in 
February 1988 under the rules governing the ERDF before the reform 
of the Structural Funds had as its objective to contribute to the 
socio-economic conversion of the steel-producing areas of the 
Community. 
The aim was to promote the creation of alternative economic 
activities, mainly by encouraging the development of small and 
medium-sized businesses, cleaning up run-down industrial areas and 
making them suitable for other purposes, contributing to the 
renovation of infrastructures and, in general, supporting any 
measure which was likely to contribute to the economic conversion 
of the areas in question. 
The Commission classed 18 areas in eight Member States as eligible 
under Résider. Most of these were located wholly or in part in 
areas eligible under Objective 2. However, two were situated in 
Objective 1 regions, one in an area partially eligible under 
Objective 5(b) and two in areas not eligible under a geographical 
Objective. 
The total value of the Résider programmes came to ECU 1 395 
million, of which ECU 272 million (at current prices) was from the 
ERDF. ERDF assistance to the various Résider areas was based on the 
number of jobs lost or expected to be lost in the steel industry 
over the four-year period 1986-89. 
Besides ERDF funding, assistance was also received from the ECSC 
(redeployment aids under Article 56 of the ECSC Treaty and interest 
subsidies) and the EIB. 
In terms of economic impact, most of the operations financed by 
Résider concerned investment in infrastructure (54% of the ERDF 
contribution), the improvement of know-how in small businesses 
(24%) and aid for investment (22%). The bulk of the investment in 
infrastructure related to the environment and facilities in areas 
which had become run-down as a result of the declining steel 
industry, which is essential if these areas are to become 
attractive again to live and work in. 
The ERDF contributed ECU 90 million to Germany, ECU 58 million to 
France, ECU 52 million to Spain, ECU 28 million to Belgium and 
ECU 24 million to Italy with the remaining ECU 19 million being 
shared by Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom. 
The use made of these funds varied form one Member State to 
another. France, Spain, Belgium and, to a still greater extent, 
Luxembourg and Portugal, concentrated on infrastructure while 
Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom sought rather to encourage 
the development of productive activity through technical assistance 
to small and medium sized firms and aid to investment. 
4. It must be acknowledged that, despite the considerable efforts to 
restructure the steel industry made over a period of more than a 
decade, problems of over-capacity are still far from being 
resolved. Estimates under the general objectives for steel for 1995 
show that about 30 million tonnes more raw steel capacity has still 
to be lost in 1993-95. This will entail a direct loss of about 
70 000 more jobs, a substantial figure. This is in addition to the 
40 000 jobs already lost between 1990 and 1992, in the former GDR 
and elsewhere. 
This trend will severely undermine the socio-economic position of 
regions heavily dependent on the steel industry, and particularly 
those areas whose economic weakness has already been acknowledged 
by their eligibility under Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b). 
5. Given the special powers of the Commission in this field under the 
ECSC Treaty, it is desirable to propose continuing Résider in 
accordance with the legislation in force for a further four years 
(1994-97) in order to assist the work of regional conversion in the 
areas most affected by the restructuring of the steel industry. 
In accordance with the principle of regional concentration, it is 
proposed to select only those steel areas eligible under one of 
Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b) and qualifying in terms of the number of 
jobs lost in this sector from the reference date of 1990. 
6. The measures proposed for Résider II are along the lines of those 
for initiatives with similar aims, such as Rechar. In the future 
operational programmes, it would be desirable to place greater 
stress on support for intangible investment to improve the 
integration of small and medium-sized firms into their economic 
environment, principally through innovation and the transfer of 
technology. It would also be desirable to make greater provision 
for technical assistance and the exchange of experience. Measures 
to clean up polluted industrial sites should also be continued. 
Draft 
Notice to the Member States laying down guidelines 
for operational programmes or global grants 
which they are invited to establish 
in the framework of a Community initiative 
concerning the economic conversion of steel areas 
1. At its meeting on 1994, the Commission of the European 
Communities decided to establish over the period 1994-97 a 
Community initiative concerning the economic conversion of steel 
areas (hereinafter referred to as 'Résider IIJ_), within the meaning 
of Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as amended by Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93f1), and Article 3(2) of Regulation 
(EEC) No 4254/88, as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 2083/93(2). This initiative will extend measures supported by 
the Community Résider programme adopted on 2 February 1988(**). 
2. In the context of Résider II, Community assistance in the form of 
loans and grants is made available for measures and in areas which 
respect the guidelines laid down in this notice, and which are 
included in operational programmes or requests for global grants 
submitted by the Member States and approved by the Commission of 
the European Communities. 
I. Development aims 
The Commission has taken this decision because many steel areas 
are amongst the areas of the Community which have been or are 
likely to be hardest hit by problems of industrial restructuring, 
and because they have special difficulties in adjusting rapidly to 
changing economic circumstances. Thus, the Community initiative is 
designed to help resolve problems common to certain categories of 
region (Article 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88). 
The Community initiative is intended to accelerate economic 
conversion concentrating on the most seriously affected steel 
areas, by means of an effort which is additional to that foreseen 
in Community support frameworks drawn up in accordance with 
Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88. Priority will be given 
to improving the environment, to promoting new economic activities 
and to the development of human resources. Regional and local 
authorities and the social partners should be involved in the 
preparation and implementation of operational programmes in the 
manner appropriate to each Member State. 
(1) OJ N° L 193, 31.7.1993, p.24. 
(2) OJ N° L 193, 31.7.1993, p. 36. 
(3) OJ N° L 33, 5.2.1988, pp. 1 to 5. 
II. Definition of eligible areas for the purpose of Résider 
5. Assistance from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), from 
the European Social Fund (ESF), from the European Coal and Steel 
Community (ECSC) and from the European Investment Bank (EIB) may be 
made available in steel areas eligible under Objectives 1, 2 or 
5(b), as defined pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, as 
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93(4), and which meet the 
criteria set out in paragraph 6 below. 
In accordance with paragraph 11 of this notice, the Commission will 
determine and publish a list of qualifying areas. 
6. Eligible areas for Résider will be delineated in terms of small 
spatial units, below administrative level III of the Nomenclature 
of Territorial Statistical Units (NUTS), or geographically 
contiguous groups of such units, which: 
1. contain steel production activities as defined under the ECSC 
Treaty; 
2. and satisfy one of the following conditions: 
they have lost at least 1 000 steel jobs (all workers 
employed by any undertaking engaged in steel production 
activities within the meaning of the ECSC Treaty, referred 
to hereinafter as steel jobs), since 1 January 1990, 
the total number of steel jobs lost since that date and 
future steel job losses publicly announced equals or 
exceeds 1 000 jobs, 
the total number of steel jobs lost since 1 January 1990 
and the number of such jobs at risk equals or exceeds 
1 000. As regards the number of steel jobs at risk, only 
those jobs will be taken into account which the Commission 
and the Member State jointly accept to be at risk. This 
must be demonstrated by the Member ,State concerned with the 
necessary supporting information. 
III. Eligible measures 
7. Community assistance, in the form of loans or grants in aid as 
appropriate, may be made available within the framework of the 
Résider programme, in favour of the following measures: 
(a) environmental improvement of areas seriously damaged by steel 
production, the cleaning-up and conversion of disused steel 
industrial buildings and their surroundings, the modernization 
of such premises for small and medium-sized enterprises, 
landscaping, minor works for improving the appearance of 
buildings and their surroundings, and roads giving access to 
new activities; 
(4) OJ N° L 193, 31.7.1993, p. 7. 2 
(b) renovation and modernization of social and economic 
infrastructure (community facilities, roads, water and 
electricity supplies) in steel areas provided that such 
operations are demonstrated to be an integral and essential 
element of a strategy for the economic regeneration of the 
areas concerned; 
(c) construction of new advance factory units and workshop 
premises; 
(d) promotion of alternative economic activities, and especially 
the creation or development of small and medium-sized 
enterprises, in particular by means of: 
- the provision of assistance for productive investment, 
- better access to venture capital, 
- the establishment or development of common services, 
assisting the carrying-out of market research and studies, 
and the establishment and operation of business networks, 
promotion of cooperation between companies and research 
centres, universities, centers of technology transfers and 
training centers. 
- assisting the promotion of innovation in industry and 
services, by means of the collection of information 
relating to product or process innovation and its 
dissemination and by means of aids to the commercial 
application of innovations in small and medium-sized 
enterprises; 
(e) assisting the promotion of tourist activities, especially those 
based on industrial heritage; 
(f) assisting the creation or increased activity of economic 
conversion bodies and regional development teams; 
(g) assisting vocational training and employment measures for any 
person, especially the unemployed, persons threatened with 
unemployment and persons employed in small and medium-sized 
enterprises, and especially those involved in an operation 
which is essential for the achievement of the development and 
conversion aims of the Résider initiative; the construction of 
new facilities for vocational training of all kinds in steel 
areas; 
(h) interest rebates on ECSC loans for investments in small and 
medium-sized enterprises (ECSC definition), and for the 
reclamation of sites for industrial use; 
(i) redeployment aids available under Article 56 of the ECSC 
Treaty, in particular assistance for the provision of 
vocational training designed to provide steel workers or 
unemployed ex-steel workers with skills relevant to market 
requirements and to assist their integration within a changing 
economy; 
(j) any other measure which contributes to the economic conversion 
of the area concerned and for which loans from the European 
Investment Bank (EIB) can be approved. 
IV. The Community's contribution to the financing of Résider 
8. The Résider programmes will be jointly financed by the Member State 
and the Community. In steel areas eligible for Résider, the total 
contribution by the ERDF and ESF during the period 1994 to 1997 is 
estimated at ECU 500 million. 
In addition to this, the ECSC could provide interest rebates on 
loans and supplementary redeployment aids under Article 56 of the 
ECSC Treaty, to be determined in the light of the availability of 
resources. Loans from ECSC and EIB resources may also be made 
available. 
9. The Commission's decision on the amount of the Community's budget 
contribution to individual operational programmes will reflect the 
quality of the programme and the economic and social conditions and 
development needs of the area at the time of the decision as well 
as future job losses. The rates of assistance will be decided in 
conformity with the regulations governing the Structural Funds and 
take account of the financing capacity of the national and regional 
authorities concerned. In evaluating the quality of the programmes, 
the Commission will take into account, in particular, the following 
elements: 
the presence of a coherent regional strategy with a clear 
statement of the development and conversion aims into which the 
aims of the operational programmes for steel areas have been 
properly integrated, 
- the likely development impact of the proposed measures and in 
particular their contribution to the achievement of the aims of 
the operational programme, 
a demonstration of the additional character of the resources 
requested from the Community as well as those made available by 
the national and regional authorities in support of the 
operational programme, 
the likely effectiveness of the mechanisms for implementation, 
monitoring and evaluation, 
the extent to which an optimal combination is made of loans and 
grants. 
V. Implementation 
10. Member States wishing to propose areas to benefit from Résider 
should submit to the Commission their proposals in conformity with 
the criteria and thresholds given in Section II of this notice 
within one month of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. Proposals received 
after this date need not to be taken into consideration by the 
Commission. 
11. The Commission will, after consulting the Member States concerned, 
determine and publish a list of eligible steel areas for the 
purpose of Résider in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities within two months of the latest date for the receipt of 
the above proposals from Member States. 
12. Member States wishing to benefit from Résider having eligible steel 
areas in the list published by the Commission are invited to 
present detailed proposals for operational programmes or global 
grants, within four months of the date of publication of this 
notice. Proposals for operational programmes or global grants 
received after this date need not to be taken into consideration by 
the Commission. 
13. Cooperation between beneficiaries will be encouraged both within 
and between Member States, to foster the exchange of experience, 
the dissemination of best practice, joint operations and 
comparative evaluations. The Commission urges Member States to take 
account of this aim when preparing and subsequently when managing 
the programmes. 
14. All correspondence related to this notice should be addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu, 
Director-General, 
Directorate-General for Regional Policy, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200, rue de la Loi, 
1049 Brussels 
Belgium. 
Explanatory Memorandum 
KONVER Initiative 
1. As a result of the new international situation created by the end 
of the Cold War and the ensuing significant reduction in the 
defence budgets of virtually all the Member States, the European 
Parliament took the initiative of adopting appropriations for the 
Perifra I and II special measures in 1991 and 1992. With a total 
funding of ECU 90 million, the measures allowed for some 
ECU 50 million of Community assistance for the part-financing of 
demonstration pilot projects in the field of defence conversion. 
The remaining ECU 40 million was allocated to other pilot projects 
in line with the budget remarks approved by the European 
Parliament. 
The Konver programme, also on the initiative of Parliament, was 
created in 1993 with ECU 130 million of Community initiative 
funding. It, too, was intended to provide regional and social 
measures to support defence conversion. In order to dovetail it in 
with the new programming period for the Structural Funds (1994-99) 
it was decided to implement Konver in 1993 as an annual programme 
using simplified procedures. 
The purpose of the initiative is to promote the diversification of 
economic activities in the regions most heavily dependent on the 
defence sector or military bases by creating complementary economic 
activities, including encouraging the development of small and 
medium-sized businesses, financing vocational training or 
retraining of those being made redundant from the defence sector, 
preserving the technological potential of the regions concerned, 
contributing to the environmental regeneration of military sites 
and bases and the reuse of infrastructure for civilian purposes, 
promoting the conversion of military activities to civilian 
purposes and, in general terms, supporting any measure likely to 
help economic conversion in the areas in question. 
- 2 -
2. Since many industrial sites or military bases are located outside 
the areas eligible for Objective 1, 2 or 5(b) assistance, Member 
States were given a large amount of discretion in the use of 1993 
Konver appropriations outside such areas by virtue of the 
geographical flexibility for Community initiatives introduced by 
the amended Structural Fund Regulations. 
Of the total ECU 130 million available, almost ECU 100 million was 
provided by the ERDF and a little over ECU 30 million by the ESF. 
The appropriations were allocated among the Member States according 
to an existing key which took account of the total volume of this 
type of employment in each of them. The main beneficiaries were: 
Germany (ECU 38.2 million), France (ECU 32.63 million), the United 
Kingdom (ECU 23.15 million) and Italy (ECU 17.88 million). 
In view of the differing ways in which the various Member States 
approached defence conversion, Konver appropriations were used 
mainly to convert military bases and installations (Germany) or 
mainly to convert regions dependent on the industrial sector 
(France, the United Kingdom and Italy), without, however, 
neglecting the other aspect entirely. Since not all the projects 
which will be part-financed by the Community have been completely 
identified, it is too early yet to indicate the precise allocation 
of appropriations by type of measure. 
3. The number of jobs in the defence sector and military bases will 
without doubt continue to decline towards 2000, given the forecast 
reduction in defence budgets. As a 1992 Commission study 
demonstrated(1), the regional effects of this resealing will be 
significant, particularly on certain regions which had been 
selected as military sites for strategic reasons, because of their 
remote nature. This will also be the case for regions where 
dependence on defence activities is high and which possess limited 
opportunities for creating alternative employment. 
Because of the extent of the current decline in military 
activities, which is sudden and quite rapid, and the need to 
preserve a technological and high-level R&D potential to ensure the 
future competitiveness of the regions concerned, the Konver measure 
established in 1993 as an annual programme should be developed as a 
multi-annual Community initiative lasting to the end of 1997. 
Responses received by the Commission as part of the consultation 
process on the White Paper on the future of Community initiatives, 
and the Parliamentary Resolution on the subject, have clearly 
underlined the value of continuing Community action in the field 
targeted by Konver. 
(1) The economic and social impact of reductions in defence spending 
and military forces on the regions of the Community. Regional 
Development studies No. 5. Commission of the European Communities. 
- 3 -
4. The proposed measures are broadly similar to those proposed under 
other Community initiatives which are also aimed at helping the 
conversion process in regions economically dependent on industries 
in crisis. There is a further accent on technology transfer, on R&D 
cooperation networks and on exchanges of experience. Naturally, the 
regeneration of sites and the training and retraining of staff have 
not been neglected. 
5. In order to avoid spreading appropriations too thinly over too many 
sites, as was the case in 1993 in some countries, the Commission 
proposes to ask Member States to submit a list of zones likely to 
be assisted under Konver as a function of the job loss criteria it 
has established. 
6. For the above reasons, up to 50% of Konver appropriations will be 
available to areas which are not eligible for assistance under 
Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b). This ceiling will have to be respected by 
the Union as a whole. To arrive at it, the Commission will 
undertake the necessary adjustments in the Member States' 
proposals, taking account of the relative ability of the regions in 
question to absorb the job losses and its assessment of the 
relative quality of the proposed programmes. 
Draft 
Notice to the Member States laying down guidelines 
for operational programmes or global grants 
which Member States are invited to establish in the 
framework of a Community initiative concerning defence 
conversion (Konver). 
1. At its meeting on , the Commission of the European 
Communities decided to establish a Community initiative for 
regions heavily dependent on defence activities (hereinafter 
referred to as Konver), within the meaning of Article 11 of 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as amended by Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93(1), and Article 3(2) of Regulation 
(EEC) No 4254/88, as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 2083/93(2). 
2. In the context of Konver, Community assistance in the form of 
loans and grants is made available for measures and in areas which 
respect the guidelines laid down in this notice, and which are 
included in operational programmes or requests for global grants 
submitted by the Member States and approved by the Commission of 
the European Communities. 
I. Development aims 
The purpose of the Community initiative is to accelerate the 
diversification of economic activities in regions heavily 
dependent on the defence sector, including by the conversion of 
economic activities linked to this sector, so as to render them 
less dependent on this sector and encourage the adjustment of 
commercially viable businesses in all sectors of industrial 
activity. 
II. Eligible measures 
4. Measures are intended to assist all sectors of industrial activity 
in regions eligible under Konver. In areas eligible for assistance 
under Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b), the qualifying measures will 
complement the schemes to assist industry, which include 
assistance for investment in production equipment, contained in 
the relevant Community Support Framework. 
(1) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.24 
(2) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.36 
- 2 -
Programmes submitted by Member States should consist of a balanced 
set of measures. 
Assistance should not be given to activities which could have 
either a dual application, civilian and military, or a purely 
military application. 
The measures may include: 
(a) improving know-how by providing businesses with aid to pay for 
advisory services and the equipment (excluding production 
machinery) to put the advice into practice, in the fields of 
design, quality control, computer-aided manufacturing and 
planning, marketing and internal business organization, and 
the health and safety of the workforce; 
(b) aid for the formation of local associations of businesses and 
other cooperation schemes for the purpose of: 
- improving know-how in the areas described under (a) above; 
- accelerating the spread of innovative production methods and 
new forms of business organization; 
- cooperation between companies and research centres, 
universities, technology transfer centres and training 
centres; 
- marketing and diversification of products; 
- strengthening links between firms and their suppliers and 
customers in order to meet new requirements for flexibility 
and quality; 
- improving information on market trends in association with 
schemes to support design, quality and marketing; 
- creating networks of contacts elsewhere in the same Member 
State and the rest of the Community in connection with the 
above measures; 
(c) the setting up of a team to provide ideas and advice 
coordinated with aid schemes (particularly those listed under 
(a) and (b) above) to sectors which comprise large numbers of 
small and medium-sized businesses in the form of internal 
audits of firms, awareness of their changing environment, and 
counselling when defining and implementing their modernization 
plans; 
(d) temporary contributions towards paying engineers, technical 
staff and managers who are recruited to help in implementing 
modernization plans drawn up with the assistance of outside 
experts, particularly the team referred to in (c); 
- 3 -
(e) vocational training schemes for staff of businesses, 
associations of businesses and providers of joint services 
based in the regions concerned, and for staff in firms or in 
military installations faced with redundancy or already 
unemployed; 
(f) environmental improvements and regeneration of military sites 
and areas seriously damaged by military activity, the 
cleaning-up and conversion of disused military buildings and 
their surroundings, the modernization of such premises for 
small and medium-sized enterprises, landscaping, minor works 
for improving the appearance of the built environment, and 
roads giving access to new activities; 
(g) improving access to venture capital and loans; 
(h) feasibility studies and conversion strategies; 
(i) renovation and modernization of social and economic 
infrastructures (community facilities, roads, water and 
electricity supplies) in defence areas provided that such 
operations are demonstrated to be an integral and essential 
element of a strategy for the economic regeneration of the 
areas concerned; 
(j) assisting the promotion of tourism. 
Ill, Eligible areas 
Eligible areas for Konver will be delineated in terms of small 
spatial units, at administrative level III of the Nomenclature of 
Territorial Statistical Units (NUTS), or below when relevant 
(travel-to-work areas level), or geographically contiguous groups 
of such units. To become eligible under Konver, the areas should 
meet one of the following criteria: 
- they have lost at least 1 000 jobs in defence activities(3) 
since 1 January 1990, 
- the total number of jobs lost in defence activities since that 
date and future job losses publicly announced in defence 
activities equals or exceeds 1 000 jobs, 
- the total number of jobs lost in defence activities since 
1 January 1990 and the number of such jobs at risk equals or 
exceeds 1 000. In assessing the number of such jobs at risk, 
only those jobs which the Commission and the Member State 
jointly accept to be at risk will be taken into account. This 
condition must be demonstrated by the Member State concerned 
with the necessary supporting information. 
(3) For the purpose of this initiative, defence employment is defined 
as: 
military personnel, including foreign forces; 
civilian personnel employed in military bases; 
- employment in companies which are primarily involved in the 
production of defence equipment. 
- 4 -
Member States wishing to propose areas to benefit from Konver 
should submit to the Commission a list of such areas and the 
employment statistics relating to them, in conformity with the 
above criteria and thresholds. In their proposals, they should 
clearly distinguish areas eligible under Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) 
from the others. The submissions should be made within one month 
of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities. Proposals received after this date 
need not be taken into consideration by the Commission. 
The Commission will, after consultations with the Member States 
concerned, determine and publish a list of eligible areas for the 
purpose of Konver in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities within two months of the latest date for the receipt 
of the above proposals from Member States. In determining the list 
of eligible areas for the purpose of Konver, the Commission will 
have regard to paragraph 8 below, and to the capacity of the 
economy of the regions in which eligible areas are proposed to 
absorb the impact of job losses. 
Pursuant to Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, 
referred to above, a maximum of 50% of the total Community 
contribution which is made available under Konver can be spent in 
areas which are not eligible for assistance under Objectives 1, 2 
or 5(b) of the Structural Funds. 
IV. The Community's contribution to financing 
the Konver initiative 
9. Operational programmes under KONVER are jointly financed by the 
Member States and the Community. The financial requirement up to 
the end of 1997 for the Community contribution to Konver is 
estimated at ECU 500 million (1994 prices). Loans from EIB 
resources may also be made available. 
10. The apportionment among Member States of the Community assistance 
made available under Konver will depend on the agreed estimate of 
job losses and jobs at risk in the same activities, in accordance 
with paragraph 5 above. 
11. The Commission's decision on the amount of the Community's budget 
contribution to individual operational programmes will reflect the 
quality of the programme and the economic and social conditions 
and development needs of the area at the time of the decision, as 
well as job losses. The operational programme should be part of a 
coherent regional strategy with a clear statement of the overall 
development and conversion aims into which the aims of the 
programmes have been integrated. 
- 5 -
V. IMPLEMENTATION 
12. Member States wishing to benefit from Konver having eligible 
defence areas in the list published by the Commission are invited 
to present operational programmes or applications for global 
grants within four months of the date of publication of the list 
of eligible areas by the Commission. 
The Commission will offer the necessary technical assistance 
during the preparation of proposals. 
Regional and local authorities and the social partners should be 
involved in the preparation and implementation of operational 
programmes in the manner appropriate to each Member State. 
13. Cooperation between beneficiaries will be encouraged both within 
and between Member States, to foster joint operation, comparative 
evaluations, the exchange of experience and the dissemination of 
best practice. The Commission urges Member States to take account 
of this aim when preparing and subsequently when managing the 
programmes. 
14. All correspondence relating to this notice should be addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu, 
Director-General, 
Directorate-General for Regional Policy, 
Commission of the European Communities, 
200, rue de la Loi, 
1049 Brussels, 
Belgium. 
Explanatory Memorandum 
Updating of the Retex initiative 
The Commission's guidelines concerning the Retex initiative, 
decided on 13 May 1992 and published in Official Journal No C 142 
of 4 June 1992, state: 
"From 1 January 1994 onwards, zones heavily dependent on the 
textile and clothing sector becoming eligible under Objectives 1, 
2 and 5(b), can become eligible to Retex. This possibility may 
also be extended to a limited extent to other areas heavily 
dependent on the textile and clothing sector if the flexibility 
for Community initiatives to include such areas is established in 
the amended legislation governing the Structural Funds." 
The guidelines also state that: "To the extent that additional 
zones become eligible for Retex from 1 January 1994 onwards, the 
Commission reserves the right to review the amount of the 
Community contribution to Retex." 
The draft notice attached confirms the eligibility, from 
1 January 1994, of zones heavily dependent on the textile and 
clothing sector within the five Lander in eastern Germany and of 
the new Objective 1, 2 or 5(b) areas. The Commission takes the 
view, however, that, since the area eligible under Objectives 1, 
2 and 5(b) has become considerably larger, there is no need for 
Retex to apply to zones not eligible under those Objectives, with 
the exception of those zones which were eligible under those 
Objectives prior to 1994 and which had benefited from Retex in 
1993. 
The financial resources required to pursue up to the end of 1997 
the Retex initiative in the zones eligible in 1993 amount to 
ECU 430 million (1994 prices). The requirement for the new 
eligible areas, based on comparable treatment, is of the order of 
ECU 70 million. 
Draft notice to the Member States 
laying down guidelines for the 
Retex initiativet1) 
1. At its meeting of ..., the Commission of the European 
Community clarified certain details for the continued 
application of the Retex initative, the guidelines for which 
were published in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities on 4 June 1992. 
2. The fifth subparagraph of paragraph 4 of the guidelines 
states that, from 1 January 1994 onwards, zones heavily 
dependent on the textile and clothing sector within the five 
East German Lander, and other zones heavily dependent on the 
textile and clothing sector which have become eligible under 
Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b), are eligible to Retex. However, 
with the exception of those selected as eligible under Retex 
in 1993, areas which are not eligible for Community 
assistance under Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) are not eligible 
to Retex either. 
3. The amount required for the implementation of Retex over the 
period 1994-97 is estimated at ECU 500 million. 
4. Member States wishing to propose new areas qualifying under 
the criteria set out in paragraph 6 of the guidelines for 
Retex, and which, from the beginning of 1994, become 
eligible for Community assistance under Objectives 1, 2 or 
5(b), should forward to the Commission a list of those areas 
and the statistics of employment relating thereto within one 
month of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. 
5. Member States wishing to benefit from Retex in this form are 
invited to present operational programmes within four months 
of the publication of this notice. 
(1) OJ No L 142, 4.6.1992, p. 5. 
Explanatory memorandum 
SMEs initiative 
This new Community initiative is intended to help small and medium-
sized enterprises, particularly those in Objective 1 regions, 
benefit from the dynamic of the internal market. This involves 
strengthening their capacity to participate in the economy and 
promoting their involvement at international level. It targets both 
industrial SMEs and those involved in the provision of merchant 
services, with particular emphasis on small firms, which the 
development of production processes makes increasingly 
interdependent while the distinction between these two types of 
activity is becoming blurred. In accordance with the guidelines set 
out in the White Paper, in order to ensure the continued 
development of SMEs and, in particular, to guarantee their full 
adjustment to the internal market, the existing range of measures 
should be extended by others to stimulate them, to promote 
innovation and to strengthen their capacity for action. 
The objective is to help SMEs face the challenge of "growth, 
competitiveness and employment", since full participation in the 
international economy is obviously more difficult and relatively 
more expensive for them than it is for large companies, whether 
because of administrative and legislative constraints or because of 
the problems involved in incorporating innovation, obtaining 
financing, mastering the complexities of business management or 
developing strategies. This challenge is of crucial importance for 
the whole Community and nowhere more so than in Objective 1 
regions, where the overwhelming majority of businesses are SMEs. 
This challenge cannot be faced by individual firms alone. The 
current trend towards more scientifically based production systems 
requires a search for fresh balances between competition and 
cooperation between firms and between public aid and private 
initiatives. 
There are seven priority areas for increasing the competitiveness 
of SMEs and increasing their international involvement: 
- the improvement of the production systems and organization of 
SMEs (total quality, innovation, advanced telecommunications 
services); 
- taking account of the environment and the rational use of energy; 
- the strengthening of cooperation between SMEs and research 
centres; 
- facilitating access to new markets, including public contracts 
and foreign markets; 
- developing cooperation between SMEs and with suppliers, 
subcontractors and customers; 
- making available to SMEs appropriate instruments to improve 
access to finance and credit; 
- the improvement of vocational qualifications in these six areas. 
2. In the period of the first Community initiatives, the Commission 
took steps in this direction through Stride, Prisma and 
Télématique. Stride, which aimed to strengthen the capacity of 
assisted regions for research, technological development and 
innovation, was adopted in July 1990 with a budget of 
ECU 460 million (at 1992 prices), including ECU 438 million from 
the ERDF. Prisma was intended to improve services to enterprises in 
preparation for the completion of the single market and was adopted 
in January 1991 with a budget of ECU 114 million (at 1992 prices) 
from the ERDF. Finally, Télématique, devoted to advanced 
telecommunications services (ATS), also adopted in January 1991, 
had a budget of ECU 233 million (1992 prices) from the ERDF. 
Under Stride, 80% of aid was reserved for Objective 1 regions and 
20% for Objective 2. The other two initiatives were both limited to 
the Objective 1 regions. 
The Stride programme essentially aimed to develop links between 
firms and research centres (54% of the total) and to provide 
financing for actual research and development (43%) in Objective 1 
regions. The principal beneficiaries of the Community contribution 
to the programme were Spain (34%), Italy (21%), Greece (13%) and 
Portugal (12%). The aim of Prisma was to develop quality policy 
(68% of the total) and facilitate access to public contracts (18%) 
and to services to SMEs (13%). The main beneficiaries of Community 
funding were Spain (28%), Italy (21%), Greece (20%), Portugal (15%) 
and Ireland (9%). Altogether, 47% of the funding for the 
Télématique programme was devoted to the development of and 
experimentation with ATS in SMEs, 41% to ATS applications in the 
public sector and 11% to the development of ATS networks. The 
principal beneficiaries of Community funding were Spain (32%), 
Italy (27%) and Greece and Portugal (15% each). 
3. The overall results of these initial measures were satisfactory in 
that a number of high-quality projects were supported and 
developed. However, particularly in the Objective 1 regions, they 
revealed insufficient emphasis on cooperation, the weakness of the 
measures to promote the exchange of experiences between SMEs and 
the bodies responsible for helping them, excessive concentration on 
infrastructure, inadequate targeting and the lack of an overall 
strategy. 
During consultation on the Green Paper on the future of Community 
initiatives, the Commission received only a limited number of views 
on these particular questions. Those that were received, however, 
agreed that the priorities adopted for Stride, Prisma and 
Télématique were relevant and the projects supported useful. 
The advances made during this first period must therefore be 
consolidated, extended and generalized using a global, integrated 
and specific approach. Previous experience suggests that there 
would be an advantage in bringing these priorities together in a 
single initiative which would probably be more effective than 
widely dispersed measures addressing only particular aspects of the 
problems. 
In numerous areas, for example, quality policy, the supply of 
services is still inadequate, both qualitatively and 
quantitatively. The Prisma initiative, in particular, enabled a 
start to be made on such a policy in certain countries. However, as 
the Commission indicated in its 1991 explanatory memorandum, 
establishing an effective organization is a long-term task. In 
order to consolidate the advances already made, help must be given 
to the Member States to continue their efforts to develop the 
supply of quality services to SMEs, placing the accent on: 
- promoting the use by SMEs of existing services as well as those 
under development whilst making access easier and less costly; 
- improving the supply of services in those areas where it has not 
yet reached a satisfactory level. 
Strengthening both the supply of and demand for services requires 
the development of cooperation between providers of services in 
such a way as to ensure that the good practices which exist in 
certain regions can be adopted in those Objective 1 regions which 
have less experience of service structures. 
5. In addition to pursuing some of the aims of previous Community 
initiatives, as stated above, a series of new measures is required. 
As shown in the White Paper, competitiveness is now no longer 
determined simply by the relative level of the direct cost of the 
various factors of production, but rather by intangible factors 
such as the quality of education and training, the efficiency of 
industrial organization, effective management of inter-company 
relations, the capacity to make constant improvements to production 
processes, the level of research and development and its industrial 
exploitation, the availability of competitive service 
infrastructures, product quality and the extent to which company 
strategy takes account of new developments in society such as the 
increased emphasis placed on improving the environment. Responding 
to these new developments, made more difficult by the completion of 
the internal market, poses special problems for SMEs. 
It is therefore proposed to implement an initiative intended 
specifically for SMEs, principally those in Objective 1 regions, as 
an initial step towards the adjustments these firms must make, 
covering the seven priority areas referred to above. The initial 
budget for the period 1994-99 will be ECU 1 000 million. Priority 
should be given to intangible investments, rather than to 
infrastructure, and to developing cooperation. Adequate 
consideration should be given to achieving the correct balance 
between the different measures on the basis of the concrete 
situation existing on the ground. The choice of measures presented 
by each Member State should take account of the measures provided 
for under the CSFs and other Community initiatives, particularly in 
the area of human resources. However, this initiative should be 
seen as an opportunity to try out new methods, profiting from 
experiments carried out elsewhere, particularly in the most 
developed regions. 
The initiative could be implemented through global grants paid 
directly to approved intermediaries on the basis of predetermined 
specifications. This type of assistance could be particularly 
suited to funding inter-regional and trans-national cooperation and 
where new modes of partnership between the public and private 
sectors are planned. 
Furthermore, in coordination with the Member States, the Commission 
could contribute directly to the funding of networks to permit 
cooperation and the exchange of experience. 
draft 
COMMUNICATION TO THE MEMBER STATES 
fixing the guidelines for global grants or 
integrated operational programmes for which 
Member States are invited to submit aid requests 
within the framework of a Community initiative concerning 
the restructuring of the fisheries sector 
"PESCA" 
******************** 
1. On .... 1994, the Commission decided to create a Community initiative 
concerning the restructuring of the fisheries sector, hereafter named 
"PESCA", within the meaning of Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) 
N° 4253/88 of the Council, last modified by Council Regulation (EEC) 
N° 2082/93(1). 
2. Under PESCA, Community aid in the form of global grants or of 
integrated operational programmes can be granted in order to allow 
the relevant parties of the fisheries sector to implement measures 
which respect the guidelines fixed in this communication. 
I. OBJECTIVES 
3. The fishing world(2) is engaged in an important change which 
compels it to seek new directions, new forms of development and new 
actions between the various partners concerned. 
4. The changes in the sector are made necessary by a structural crisis 
without precedent: 
the widespread chronic overcapacity of the fleets necessitates 
the removal of a significant number of fishing vessels (in 
certain segments of the fleet, a recent Council Decision imposes 
the permanent withdrawal of 20 % of capacity before the end of 
1996); 
(1) OJ N° L 192 of 31.7.1993, p.20 
(2) the "fishing world" comprises the economic and social actors of the 
"sector", within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) N° 3699/93 
of 31 December 1993 (OJ N° L 346 of 31.12.1993, p.l 
the over-capitalization and high debt levels of the companies 
make the market crisis even less bearable; 
the restrictions brought to certain fishing techniques have 
serious effects on certain specialized fleets, and require 
compensations; 
- the implementation of the European economic area and the possible 
expansion of the union will involve difficulties for certain 
parts of the sector; 
- the setting of Community standards with regard to hygiene, 
health, product quality as well as safety on board will involve 
the disappearance of numerous small companies (offshore fishing, 
aquaculture companies, transformation workshops), as well as the 
closure of auctions. 
5. Moreover, many coastal regions suffer from a fragile socio-economic 
fabric, in particular the areas dependent on fishing; in these (if 
one takes account of the induced activities), fishing is often the 
principal economic activity, or even the only activity, and any 
reduction of the activity in the sector may even threaten the 
survival of the area. 
6. Owing to its extreme localised nature, and with the exception of 
Objective 5a "fisheries", the fisheries sector and the areas 
dependent on fishing often experience difficulties in benefiting from 
Community structural interventions. Only a specific targeted action, 
implemented at the level of the economic actors themselves, can 
effectively respond to its needs. 
The aim of PESCA is to put the fisheries sector in a position to 
adapt to change and to help it to bear the social and economic 
consequences of it, as well as to contribute to the diversification 
of the regions concerned, by the development of creative employment 
activities. 
PESCA is complementary to the structural aid which will be available 
in the CSF: 
traditional aid for restructuring and for the modernization of 
the companies of the sector (Objective 5a "Fisheries"); 
aid for the socio-economic reconversion of coastal regions 
(Objectives 1, 2 and 5b); 
aid for the adaptation of industrial changes (Objective 4). 
6. Measures to improve the business know-how of SMEs 
6.1 Grants to SMEs for external expertise intended to help them 
identify the implications of changes in their industrial 
environment and to define and implement business strategy 
plans covering some or all of the priorities listed in 
paragraph 4. These plans may, where appropriate, be 
established through cooperation between a large firm and 
their SME partners and subcontractors. 
6.2 Grants to SMEs for preparation of their business strategy 
plan, including start-ups and the launching of new products, 
limited to the financing of intangible investments (e.g. 
patents, certification of quality, research, development, 
software) and temporary hiring of experts. 
6.3 Demonstration measures related to the adoption of total 
quality systems, the development of clean technologies and 
clean production, the use of services linked to advanced 
telecommunications systems and the use in companies of data 
processing in production processes, for example the 
introduction of robots and CAD-CAM systems. 
6.4 Grants for the promotion of regional, inter-regional and 
trans-national cooperation between SMEs including the 
establishment of common services (e.g. research, design, 
marketing and data telecommunication networks) where 
appropriate with a view to establishing or reinforcing 
clusters of inter-related activities. These measures include 
support for contractual relations in the framework of 
coopérât ion agreement s. 
6.5 Promotion of cooperation in RTD between SMEs and between 
SMEs and research centres, technology transfer centres, 
universities and training centres through: 
(a) the setting up and operation of consortia and other 
bodies which foster cooperative links among education 
and research bodies and between them and SMEs; 
(b) establishing or supporting aid schemes for SMEs in the 
following fields where expenditure results from a joint 
research project carried out by more than one SME or by 
a SME and a research centre, university or other 
appropriate body: 
- assistance for the purchase of equipment and know-how 
for applied research, experimental development, pilot 
projects and the introduction of innovation into 
products and processes, and research related to 
quality control, 
- approved research projects undertaken by SMEs, 
- expert studies for the technical and financial 
evaluation of research or innovation plans. 
6.6 Grants to improve the use by SMEs of advanced 
telecommunication service networks, in particular for 
communications between suppliers, producers and customers. 
6.7 Grants for the costs incurred by SMEs in the field of public 
procurement and relating to advice, technical assistance, 
training and specifications. 
6.8 Grants to SMEs for the adoption of continuing training 
programmes within SMEs, carried out with the aid of other 
companies or of external agencies and for training 
activities aiming to improve the skills of entrepreneurs, 
managers and supervisory staff. This may include the short-
term secondment of such staff from SMEs located in eligible 
regions to research centres, firms or agencies providing 
services related to the seven priorities in other regions of 
the Community. These measures are carried out in the context 
of a business strategy plan established by the company and 
will be conducted in synergy with those under Objective 4. 
6.9 Interest subsidies linked to EIB loans including EIF 
facilities; grants to SMEs for implementing their business 
strategy plan and for improving their access to venture 
capital, in particular by the development of equity 
participation funds and other innovative financial 
engineering instruments such as loan guarantee funds. 
7. Measures to improve the business environment for SMEs 
7.1 Promotion of cooperation between SMEs, the research 
community and public administrations to assess technology 
requirements and to audit local capabilities and potential, 
by including the creation and operation of regional networks 
for the exchange of experiences and best practice and the 
dissemination of R&D results. 
7.2 Development and networking of local teams designed for 
example to make the SMEs more aware of changes in their 
industrial environment, to carry out audits intended to 
identify their problems, and to direct them towards 
specialized service suppliers, or to cooperation adapted to 
their needs. 
7.3 Development of service suppliers for SMEs, specialized in 
the priorities under paragraph 4 above (e.g. metrology and 
calibration laboratories, testing laboratories, research 
centres and centres for technology diffusion; agencies 
specialising in audits and advice as regards product quality 
and certification, design, organization and marketing, the 
environment and efficient energy use) and of the quality of 
services offered by these organisations, by cooperation 
V. MONITORING - CONTROL - EVALUATION 
11. As regards monitoring, each integrated operational programme or global 
grant will fall within the competence of the Monitoring Committee of 
the corresponding regional objective (Objectives 1, 2 or 5b). 
12. As regards control, the provisions of Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) 
N° 4253/88 are applicable, the Member State being responsible for all 
the operations. In view of the decentralization of the management of 
PESCA, the description of the systems of management and control by the 
Member State will have to be clarified in the proposals. 
13. Each local programme must arrange an ongoing evaluation mechanism for 
the different projects. The method of operation of this mechanism 
must be stated in the proposals. 
VI. CONTRIBUTION OF THE COMMUNITY TO THE FINANCING OF PESCA 
14. PESCA is the subject of joint financing by the Member State, by the 
Community and by the recipients referred to in item III above. 
The total contribution of the Structural Funds to PESCA is 250 
millions ecus at 1994 prices for the period 1994-1999. 
15. The contribution rates defined by the regulation of the Structural 
Funds are valid for PESCA. 
VII. AID REQUESTS FROM MEMBER STATES 
16. Member States should submit aid requests concerning integrated 
operational programmes or global grants within six months following 
the publication of this communication. The requests received after 
this date will be taken into account only in duly justified 
exceptional cases. 
When a request covers areas involving several objectives (1, 2, 5b), 
expenditure has to be broken down according to each objective. 
17. When evaluating the quality of the proposals, the Commission will take 
particular account of the following elements: 
- specific development objectives, on economically viable bases; 
expected impact; 
- implementation mechanisms; 
follow-up, control and evaluation methods; 
realization schedule comprising the evaluation deadlines of the 
impact ; 
additionality of the aid requested; 
participation of the economic and social actors in the sector; 
participation of the regional and national authorities; 
- appropriate use of the loans and subsidies. 
18. Any correspondence pertaining to this communication should be 
addressed to 
Mr J. Almeida Serra, Director-General 
Directorate-General for Fisheries 
The Commission 
Rue de la Loi, 200 
B - 1049 Brussels 
COMMUNITY INITIATIVE (CI) 
" PESCA" 
(explanatory memorandum) 
1. The fishing industry has been explicitely mentioned in the "green paper" 
on CI [COM(92)282, chapter V, "management of industrial changes, para 61] 
as a "trouJbled ... sector [which] could ... give rise to problems which 
might merit targeted regional conversion mesures in addition to the 
assistance which will already be available through the CSFs", 
This short reference to the fishing industry in the "green paper" 
resulted in a specific response from the EP as well as some 20 supportive 
letters from various socio-economic partners (this figure is a very 
significant proportion of the 500 responses resulting from the "green 
paper"). 
2. The fishing industry is presently facing a very severe structural 
crisis : 
the continuous and widespread overcapacity of the fishing fleets makes 
it necessary to decommission a significant number of fishing vessels 
(e.g. according to a Council decision 20% of demersal trawlers should 
be scrapped by 1996). 
enterprises generally suffer from excessive capitalisation and very 
high levels of debt -which jeopardize their ability to resist the 
present market crisis. It should be noted that this market crisis has 
strong structural contents. 
severe limitations to some fishing techniques have tremendous 
consequences for a number of specialized fleets, which are in need of 
compensât ion. 
the implementation of the EEA and the possible enlargement of the 
Union will crate additional problems to a number of segments of the 
industry. 
3. Moreover many coastal communities suffer from a very fragile socio­
economic fabric, particularly those which are highly fishing-dependant. 
In such areas any reduction of activity in the fishing industry may 
actually jeopardize the survival of the area itself. 
4. The FIFG (IFOP) alone cannot solve the problem of fishing-dependent zones 
and the assistance of the ERDF & ESF is therefore needed. 
The fishing industry and the fishermen are usually forgotten in any 
development action -unless it is a specific, targeted action specially 
designed for them : 
objective 5a (fisheries) is only able to intervene in the area of 
major structural issues within the industry, but can provide no socio­
economic assistance; 
many fishing dependent coastal communities are now located in assisted 
areas (areas covered by objectives 1, 2 or 5b); however, 
. under the previous list of assisted areas 1/4 of fishermen were 
located out of such zones. The new list has reduced this ratio down 
to 1/8 -a significant improvement but some 74,000 fishermen are 
still located out of assisted areas; and 
. apart from a few very specific situations, it is the zone as a whole 
which will benefit from the Structural Funds. The fishing industry 
and the fishermen themselves will not generally be in a position to 
take advantage of most of the facilities. 
"PESCA" would have the following aims : 
to help the fishing industry bear the social and economic consequences 
of the very serious structural crisis that it now encounters. To 
enable it to overcom this crisis, 
to contribute to the diversification of regions concerned through the 
development of activities creating jobs. 
6. "PESCA" should be restricted to a number of specific areas, i.e. it 
should primarily be implemented in fishing-dependent areas assisted under 
objectives 1, 2 or 5b. However a very limited part of PESCA would be 
available outside of these areas. 
Draft notice to Member States 
laying down guidelines for operational programmes 
or global grants which they are invited 
to establish the framework of a Community initiative 
concerning the adaptation of small and medium-sized enterprises 
to the single market 
SMEs Initiative 
1. At its meeting on , the 
Commission of the European Communities decided to establish 
a Community initiative concerning the adaptation of small 
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the meaning of 
Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, as 
amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93t1, and 
Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88, as 
amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2083/93(2. 
Under this initiative, Community assistance in the form of 
loans and grants is made available for measures and in areas 
which respect the guidelines laid down in this notice, and 
which are included in operational programmes or requests for 
global grants submitted by the Member States and approved by 
the Commission of the European Communities. 
Development aims 
This initiative aims to assist small and medium-sized 
enterprises (SMEs), particularly in the less developed 
regions, to adapt to the single market, and to ensure that 
they become internationally competitive. The role of small 
firms will be taken into account. 
(1) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.24. 
(2) OJ No L 193, 31.7.1993, p.36. 
II Priorities 
4* The seven priorities 
Effectiveness requires a concentration of financial 
resources on the following limited number of priorities: 
a) Improving the production systems and the organization 
of SMEs primarily by intangible investments concerning: 
- adoption of a strategy of total quality; 
- promotion of technological innovations; 
- management and organization; 
- use of modern communications and information systems. 
b) Taking into account the environment and the rational 
use of energy. 
c) Encouraging cooperation between research centres and 
SMEs, so that research carried out in the regions 
becomes more responsive to local needs, so that SMEs 
can meet a greater part of their requirements for 
assistance relating to the transfer and application of 
technology from local facilities and so that SMEs are 
encouraged to innovate and to employ highly qualified 
personnel; 
d) Facilitating access to new markets, including public 
markets within the single market and markets in 
non-member countries. 
e) Developing cooperation and networks between suppliers 
of services to the SMEs, between lead firms and SME 
subcontractors, between the SMEs themselves, and 
between producers, suppliers and customers. 
f) Strengthening vocational qualifications within SMEs 
related to the other priority topics. 
g) Improving access by SMEs to finance and credit. 
III Eligible Measures 
5. The list which follows presents all the measures which can 
be financed under this initiative. When preparing their 
operational programmes, Member States should select a more 
limited and balanced list of measures on which to 
concentrate assistance. This choice should be determined 
with regard to the priorities referred to in paragraph 4 
above, and be coherent with the measures included in the 
Community Support Frameworks in relation to which this 
initiative is intended to be complementary. 
II. MECHANISMS 
7. The various forms of intervention envisaged by the Structural Fund 
regulations can be implemented in the PESCA context. 
As an indication, the measures can have one or more of the following 
characteristics: 
global grants for established organisations in the area; 
direct intervention of the economic and social partners; 
networking of organisations in order to exchange information and 
experience; 
financing of concrete projects. 
III. BENEFICIARIES 
8. PESCA applies primarily to areas dependent on fishing located in the 
regions eligible for Objectives 1, 2 and 5b. However, a maximum of 
10 % of the allocated appropriations under PESCA in Objectives 2 
and 5b regions could be used outside these and Objective 1 regions. 
"Areas dependent on fishing" are understood to refer to an employment 
area (or a group of communes) where the contribution of the fisheries 
sector to the activity of the aforementioned area (contribution 
measured in terms of jobs or in terms of value added) is such that 
the difficulties of the fisheries sector have involved, or will 
involve, activity reductions and job losses which seriously affect 
the socio-economic fabric. 
9. Within these geographical limits, PESCA can grant aid to several 
categories of final recipients: 
collective, public or private actors (for example, communes or 
groupings of communes, the Chamber of Commerce); 
individual economic actors able to contribute directly to 
activity diversification (craft enterprises, SMEs); 
other collective, public or private actors, directly concerned 
with changes in the sector (for example, fishing cooperatives, 
groups of fishing companies or fishermen, non-profit-making 
associations); 
fishermen and other workers in the fisheries sector. 
IV. ELIGIBLE MEASURES 
10. The eligible measures will belong to one or other of the following 
categories: 
diversification of activities in the eligible areas: 
study of the local potential of economic development; 
development of fishing ports with a view to attracting new 
activities, including tourist activities; 
development of new cottage industries and SMEs. 
services to companies: 
creation or development of companies or organisations 
involved in management advice; aid for the management of the 
restructuring of companies in the sector; aid to bring 
companies together (including at transnational level); 
aid for technology transfer (including at transnational 
level); 
training in marketing, in management and in new technologies. 
- maintenance or job creation: 
retraining and vocational training of fishermen; 
teachers' training; 
improvement of employment services; 
aid for geographical mobility; 
aid for entry to the labour market (aid at the time of 
recruitment in newly created jobs of a stable nature); 
financial engineering: 
facilitation of access by SMES and craft enterprises to the 
capital market, in particular by the granting of guarantees 
and acquisition of equity holding; 
financing of interest rebate regimes. 
concrete projects of a general and/or transnational nature in the 
fisheries sector: 
common management of shared fisheries; 
map-making of obstacles to fishing on sea-beds (unclaimed 
objects, drill heads, etc); 
rationalization of distribution chains of fishery products; 
promotion of the fishery products, quality certification ; 
studies and research into new markets and new outlets, and 
facilitation of access to external markets for fishery 
products. 
- productive investment in the sector: 
aid for the improvement of productivity and employmment 
rationalization; 
diversification and reconversion of companies in the sector, 
in particular towards maritime tourism; 
adaptation of productive infrastructure to market 
opportunities. 
with organizations in other regions of the Community (e.g. 
personnel exchanges, secondment for training, cooperation on 
expert appraisals, identification of partners). 
This may include measures to help qualifying areas make 
better use of data communications services offered elsewhere 
in the Union. 
7.4 Development and networking of service suppliers in the field 
of public procurement which make available specialized 
information adapted to the needs and capacities of the 
regional SMEs in order to facilitate their entry to public 
sector markets in the region, the Member State or in other 
countries. These services should, in particular 
- promote the association of SMEs from different regions 
or Member States in order to facilitate their 
participation in public contracts on a basis of 
reciprocity as between countries and regions, 
- set up systems for assessing the capacity of SMEs to 
compete in specific public sector markets, 
- improve the information available, 
provide technical, legal and linguistic assistance to 
SMEs for the preparation and follow-up of tenders and 
admission to the pre—qualification lists of awarding 
authorities, 
provide specialized training in the field of public 
procurement. 
IV Community contribution to the financing of this initiative 
8. The operational programmes are to be jointly financed by the 
Member State and the Community. The total contribution of 
the Structural Funds for the period 1994-99 is estimated at 
ECU 1 000 million, of which ECU 800 million will be 
allocated to Objective 1 regions. EIB loans may also be made 
available. 
9. The amount of the Community's budget contribution to 
individual operational programmes or for global grants will 
take account of the relative economic importance of SMEs in 
the regions concerned and the quality of the proposal. In 
evaluating the quality of the proposal, the Commission will 
take into account the following elements in particular: 
a) the business strategy plans which condition the 
granting of a part of the aid for SMEs; 
b) the analysis of business services available in relation 
to present and possible future requirements, and 
proposals for the development of networking with 
services available elsewhere in the Community; 
c) the setting up of structures suitable for encouraging 
dialogue between social partners, for sharing 
experience, for the transfer of know-how, as well as 
for local, interregional and transnational cooperation. 
V Implementation 
10. The Member States wishing to benefit from this initiative 
are invited to submit requests for support in the form of 
operational programmes or of global grants within four 
months of the date of publication of this communication. 
11. In the preparation stage, the Commission will offer the 
necessary technical assistance to assist in the 
identification of measures in relation to the priority 
topics, and in relation to the definition of the mechanisms 
of implementation. 
12. Cooperation between beneficiaries will be encouraged both 
within and between Member States, to foster the exchange of 
experience, the dissemination of best practice, joint 
operations and comparative evaluations. The Commission urges 
Member States to take account of this aim when preparing and 
subsequently when managing the programmes. 
13. Community assistance may be granted either to a central 
government administration, or in the form of global grants 
directly to decentralized organisations responsible for 
implementation, and designated by x the Member State 
concerned, including organizations responsible for managing 
transnational actions which involve expenditure in several 
Member States. 
14. All correspondence relating to this notice should be 
addressed to: 
Mr E. Landaburu 
Director-General 
Directorate-General for Regional Policies 
Commission of the European Communities 
Rue de la Loi 200 
1049 Brussels 
Belgium 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(94) 46 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 13 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-94-054-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-65506-2 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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