ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)1170
Vol.1973/9009

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

OFTHE
COM(73)1170 final
Brussels,25July1973
PROPOSAL FORA
COUNCILREGULATION ESTABLISHING
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
(submitted "bytheCommissiontotheCouncil)
O
COM(73)1170final

PROPOSAL FOftACOUKCI'L RBGJLATIOtf ESTABLISHING
APJiGIOML DEVEIDFMMT POTTD
EXPLANATORY STITEIWT
Atthopresent stage cftheCommunity 'sdevelopment ,its
institutions must now ,asthey were requested "bytheHeads
ofState orofGovernment meeting -inParis inOctober 1972 ,
devote themselves towards aCommunity solution toregional
problems andcreate aEuropean Regional Development Fund .
PertheConaunity 'sassistance to "beeffective ,itmust r.eet
throe requirements *itshould ooapleacnt national rogioncl
poliojes ,itshould beflexibly nanaged ardinvestments
should conform todevelopment programmes orspecific
development objectives .
(a)Complementing national regional policieR
TheCommunity 'sassistance nu^t complement rather than
substitute theaction ofMember States because itspurpose
istoimplement regional development policies faster than
Member States could alone ,taking account ofthediscipline
which Economic ar.dMonetary Union will impose ontheuseof
.their ownresourc.es .Inspite oftheprogress which hasbeen
achieved ,action taken sofarhas turned out tobe
insufficient tooffset tothedesired extent thetendency
forcompanies tolocate themselves inalready highly developed
regions ,where taey benefit from significant external
economies , 'The achievement ofthe common market isin
itself likely tostronjthen this tendency .Also inorder

toallow thefull development ofthose regions which have not
kept upinspite cftheir considerable development potential ,
itisr.ecessarjf fortheCommunity toaddits OwTieffort tothat of
Member States .TheCommunity asawhole will benefit from thin
development ,both initsgrowbh rate and itscompetitivity .
Itisbyproviding these complementary resources that the
European Regional "Oevelopmert Fund will contribute toaccomplishing
thetask of"promoting throughout theCommunity aharmonious
development ofeconomic activities "andthe objectives of "the
const antimprovement ofliving andworking conditions 11and
"reducing thedifferences existing between thevarious regions
andthebackwardness ofthe less favoured regions "which have been
assigned totheCommunity intheTreaty .Inorder toattain
these objectives ,andwhen theCommunity 'sactions ,inparticular
those directed totherealisation ofEconomic andMonetary Union ,
may lead toparticular difficulties forcertain regions ,the
Commission maymake proposals orappropriate recommendations ,so
that usemaybemade ofCommunity means ofaction inorder to
contribute toresolving the said diff iculti3S .
Flexibility
The Community 'sassistance must beimplemented flexibly .This
flexibility must beexpressed inthe choice ofinvestments eligible
forassistance ,inthespeed oftheprocedures andinthelevel of
assistances
(i)choice _ofinvestments
Regional problems vary greatly between different countries
anddifferent regions .TheCommunity 'saidshould beavail­
able both inareas where theimbalances areagricultural in
origin andwhere they areindustrial inorigin .Itmust be
adaptable tothepriority requirements ofeach region :
industrialisation ,thecreation ofservice activities ,infra­
structure required fortheeconomic development .Inrespect
ofinfrastructure ,which plays avery important part in
regional development ,theCommunity 'saidshould take strict
account oftheneed toguide thedevelopment ofinfrastructure
incoordination with other common policies ,inparticular ,
transport andenergy .

TheFund'sresourcesmustbesides "beequitablyallocated
betweenthevariouseligibleCommunityregions.This
allocation .musttakeaccountoftheRelativeseverityof
imbalances,talcingintoconsideration .-JheCommunitycriteriawhich
ctr©describedinArticle3ofthisRegulationandwhichwill
serveasabasisfortheimplantation Regulationwhichwillbe
proposedfortheidentification oftheregionseligibleforthe
Fund'sassitance » -
(ii)Speedoftheprocedures
Beforetalcingtheirdecisions,companiesmustkripwwhat.
benefitstheyhavearighttoexpect,dependingonwhere.they
invest.Otherwisetheywoulddecideindependently ofany
seriousevaluation oftheeffectoftheassistance.
ThatiswhytheCommunity'sassistancemustnothavethe
effectofdelayingdecisionsthatIlemberStatestakeunder
theirownregionalpolicies.Subjecttothenecessary
examination ,theCommunity'sassista?icemcythusbeableto
taketheformofreimbursement .
(iii)Levclofassistance
Forbothproductiveinvestmentandinfrastructure the
Communitymustnotbetiedto.auniformrateofcontribution
toMemberStates'expenditure ,butmustbeabletotake
accountoftheinterestofeachcaseinitsownregional
contextandfortheCommunitygenerally#
)ConformitywithEuropeanregionaldevelopmentobjectives
TheCommunity'sassistancemustbebasedondevelopment
programmesorspecificdevelopmentobjectivestowhichthe
investments conformandwhichtheCommitteeforI.egioualPolicy
hacexamined.TheCommunity'sactivitiesshouldsorvethe
purposeofacomprehensive policywhose""Europeancharacteris
fullyapparent.Onlythecomparisonandcoordination ofnational
policieswillallowthisresulttobeattained,andatthesame
timeallowtheeffectiveness ofthemeasurestakentobechecked.
Thisprocessshouldleadtotheprogressiveformulation ,atthe
initiativeofthe.Co(Vimis3ion,oftheCommunity'sgeneralregional
policyobjectives,andenabletheCommissiontoidentifythe
mostsensitiveregionalproblems,towhichmostoftheFundshould
bedevoted.

3.AtthoSu/nmitconferenceholdfrom19"fc°21October1972inParis,the
Headsof'3tateorofGovernmentagreedthatahighpriorityshouldbe
giventotheaimofcorrecting ,inthoCommunityfthestructuraland
regionalimbalanceswhichmightaffecttherealisation of"conomic
andMonetaryUnion,
Indeed,regionalpolicyisoneofthepoliciesfundamentaltothe
buildingofSuropejitsimplementation anddevelopment mustthusbe
seeninthecontextofthisgradualprocess,inclosecoordination in
thewholeofCommunityactiontothisend.Inthesecircumstances ,
theCommissionproposestoinscribeasumof500millionunitsof
accountintheCommunitybudgetfor1974*Atthepresentstajeof
itsappraisal ;ofthematter,itconsidersalsothatthemagnitude
ofregionalimbalanceswillinthefollowingtwoyears,inthelightof
experience ,requiretheinscriptionintheCommunitybudgetofsums
oftheareaof750millionunitsofaccountfor1975and1,000million
unitsofaccountfor197&o
4*Thereisprovisionforoptionalconsultation oftheEconomic .and
SocialCommittee.

PROPOSAL FOR ACOUNCIL REGULATION
ESTABLISHING AREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
THE COUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES s
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic
Community andinparticular Article 235thereof ;
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission }*
Having regard totheOpinion oftheEuropean Parliament }**
Having regard totheOpinion oftheEconomic andSocial Committee }***
Whereas ,byvirtue ofArticle 2oftheTreaty ,theCommunity has "been assigned
thetask ofpromoting throughout theComuunity aharmonious development of
economic activities J
Whereas theConference ofHeads ofState orofGovernment inOctober 1972 ,
desirous offinding aCommunity solution toregional problems ,invited
theCommunity Institutions tocreate before 31December 1973 aRegional
Development Fund whose intervention ,incoordination with national aids ,
should permit ,progressively with therealisation ofEconomic andMonetary
Union ,thecorrection ofth©main regional imbalances intheCommunity and
particularly these resulting from thepreponderance ofagriculture andfrom
industrial change andstructural underemployment ;
Whereas ,since theTreaty hasnotprovided thenecessary powers forthis
purpose ?itisnecessary togive theCommunity such powers byapplying
Article ,235 "theTreaty
Whereas therealisation ofthese objectives within the .framework of '
coordinated' economic polioies andfixed exchange parities canbeachieved
only ifresources inscribed intheBudget oftheEuropean Communities are
devoted toregional development tosupplement theresources which the
Member States can devote *
*0Jno ....
**0Jno ....
*** OJno....

Whereasregionaldevelopmentrequiresontheonehand
investment inindustrial andserviceactivities ,soasto
ensurethecreat:onormaintenance ofemployment,andonthe
otherband\nfrastructure requiredforthedeveIor>mentof
theseactivities ;
V/hereastheprincipleshouldbeadoptedthattheFund's
assistanceshouldbeallocated onthebasisoftherelative
severityofregionalimbalances,andaccountshouldalso
beta'<enofotherfactorsdetermining theinterestofinvestmei
fromtheregion'sandtheCommunity'spointofview;
WhereasthemanagementoftheFundshouldbetherespons ibiIit>
oftheCommissionassistedbyaFundCommittee;
WhereastheFund'sassistancewillbeeffectiveonlyifinvest­
mentsbenefiting fromtheCommunity'saidareincludedin
regionaldevelooment programmes,or,failingsuchprogrammes,
meetspecificregionaldeveIop'-entob'ectives ;
not
WhereastheFund'sassistanceshould/leadMemberStatesto
reducetheirowntotalregionaldevelopmenteffortsbutshould
becomolementary;
WhereastheextentofCommunity'sactivitiesrequiresspecific
informationtobeprovidedtotheCounciIandtotheEuropean
Parliament intheformofanannualreoort;
HASADOPTEDTHISREGULATION :

Article 1
AEuropeanRegionalDevelopment Fund,isherebyestablished.
Article2
1,Financialappropriations shallbeprovidedeachyearmthebudget
oftheCommunitiesfortheFund'soperationsinthatyear.
2,AfinancialregulationadoptedinpursuanceofArticle209of"the
Treatyshalldeterminethemeanswherebyexpenditure fromtheFund
shallbeauthorised.
Article3*
1,OnaproposalfromtheCommissionandafterconsultingtheEuropean
Parliament,andwithoutprejudicetotheapplicationofArticles92
to94oftheTreaty,theCouncilshall,actingunanimously,adoptthe
listoftheregionsandareaswhichmaybenefitfromtheFund,and
shall,aotivingby&qualifiedmajority,amendthislistasneedarises
2,Theseregionsandareasmustbechosenfromamongthosewhichbenefit
fromasystemofregionalaidsandwhosegrossdomesticproductper
headisbolowtheCommunityaverage.Theyshallincludeparticularly
thosewithregionalimbalancesresultingfromthepreponderance of
agriculture andfromindustrialchangeandstructuralunderemployment ,
takinginparticularthefollowingcriteriaintoconsiderations
hcavydependenceonagricultural eraploymontj
heavydependenceonemploymentindecliningindustrialactivities
apersistently highrateofunemployment orahighrateofnet
outwardmigration.
*seetheAppendix(a)
*(*)'
(o)

Article 4
TheFund maycontribute tofinancings
(a)investments ,inindustrial orservice activites ,which .
benefit from anational system ofregional aids ,provided
that the^^"oftheinvestment exceeds fifty thousand units
ofaccount and ■.-rtlaair'.:' itinvolves creating ormaintaining
jobs ;
(b)infrastructure investments ,required forthedevelopment
ofindustrial orservice activities ,andtotally or
partially financed bypublic atrtho^lii-es .
The amount oftheFund 'scontribution shall bes
(a)inrespect ofaninvestment ofthekind referred toin
paragraph 1(a),atmost £iftoen~pot >ecnt ofrthoooct 'Oftho
investment .Theamount shall ,however ,notexceed firffyper
cent oftheaidaccorded totheinvestment bypublic
authorities under anational system ofregional aids .The
national aids tobetaken into consideration inthis
connection shall beinterest rebates ,andgrants determined
either asapercentage oftheinvestment oraccording to
thenumber ofjobs created }
(b)inrespect ofaninvestment ofthekind referred toin
paragraph 1(b),atmost thirty pec :.coiat ,oftho :.expenditure
incurred bypublic authorities .
TheFund 'sassistance may ,inrespect ofinfrastructure ,take in
whole orinpart theform ofarebate ofthree percentage points
onloans made bytheEuropean Investment Bank pursuant to
Article 130(a )and (b)oftheTreaty .
Thoabove provisions shall notprejudice theapplication of
Articles 92to94ofthoTreaty *

Article 5
The Jamil 'sassistance shall "bedecided "bytheConmission in
accordance with theprocedure laid down inArticle 13,with
reference totherelative severity oftheeconomic imbalance
of .theregion where theinvestment ismade anditsdirect and
indirect affect onemployment ,andtaking account ofthe
following considerations ;
(a)theconsistency oftheinvestment with thedevelopment
prograTimop .and objectives *referred toinAticle 6}
(b)theinvestment 'scontribution totheeconomic development
oftLeregion ?. c.. -sjj;}tors&uoia ;?its
(c)theconsistency oftheinvestment with theCommunity 's
v programmes orobjectives ,
particularly those adopted aspart ofsectoral policies ;
(d)theinvestment 'seffect ontheenvironment ,particularly
asregards living andworking conditions ;
(e)thetrans-naticnal character oftheinvestment ,that is,
the ;fact that it .conies from ,another Member State ;.
(f)thetrans-border character oftheinvestment,' that is,
concerning adjacent regions indifferent Member States .
Inthoexamination ofeach request ,account phall also betaken
ofother assistance provided bytheCommunity institutions or
bythoEuropean Investment Bank pursuant toArticle 130(a )aid (b)of
theTreaty .
Inrespect ofinfrastructure costing more than twenty million
units cfaccount ,theCommission shall ,before obtaining tho
opinion oftheFund Committee referred +0inilrhiele13>consult
theCommittee forRegional Policy .

Article6
Investmentsmay"benefitfromtheFund'sassistanceonlyiftheyform
partofaregionaldevelopment prograrumewhoseimplementation may
contributetocorrectingthestructuralandregionalimbalanceswhich
mayaffecttherealisationofEconomicrndMonetaryUnion,Inthe
absenceofsuchaprogrammeanduntil31December1975;ir.vertments
eligiblefortheFund'sassistancamustmeetspecificregional
objectives.Inthelattercase,MemberStatus
mustprovidetheCommissionannuallywithallrelevant
informationabouttheresourcestheyaremaking
available,andproposetomakeavailable,forthedevelopmentofthe
regionsonthelistreferredtoinArticle3,andalsowithall
relevantinformation aboutthedevelopment oftheeconomicandsocial
situationinthoseregions*
Regionaldevelopment programmesorspecificregionalobjectivesshall
becommunicated totheCommissionbythe!lemberStates.Afirstsucn
communication shallbemadebefore1October1374~
Theprogrammesshallindicatetheobjectives andthemeansfor
developingtheregion.Tothiseffect,theymustcontainsufficiently
detailedindications ofi
(a)thedevelopmentoftheeconomicaridsocialsituationofthe
region,particularly inrespectofdemography,employment,
regionalproduct,sectoralstructure,infrastructure ,ecology
andlandusage;
(b)themeasuresproposedinrespectofinfrastructure andthe
creationofeconomicactivity,togetherwithanimplementation
schedulej
(c)theintendedfinancing;
(d)theauthorities,organisations orinstitutionsresponsiblefor
thesemeasures.
TheCommitteeforRegionalPolicymustbeconsultedabouttheprogrammes
orspecificobjectivesforregionaldevelopment.TheCommissionmust
confirmtheirconformitywiththeCommunity'sobjectives ,.

Article7
PublicexpenditurereferredtoinArticle4whichhas"beenincurredmore
thansixmonths "beforethedateofthepresentation oftherequest,or
whichconcernsinvestments completedmorethantwelvemonthsbeforethisdate
shallnotbeeligibleforassistancefromtheFund,

Article8
1.RequestsfortheFund'sassistanceshallbesenttothe
Commissionaccompanied bytheinformationprovidedforin
theFinancialRegulationreferredtoinArticle2.In
respectofindustrial andserviceinvestments ofanamount
lessthantenmillionunitsofaccountandinfrastructure
ofanamountlessthantwentymillionunitsofaccount,
MemberStatesshallgrouptheirrequestsinquarterly -
statementsforeachoftheregionsreferredtoinArticle3.
2.TheFund'sassistanceshallbedecided:
(a)caseb2rcase,inrespectofindustrialandservice
investments ofanamountoftenmillionunitsof
accountormore,andinfrastructure investments
ofanamountoftwentymillionunitsofaccount
ormore,
(b)intheaggregate,inrespectofotherrequests.
Article9
TheCommissionshallmakepaymentstotheMemberState,anagency
designatedbytheMemberStateforthispurposeortheEuropean
InvestmentBank,asthecasemaybe,inaccordancewiththeprovisions
ofthefinancialregulationreferredtoinArticle2.
Article10
1.TheCommissionshall,withthecooperationofMemberStates,
makesurethatinvestmentsbenefitingfromtheFund's
assistanceareproperlyimplemented .
2.Ifaninvestment onwhichadecisionaboutassistance hasbeen
takenisnotcarriedoutasplanned,orifthepublicauthorities
recoverfromtheinvestorallorpartoftheaidwhichthey

havp themselves accorded ,that ;assistance nay "besuspended ,
reduced orcancelled "bydecision of ,theCommission after
consulting theFund -Committee .Any suras toberepaid shall "be
recovered "bytheMember State andpaid over totheCommission
within thesixmonths following thedecision tosuspend ,reduce ,
orcancel . ■
Article 11
TheComnisrion mayuseapart oftheresources oftheFund ,
provided forthis purpose inthebudget oftheCommunities ,
topromote orcarry outstudies closely related totheoperations
ofthe ,Fund ortoregional development intheCommunity .
When astudy isundertaken attherequest oftheMember State
theFund 'sassistance -maynotexceed fifty percent ofitscost .
■Article .12
There shall beestablished aFund Committee ,composed of
representatives ofMember States andpresided over bya
representative ofthe Commission .
Within theCommittee thevotes ofMember States shall beweighted
i '' •
inaccordance with Article 143 ,paragraph 2oftheTreaty .The
Chairman shall not vote .
Article 13
Where theprocedure laid down inthis Article istobefollowed ,
the "Chairaan .shall refer thenatter totheCommittee ©ither oil
hisown ;initiative orattherequest oftherepresentative of
aMerber State . I •

2.Therepresentative oftheCommissionshallsubmitadraftoffiedoc'f
tobetaken.TheCommitteeshalldeliveritsOpiniononcuchdecisions
withinthetimelimittobesetbytheChairmanaccordingtotheurgency
ofthequestionsunderconsideration .AnOpinionshallbeadoptedby
amajorityof41votes«
3.TheCommissionshalladoptdecisionswhichshallapplyimmediately.
However,ifthesedecisionsarenotinaccordancewiththeOpinionof
theCommittee,theyshallforthwithbecommunicated byth3Commission
totheCouncil.InthateventtheCommissionmaydjferapplication
ofthedecisionswhichithasadoptedfornotmarethanonemonthfrom
thedateofsuchcommunication# TheCouncilmaytakeadifferent
decisionwithinonemonthbyqualifiedmajority.
Article14
TheCommitteemayconsideranyotherquestionconcerningtheFund'soperations
referredtoitbyitsChairmaneitheronhisowninitiativeorattherequest
oftherepresentative ofaMemberState.
Article15
MemberStatesandtheCommissionshallmakepublictheassistancegiven
bytheFundandshallinformtheinvestorsconcernedthatpartoftheaid
theyreceivecomesfromtheCommunity .,
Article16
1.Before1JulyeachyeartheCommissionshallpresentareporttothe
EuropeanParliamentandtotheCouncilontheimplementation ofthis
Regulationduringtheprecedingyear.Thisreportshall,inparticular,
indicatetheextenttowhichtheallocationoftheFund'sresourceshestaken
accountoftherelativeseverityofregionalimbalances,andmikeclearwhat
progresshasbeenmadetowardscorrectingthoseimbalancesandalsothe
regionaldevelopmentmeasureswhichseemtoberequired,byeconomicand
socialtrendsintheCommunity,inoneormoreoftheregionsonthe.ilist
referredtoinArticle3,
2.Thisreportshallalsocoverontheonehandthefinancialadministration
oftheFundandontheotherhandtheconclusions drawnbytheCommission
fromthefinancialinspectionscarriedoutontheFund'soperations.

Article17
Thenecessarysteps,fortheimplementation ofthisRegulationshall
betaken"inaccordancewith"theprocedurelaiddowninArticle13«
Article18
TheCouncilshallre-examinethisRegulationnotlaterthanthree -
yearsafteritentersintoforce«
Article19
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon1January1974*
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectly
applicableinallMemberStates.
Joneat on PortheCouncil
ThePresident .

APPSNDIX
r
PROPOSEDINSERTION INTHECOUNCIL'SMIMJTES .– –--–-–––– »
Since,withregardtotheapplicationofthe.regionalaidaprovided
forintheLuxemburgEconomicExpansionBill,theLuxemburgGovernment
hasyettodelimittheperipheralareasofapplication ofthesaidaids,
itisagreedthattheFund'sassistanceshallattheoutsetbeapplicable
tothepriorityagricultural areasdefinedinCouncilRegulation
NO.••vote*Of