ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)790
Vol.1981/0222

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
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),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)790 final
Brussels-9thDecember 1981
(
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCILDECISION
applyingforthefirsttimedecision EECempowering
theCommission tocontractloansforthepurposeof
promotinginvestmentwithinthe-Community
tVv',Y?.fe ■■lJ
(presented bytheCommission vtotheCouncil)
•<* •VS.
/
V",s>/7
<C/•tr*- V\v
COM(81)790final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On19October1981,theCouncilacceptedtheprincipleofcontinuing
theoperationoftheNewCommunityInstrument .
TheCommission considersitamatterofurgencythereforethata
decisionbetakenatanearlydatesothatatranchecanbeactivated
undertherenewedinstrument,particularly sinceprojectshavebeeniden­
tifiedinsufficient numbersfortheceilingauthorized bytheDecision
of16October1978tobefullycommittedwithinashorttime.
AdecisionisallthemorenecessaryinthattheCommunity mustuse
itseveryendeavourtosustaininvestment .Inviewoftheacuteproblems
facingMemberStates'economiestoday,investmentisofparamountimportance,
.firstly,becauseitstrengthens ourfundamental structures andfacilitates
theiradaptation,andsecondlybecauseithelpssustaineconomicactivity
andemployment .
Initsexperimental stagetheNCIhasalreadyshownthecontribution
itcanmaketothisend.Overathree-year period,thetotalsumof
1000millionECUwasallocatedforprojectsintheinfrastructure and
energysectors.
TheCommission believesthatitsassistance inthesetwoareascould
haveanevengreaterimpactifthetrancheswereallocatedformorenarrow­
lydefinedpurposes,sothattheycouldbeused,withinthebroadfields
selected,toservepriorityobjectives oftheCommunity.
Intheenergysectorthereisacryingneedforahigherlevelof
investment topromotetheefficient useofenergyandthereplacement of
oilbyothersourcesofenergy.Itisstillhighlynecessarytoreduce
ourconsumption ofoilproducts,andthemeansofdoingsodependvery
heavilyoninvestment,notonlyinenergygeneration (nuclearenergy,coal)-
onwhichastarthasalreadybeenmade-butalsointheadaptationof

-2-
methodsofutilization,whetherinindustrial processes,theservicesor
householdsectorsortransport.TheCommissionisawareofthedifficulty
ofstimulating thistypeofinvestment,itsstagnation beingpartlyattri­
butabletothegeneraleconomicsituation.Communityfinancinginthis
contexthasalreadybeengrantedbytheEIB,andbytheECSCinitsown
sectors.Thisassistance mustcontinue.Theneedtolessenourdepen­
dencyonimportedenergyandthecontribution whichtheinvestment required
forthispurposecanmaketotheeconomyingeneral(clearlysetoutin
thefifthprogramme )togetherprompttheCommission toproposethatthis
area-coveredwithothersbypreviousNCItranches-shouldbegiven
explicitpriorityforthenextNCItranche.
TheroleoftheNCIinstimulating investment ininfrastructure is
equallyclear.ItishighlydesirablethattheNCIshouldcontinueto
operateinthisarea,butitwouldalsobepreferable tofocusonmore
narrowlyspecifiedobjectives .TheCommission suggeststhatprioritybe
giventoinfrastructure investmentprojectswhichcontribute toregional
development -asacontinuation oftheefforttoimprovebasicstructures,
particularly inlessprivileged areasoftheCommunity-andtoprojects
ofCommunityinterest(suchasprioritytransportprojects).
TheNCIbasicdecisionalsoprovidesthattheinstrument maybeused
forinvestment intheproductive sector,wherethereisclearlyamajor
need.Asafirststep,theCommission believesthattheNCIshouldbe
empoweredtorespondtothefinancingrequirements ofsmallandmedium-
sizedenterprises .Itconsiderstheserequirements meritpriorityconsi­
derationonaccountofthecontribution whichthesecompanies canmakein
creatingpermanentjobsandininnovation .TheCommissionaccordingly
suggeststhatthistrancheoftheNCIshouldbeopenedup,asathird
categoryofoperations,toeconomically soundinvestmentprojectsof
enterprises ofmoderatesizeintheproductive sector.
Thedifficulties whichsmallfirmsinparticular faceincontracting
loanswithnon-national bodiescouldbeironedoutbyusingthetriedand
testedmachineryofgloballoansadministered throughnationalfinancial
intermediaries ,incertaincasesbackedbynationalarrangements for
guaranteeing againstexchange-rate risks.

-3-
This newtranche will therefore cover three priority areas ofactivity :
theefficient use ofenergy ;infrastructure contributing toregional devel­
opment and/orofCommunity interest ;andsmall andmedium-sized enterprises .
Although noteverything canbeknown atthis stage about either the
general trend ofinvestment ortheactual financing terms which could be
accorded totherecipients ofloans ,the Commission believes that these
three areas necessitate asingle tranche of 1000million ECU .
*

COUNCILDECISION
applyingforthefirsttimeDecision /EECempowering theCommission
tocontractloansforthepurposeofpromotinginvestmentwithinthe
Community.
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
HavingregardtoCouncilDecision /EECof19October1981empowering
theCommission tocontractloansforthepurposeofpromotinginvestment
(1)withintheCommunity,andinparticularArticle thereof,
(2)HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission,
HavingregardtotheopinionoftheEuropeanParliament,^
WhereasthepurposeoftheCommunity'sactionistoimplementstructural
investment projectsthathelpattainCommunitypriorityobjectives inthe
energy,industryandinfrastructure sectors;
WhereastheCommunity hassetitselftheobjectiveofstimulating the
recoveryofeconomicactivityandofsupporting commonpoliciesbyCommunity
measures-notablybymakingoptimumuseoftheCommunity'sfinancial
instruments -whichaimtorealiseinvestment projectscontributing to
greaterconvergence oftheeconomicpoliciesoftheMemberStates,an
CDjectivereaffirmed bytheEuropeanCouncilinLuxembourg on30June1981;
(1)0JNo
(2)0JNo
(3)0JNo

Whereasparticular attentionshouldbedirectedtoinvestment whichcon­
tributestothemoreefficient useofenergy,toinvestment whichcontri­
butestothedevelopment ofregionalinfrastructures and/orwhichisof
Communityinterest,andtoinvestment bysmallandmedium-sized enter­
prises;
WhereastheNewCommunityInstrument isdesignedtofacilitate investment
byproviding accesstotheCommunity'sfinancialsourcesinspecifichigh
prioritysectors;
WhereasCommunityactioninthoseareaswill,inparticular,servethe
Community'sobjectives ofreducingunemployment andregionaldisparities ;
HASDECIDED ASFOLLOWS:
t
Article 1
Atrancheofborrowings isherebyauthorized foranamountwhichshallnot
exceedtheequivalent of1000millionECUinprincipal .
Article 2
Theproceedsoftheseborrowings shallbelenttofinanceinvestmentprojects
whicharecarriedoutonCommunityterritory andwhichhelpattainthe•
priorityCommunity'sobjectives intheenergyandinfrastructure sectors
andforthepromotionofsmallandmedium-sized enterprises .
Forthepurposesofthistranchetheinvestment shallcoverinparticular :
(a)theefficient useofenergy,thereplacement ofoilbyothersources
ofenergyinallsectorsandinfrastructure projectsfacilitating
suchreplacement ;
(b)infrastructure projectscontributing toregionaldevelopment and/or
ofCommunityinterest,includingtransport,telecommunications and
information technology,thetransmission ofenergy,watersupply
infrastructure andenvironmental protection;

(c)projectsofsmallandmedium-sized enterprises fortheirpromotion
orforemployment orinnovation purposes.
Article 3
TheCommissionshalldecidewhetherornotprojectsareeligibleinaccor­
dancewith:
Article2aboveandinthelightoftheCommunity'sprincipal
economicproblems:
theprovisions oftheEECTreatyandsecondarylegislation,in
particular thoserelatingtocompetition andCommunitypolicies
inthefieldsinquestion.
DoneatBrussels.
FortheCouncil
ThePresident