30.12.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC352/1
II
(PreparatoryActs)
ECONOMIC ANDSOCIALCOMMITTEE
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDecisionontheprovisionofCommunityinterest
subsidiesonloansforSMEsextendedbytheEIBunderitstemporarylendingfacility
(93/C352/01)
On5August1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommitteeon
theabovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforEconomic,FinancialandMonetaryQuestions,whichwasresponsiblefor
preparingtheCommittee'sworkonthissubject,adopteditsOpinionon5October1993.
TheRapporteurwasMrFrerichs.
Atits309thPlenarySession(meetingof20October1993)theCommitteeadoptedthe
followingOpinionbyalargemajority,withoneabstention .
1.Introduction 2.2.TheCommitteewaspleasedtonotethatthe
lendingfacilityofECU5bn,decideduponatthe
EdinburghCouncilinDecember1992andaimedpri­
marilyattrans-European networks,istobebolstered
byafurtherECU3bn,therebycreatingatotallending
facilityofECU8bn.Thedurationoftheloanfacility
forSMEsisalsotobeextendedbeyond1994.1.1.ThedraftCouncilDecisionsubmittedbythe
Commission isbasedondecisionstakenattheEuro­
peanCouncilinCopenhagentointroduceanumberof
importantmeasurestopromoteeconomicgrowthand
competitiveness andcombatunemployment .Severalof
thesemeasuresaredesignedtohaveanimpactinthe
shortterm,inparticularthetemporarylendingfacility
decideduponattheEdinburghCouncil,whichisnow
tobeextendedtoSMEs,togetherwithinterestrate
subsidies.2.3.SMEsaretoreceiveECU1bnoftheadditional
ECU3bn.Interestratesubsidies,uptoamaximumof
3%,aretobeprovidedoverfiveyearsandaretobe
financedfromthreebudgetaryappropriations (1994,
1995and1996)ofECU43meach(onthebasisofthe
discountedvalueoftheinterestrates)withintheceilings
ofthenewfinancialperspectives .1.2.TheEuropeanInvestmentBank(EIB)istotake
thenecessarysteps,togetherwiththeCommission ,to
puttheSMEFacilityintoeffectassoonaspossible
during1993,sothatfundingcanbesecuredfromthree
budgetaryappropriations (1994,1995and1996).
2.Generalcomments2.4.TheCommitteewould,however,takethe
opportunitytopointoutatthisjuncturethatthefunds
allocatedtothemulti-annualprogrammeforSMEpol­
icy,1994-1997,(adoptedon13June1993)mustonno
accountbeusedtofinancetheinterestsubsidies.In
itsOpinionontheabovementioned programme ,the
Committeealreadyexpressedtheviewthatthepro­
gramme'sfundinghadbeensetatadisappointingly
lowlevel.Thedemandswhichtheproposedinterest
subsidyinstrumentwouldplaceonthisbudgetwould
makeitimpossibletoimplementalargenumberof2.1.TheCommitteeapprovestheCommissionpro­
posalfortheapplicationofinterestratesubsidies,up
toamaximumof3%,toEIBloanstoSMEsovera
periodoffiveyears.TheCommitteeexpresslywelcomes
thefactthattheseinterestsubsidiesaretobecontingent
uponthecreationofjobs.

NoC352/2 OfficialjournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.12.93
loansunderthesupervisionoftheEIB.Thesefinancial
bodieshaveastakeinthesuccessfulconclusionof
theloantransactionssincetheyprovidecoverforthe
repaymentriskinrespectoftheEIBloans.TheCom­
mitteeexpresslywelcomesthefactthatadministrative
proceduresarealsotobeintroducedtomonitorobserv­
anceoftheconditionsasregardsthecreationofemploy­
mentbythebeneficiariesofloans(andinterestrate
subsidies).Theroleofthefinancialintermediaries in
theMemberStatesshouldbeextendedtoincludehelp
forSMEsinpreparingtheirinvestmentprojectsand
financingdossiers,thusprovidingausefulandeffective
technicalassistance .
2.13.ItisintheinterestsofthemajorityofSMEsin
theECthatthefollowingdatabetakenintoaccount
whenassessingtheoverallefficiencyoftheproposed
scheme:
—overallutilizationoftheSMEFacility,
—thetotalvolumeofinvestmenttriggeredbythe
scheme,
-—thetotalnumberofjobscreatedasaresultofthe
scheme.
Thisdatashouldbeforwardedtothebudgetaryautho­
ritiesonaregularbasissothatpossibleextensionsof
theschemecanbeconsideredinthelightoftheresults
whichhavebeenachieved(seetheconclusionsofthe
EuropeanCouncilinCopenhagen).
2.14.TheCommitteewouldbeveryhappytoreceive
regularreports,onthesamebasisasthebudgetary
authorities,ontheeffectivenessoftheproposedscheme
asregardspromotinginvestmentandthecreationof
jobsbySMEs.Thiswouldprovideagoodbasisfor
thegeneralpolicyofpromotingSMEsintheECand
constituteayardstickforgaugingtheeffectivenessof
thepolicy.otherdesirableactivities,whilstnotprovidingany
additionalincentiveforSMEactivity.
2.5.Asapossibleothersourceoffunding,theCom­
mitteeproposesthattheinterestsubsidyinstrument
beincorporated inaCommunityinitiativeunderthe
StructuralFunds.
2.6.TheCommitteewouldencouragetheEIBto
takethenecessarystepsforthwithsothatthefirstloan
contractsundertheFacilitycanbeconcludedbefore
theendof1993,assoonasthenecessarylegalbasishas
beenestablished .
2.7.As1993isdrawingtoanend,itwillnotbe
possibletoconcludemostloancontractsuntil1994or
1995,andfundswillbeallocatedasindividualloans
aretakenout.
2.8.Withaviewtoreducingtheamountofadminis­
trativeworkandcostsinvolved,itisveryappropriate
thattheFacilityistobemanagedbytheEIBundera
cooperationagreementwiththeCommission .
2.9.TheCommitteesharestheviewthataspecific
legalbasis(cf.theProposalforaCouncilDecision
appendedtothedraftCouncilDecisionunderreview)
willberequiredunderArticle235fortheextensionof
interestratesubsidiestoSMEloansinareasthroughout
theCommunitywhicharenoteligibleforStructural
Fundsupport.Inthecaseofinterestsubsidiesapplied
toSMEloansineligibleregions(Objectives 1,2and
5b),budgetarysupportwillbeprovidedbytheStructur­
alFundsonthebasisofthespecificlegislationapplying
tothem.TheCommission estimatesthatabout60%
ofexpenditureoninterestsubsidies(corresponding to
ECU600mofloans)couldbetakenupbySMEsin
eligibleregions.TheCommitteewouldexpectthatno
lessthan40%oftheFacilitywouldbemadeavailable
tootherareasoftheCommunity .
2.10.TheCommitteeunderlinestheimportanceof
tyinginterestratesubsidiestothecreationofjobsby
theSMEs.Therelevantcriteriamustbedetermined
jointlybytheCommissionandtheEIBwithoutdelay,
inordertoprecludeunjustifiedapplicationsforinterest
ratesubsidiesfromtheverybeginning.
2.11.TheCommitteewelcomesthefactthatadmin­
istrativeproceduresaretobeintroducedtomonitorthe
creationofemploymentandobservanceoftheother
lendingconditions.Itisbothrightandconsistentwith
thepurposeoftheinterestratesubsidiesthatpayment
ofthesubsidiescanbesuspendedassoonasthenecess­
aryconditionsarenolongerfulfilled.TheCommittee
endorsestheincorporation intheFacilityofanincentive
tocreatejobsandpromoteinvestmentbySMEs.
2.12.Thefinancialintermediaries aretoundertake
theappraisal,monitoringandadministration ofthe3.Conclusions
3.1.TheCommitteeunreservedlywelcomesthedraft
CouncilDecision.
3.2.TheCommitteewouldasktheCommission to
includeitinthebriefingprocedureappliedtothe
budgetaryauthoritiesandwouldalsoaskforacompre­
hensivefinalreportontheSMEFacilityattheendof
theperiodofoperation.
3.3.Itis,intheCommittee'sview,essentialthatthe
CommissionandtheEIBprovidetheMemberStates
andSMEumbrellaorganizations intheCommunity
withadetailedbriefing,ingoodtime,ontheimplemen­
tationoftheFacilityandalsoformallyinvolvethe
financialinstitutionsandtheirumbrellagroupsinthis
briefing.

30.12.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC352/3
edwithaminimumofredtape.Asuccessfuloutcome
wouldpromoteeconomicgrowthandcompetitiveness
andcouldhelptocombatunemployment .3.4.Thereiseveryreasontobelievethatthescheme
willbearealsuccessprovidedthatadequateinfor­
mationismadeavailableandtheschemeisimplement­
DoneatBrussels,20October1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpinionontheanalysisofpoliciestobepursuedintheCommunityduringthetransitional
stageofEMU:secondarylegislation
(93/C352/02)
On23March1993theEconomicandSocialCommittee,actingunderthefourthparagraph
ofArticle20ofitsRulesofProcedure,decidedtodrawupanOpinionon:Theanalysisof
policiestobepursuedintheCommunityduringthetransitionalstageofEMU.
Byletterdated1October1993,theCommissionsenttheCommittee,foritsmembers'
information ,anumberofproposalsrelatingtosecondarylegislationfortheimplementation
ofthesecondstageofEMU,asprovidedforintheTreatyonEuropeanUnion(Maastricht
Treaty).ThisOpinionthereforedealswiththesecondarylegislation,andtheCommitteewill
issueanadditionalOpinionontheeconomicandmonetaryconsiderations .
TheSectionforEconomic,FinancialandMonetaryQuestions,whichwasresponsiblefor
preparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon5October1993.
TheRapporteurwasMrMeyer-Horn .
Atits309thPlenarySession(meetingof20October1993)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionbyalargemajoritywithtwoabstentions .
1.Preliminarycomments ThedraftproposalscontainedintheCommissionCom­
municationof22July1993[COM(93)371final—SYN
466/4671are:
ThisOpiniondealswiththeCommission's-—initially
informal—proposalsforsecondarylegislation
implementingthesecondstageofEconomicandMonet­
aryUnion.On22June1993theEuropeanCouncil
askedtheCommissiontosubmitproposals.Untilthe
TreatyonEuropeanUnionentersintoforce,thelegis­
lationbasedonitcannotbeformallyproposedand
adopted.aRegulationaimedatspecifyingtheprohibition
(Article104oftheTreaty)ofpublicsectoraccess
toCentralBankcredit,anddefining'overdraft
facilitiesoranyothertypeofcreditfacility','public
undertakings'etc,
—aRegulationaimedatspecifyingtheprohibition
(Article104oftheTreaty)ofprivilegedaccessfor
thepublicsectortofinancialinstitutions,ThenecessarydiscussionswiththeCommunitybodies
involved(theEuropeanParliament,theCommitteeof
CentralBankGovernors,theMonetaryCommittee )
have,however,alreadystartedinformally,inorderto
acceleratethesubsequentofficialprocedures,toensure
thatthelegislationcanbeadoptedassoonasthe
MaastrichtTreatyentersintoforce,andbefore1Janua­
ry1994.—aRegulationontheapplicationoftheexcessive
deficitprocedure [Article104c(14)oftheTreaty]
inaccordancewiththeProtocol,andlayingdown
detailedrulesanddefinitions,includingthedefi­
nitionof'publicdebt',