ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(76)279
Vol.1976/0088

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
COMUNITYHELPFORFRIULI
SPECIALASSISTANCE FORREPAIRING
INFRASTRUCTURAL DAMAGECAUSEDBYTHE
FRIULIEARTHQUAKE OFMY1976COM(76)279final
Brussels.2June1976
(Submitted "bytheCommissiontotheCouncil)
COK(76)279final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
TheFriuli region washitvery hard indeed byanearthquake on6
May1976 .Thecasualty list wasenormous ;over 900dead andover 2*f00
injured have been counted todate ,with over 100,000 homeless .
Theearthquake came asasevere blow tothestill struggling
economy ofaregion which hadbegun toundergo real development inthe
last few years .Industrial andagricultural means ofproduction inthe
stricken area are inruins ,and infrastructures and communications cut .
Preliminary estimates put thedamage atover Lit .1,700,000 million ,
including :
590,000 million indamage topublic and private property ?
660,000 million inagricultural losses ;
*♦•10,000 million indamage toindustry ,small businesses andcommerce ;
very costly damage toinfrastructural installations (roads ,water
andelectricity mains ,aqueducts ,bridges &c.).
Asaresult ofthedisruption ofeconomic activities some 6000
workers have lost their jobs inindustry and 9000 inthesmall business
and commercial sector .
The administrative districts worst affected are :
Udine Province
Artegna ;Bina *,Cavazzo Carnico ;Colloredo diMontalbano ;Feletto Umberto ;
Forgariaj Gsmona;Lu£ evera ;Magniano inRiviera ;Majano ;Moggio Udinese
Montenars ;Osoppo ;Pradielis ;Nimis ;Ragogna ;Resia ;S.Daniele del
Friuli ;Sedegliano ;Tarcento ;Tavagnacco ;Trasaghis ;Venzone ,

Pordenone Province
Castelnuovo del Friuli ;Farina ;Pinzano alTadiamento ;Sequals ;
Travesio ;Vito d'Asio .
Reconstruction orreconditioning oftheinfrastructures (roads ,
bridges ,electricity supply networks ,water mains &c.)would appear tobe
afirst essential toenable economic and social activities inFriuli to
beresumed without delay .
TheCommunity might avail itself ,inter alia ,oftheprocedures and
experience ofthe Regional Development Fund toinstitute arrangements
foraiding thereconstruction ofcertain infrastructures .
The Council could ,upon aproposal from theCommission ,adopt an
adhoc Regulation confining theFund 'sscope toinfrastructures only ,
but extending theconcept tocover all infrastructures vital tothe
reconstruction oftheregion .
Asura of15million u.a .could beset aside for the reconstruction
and development ofcertain economic and social infrastructures inthe
disaster area .
Community participation could be30%ofthepublic authorities *
expenditure inthe case ofinvestments below 10million u.a ,and
10-30# inthat ofinvestments above that figure .Itcould also take
the form ofa interest subsidy onloans raised bythepublic
authorities foreffecting theinfrastructure operations concerned .

<.
-3-
Projectswould"besubmittedtotheCommissionforassessmenton
theirmerits.Applications wouldhave'inparticulartoindicatehowthe
investmentdovetailsintothegeneralcorpusofmeasures "bythepublic
authorities underthereconstruction programmeforthearea.
ToallowofpromptandreallyeffectiveaidfromtheFundthe
Commissionwouldfollowasimplifiedproceduretoexpediteandfacilitate
Communityparticipation .Tothisendprovisionismadeforwaivingthe
consultation oftheRegionalPolicyCommitteeandtheCommitteeofthe
Fund:althoughtheCommissionwillendeavourtoconsultthemasusual
"beforedeciding,inurgentcasesitmaytakeitsdecisionswithout
waitingfortheiropinions,thoughitmusttheninformthemofitsdecisions
asspeedilyaspossible.
•••/••*

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)Ho
ontheCommunity contribution towards repairing theinfrastructural
damage caused' "bytheearthquake ofKay 1976 intheregion of
Friuli /Venezia Giulia
TEECOUNCIL OPTHEEUROPEAN COL0OTITIES ,-
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
andinparticular Articles 209and235thereof ,
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
Having regard totheopinion oftheEuropean Parliament ,
Whereas theregion ofFriuli /Venezia Giulia wasdevastated "byan
earthquake inKay 1976 ;
Whereas theharm suffered "bytheinhabitants ismore serious than they
andtheMember State concerned canmake good unaided ,andwhereas
Community assistance forthese areas istherefore required ;
Whereas the means available should beconcentrated oneconomic and
social infrastructures ;
Whereas itisdesirable tospecify theparticular arrangements with
respect tothecarrying over oftheappropriations forthese operations ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Article 1
Within thelimit oftheBudget appropriations forthis purpose ,theCommunity
shall ,asprovided inArticle 2andinaccordance with theprocedure laid down
inArticles 3and4»participate inthereconstruction andimprovement ofeconomic
andsocial infrastructures rendered necessary intheregion ofFriuli /Venezia Giulia
bythedestruction wrought bytheearthquake ofMay 1976.
Article 2
Theamount oftheCommunity 1sparticipation shall be30$oftheexpenditure by
thepublic authorities where theinvestment isless than tenmillion units of
account ,and10-30$ inthecase ofinvestments oftenmillion units ofaccount
ormore .TheCommunity *sassistance maybewholly orpartly intheform ofasubsidy
offour points onloans contracted bythepublic authorities forcarrying outthe
project concerned .

Article 3
Assistance shall bedecided bytheCommission having regard tothe
priority nature oftheinvestment and itscontribution towards
expediting theeconomic recovery oftheregion .
Article k
1.Theoperations towhich this Regulation relates shall becovered ,by
analogy ,byArticles 5(2),7i8,9» 12,13and ofCouncil
Regulation (EEC)no724/75of18March 1975 setting upaEuropean Regional
Development Fund andArticle 6(5 )ofCouncil Reguliation (ECSC/EEC/
Euratom )No73/91of25April 1973 ontheGeneral Budget ofthe
European Communities .
2.Byderogation from Article 7(2 )ofRegulation (EEC )72^/75t
applications forassistance may besubmitted totheCommission
onanongoing basis ,butnotlater than 31December 1976 .
3.Byderogation from Articles 5(2 )and 12ofRegulation (EEC )72^/75
the Commission may ,where isconsiders expedited procedure tobe
called for ,decide togrant Community assistance without consulting
theRegional Policy Committee and theCommittee oftheFund ;inthat
case itshall inform the said Committees assoon aspossible ofthe
decisions taken .
Article 5
This Regulation shall enter into force onthe third day following
itspublication intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
This Regulation isbinding inits entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States .
Done atBrussels , For the Council ,
The President