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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)742
Vol.1980/0233

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement (CEE, Euratom) n°354/83 duConseil du1erfévrier 1983
concernant l'ouverture aupublic desarchives historiques delaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergie atomique (JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifié par lerèglement (CE, Euratom) n°1700/2003 du22septembre 2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003, p.1),cedossier estouvert aupublic. Lecaséchéant, lesdocuments
classifiés présents dans cedossier ontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article 5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No354/83 of1February 1983
concerning theopening tothepublic ofthehistorical archives oftheEuropean Economic
Community andtheEuropean Atomic Energy Community (OJL43,15.2.1983, p.1),as
amended byRegulation (EC, Euratom) No1700/2003 of22September 2003 (OJL243,
27.9.2003, p.1),this fileisopen tothepublic. Where necessary, classified documents inthis
filehave been declassified inconformity with Article 5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr.354/83 desRates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L43vom 15.2.1983,
S.1),geändert durch dieVerordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr.1700/2003 vom 22.September 2003
(ABI. L243vom 27.9.2003, S.1),istdiese Datei derÖffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden dieVerschlusssachen indieser Datei inÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel 5
dergenannten Verordnung freigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)742 final
Brussels -17th November 1980
PROPOSAL OFTHE COMMISSION TOTHE COUNCIL
MODIFYING REGULATI0^€EC^N°«^895 /77CONCERNING OPERATIONSQUALIFYING FORAHIGHER<$A\i Of"INTERVENTION BYTHEEUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
/Air
mr/
* .,
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*:..-.x(presents ^bytheCommission totheCouncil )
COM (80)742 final

Proposal .ofthe'Commission•totheCouncilmodifyingRegulation
(EEC)N°2895/77concerningoperationsqualifyingforahigher
rateofintervention bytheEuropeanSocialFund.
Explanatory memorandum
1.ThisproposalforaRegulationintendstoextendtoGreece,asfrom
1January1981,thehigherratesystemapplicabletointerventions
bytheEuropeanSocialvFundinregionsnotedforaparticularly
seriousandprolongedimbalanceofemployment .Introducedwiththe
aimoffocussing ESFinterventions onemployment problems;the
solutionofwhichisgenerallycolouredbyaregionalcontextof
weakeconomicstructure,thehigherratemakesitpossibletogrant
financialaidtotheaforementioned regionstoanamount10%above
thatgrantedtootherregions(1).Since1January1978,thehigher
ratehasbeenapplicable tooperationsinGreenland,France'soverseas
'departments,Ireland,NorthernIrelandandMezzogiorno (2).
2.TheextensionofthehigherratesystemtoGreece-whichmeansthe
creationofanadditionalfinancial -stimulusforthepromotionof
employment andvocationaltraininginthatcountrywhenitenters
theCommunity-appearsfullyjustifiedinviewofthefundamental
imbalances whichcharacterize Greece'seconomicandsocialsituation.
. . ./.
(1)Article8(3)ofCouncilDecision 71/66/EECof1February1971asamended
byDecision77/801/EECof20December1977,0JnOL337,27.12.1977,p.9.
(2)CouncilRegulation (EEC)No2895/77of20December1977,0JNoL337,
27.12.1977,p.7.

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3.Asregardseconomicdevelopment,thegapbetweenGreeceandtheCommunity
asawholeisshownupbythepercapitaGDPwhich,in1978,was43.3%
oftheCommunityaverage(ascomparedwith48.5%forIrelandand58.9'/.
fforItaly).DespiteanannualGDPgrowthrateabovethatrecordedforthe
Communityduringthe1967-1977period(5.9%wascomparedwith3.6%for
theCommunity)andarelativelyhighindustrialproductionindex(183for
1978),Greece'seconomicdevelopment hasbeendoggedbystagnationdue
mainlytoadeterioriation inpricelevelscausedbyinflationofthe
orderof15%between1974and1978and25%in1979.Thismeansthat,
overall,thedevelopmentdisparities betweenGreeceandtheCommunity
havenotdiminished .
4.Intheemploymentsector,thiseconomicbackwardness goeshandinhand
withahighlevelofunemployment and,aboveall,ofunderemployment .
Theunemployment rate,asrecordedbytheGreekEmploymentOffice(non-
self-employed populationonly)wasunder3%in1978,butthisfigure
doesnotreflectunemployment oflongerdurationorunemployment among
youngpeople(unemployment rateestimatedat5Zor6%)orunemployment
inruraldistricts.Atthesametime,despitetheabsenceofrelevant
figures,itisgenerallyadmittedthatthereisalargedegreeofunder­
employmentordisguisedunemployment,moreparticularly amongself-
employedpersons,whomakeup50%oftheworkingpopulation.According
tostudiespublishedin1975and1976,(totalunemployment inGreecemay
beestimatedataratebetween15and17.8%atatimewhenrecorded
unemployment wasatalevelcomparablewiththatforthelastfew
years(3).
Itmust,atthesametime,bepointedoutthatthepressureexertedon
thelabourmarketbythepotentialsurpluslabourforcehaslikewise
atendencytoincreaseasaresultofmajorreturnmovementofmigrant
workerstoGreeceinthelastfewyearsandtheeliminationofjobs
' ' ./.
(3)See:thelabourmarketinGreece.Studycarriedoutby^Schoolof
PoliticalScienceofAthens.

intheagricultural sector,whereproductivity isontheincrease,and
smallcommercialundertakings,whicharebeingputoutofbusinessby
thegrowingnumberofsupermarkets .
Finally,effortstospeeduptheprovisionofjobsfortheavailable
labourforcearecomingupagainstcertainshortcomings inthetraining
system,particularly asregardstheequippingoftrainingcentres,
opportunities forspecialized andhighlyqualifiedtrainingforadults
andthetrainingofteachers.
5.Asregardstheareatowhichthehigherrateshouldbeapplied,the
questionarisesastowhetheritshouldbeappliedtothewholeof
Greeceorwhethersomepartsofthecountry,particularly thosewithamore
industrialized economicstructure,shouldbeexcluded.
Inthepast,theEuropeanSocialFundhaskepttotherulethatthe
regionsbenefitingfromthehigherrateshouldbetheleastfavoured
onesamongthepriorityregionseligiblefortheFund'sregional
interventions (4).'Thelatterarethegeographical areasinwhichthe
EuropeanRegionalDevelopment Fundisactive.
PendingaCommunity-level definitionofthosepartsofGreecewhichmay
beconsideredaspriorityregions,itisproposedtoaccepttheentire
territoryof'Greecewiththeexceptionoftheareas(nomos)ofAthens(5)
andThessalonika for.theapplication ofthehigherrateofintervention
fromtheEuropeanSocialFund.
./.
(4)Interventions referredtoinArticle5(1)(a)ofCouncilDecision71/66/EEC
-amendedbyDecision77/801/EEC,OJN°L28,4.2.1971,p.15and
OJN°L337,27.12.1977,p.8.
(5)TheGreaterAthensarea<Peripheria").

-4-
Thesetwoareascanpnlybeconsideredwithgreatdifficulty,as
beingtheobjectofCommunityintervention onaregionalbasis.
Consequently,itisfearedthatthehigherrateofintervention
fromtheSocialFundinfavourofAthensandThessalonika,
characterized astheyare,byaheavyconcentration ofboth
economicactivityandofpopulationwouldaddtotheregional
dis-equiLibriuminGreece.
However,theCommissionacknowledges thefactthatanimportant
partofthetrainingfacilitiesinwhichtheactivitiesbenefitting
fromSocialFundaidwilltakeplace,areinfactlocatedinthe
twoareasforwhichitisproposedtoexcludethebenefitofthe
increasedrateofintervention .TheCommissionwillensuretheuse
ofallthemeansatitsdisposal,inthecontextoftheother
Communityfinancialinstruments,withaviewtoaccelerating the
development ofthevocationaltrainingfacilitiesintheother
areasofGreece,particularly byfinancingthenecassary
"infrastructure ".

PROPOSAL FOR AREGULATION AMENDING COUNCIL REGULATION
(EEC)No2895 /77concerning operations qualifying for
ahigher rate ofintervention bytheEuropean Social
Fund ,
THE COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES .
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic
Community ,
Having regard totheAct ofaccession ofGreece andparticularly
Article 146 (1)/
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
Whereas following theAct ofaccession ofGreece totheCommunity ,
the regions -listed inCouncil Regulation (EEC )N°2895 /77of
20December 1977 concerning operations qualifying for ahigher
rate ofintervention bytheEuropean Social Fund (2)need tobeamended ;
Whereas pending definition ofpriority regions inGreece that would
qualify forassistance from the Fund under Article 5(1)(a )of
Council Decision 71/66/EEC of 1February 1971 concerning thereform
oftheEuropean Social Fund (3),asamended byDecision 77/801/EEC (4),
thehigher rate ofintervention should beapplied provisionally tothe
whole :ofGreece ;with theexception oftheareas ofAthens and
Thessalonika ;
(1)OJN°L291 of19.11.1979 ,p.17
(2)Article 1ofRegulation (EEC)2895 /77,OJN°L337 of27.12.1977 ,p.7
(3)OJN°L28of4.2.1971 ,p.15
(4)OJN°L337 of27.12.1977 ,p.8
(r

HASADOPTEDTHISREGULATION
Article 1
Article 1ofRegulation (EEC)2895/77isreplacedbythefollowing :
"Operations carriedoutinGreenland,theFrenchoverseasdepartment
GreecewiththeexceptionoftheareasofAthensandThessaloni ka,
Ireland,NorthernIrelandandtheMezzogiorno shallqualifyforthe
higherrateofintervention providedforinArticle8(3)of
CouncilDecision 71/66/EEC".
Article 2 V,
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceon1January1981.
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectly
applicable inallMemberStates.
DoneatBrussels,
FortheCouncil