No C 256/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 10. 88 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) laying down provisions for implementing Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the European Regional Development Fund 
COM(88) 500/2 final — SYN 151 
(Submitted by the Commission on 30 August 1988) 
(88/C 256/02) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130E 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
Whereas Article 130C of the Treaty states that the 
European Regional Development Fund is intended to help 
redress the principal regional imbalances in the Com­
munity through participating in the development and 
structural adjustment of regions whose development is 
lagging behind and in the conversion of declining industrial 
regions; 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June 
1988 on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their 
effectiveness and on coordination of their activities 
between themselves and with the operations of the 
European Investment Bank and the other existing financial 
instruments (J) states in Article 3(1) that the European 
Regional Development Fund shall have the essential task of 
providing support for Objectives 1 and 2 specified in 
Article 1 of the same Regulation, that it shall participate in 
the operations of Objective 5(b) and, in addition, shall 
provide support for studies or pilot schemes concerning 
regional development at Community level; 
Whereas provisions common to the Community's Struc­
tural Funds have been established by Council Regulation 
(EEC) No ... laying down provisions implementing 
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of 
the activities of the different Structural Funds as between 
themselves and with the operations of the EIB and the other 
existing instruments, together with other provisions 
common to the activities of the Funds; 
Whereas these common provisions must be supplemented, 
in accordance with Article 3(4) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, by specific provisions concerning the ac­
tivities of the European Regional Development Fund; Whereas, as part of the reform of the Funds, the 
Commission should lay down the regional policy guidelines 
to be applied in the various stages of planning, notably in 
establishing the Community support frameworks and in 
the activities of the European Regional Development Fund, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
TITLE I 
SCOPE AND FORMS OF ASSISTANCE 
Article 1 
Scope of assistance 
1. The European Regional Development Fund, here­
inafter referred to as 'the ERDF', shall contribute to the 
correction of the main regional imbalances in the 
Community, and to the strengthening of its social and 
economic cohesion. 
2. In accordance with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, the ERDF shall participate in the financing of: 
(a) investment in firms which leads to the creation or 
maintenance of permanents jobs; 
(b) infrastructure, and more specifically: 
— in the regions designated under Objective 1, 
infrastructure contributing to their economic 
development, 
— in the regions or areas designated under Objective 2, 
infrastructure relating to the redevelopment of 
derelict industrial sites and leading to the creation 
or development of economic activity, 
— in the areas designated under Objective 5(b), 
infrastructure directly linked to economic activity 
which creates jobs providing an alternative to 
employment in agriculture; 
(c) the development of indigenous potential in the regions 
by measures which encourage and support local 
development initiatives and the activities of small and 
medium-sized enterprises, involving in particular: 
0) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 9. — assistance towards services for firms, 
3. 10. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 256/13 
— improvement of access for firms to the capital 
market, particularly by the provision of guarantees, 
equity participation, surety and insurance, 
— direct aid to investment, where no aid scheme 
exists, 
— the provision of small-scale infrastructure; 
(d) operations planned in the context of regional develop­
ment at Community level. 
Article 2 
Regional plans 
1. Apart from the general provisions laid down in Title II 
of Regulation (EEC) No ... (the coordinating Regulation), 
the following specific provisions shall apply to the regional 
plans referred to in Articles 8(4) and 9(8) of Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88. 
2. The plans relating to the regions designated under 
Objective 1 shall, as a generate rule, cover one or more 
regions at NUTS level II. 
These plans shall contain in particular the following 
information: 
(a) a succinct analysis of the socio-economic situation of 
the region, indicating in particular the demographic 
outlook; 
(b) a description of the development strategy envisaged by 
the Member State, with an indication of the national 
and regional financial resources proposed; 
(c) the Member State's priorities for action and the 
regional development measures for which it plans to 
request Community financial participation, together 
with the estimated sums involved in these requests for 
the various forms of Community assistance; 
(d) an indication of the national, regional, local or other 
authorities responsible for implementing the measures. 
As a general rule, these plans shall be for a period of five 
years and may be up-dated annually. 
3. The plans relating to the regions designated under 
Objective 2 shall, as a general rule, cover one or more areas 
at NUTS level III. 
These plans shall contain in particular the following 
information: 
(a) a description of the conversion strategy envisaged by 
the Member State, with an indication of the national or 
regional financial resources proposed; 
(b) the Member State's priorities for action and the 
regional conversion measures for which it plans to 
request Community financial participation, together with the estimated sums involved in these requests for 
the various forms of Community assistance; 
(c) sufficient information to enable an opinion to be 
formed of the overall regional economic situation; 
(d) an indication of the national, regional, local or other 
authorities responsible for implementing the measures. 
As a general rule, these plans shall be for a period of three 
years and may be up-dated annually. 
Article 3 
Regional operational programmes 
1. For the regions designated under Objective 1, regional 
operational programmes shall in principle cover one or 
more regions at NUTS level II or in specific cases areas at 
NUTS level III. For regions designated under Objectives 2 
and 5(b), and for frontier regions, they shall in general 
cover one or more areas at NUTS level III. 
2. The programmes may be undertaken on the initiative 
of the Member States or of the Commission in agreement 
with the Member State concerned. 
When they are undertaken on the initiative of a Member 
State, they shall be drawn up by the competent authorities 
designated by the Member State, in consultation with the 
Commission. 
When they are undertaken on the initiative of the 
Commission, the latter, after consulting the Committee 
referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EEC) No ... (the 
coordinating Regulation), shall lay down the procedures 
and invite the competent authorities designated by the 
Member State to establish operational programmes. 
The Commission's initiative shall be designed: 
— to help resolve serious problems directly associated with 
the implementation of other Community policies and 
affecting the socio-economic situation of one or more 
regions, or 
— to promote the application of Community policies at 
regional level, or 
— to help resolve problems common to certain categories 
of region. 
3. For the regions designated under Objective 1, the total 
cost of a regional operational programme may not, as a 
general rule, be less than 100 million ECU. 
Article 4 
Part-financing of aid schemes 
1. Incentives to investment in firms shall be mainly in the 
form of part-financing of regional aid schemes. 
No C 256/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 10. 88 
2. With a view to deciding the Community's financial 
participation, the Commission shall examine, with the 
competent authorities of the Member State, the charac­
teristics of the aid scheme concerned. It shall make sure that 
the procedures for the scheme take account of the 
following: 
— the rate of assistance to be tailored to the socio­
economic situation of the regions concerned and the 
consequent locational disadvantages for firms, 
— operating procedures and the types of aid to be varied to 
meet the needs of beneficiaries, 
— priority to be given to small and medium-sized 
enterprises and to the encouragement of services 
supplied to them such as management advice and 
market surveys. 
Article 5 
Major projects 
1. In addition to the information specified in Article 16 of 
Regulation (EEC) No ... (the coordinating Regulation), 
applications for ERDF assistance for major projects shall 
provide the following details: 
(a) for infrastructure: 
— an indication of the expected rate of use and the 
induced effects on employment, 
— an indication of the consequences that Community 
participation will have on the completion of the 
project, 
— an analysis of the costs and socio-economic benefits 
of the project, 
— the expected impact on the development or 
conversion of the region concerned; 
(b) for investment in firms: 
— an indication of the economic outlook for the sector 
concerned, 
— an analysis of the expected profitability of the 
project. 
2. All the information concerning major projects shall 
also be given for those projects which form part of an 
operational programme. 
Article 6 
Global grants 
1. In accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, the Commission may entrust to regional 
development organizations the management of global 
grants, which it shall use primarily to assist local 
development initiatives. These organizations must operate 
in the public interest and shall associate adequately the socio-economic interests directly involved in the implemen­
tation of the measures planned. 
2. The procedures for the use of global grants, on which 
an agreement has been concluded between the Commission 
and the relevant regional development organization, shall 
be adopted by the Commission in agreement with the 
Member State concerned. 
These procedures shall detail in particular: 
— the types of measure to be carried out, 
— the criteria for choosing beneficiaries, 
— the conditions and rates of ERDF assistance, 
— the arrangements for monitoring use of the global 
grants. 
Article 7 
Preparatory and accompanying measures 
1. The ERDF may finance, up to a limit of 1 % of its 
annual allocation, preparatory, accompanying and man­
agement measures necessary for the implementation of this 
Regulation. These measures may be carried out by the 
Commission or by outside experts. They shall include 
studies, among them studies of a general nature concerning 
Community regional action, and technical assistance or 
information measures. 
2. Measures carried out on the Commission's initiative 
may be financed by the ERDF at a rate of 100 %. For other 
measures the rates laid down in Article 18(2) of Regulation 
(EEC) No ... (the coordinating Regulation) shall apply. 
TITLE II 
GUIDELINES AND PARTNERSHIP 
Article 8 
Periodic report and guidelines 
1. A periodic report on the social and economic situation 
and development of the regions of the Community, which 
also indicates the macro-economic effects of the Com­
munity's regional action, shall be prepared by the 
Commission at four-yearly intervals. Member States shall 
provide the Commission with the relevant information 
enabling it to make an analysis of all the regions of the 
Community on the basis of statistics which are as 
comparable and as up to date as possible. 
The first periodic report shall be prepared by 31 December 
1990 at the latest. 
2. The report shall constitute a basis for the establish­
ment of guidelines for Community regional policy. These 
shall be applied in the various stages of planning, notably in 
establishing Community support frameworks and in the 
3 10 88 C^fficial]ournal of the European Communities NoC25^15 
activities oftheERuE,Lhe guidelines shall be published in 
theC^^^^o^r^o^^E^ro^^^Co^^^^r^^ 
3. Lhe development or conversion strategies shall be 
devised in suchaway as toencourageeconomic growth and 
the creation of permanent ^obs in the regions or areas 
concerned. Infrastructure in receipt of ERtOE assistance 
must contribute directly to increasing the economic 
potential of the regions, fhe Commission shall adopt the 
necessary provisions concerning the categories of mfraD 
structure in question. 
Ar^eA^ 
Regional partnership 
LheCommunity^sregional action shallbe carried outm 
close consultation between the Commission, the member 
^tate concerned and the competent authorities designated 
by the latter, particularlyat regional level. 
Ar^^^O 
definition of assistance 
1. inaccordancewiththelastsubparagraphof Article 
3(l)ofRegulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the ERUE may also 
contribute to the financing at Community level of^ 
(a) studies at the Commissions initiative aiming to 
identify 
— the spatial consequencesofmeasures planned bythe 
national authorities, particularly ma^orinfrastruc 
tures, when their effects go beyond national 
boundaries, 
— measures aiming to correct specific problems of the 
border regions within the Community, 
— the elements necessary to establish a prospective 
outline of the utilisation of Community territory, 
(b) pilot schemes which^ 
— constitute incentives of the creation of infrastruc 
ture, investment in firms and other specific 
measures havingamarl^ed Community interest, in 
particular intheborder regions within theCom 
munity, 
— encourage the pooling of experience and develop 
ment cooperation between different Community 
regions, and innovative measures. 
2. At the Commissions initiative, matters relating to 
regional development at Community level, coordination of 
national regional policies or any other problem connected 
with implementation of Community regional action may 
be referred to the Committee specified in Article 28 of Regulation (EEC) No... (the coordinating Regulation). 
Lhe Committee may arrive at common conclusions on the 
basis of which the Commission shall,where appropriate, 
address recommendations to the member states. 
3. LheCommissionshalllaydownthedetailedproviD 
sions for implementation of this Article. 
^e^RALA^O^^AL^R^Vt^OO^ 
Arr^^^ 
monitoring of compatibility 
Aiember states shall supply the Commission with inform 
ationenablmgittovenfythatthe provisions of Article^(l) 
ofRegulation (EEC) No 2052/88 have been complied with. 
Arr^^^2 
Information and publicity 
I^he provisions on information and publicity referred to in 
Article 33 of Regulation(EEC)No.^ (the coordinating 
Regulation) and concerning EREoE assistance shall be laid 
downby theCommissionandpublishedintheC^^ 
Arr^^3 
indicative allocation of ERL^E resources 
In accordance with Article 12(^) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, theCommissionshall,beforel]anuary 1^8^, 
decide forapenodoffiveyearsandasaguide,onthe 
allocation per member ^tate of 85^of the commitment 
appropriations of the EREoE. 
Arr^^ 
Einal provision 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 178^/84 (^) is hereby 
repealed, subject to the application of Article 15 of 
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and of Article 34 of 
Regulation (EEC)No... (the coordinating Regulation). 
Ar^A^5 
Entry into force 
Lhis Regulation shall enter into force onl]anuaryl^8^. 
Elowever,Article 13 shall applywitheffectfromthedateof 
adoption of the Regulation. 
I^his Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly 
applicable in all member states. 
(^)01^DLt^,^.^t^4,D t.