No C 256/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 10. 88 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) laying down provision for implementing Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the European Social Fund 
COM(88) 500/2 final — SYN 151 
(Submitted by the Commission on 30 August 1988) 
(88/C 256/03) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Article 127 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 3(4) of 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 (*) provides for the Council to adopt 
the specific provisions governing operations under each 
Structural Fund; 
Whereas the types of measure to be supported by the 
European Social Fund (hereinafter referred to as 'the Fund') 
should be defined; 
Whereas the scope of the Fund should be specified in the 
light of its responsibility for contributing to the attainment 
of the five objectives laid down in Article 1 of Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88; 
Whereas the categories of expenditure eligible for assist­
ance from the Fund should be defined; 
Whereas expenditure trends should not be allowed to 
diverge and standard amounts should be introduced by 
stages for contributions by the Fund towards operating 
costs in respect of training; 
Whereas Article 10(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 
requires the Commission to establish guidelines for the 
attainment of Objectives 3 and 4 laid down in that 
Regulation; 
Whereas arrangements should be specified for the 
submission of the plans to be drawn up by Member States 
pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88; 
Whereas it is necessary to define the forms of assistance to 
be granted by the Fund and to specify the content of 
applications relating to operations to be carried out within 
the framework of Member States' labour market policies; 
(!) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 9. Whereas arrangements should be laid down for the 
submission and approval of applications for assistance 
from the Fund, as should details of the arrangements for 
monitoring; 
Whereas the transitional provisions should be specified. 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Eligible operations 
1. Under the conditions laid down by Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88 and Regulation (EEC) No ... (COORD/88) 
and those specified in this Regulation, the Fund shall 
contribute to the financing of the following: 
(a) vocational training operations, accompanied where 
necessary by vocational guidance; 
(b) subsidies towards recruitment into newly created jobs 
of unspecified duration and towards the creation of 
self-employed activities. 
2. In this connection, the Fund shall also contribute to the 
financing of the following: 
(a) operations of an innovatory nature which are intended 
to test new approaches to the content, methods and 
organization of vocational training and more generally 
the development of employment, with a view to 
establishing a basis for subsequent Fund assistance in a 
number of Member States; 
(b) preparatory, accompanying and management meas­
ures needed for the implementation of this Regulation; 
such measures shall include studies, technical assist­
ance and the exchange of experience which has a 
multiplier effect, and follow-up to and evaluation of 
measures financed by the Fund; 
(c) measures involving the training of employees' rep­
resentatives from two or more Member States, carried 
out at the request of employers' and workers' 
organizations in connection with the modernization of 
the production apparatus. 
3. Vocational training within the meaning of para­
graph 1(a) means, firstly, any measure aimed at providing 
the skills necessary to carry out one or more specific types 
3. 10. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 256/17 
of employment, with the exception of apprenticeship 
schemes, and secondly, any measure with a large tech­
nology content aimed at developing the advanced qualifi­
cations required by the changing labour market and carried 
out in order to meet the requirements of available jobs. 
4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, vocational 
training shall include, in the regions concerned by 
Objectives 1 and 5(b), any vocational training and further 
training measure required for the use of new production 
and/or management techniques in small and medium-sized 
enterprises. 
5. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, vocational 
training shall include, in the regions concerned by 
Objective 1: 
— the theoretical portion of apprenticeship training given 
outside the firm, 
— that part of national secondary education systems 
specifically devoted to vocational training following 
compulsory full-time schooling where the system is 
reorganizing its structures and vocational training 
methods to meet the challenges posed by economic and 
technological change. 
6. In the regions concerned by Objective 1, and for a 
period of three years following the entry into force of this 
Regulation, recruitment subsidies shall be extended to 
projects which fulfil a public need involving the creation of 
additional jobs of at least six months' duration for the long-
term unemployed aged over 25. 
Article 2 
Scope 
In accordance with Article 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, Fund assistance may be granted: 
(a) as regards Objectives 3 and 4, to operations intended 
to: 
— combat long-term unemployment by means of the 
occupational integration of persons aged over 25 
who have been unemployed for more than 12 
months, 
— facilitate the occupational integration of persons of 
up to 25 from the age at which compulsory full-time 
schooling ends, however long or short the period 
during which they have been seeking employment; (b) as regards Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b), to measures 
intended to: 
— encourage job stability and develop new employ­
ment possibilities, organized for persons employed 
in small and medium-sized enterprises and those 
who are unemployed or threatened with unemploy­
ment, 
— facilitate vocational training for any working 
person involved in an operation which is essential to 
the achievement of the development and conversion 
objectives of an integrated programme; 
(c) as regards Objective No 1, operations for persons: 
— holding an apprenticeship contract, 
— trained under national secondary vocational edu­
cation systems. 
Article 3 
Eligible expenditure 
1. Fund assistance may be granted only towards expendi­
ture to cover: 
(a) the income of persons receiving vocational training; 
(b) the cost: 
— of preparing, operating and managing vocational 
training operations including vocational guidance, 
including the cost of training teaching staff, 
— subsistance and travel costs of those covered by 
vocational training operations; 
(c) the granting, during a maximum period of 12 months 
per person, of subsidies towards recruitment into 
newly-created jobs of unspecified duration and 
towards the creation of self-employed activities; 
(d) the cost of preparing, accompanying and managing 
operations which receive assistance from the Fund 
under Article l(2)(b) and (c) of this Regulation. 
2. The Commission shall determine each year the 
maximum eligible amount per person and per week granted 
under paragraph 1(c). This amount shall be based on 30 % 
of the average gross earnings of industrial workers in each 
Member State, determined in accordance with the 
harmonized definition of the Statistical Office of the 
European Communities; it shall be published in the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. 
No C 256/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 10. 88 
3. The Commission shall ensure that Fund expenditure 
for operations of the same type does not develop in 
different ways. To this end, it shall determine the 
standardized cost by Member State for each item of 
expenditure to be borne by the Fund according to the type 
of training involved. 
The Commission shall establish the first set of standardized 
costs in the first financial year this Regulation comes into 
force; they shall be published in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities and shall be applicable in the 
following financial year. 
Article 4 
Guidelines 
1. In accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, the Commission shall establish before 15 
February 1989 for a period covering a number of years the 
guidelines concerning action under Objectives 3 and 4 
which it will apply in defining the Community support 
frameworks; they shall be published in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities. 
2. Any amendments shall be made before 1 February of a 
financial year; they shall apply to the new Community 
support frameworks or amended frameworks in respect of 
the following financial years. 
3. The guidelines shall establish the training and 
employment policies covering measures that may be 
eligible for European Social Fund assistance; apart from 
regions covered by Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b), priority shall 
be given to Community financing for measures leading to 
recruitment in available jobs. 
Article 5 
Plans 
The plans referred to in Article 8 to 11 of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88 shall, in the part concerning the Fund, indicate 
in particular: 
— the disparity between job applications and vacancies, 
— the nature and characteristics of unfilled vacancies, 
— the occupational openings which appear on labour 
markets, 
— the list of measures planned or underway in regard to 
training and employment, 
— the number of persons concerned, broken down by 
category and type of measure, — the scale of the financial effort by public authorities at 
all levels. 
Article 6 
Forms of assistance 
1. In accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, applications for Fund assistance shall be 
presented in the form of operational programmes, global 
grant schemes or action within the meaning of Article 
l(2)(b) and (c). The operational programmes and global 
grant schemes may include associated preparatory, 
accompanying and administrative measures. 
2. The Member States shall communicate the inform­
ation necessary for the examination of measures, in 
particular the information specified in Article 14(2) of 
Regulation (EEC) No ... (COORD/88) and the inform­
ation specifically related to the European Social Fund 
(location, number of persons, duration of the operation for 
each person, occupational level concerned). 
Furthermore, Member States shall: 
— in the case of registered unemployed persons and others 
without jobs, state their occupational level at the 
beginning of the operations, 
— in the case of employed persons, specify the nature and 
scope of proposed occupational conversion operations, 
— in the case of operations involving conversion or 
economic restructuring, state the volume and type of 
investment planned and the changes in products or 
production systems. 
Article 7 
Submission and approval of applications for assistance 
1. Applications for assistance shall be submitted at least 
three months before the start of operations. They shall be 
accompanied by a form drawn up using computerized 
means listing the particulars for each measure so that it can 
be monitored from budgetary commitment to final 
payment. 
2. The Commission shall decide on these applications 
before the beginning of operations. 
Article 8 
Monitoring 
In accordance with Article 24(2) of Regulation (EEC) No ... 
(COORD/88), the Commission may carry out on-the-spot 
checks. These checks may take the form of representative 
sample checks. In this case, after consultation with the 
Member State concerned, the Commission shall establish 
the proportion of samples taken in the light of the material 
and technical conditions of the operation concerned. 
3. 10. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 256/19 
Where the sample check leads to a reduction, it shall be 
applied proportionately to the entire amount for which 
payment is requested after the Member State has had an 
opportunity to present its observations. 
Article 9 
Transitional provisions 
1. In accordance with Article 15(4) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88, applications for assistance for 1989 submitted 
before 21 October 1988 shall be covered by Council 
Decision 83/516/EEC (x) and the provisions implementing 
it. 
2. The first plans shall cover a period beginning on 1 
January 1990. Plans concerning Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) 
shall be presented before 31 March 1989. Plans concerning 
Objectives 3 and 4 shall be presented by 1 June 1989. 
3. Applications for assistance for operations to be 
implemented starting in the 1990 financial year shall be 
submitted before 30 June 1989. 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 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 3(4) of Council Regulation (EEC) 
No 2052/88 (*) provides for the Council to adopt the 
specific provisions governing operations under each 
Structural Fund; 
(i) OJ NoL 185, 15.7. 1988, p. 9. Article 10 
Administrative procedures 
The Commission shall lay down the detailed provisions 
necessary for the implementation of this Regulation. 
Article 11 
Entry into force 
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 
1989. Subject to the transitional provisions laid down in 
Article 9, it shall be applicable as from that date. 
2. Council Regulation (EEC) No 2950/83 (2) is hereby 
repealed. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly 
applicable in all Member States. 
Whereas the tasks laid down for the Guidance Section of 
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, 
by Article 3(3) of the above Regulation should be further 
specified in the light of the contribution it makes to 
achieving Objectives 1, 5(a) and 5(b) as set out in Article 1 
of that Regulation; 
Whereas measures to speed up the adjustment of agricul­
tural structures with a view to the reform of the Structural 
Funds must include measures closely connected with the 
Common Agricultural Policy and designed to meet its 
general requirements; 
Whereas, however, some of those measures, which already 
exist at Community level, may be adjusted to allow for the 
differing structural situations in the different regions of the 
Community, by increased diversification, and specifically (!) OJ No L 289, 22. 10. 1983, p. 38. (2) OJ No L 289, 22. 10. 1983, p. 1. 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) laying down provisions for implementing Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the EAGGF Guidance Section 
COM(88) 500/2 final — SYN 151 
(Submitted by the Commission on 30 August 1 
(88/C 256(04)