31. 12. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 337/49 
existing structural measures in due course. It insists that 
all the structural measures operated by the Community must be coherent with each other and that they must 
contribute to the general reform of the CAP. 
Done at Brussels, 27 October 1988. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation laying down provisions for implementing 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the European Social Fund (ESF) (J) 
(88/C 337/16) 
On 8 August 1988, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee under 
Article 130 E and 123 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The section for social, family, educational and cultural affairs, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, drew up its Opinion on 13 October 1988. 
The rapporteur was Mr Beretta. 
At its 259th plenary session (meeting of 27 October 1988), the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously. 
1. General comments 
1.1. The Committee broadly endorses the Com­
mission proposals for implementing the Regulation on 
the European Social Fund, regarding them as consistent 
with the aims of the reform of the Structural Funds. 
1.2. Indeed, these proposals, 
— by providing for aid to horizontal and multi-annual 
programmes, encourage the coordination and con­
centration of Community contributions, 
— by retaining for the transitional period the flexibility 
which makes it possible to finance individual pro­
jects where these are necessary and when they corre­
spond to Community aims, are consistent with the 
intentions behind the increase in the resources avail­
able to the Fund, 
— by confirming the priorities and the detailed 
measures laid down for the most disadvantaged 
regions, contribute to the development of initiatives 
to restore balance in the context of efforts to estab­
lish the single internal market. 
(') OJ No C 256, 3. 10. 1988, p. 16. 1.3. The Committee therefore thinks that, as a who­
le, the Communities' action should contribute to achiev­
ing the five priorities, and in particular should help 
to combat long-term unemployment and help young 
people to find their first jobs. 
1.4. However, the role of the socio-economic groups 
does not seem sufficiently well-defined or appreciated. 
1.4.1. The drawing-up of integrated programmes for 
specific regions, mobilizing local, regional, national and 
Community resources and intended to modify the socio­
economic structure of the regions concerned, cannot 
and must not take place without the participation of 
the social forces which will later be involved in their 
implementaiton. 
1.4.2. Moreover, given the importance of the contri­
bution of ESF resources to activities coordinated with 
the other Community instruments, the Committee 
maintains that: 
— the powers of the consultative committee of the ESF 
should be safeguarded and strengthened, 
No C 337/50 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 88 
— the Commission should be obliged to submit to 
the Economic and Social Committee (in accordance 
with Articles 127 and 130 A, B, D of the Treaty) 
periodic reports on the activities of the committee 
set up under Article 17 of the draft Regulation 
(EEC) No 2052/88, making an overall assessment 
of the socio-economic impact of the programme's 
measures, primarily with a view to assessing the 
quantitative and qualitative consequences for 
employment. 
2. Specific comments 
2.1. To facilitate understanding of the Regulations, 
they should carry a footnote setting out the five pri­
orities again in full. 
2.2. It should be stated explicitly that any revision 
of the Regulation on the ESF must be coordinated 
at Council level with the provisions of the general 
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88. 
2.3. There should be suitably defined provision for 
aid to literacy training should this prove necessary for 
the activities needed to implement the programmes. 
2.4. Because of the ever wider applications of new 
technologies which increasingly blur the occupational 
distinctions between agricultural and industrial activi­
ties, it would be desirable to provide for specific training 
measures directed to safeguarding and enhancing soils 
and to improving the quality of agricultural products. 
2.5. On the individual provisions for implementing 
the ESF Regulation, the Committee has the following 
comments to make: 
Article 1 (2) (c) 
This should include the back-up measures to train 
and find jobs for specialized development agents; such 
measures are necessary in order to start implementing 
integrated programmes. 
Article 1 (4) 
This should also cover the regions referred to in objec­
tive 2, which in fact include those undergoing structural 
decline, in which training must meet the requirements 
of restructuring and converting the production plant. 
Article 1 (5) 
— In the first indent, it should be laid down that 
aid for apprenticeship will be granted only when 
enough time is allocated for training outside the 
firm and when it is necessary to adapt the techniques in use in order to bring training in line with activities 
envisaged in the programmes and to ensure com­
pliance with their deadlines. 
— In the second indent, it should be specified that 
only the regions in greatest need of them, where 
vocational training structures are not yet adequate, 
should benefit from its provisions. 
— Finally, the possibility of providing aid for training 
and job-creation schemes should be indicated. 
Article 1 (6) 
Recruitment subsidies should be granted for new jobs 
of at least 12 months' duration, except for seasonal 
activities, for which the minimum duration of 6 months 
could be confirmed. These incentives should be avail­
able to all workers regardless of age. 
Article 2 (a) 
This should include workers who are unemployed for 
more than twelve months. 
Article 2 (c) 
This should be redrafted in line with the proposal above 
for Article 1 (5). Persons employed in projects to meet 
community needs should be included. 
Article 4 (3) 
A sentence should be added acknowledging the priority 
to be given to measures with a high technological 
content. Particular attention should be given to encour­
aging the integration or retraining of the most disadvan­
taged categories on the labour market, e.g. women, 
handicapped people and migrant workers, and this 
should be coordinated with Community measures 
which are or soon will be enshrined in suitable direc­
tives. 
Article 6 
It would be desirable to lay down, in line with point 
1.4.1 above, that the statements required on conversion 
and restructuring activities should be accompanied by 
assessments made by the social forces concerned. 
Article 9 
The transitional provisions should provide for the 
possibility of the deadlines for the presentation of pro­
grammes being extended, without prejudice to the 
31. 12. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 337/51 
implementation of the new provisions, so that their 
benefits will be accessible even to those who, for purely 
Done at Brussels, 27 October 1988. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The Committee expressed reservations about 
the aforementioned Commission proposal in its 
Opinion of 2 June 1988 (2), because not enough infor­
mation had been provided about the real reasons for 
the amendments. It therefore announced its intention 
to produce an additional Opinion, which would deal 
mainly with the new proposals amending Regulation 
(EEC) No 3820/85 and Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The basic aim of the Commission's proposed 
amendments of 24 March 1988 [doc. COM(88) 21 final] 
is to eliminate the difficulties which have supposedly 
arisen with regard to the interpretation and monitoring 
of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) 
No 3821/85—which did not enter into force until 29 
September 1986—and also with regard to cooperation 
(') OJ NoC 116,3.5. 1988, p. 15. 
(2) OJ No C 208, 8. 8. 1988, p. 26. technical reasons, are unable to comply with the dead­
lines. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
between Member States on this matter. To support its 
case, the Commission lists a number of reasons, which 
do in fact go beyond this limited objective and call to 
question the very substance of the Regulations. 
2.1.1. Even after giving further careful consideration 
to the purpose of the technical adjustments to the social 
legislation governing Community road transport it is 
not clear to the Committee why Regulations (EEC) 
No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85 are to be amended. 
It considers that the new definitions for driving periods, 
breaks and rest periods will be of little use for the 
monitoring. The Commission will not achieve what it 
hopes to achieve; the new definitions will not benefit 
transport or social policy and do not make any sense 
in administrative terms. 
2.2. The Committee also fails to see the Commission 
proposals providing an indirect stimulus, which, in a 
roundabout way, might make for more social progress 
in Community road transport in the medium or long 
term or make the social legislation easier to accept. Additional Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) 
No 3820/85 on the harmonization of certain social legislation relating to road transport and 
Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport i}) 
(88/C 337/17) 
On 11 May 1988 the Bureau of the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the third 
paragraph of Article 20 of the rules of procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The section for transport and communications, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 12 October 1988. The rapporteur 
was Mr von der Decken. 
At its 259th plenary session (meeting of 27 October 1988), the Committee adopted the 
following Opinion by a large majority with 1 abstention.