3. 3. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 53/61 
On account of the time-lag the proportion of costs 
and thus the cost allocation to participants will de­
pend on the numbers of participants on the relevant 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau 
on 1 December 1977 instructing the Section for 
Regional Development to prepare a study on the 
role and influence of local and regional authorities 
and socio-economic organizations in the field of the 
common regional policy, 
Having regard to its decision of 5 April 1979 to 
transform this study into an opinion pursuant to the 
fourth paragraph of Article 20 of the Rules of Proce­
dure, 
Having regard to the opinion issued by the Section 
for Regional Development on 14 September 1979, 
Having regard to the report submitted by the rappor­
teur, Mr Ventejol, date. A change in participants will have an intolera­
ble arbitrary effect. 
Having regard to the discussions at its 172nd plen­
ary session held on 24 and 25 October 1979 (meeting 
of 25 October 1979), 
Whereas the election of a Parliament by universal 
suffrage shows the Community's determination to 
continue working towards European union; whereas 
this goal will not be attained in full without the in­
volvement of an ESC representing all socio-econ­
omic interest groups in the Community, 
Whereas enlargement is going to confront the Com­
munity with new problems stemming inter alia from 
greater regional imbalance; whereas it is therefore 
vital for enlargement to be accompanied by a 
strengthening of Community ties, 
Whereas the common regional policy, because it in­
volves concrete projects in a precise location, is well 
suited to generating public awareness of Commun­
ity solidarity, Done at Brussels, 24 October 1979. The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
R. VANNI 
Opinion on the role and influence of local and regional authorities and socio-economic 
organizations in the field of the common regional policy 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
At its 167th plenary session held on 4 and 5 April 1979 the Committee, acting on a 
proposal from the Bureau, decided to deliver an opinion on the abovementioned sub­
ject on its own initiative. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
172nd plenary session held in Brussels on 24 and 25 October 1979. 
No C 53/62 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 3. 80 
Whereas the creation of a non-quota section marks a 
considerable step forward in the formulation and 
execution of regional policy, provided that suffi­
cient funds are set aside for the ERDF and thus the 
non-quota section, 
Whereas this policy will not be really effective un­
less it is broadened and backed by non-quota funds 
substantial enough to permit implementation of 
projects which are of Community interest, even 
though they may not be given priority in all the 
Member States directly concerned, 
Whereas such projects cannot be drawn up without 
the fullest possible information about the difficul­
ties facing certain regions of the Community, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 
1. General comments 
1.1. Local and regional authorities and socio-econ­
omic organizations must be effectively involved in 
the framing and execution of the Community's re­
gional policy if this policy is to serve fully its pur­
pose of reducing regional inequalities and thus, in 
time, providing the Community as a whole with 
greater opportunities for growth. 
The involvement of these bodies in Community re­
gional policy will also make it easier to apply, and 
check the application of, the rule that Community 
regional aid must be additional to national aid and 
not replace it. 
Such involvement will, moreover, make it possible 
to improve coordination between Community and 
national regional policies and to evaluate the re­
gional impact of Community sectoral policies, 
whose importance must be underlined. 
1.2. More far-reaching cooperation with regional 
bodies has been called for on several occasions by 
the Committee and by the Commission, the Parlia­
ment and the Council. 
1.2.1. First of all, local and regional authorities as 
well as the various socio-economic bodies represent­
ing regional communities and regional interests 
should have the chance to put across their points of 
view and to indicate the special features of their re­gions as well as their needs and potential. Consulta­
tions between central governments and regional and 
local authorities are vital for the establishment of re­
gional development programmes, and to enable the 
central governments to formulate their own regional 
policies and their proposals for submission to the 
EEC. 
1.2.2. Secondly, if these local and regional bodies 
— whether institutional or otherwise — are to be in 
a position to formulate well-founded views and pro­
posals, they must be aware of (a) the possibilities af­
forded by the ERDF and (b) ERDF decisions of 
relevance to them. 
1.2.3. The two-way flow of information must cover 
not only individual projects applying to a specific 
region but also the broad lines of Community 
regional policy, whose effects will be felt by all 
regions of the Community. 
1.3. It must be clearly borne in mind — and this is 
a point which the Committee would stress — that 
the informing and consulting of interested parties 
and coordination between these parties and the de­
cision-making bodies are not secondary issues but 
are fundamental to the very existence of Commun­
ity regional policy, the concrete nature of which 
should help to arouse the general public's interest in 
Community affairs and thus to promote Community 
solidarity. 
2. Current shortcomings in the involvement of local 
and regional authorities and socio-economic or­
ganizations 
2.1. It is recognized that the Community has bod­
ies at its disposal which can voice regional interests, 
and that regions are involved in the preparation of 
Member States' regional development programmes 
to varying degrees, depending on each State's form 
of government and degree of decentralization. 
2.2. At Community level, the Committee appre­
ciates the publicity given to regional aid decisions 
and the efforts being made to disseminate informa­
tion to Member States; but it regrets the impact of 
such publicity is so marginal. It also regrets that the 
Regional Policy Committee does not benefit from 
having regional representatives in its midst after the 
fashion of other EEC committees. 
3. 3. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 53/63 
2.3. On the other hand, it transpires from questions 
raised in the Member States that, because of a cer­
tain number of barriers for which the governments 
can be blamed more often than not, there is still a 
poor flow of information between the Community 
and interested parties. 
2.4. Broadly speaking, the situation with regard to 
the upward flow of information and the consul­
tation of regional communities via grass-roots associa­
tions also continues to be very unsatisfactory. 
2.5. Consequently, local and regional authorities 
and socio-economic organizations would appear to 
play an inadequate role in the field of Community 
policy and have much too little influence on the for­
mulation and execution of Community regional 
policy. 
In addition, socio-economic bodies may be highly 
decentralized in some countries, but in others and in 
certain sectors they are probably still not adequately 
organized at regional level. 
3. Measures calculated to improve the role and in­
fluence of local and regional authorities and so­
cio-economic organizations in the field of the 
common regional policy 
3.1 At Community level 
3.1.1. These measures are the responsibility of the 
Community authorities in the first place. The publi­
cation of ERDF grants of aid in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities is a step forward, 
though the delays in publication are often consider­
able. The procedure should be improved by the de­
cision to publish every two years a detailed regional 
report setting out regional policy guidelines and 
priorities for the following two-year period (which is 
to be referred to the Parliament and the Economic 
and Social Committee). But despite the considera­
ble efforts of the Commission's information offices 
in the Member States steps still have to be taken to 
give fuller and more detailed publicity and more 
widespread coverage to the Community's activities 
and to the opportunities the Community offers to 
regions. It would be helpful, for example, to publish 
simplified rules for the ERDF and for the simulta­
neous operation of the ERDF, the Social and Res­
tructuring Funds, and other Community instru­
ments. 3.1.2. The Community authorities should endea­
vour, in particular, to obtain the Member States' 
cooperation in this field and to ensure that the infor­
mation really does reach the people for whom it is 
intended. 
3.1.3. With regard to the upward flow of informa­
tion, Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 provides that 
only the central governments can officially negotiate 
specific projects or programmes with the Commun­
ity. 
3.1.4. Therefore, only supplementary information 
can be provided by local and regional socio-econ­
omic bodies. 
3.1.5. The Committee thinks that an improvement 
in the situation should be sought, firstly, by altering 
the membership of the Regional Policy Committee 
to make room for socio-economic representatives 
and, secondly, by extending the possibilities the 
Committee has to receive information from regional 
bodies so as to enable it to formulate detailed and 
well-reasoned opinions on time. 
3.1.6. More extensive and regular use will also 
have to be made of the information and consulta­
tion facilities offered, for instance, by the Commun­
ity's Consultative Committee of local and regional 
institutions, which has been set up at the instigation 
of the Council of European Municipalities and the 
International Union of Local Authorities. 
3.2. At Member State level 
3.2.1. The Member State Governments should be 
reminded of their duty to pass on the information 
they receive from the Community. They are, in fact, 
obliged to give widespread coverage to all the facts 
and figures received from Brussels about regional 
policy as a whole and about Community projects, 
ERDF operations, Community aid facilities and aid 
granted. 
3.2.2. The Member State Governments should 
make sure that the information referred to above 
reaches the people for whom it is intended. 
3.2.3. With regard to the upward flow of informa­
tion, the Committee thinks that although it is for the 
Member State Governments to decide about their 
regional development programmes and what appli­
cations are to be made for ERDF aid, they must 
hold very wide-ranging consultations beforehand 
No C 53/64 Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 3. 80 
with local and regional bodies and with socio-econ­
omic organizations representing the grassroots in all 
the regions. And they must inform the Community 
authorities of the arrangements they have made for 
such consultations and about all the regional points 
of view. 
3.2.4. Because of the wide range of local and re­
gional structures and socio-economic organizations 
in the countries of the Community, it would not be 
appropriate for the Committee to seek to specify, for 
each country, which bodies should be consulted, 
which procedures should be set in motion or how 
alignment should be achieved. However, the Com­
mittee would emphasize the importance of full con­
sultations. 
This very diversity of structures and organizations 
highlights the need for an effective flow of informa­
tion in both directions. 
Even though it does not at present seem possible on 
the basis of the documentation gathered so far by 
the Committee, to propose a system suitable for all 
the countries, the Committee thinks it would be use­
ful to make medium-term plans for alignment of the 
methods employed for the dissemination of infor­
mation and holding of consultations in the Member 
States. 
3.2.5. At all events, the Committee would emphas­
ize the need for consultations. It thinks these con­
sultations will be most effective if they are held with 
the regional bodies responsible for economic plan­
ning, and extend down to the grass-roots level. 
3.2.6. Socio-economic organizations in all the 
countries of the Community should also ensure that 
they are sufficiently well-organized at local and re­
gional level. 
3.3. At grassroots level 
3.3.1. Having thus stated what the Community and 
the governments must do to get the general public 
democratically involved (through local and regional 
bodies or their socio-economic organizations) in the 
framing of Community regional policy, the Commit­
tee is well aware of the risks of failure which would 
be run by a policy coming from above, i.e. a policy 
proposed if not imposed by the Community and the 
central governments. 
3.3.2. This is why the Committee feels it is of vital 
importance for local and regional authorities and all 
the socio-economic organizations concerned to be 
equally determined to take part in the implementa­tion of a Community regional policy. Furthermore, 
if regions show a desire to do something themselves 
for their own development, they will be in a better 
position to seek aid from their central governments 
and, subsequently, from the Community as well. 
The best example that can be quoted in support of 
this argument is the 'integrated operations' model 
scheme promoted by the Commission in aid of 
crisis-ridden areas. 
3.3.3. Local and regional authorities and socio­
economic organizations must therefore take all 
necessary steps to notify the Community authorities 
of what their regions need and have done to further 
their development, and what contribution is ex­
pected from the State. They must also press their 
central governments and the EEC for precise infor­
mation and all relevant documentation about Com­
munity decisions relating to regional policy and 
other common policies. 
3.3.4. Care will have to be taken to ensure that this 
extension of consultations does not over-complicate 
proceedings and end up by paralyzing the whole 
system. However, this risk will be avoided if the up­
ward and downward flow of information at each 
level is swift, very broadly based and virtually auto­
matic. Swift procedures will have to be the aim at all 
levels. The Community should also set up its own 
information network, using the most modern means 
of communication. 
4. Conclusions 
4.1. In short, if a determined effort is made on all 
fronts, local and regional authorities and socio­
economic organizations will be able to play the 
active role which they should play with respect to 
the common regional policy. 
However, it must be borne in mind that these bodies 
will not be able to exercise any real influence unless 
the central governments agree to involve them in 
regional policy. 
4.2. Before any plans are made for alignment of 
information and consultation procedures (which 
may be expedient in the near future), maximum use 
must be made of existing bodies. These bodies' 
scope for action must be extended and where neces­
sary their membership and powers must be in­
creased. In addition, more regular and formal con­
sultations must be organized between Community 
bodies and local or regional organizations, and care 
must be taken to ensure that all the possibilities 
available for collecting and disseminating informa­
tion are really utilized and account is taken of the 
need for speed. 
3. 3. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 53/65 
4.3. Finally it is worth bearing in mind that the en­
largement of the Community, desirable though it 
may be from the political angle, is going to present 
serious economic problems in the agricultural, in­
dustrial and social fields. 
This situation must not be allowed to push regional 
problems into the background or lead to an exacer­
bation of regional disparities. Regional policy must therefore rank in the forefront 
of those policies whose role it is to strengthen the 
Community. Formulated with the Cooperation of a 
citizenry aware of its essential role, regional policy 
will make a major contribution to the emergence of 
a Community spirit. 
Done at Brussels, 25 October 1979. 
The Chariman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
R. VANNI