COMMON POSITION (EC) No 4/1999 adopted by the Council on 21 December 1998 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No .../1999 of ... amending Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks
Date: 1998-12-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, intra-EU transport, terms for aid, trans-European network, transport infrastructure

C  49/4

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22.2.1999

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  4/1999

adopted  by  the  Council  on  21  December  1998

with  a  view  to  adopting  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  . . ./1999  of  . . .  amending  Regulation
(EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the
field  of  trans-European  networks

(1999/C  49/02)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  the  third  paragraph  of
Article  129d  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Having  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the
Regions (3),

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  189c  of  the  Treaty (4),

(1)  Whereas  experience  with 

the  application  of
Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95 (5)  has  demonstrated
that  a  number  of  amendments  need  to  be  made
thereto;

(2)  Whereas it is necessary to facilitate the financing of
certain  projects  by  including,  among  the  possible
forms  of  aid,  a  contribution  to  the  formation  of
risk  capital;  whereas  it  is  desirable  to  use  the
financial resources provided under Regulation (EC)
No 2236/95 in order to maximise the contribution
from  private  finance;

(3)  Whereas  a  layer  of  risk  capital  in  the  financial
package  of  a  project  may  contribute  to  setting
public-private  partnerships 
trans-European
network projects on their way; whereas the supply
of  risk  capital 
trans-European  networks,
particularly  during  their  early  stages,  is  limited;

for 

in 

(1)  OJ  C  175,  9.6.1998,  p.  7.
(2)  OJ  C  407,  28.12.1998,  p.  120.
(3)  Not  yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal.
(4)  Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  19  November  1998
(OJ  C  379,  7.12.1998),  Council  common  position  of  21
December 1998 and Decision of the European Parliament of
. . .  (not  yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

(5)  OJ  L  228,  23.9.1995,  p.  1.

(4)  Whereas  it  is  appropriate  to  limit  risk-capital
participation  to  investment  funds  with  a  priority
focus  on  providing  risk  capital  for  trans-European
network  projects  to  1 %  of  the  financial  reference
amount  for  the  period  2000-2006  in  order  to  gain
experience  with  this  new  form  of  financing;
whereas  it  is  appropriate  to  examine  its  possible
future  extension  in  the  light  of  the  comprehensive
report  the  Commission  will  present  before  the  end
of  2006  on  the  experience  gained  with  the
application  of 
this
Regulation;

the  mechanisms  under 

(5)  Whereas 

it 

is  desirable, 

in  order  to 

increase
transparency  and  to  meet  expectations  for  projects
or  groups  of  projects  having  important  financial
needs for a long period, that indicative multiannual
programmes  in  specific  sectors  or  fields  should  be
drawn  up;  whereas  those  programmes  should
indicate  the  total  and  annual  amount  of  support
which could be allocated for a given period to such
project  or  groups  of  projects,  and  which  should
serve  as  a  reference  for  the  annual  decisions  to
grant  financial  aid  within  the  yearly  budgetary
appropriations,  when  they  conform  to  the  relevant
indicative  multiannual  programmes;  whereas,
however,  the  annual  amounts  indicated  in  these
to  budgetary
programmes  do  not  amount 
commitments;

(6)  Whereas  projects  of  groups  of  projects  should  be
able  to  benefit  from  successive  financial  assistance
decisions;

(7)  Whereas,  in  the  application  for  financial  support
for  a  project,  a  detailed  breakdown  of  estimates  is
needed  concerning  the  sources  of  contributions
from  the  Community  and  from  national,  regional
and  local  government  bodies,  as  well  as  the  extent
of  financial  contributions  from  the  private  sector;

(8)  Whereas financial aids granted should be cancelled
if  the  actions

except 
concerned  have  not  been  started  by  a  given  date;

justified  cases 

in  duly 

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(9)  Whereas  it  is  necessary  to  include  the  activities  of
the
the  European 
Community 
instruments  with  which
action  under  Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  is
required  to  be  coordinated;

Investment  Fund  among 

financial 

(10)  Whereas the Commission should be able to require
beneficiaries  to  provide  evaluations  of  projects
supported  under  Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  or
the necessary information to allow the Commission
to  undertake  its  own  evaluation;

(11)  Whereas 

it 

of 

the 

given 

importance 

the
trans-European  networks, 
is  appropriate  to
include  in  Regulation  (EC)  2236/95  a  financial
reference amount within the meaning of point 2 of
the  Declaration  by  the  European  Parliament,  the
Council and the Commission of 6 March 1995, of
one  euro  for  its  implementation  for  the  period
2000-2006,  without  thereby  affecting  the  powers
of  the  budgetary  authority  as  they  are  defined  by
the  Treaty;

(12)  Whereas 

it 

that 

is  appropriate 

the  Council
examines  whether  to  continue  or  to  amend  the
measures  under  Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  in
the light of the comprehensive report submitted by
the  Commission  before  the  end  of  2006;

(13)  Whereas,  throughout  the  transitional  period  from
1  January  1999  to  31  December  2001,  all
references  to  the  euro  should  be  read  as  references
to  the  euro  as  a  monetary  unit  as  referred  to  in
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  974/98  of  3  May
1998  on  the  introduction  of  the  euro (1);

(14)  Whereas  Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  should

therefore  be  amended  accordingly,

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION:

Article  1

Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  is  hereby  amended  as
follows:

1.  Article  3  shall  be  deleted.

(1)  OJ  L  139,  11.5.1998,  p.  1.

2.  Article  4  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  4

Forms  of  aid

1. Community  aid  for  projects  may  take  one  or
several  of  the  following  forms:

(a)  co-financing  of  studies  related 

to  projects,
including  preparatory,  feasibility  and  evaluation
studies, and other technical support measures for
these  studies.  Community  participation  may  in
general  not  exceed  50 %  of  the  total  cost  of  a
study.

In  exceptional,  duly  substantiated  cases,  at  the
initiative  of  the  Commission  and  with  the
consent  of 
the  Member  States  concerned,
Community participation may exceed the limit of
50 %;

(b) subsidies  of  the  interest  on  loans  granted  by  the
European  Investment  Bank  or  other  public  or
private  financial  bodies.  As  a  general  rule,  the
duration  of  subsidy  shall  not  exceed  five  years;

(c)  contributions  towards  fees  for  guarantees  for
loans  from  the  European  Investment  Fund  or
other  financial  institutions;

(d) direct  grants  to  investments  in  duly  justified

cases;

(e)  risk-capital  participation  for  investment  funds  or
comparable 
financial  undertakings  with  a
priority  focus  on  providing  risk  capital  for
trans-European  network  projects  and  involving
substantial  private-sector 
such
risk-capital participation shall not exceed 1 % of
the  budgetary  resources  under  Article  18.

investment, 

Further  modalities  of  implementation  of  this
risk-capital  participation  are  laid  down  in  the
Annex  hereto.

The  participation  may  be  made  directly  into  the
fund or comparable financial undertaking or into
an appropriate co-investment vehicle managed by
the  same  fund  managers;

(f)  Community  assistance  under  points  (a)  to  (d)
shall be combined where appropriate, in order to

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maximise the stimulus provided by the budgetary
resources  deployed,  which  shall  be  used  in  the
most  economical  way.

2. The  forms  of  Community  air  referred  to  under
points  (a)  to  (e)  shall  be  used  selectively  to  take
account  of  the  specific  characteristics  of  the  various
types  of  network  involved  and  to  ensure  that  such
aid  does  not  cause  distortions  of  competition
between  undertakings  in  the  sector  concerned.’

3.  The  following  Article  shall  be  inserted:

‘Article  5a

Community  indicative  multiannual  programme

1. Without prejudice to the application of Article 6
and  in  order  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  the
Community’s  action,  the  Commission  may, 
in
accordance with the procedure set out in Article 17,
elaborate  by  sector  an 
indicative  multiannual
programme  for  granting  budgetary  resources  under
Article  18  (hereinafter  called  “programme”)  on  the
basis  of  the  guidelines  referred  to  in  Article  129c  of
the  Treaty.  The  programme  shall  be  based  on
applications  for  financial  aid  under  Article  8  and
reflect 
information  provided  by  the
Member States, in particular the information set out
in  Article  9.

inter  alia 

2. A  programme  shall  exclusively  be  composed  of
projects  of  common  interest  and/or  coherent  groups
of  projects  of  common 
interest,  as  previously
identified  within  the  framework  of  the  guidelines
referred  to  in  Article  129c(1)  of  the  Treaty,  in
specific fields having substantial financial needs over
a  long  period.

3. For  each  project  or  group  of  projects  referred  to
in  paragraph  2  the  programme  shall  establish  the
indicative  global  amounts  and  the  financial  plans
including envisaged annual amounts for the granting
of financial aid for the programme’s time period. No
more  than  75 %  of  the  budgetary  resources  under
Article  18  shall  be  used  for  the  purposes  of
indicative multiannual programmes.

4. The programme shall serve as a reference for the
annual  decisions  allocating  the  budgetary  resources
under  Article  18  within  the  annual  budgetary
appropriations.  The  Commission  shall  regularly
inform  the  Committee  referred  to  in  Article  17  of
the progress of programmes and any decisions taken
by  the  Commission  in  allocating  the  budgetary
resources  under  Article  18.

The  programme  shall  be  reviewed,  at  least  at
mid-term and in the year 2005 or in the light of the
effective  progress  of  the  project(s)  or  group(s)  of
projects, and if necessary revised, in accordance with
the procedure set out in Article 17. In its opinion on
a  programme,  the  Committee  shall  also  deliver  an
opinion  on  the  parameters  of  any  review.  The
proper  functioning  of  the  programme,  in  particular
in  relation  to  the  role  of  the  Committee  referred  to
in  Article  17,  shall  be  included  as  part  of  the
mid-term review.

The programme shall also give an indication of other
sources  of  financing  for  the  projects  concerned,  in
particular  from  other  Community  instruments  and
the  European  Investment  Bank.

In case substantial changes in the implementation
5.
of  the  project(s)  or  group(s)  of  projects  take  place,
the  Member  State  concerned  will 
the
Commission  without  delay.

inform 

indicative  global  amounts
Modifications  to  the 
established  by  the  programme  for  the  project(s)  or
group(s)  of  projects,  which  may  be  necessary
following 
in
accordance  with  the  procedure  of  Article  17.’

these  changes,  shall  be  decided 

4.  Article  9(1)(a),  eighth  indent,  shall  be  replaced  by

the  following:

‘—  a  financial  plan  listing,  in  euro  or  in  national
currency,  all  the  components  of  the  financial
package,  including  the  financial  aid  requested
from  the  Community,  in  its  different  forms  as
mentioned in Article 4, and from local, regional
or  national  government  bodies,  as  well  as  from
private  sources,  and  the  aid  already  granted;’

5.  Article  9(2)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

relevant  additional 

‘2. Applicants  shall  supply  the  Commission  with
any 
it
requires,  such  as  the  parameters,  guidelines  and
hypotheses  on  which  the  cost/benefit  analysis  is
based.’

information  which 

6.  Article  10  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  10

Grant  of  financial  aid

The  Commission  shall  decide  to  grant  financial  aid
under  this  Regulation  according  to  its  assessment  of
the  application  in  accordance  with  the  selection
criteria.  In  the  case  of  projects  identified  in  the
relevant 
programme
established  pursuant  to  Article  5a,  the  Commission
shall  take  the  annual  decisions  to  grant  aid  within

indicative  multiannual 

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the  indicative  financial  allocations  provided  for  in
that  programme.  In  the  case  of  other  projects,
decisions  to  grant  aid  shall  be  taken  in  accordance
with  the  procedure  specified  in  Article  17.  The
Commission  shall  notify  its  decision  directly  to  the
beneficiaries  and  to  the  Member  States.’

7. 

In  Article  11,  paragraph  7  shall  be  replaced  by  the
following:

‘7. The  Commission  shall  determine,  following  the
procedures  set  out  in  Article  17,  the  procedures,
timetable  and  amounts  for  payments  of  interest-rate
subsidies,  guarantee  premium  subsidies  and  support
for
in 
the 
investment 
financial
undertakings  with  a  priority  focus  on  providing  risk
capital  for  trans-European  network  projects.’

form  of  risk-capital  participation, 

comparable 

funds 

or 

8.  The  introductory  phrase  to  Article  12(1)  shall  be

replaced  by  the  following:

‘1.
In  order  to  guarantee  successful  completion  of
projects  financed  by  this  Regulation,  Member  States
and the Commission, each in its field of competence,
shall  take  the  necessary  measures  to:’

9. 

In  Article  13,  the  following  paragraph  shall  be
inserted:

in 

justified  by 

the
cases  duly 
‘2a. Except 
Commission  to  the  Committee  referred  to  in  Article
17,  aids  granted  to  projects  which  have  not  started
within two years following the date of their expected
start, as indicated in the decision granting assistance,
will  be  cancelled  by  the  Commission.’

10.  Article  14  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  14

Coordination

be 

shall 

responsible 

The  Commission 
for
coordination  and  coherence  between  the  projects
and  the  programmes  referred  to  in  Article  5a(1)
undertaken  under  this  Regulation  and  projects
undertaken  with  the  help  of  contributions  from  the
Community  budget,  the  European  Investment  Bank,
the  European 
and  other
Community  financial  instruments.’

Investment  Fund 

11.  Article  15  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  15

Appraisal,  monitoring  and  evaluation

1. The  Member  States  and  the  Commission  shall
ensure  that  the  implementation  of  projects  under

this Regulation is subject to effective monitoring and
evaluation.  Projects  may  be  adapted  according  to
monitoring  and  evaluation  results.

2.
In  order  to  ensure  that  Community  aid  is  used
efficiently,  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States
concerned shall systematically monitor progress with
projects,  where  appropriate  with  the  cooperation  of
the  European  Investment  Bank  or  other  appropriate
bodies.

3. On  receipt  of  an  application  for  aid,  and  before
approving  it,  the  Commission  shall  carry  out  an
appraisal  in  order  to  assess  the  project’s  conformity
with the conditions and criteria laid down in Articles
5  and  6.  Where  necessary,  the  Commission  shall
invite  the  European  Investment  Bank  or  other
appropriate  bodies  to  contribute  to  this  appraisal.

4. The  Commission  and  the  Member  States  shall
assess  the  manner  in  which  the  projects  and  the
programmes  have  been  carried  out  and  evaluate  the
impact  of  their  implementation,  in  order  to  assess
whether the original objectives can be, or have been,
achieved.  This  evaluation  shall,  inter  alia,  cover  the
impact  of  projects  on  the  environment,  regard  being
had 
force.  The
Commission  may,  after  consultation  of  the  Member
State  concerned,  also  require  the  beneficiary  to
provide  a  specific  evaluation  on  projects  or  groups
of  projects  supported  under  this  Regulation,  or  to
provide  it  with  the  information  and  the  assistance
required  to  evaluate  such  projects.

the  Community 

laws 

to 

in 

shall  be 

5. Monitoring 
carried  out,  where
appropriate,  by  reference  to  physical  and  financial
indicators.  The  indicators  shall  relate  to  the  specific
character  of  the  projects  and  its  objectives.  They
shall  be  arranged  in  such  way  as  to  show:

—  the stage of the project reached in relation to the
plan and the operational objectives originally laid
down,

—  the  progress  achieved  on  the  management  side

and  any  related  problems.

6.
In  vetting  individual  applications  for  assistance,
the  Commission  shall  take  into  account  the  findings
of  appraisals  and  evaluations  made  in  accordance
with  this  Article.

7. Procedures  for  evaluation  and  monitoring,  as
provided in paragraphs 4 and 5, shall be established
in the Decisions approving the projects and/or in the
contractual  provisions  relating  to  the  financial  aid.’

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12.  Article  16(1)  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  19

‘1. The  Commission  shall  submit  an  annual  report
on the activities carried out under this Regulation to
the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic
and  Social  Committee  and  to  the  Committee  of  the
Regions for their appraisal. This report shall contain
an  evaluation  of 
results  achieved  with
Community  aid  in  different  fields  of  application,  in
terms  of  original  objectives,  as  well  as  a  chapter  on
the  substance  and 
implementation  of  current
multiannual  programmes,  especially  an  account  on
the  revisions  provided  in  Article  5a.’

the 

13.  Article  18  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Article  18

Budgetary  resources

financial 

The 
the
implementation  of  this  Regulation  for  the  period
2000-2006  shall  be  one  euro.

reference 

amount 

for 

Revision  clause

Before the end of 2006 the Commission shall submit
to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  a
comprehensive  report  on  the  experience  gained  with
the  mechanisms  under  this  Regulation,  in  particular
with  the  mechanism  under  Article  4(1)(e),  and  the
Council,  acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure
laid  down  in  the  third  paragraph  of  Article  129d  of
the  Treaty,  shall  examine  whether  and  under  which
conditions 
this
the  measures  provided 
Regulation  will  be  continued  or  amended  after  the
end  of  the  period  referred  to  in  Article  18.’

for 

in 

15.  Throughout  the  text,  ‘ecu’  shall  be  replaced  by

‘euro’.

16.  The  text  appearing  in  the  Annex  to  this  Regulation

shall  be  added.

Article  2

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
budgetary authority within the limits of the financial
perspective.’

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  20th  day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the  European  Communities.

14.  Article  19  shall  be  replaced  by  the  following:

Point  15  of  Article  1  shall  apply  from  1  January  1999.

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  its  entirety  and  directly  applicable  in  all  Member  States.

Done  at. . .

For  the  Council

The  President

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

Implementation  modalities  referred  to  in  Article  4(1)(e)

1.  Conditions  for  a  Community  contribution  to  risk  capital

Applications  for  financial  assistance  under  Article  4(1)(e)  of  the  Regulation  shall  include  the  following
information,  satisfactory  to  the  Committee  referred  to  in  Article  17  thereof,  as  a  basis  for  decisions  to
grant  assistance:

—  an  information  memorandum  containing  the  main  provisions  of  the  statutory  documentation  of  the

fund  including  its  legal  and  management  structure,

—  its  detailed  investment  guidelines  including  information  on  target  projects,

—  information  on  the  involvement  of  private  investors,

—  information  on  geographical  coverage,

—  information  on  the  financial  viability  of  the  fund,

—  information on the rights of the investors to take remedial action in the event that the undertakings

give  to  them  are  not  honoured  by  the  fund,

—  information  on  the  exit  policies  of  the  fund  and  arrangements  for  the  termination  of  the  fund,

and

—  rights  of  representation  in  the  Committees  of  investors.

Before  the  decision  to  grant  assistance,  the  intermediary  investment  fund  or  other  comparable  financial
institution  must  undertake  to  invest  not  less  than  a  sum  equivalent  to  two  and  a  half  times  the
Community  contribution,  into  projects:

—  previously  identified  as  projects  of  common  interest  in  accordance  with  Article  129c(1)  first

subparagraph,  first  indent  of  the  Treaty,

and

—  at least partially financed by the Member States concerned with in the meaning of Article 2(2) of the

Regulation.

Community  aid  for  investment  funds  or  comparable  financial  undertakings,  if  granted  in  the  form  of  a
risk-capital  participation,  shall  be  granted,  in  principle,  only  if  the  Community  contribution  ranks  pari
passu  with  other  investors  in  the  fund.

Recipient  investment  funds  or  comparable  financial  undertakings  have  to  follow  sound  financial
principles.

2.  Limits  for  intervention  and  maximum  investment

Contributions  under  Article  4(1)(e)  of  the  Regulation  shall  not  exceed  1 %  of  the  total  budgetary
appropriations  for  trans-European  networks  until  the  end  of  2006.

Community  assistance  under  the  said  Article  4(1)(e)  shall  not  exceed  20 %  of  the  total  capital  of  an
investment  fund  or  comparable  financial  undertaking.

3.  Management  of  the  Community  contribution

The  management  of  the  Community  contribution  will  be  ensured  by  the  European  Investment  Fund
(EIF).  The  detailed  terms  and  conditions  for  implementing  Community  assistance  under  Article  4(1)(e)
of the Regulation, including its monitoring and control, shall be laid down in an cooperation agreement
between  the  Commission  and  the  EIF,  taking  into  account  the  provisions  laid  down  in  this  Annex.

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4.  Other  provisions

The  provisions  applying  to  appraisal,  monitoring  and  evaluation  as  specified  in  the  Regulation  shall
apply  in  full  to  Article  4(1)(e)  thereof,  including  the  provisions  on  conditions  for  Community  aid,  on
financial  control  and  the  reduction,  suspension  and  cancellation  of  assistance.  This  shall  inter  alia  be
ensured  by  appropriate  provisions  in  the  cooperation  agreement  between  the  Commission  and  the  EIF
and  appropriate  agreements  with  investee  funds  or  comparable  financial  undertakings  stipulating  the
necessary controls at the level of individual projects of common interest. Appropriate arrangements will
be made to allow the Court of Auditors of the European Community to exercise its mission in particular
in  order  to  verify  the  regularity  of  payments  made.

Payments under Article 4(1)(e) shall be governed by Article 11(7) thereof, notwithstanding Article 11(6)
thereof. After the end of the investment period or earlier as the case may be, any balances resulting from
a return of invested capital or distribution of profits and capital gains and any and all other distributions
due  to  investors  shall  be  returned  to  the  Community  budget.

All  decisions  to  provide  risk-capital  participations  under  Article  4(1)(e)  of  the  Regulation  shall  be
submitted  to  the  Committee  referred  to  in  Article  17  thereof.

The  Commission  will  report  regularly  to  the  said  Committee  on  the  implementation  of  risk-capital
participations  under  Article  4(1)(e)  of  the  Regulation.

Before the end of 2006, the Commission shall, in the framework of Article 15 of the Regulation, provide
an  evaluation  of  actions  carried  out  under  Article  4(1)(e)  thereof,  in  particular  on  its  utilisation,  its
effects on the implementation of the trans-European network projects supported and the involvement of
private  investors  in  the  projects  financed.’

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STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I. 

INTRODUCTION

1.  On  11  May  1998,  the  Commission  submitted  to  the  Council,  in  the  framework  of  its
proposals  relating  to  the  Agenda  2000,  the  above  proposal  for  a  Regulation,  based  on
Article  129d  of  the  EC  Treaty,  in  order  to  amend  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No
2236/95. The procedure of Article 189c of the Treaty is applicable for the adoption of
this  Regulation.

2.  The  European  Parliament  delivered,  in  first  reading,  an  opinion  on  19  November

1998.

On  4  December  1998  the  Commission  presented  an  modified  proposal  pursuant  to
Article 189a(2) of the Treaty. This modified proposal takes account of the amendments
contained in the opinion of the European Parliament and of the results achieved by the
Council  Working  Party  on  the  original  proposal.

3.  On  21  December  1998  the  Council  adopted  its  common  position  pursuant  to  Article

189c(a)  of  the  Treaty.

II.  OBJECTIVE

The  above  proposal  seeks  in  particular:

—  to replace for most projects the existing annual procedure for allocating trans-European

networks  funding  by  a  procedure  based  on  indicative  multiannual  programmes,

—  to  introduce  risk-capital  participation  for  the  benefit  of  financial  undertakings  with  a
priority  focus  on  providing  risk  capital  for  trans-European  network  projects  as  a
possible  form  of  Community  assistance.

The common position adopted by the Council contains these two important innovations. It
specifies  the  concept  of  indicative  multiannual  programmes  and  outlines  furthermore  the
conditions  and  the  implementation  modalities  of  Community  risk-capital  participation.

Indicative multiannual programmes are to be elaborated by the Commission on a sector by
sector  basis.  Such  programmes  will  be  exclusively  composed  of  projects  or  groups  of
projects of common interest and will cover specific fields where substantial financial needs
over  a  long  period  are  identified.  Up  to  75 %  of  budgetary  resources  for  trans-European
networks are to be used for the purposes of these indicative multiannual programmes. The
programmes  will  serve  as  a  reference  for  the  annual  decisions  allocating  the  budgetary
resources.  Possible  modifications  to  the  indicative  global  amounts  established  by  a
programme  for  the  projects  or  groups  of  projects  will  require  a  Commission  decision
subject  to  a  Committee  procedure.

Risk-capital  participation  in  investment  funds  or  comparable  financial  undertakings  is
made subject to a number of conditions and limitations. Undertakings that may qualify for
community  risk-capital  participation  must  have  a  priority  focus  on  funding  of
involve  substantial  private-sector
trans-European  network  projects  and  they  must 
investment.  Up  to  1 %  of  budgetary  resources  for  trans-European  networks  will  be  made
available for such risk-capital participation. The Council’s common position specifies in an
Annex  to  the  draft  Regulation  a  number  of  implementation  modalities  which  the  Council
considered necessary and which address in particular the requirements on beneficiaries, the

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management  by  the  European  Investment  Fund  and  the  evaluation  and  control  modalities
of  this  form  of  assistance.

Taking  into  account  the  new  multiannual  approach,  the  Council’s  common  position
contains  furthermore  a  number  of  other  proposed  adaptations  concerning  the  granting  of
aid,  of  evaluation  and  monitoring.

The Council could, however, not follow the proposal of the Commission to extend certain
limits  of  the  Community’s  financial  assistance.  That  is  why  the  common  position  does
neither  include  the  proposed  increase  of  the  limit  for  Community  aid  from  10 %  to  20 %
of  total  investment  cost,  nor  the  proposed  extension  of  the  maximum  duration  of  interest
rate  subsidies.

The  Council  agreed  to  include  in  the  final  text  of  the  Regulation  a  provision  with  a
financial  reference  amount  for  the  2000-2006  period.  However,  the  absence  of  an  agreed
amount  for  TENs  financing  in  the  context  of  the  new  financial  perspective  prevents  the
Council from introducing in its common position more than a symbolic financial reference
amount  of  EUR  1.

In this context, the Council and the Commission agreed on the following statement for the
Council  minutes:

‘1.  The  Council  has  adopted  this  common  position  on  the  basis  of  the  Commission’s

proposal.

2.  The  Council  states  that  the  final  figure  for  the  TENs’  financial  reference  amount  for
the  2000-2006  period  shall  be  inserted  in  Article  18  of  this  common  position,  and
agrees  therefore  that  the  Regulation  shall  not  be  adopted  before  a  final  agreement  is
reached  on  the  new  financial  perspectives  in  the  framework  of  Agenda  2000  while
respecting  the  Treaty  procedures.

3.  The  Commission  considers  that  this  figure  is  included  in  its  proposal.’

III.  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION 

IN  RELATION  TO  THE  EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT’S  AMENDMENTS

A.  The  common  position  of  the  Council  takes  into  account  an  important  part  of  the
amendments  contained  in  the  opinion  of  the  European  Parliament,  most  of  which
were  also  included  in  the  modified  Commission  proposal.  Therefore:

—  Article  4.1(e)  of  the  common  position  requires  in  the  context  of  risk-capital
participation  that  eligible  financial  undertakings  have  to  involve  substantial
private-sector  investment  (amendment  10  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion),

—  Article  9(1)(a)  and  Article  9(2)  of  the  common  position  specify  the  information
requirements in order to assess the applications, in particular in relation to possible
financial  aid  from  other  sources  and  cost-benefit  analyses  (amendments  3,  16  and
17  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion),

—  Article  16(1)  of  the  common  position  specifies  that  the  substance  and  the
implementation  of  multiannual  programmes  shall  be  included  as  a  chapter  in  the
annual report which the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the
Council,  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  Regions
(amendment  20  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion),

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—  the common position contains an Article 18 with a financial reference amount for
the  period  2000-2006  (amendment  22  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion;
however,  the  amounts  differ  because  of  the  Council’s  considerations  described
under  II),

—  Article 19 of the common position introduces a revision clause with only a slightly

different  wording  (amendment  23  of  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion),

—  the  expected  contribution  of  risk  capital  to  the  promotion  of  public-private
partnerships  in  trans-European  network  projects  is  underlined  in  new  recital  3  of
the  common  position  (part  of  amendment  6  of  the  European  Parliament’s
opinion),

—  Article  4.1(a),  third  subparagraph,  of  the  common  position  does  not  contain  the
proposed privileged treatment of studies undertaken at the Commission’s initiative
(part  of  amendment  8).

B.  However,  the  Council  has  not  accepted  to  include  in  its  common  position  other
amendments contained in the European Parliament’s opinion, although they had been
accepted  by  the  Commission  and  this  for  the  following  reasons:

—  this  would  go  beyond  the  specific  purpose  and  the  legal  basis  of  this  Regulation

(amendment  1  referring  to  coordination  with  PHARE  and  ISPA),

—  this  would  add  an  additional  and  cumbersome  criterion  for  the  selection  of

projects  (amendment  4  on  the  effects  in  terms  of  regional  planning),

—  this  would  introduce  publicity  obligations  which  would  be  out  of  proportion  to

the  Community  funding  involved  (amendments  7  and  19),

—  this  would 

increase  out  of  proportion  the 

interest  rate  subsidy  element
(amendment  9  relating  to  an  extension  of  the  maximum  duration  for  interest  rate
subsidies  from  five  to  seven  years),

—  this  would  increase  the  burden  of  information  requirements  on  applicants  for
Community  aid  in  a  disproportionate  manner  (amendments  14,  15  and  18).

The  Council’s  common  position  does  not  include  other  amendments  contained  in  the
European  Parliament’s  opinion,  which  had  not  been  accepted  by  the  Commission,
because  they:

—  would  restrict  the  necessary  flexibility  for  the  implementation  of  the  multiannual
programmes  (amendment  11  suggesting  an  exact  breakdown  on  funding  of
different  transport  modes;  amendment  13  suggesting  that  no  more  than  50 %  of
Community  subsidies  should  be  used  for  priority  projects),

—  would  complicate  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation  without  real  value  added
(amendment  25  suggesting  individual  examination  of  financing  alternatives  and
combinations  between  private  and  public  sectors),

—  would  go  beyond  the  specific  purpose  and/or  legal  basis  of  this  Regulation
(amendment  26  calling  for  strict  coordination  between  explicitly  mentioned
Community  instruments;  amendment  21  suggesting  a  new  committee  procedure
different  from  the  Council  Decision  of  13  July  1987;  amendment  5  calling  for
further  coordination  obligations  between  Member  States),

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—  would  shift  certain  responsibilities  from  the  Member  States  to  the  Commission
and,  therefore,  would  not  be  coherent  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity
(amendment  27  suggesting  a  systematic  evaluation  of  individual  projects  by  the
Commission; amendment 24 suggesting an environmental impact statement by the
Commission).

IV.  CONCLUSION

The  Council  considers  that  its  common  position:

—  in content and timing, fully complies with the mandate given by the European Council

in  Cardiff,

—  takes  into  account  the  opinion  delivered  by  the  European  Parliament  and  includes  a

number  of  important  specific  amendments  contained  therein,

—  pays  tribute  to  the  exceptional  situation  whereby  only  a  symbolic  and  not  yet  a
definitive  financial  reference  amount  can  be  included  at  this  stage  and  whereby  this
definitive  amount  is  to  be  inserted  after  final  agreement  on  the  new  financial
perspective  has  been  reached.