CELEX: 51984PC0658
Language: en
Date: 1984-11-21
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON A PROGRAMME OF SUPPORT FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE HYDROCARBONS SECTOR

No C 325/6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 6.12. 84
                                               COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Regulation on a programme of support for technological
                                        development in the hydrocarbons sector
                                                    COM(84) 658 final
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 26 November 1984)
                                                      (84/C 325/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                      Whereas technological development activities can be
COMMUNITIES,                                                     differentiated from research activities, although some
                                                                 phases of technological development projects may
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                     include a certain degree of research;
European Economic Community, and in particular
Article 235 thereof,                                             Whereas Community support may encourage the
                                                                 pooling of efforts by undertakings in two or more
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               Member States;
                                                                 Whereas service undertakings and equipment-
Having regard to the opinion of the European
                                                                 construction undertakings play an important role in
Parliament,
                                                                 these technological development acitivities;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                 Whereas projects which are of                 fundamental
Social Committee,                                                importance for the security of the Community's
                                                                 hydrocarbons      supplies   and which         relate    to
Whereas the setting up of a common energy policy is              technological      development      activities     directly
one of the objectives which the Communities have set             connected with exploration, production, storage or
themselves; whereas it is for the Commission to                  transportation activities could qualify for such
propose the measures to be taken to that end;                    support; whereas this support should be financial in
whereas the Council accordingly adopted Regulation               character;
(EEC) No 3056/73 of 9 November 1973 on the
support of Community projects in the hydrocarbons                Whereas the specifically international character of the
sector (');                                                      structure and activities of the undertakings operating
                                                                 in the hydrocarbons sector justifies direct transmission
Whereas, in view of the importance of hydrocarbons               of the project dossiers to the Commission;
in the Community's energy supplies and the
Community's dependence on imports, it is a                       Whereas an advisory committee made up of rep-
fundamental objective of such a policy to secure                 resentatives from the Member States can assist the
conditions ensuring long-term security of supply;                Commission in the selection of the projects to which
                                                                 support is to be granted;
Whereas        encouragement        for      technological
development activities directly connected with hydro-            Whereas the granting by the Community of the
carbons exploration, production, storage or transpor-            advantages envisaged must not affect the conditions
tation activities is such as to improve the security of          of competition in a manner incompatible with the
supply and could therefore be a means of achieving               relevant provisions of the Treaty;
such a policy;
                                                                 Whereas the Community must have at its disposal
Whereas the primary responsibility for financing such            every appropriate means of assessing, case by case,
activities lies with the petroleum industry; whereas,            the likely benefits of such projects and their
however, in view of the considerable risks and                   compatibility with the objectives of Community
investments which such activities entail, provision              energy policy;
should be made for the Community to grant them
support, especially to the extent that it makes it               Whereas, to this end, those benefiting should take on
possible to carry out certain projects more quickly;             obligations towards the Community in return for the
                                                                 advantages which they are to be granted;
                                                                 Whereas the Commission has evaluated the
0) OJ No L 312, 13. 11. 1973, p. 1.                              programme which was set up and has been
 ---pagebreak--- 6.12.84                                Official Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 325/7
implemented since 1974 under Regulation (EEC) N o                 participating undertakings, the project may be carried
3056/73 in reports which it has submitted to the                  out simply on the basis of cooperation between
Council and the European Parliament on the                        natural or legal persons. In that case, such persons
application of that Regulation; whereas this                      shall be jointly and severally liable for the obligations
evaluation has shown that the programme should be                 resulting from Community support.
continued and adapted in the light of the experience
gained; whereas this adaptation concerns essentially
the duration of the programme, the decision-making                                        Article 4
process, the definition of priority objectives and the            1.    Support for a project shall take the form of a
procedure for implementing the programme;                         Community financial contribution, granted under the
                                                                  conditions laid down in Articles 4 (2) and (3), 5, 6
Whereas the Treaty does not provide the powers                    and 7.
necessary for this purpose,
                                                                  2.    Support shall not exceed 49 % of the eligible
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                      cost of the project. When determining the amount of
                                                                  support to be granted, the Commission shall take into
                         Article 1                                account other financial aid for the project received or
                                                                  expected from Community, national or other sources
The Community may grant financial support for the                 and the share of the risk borne directly by those
carrying out of projects in the areas defined in Article          responsible for the project.
2 which are of fundamental importance for the
security of its hydrocarbons supplies.
                                                                  3.    The level of support shall be determined for
                                                                  each project individually, in accordance with the
                         Article 2                                procedure laid down in Article 5.
 1.    For      the purposes       of    this   Regulation,
'technological development        projects in the hydro-                                  Article 5
carbons sector' (hereinafter     referred to as 'projects')
means projects relating to       exploration, production,          1.    Every project submitted by individuals or under-
storage or transportation       activities in the hydro-          takings in the Community following an invitation to
carbons sector which satisfy    the following conditions:         submit projects published in the Official Journal of the
                                                                   European Communities shall be examined by the
                                                                   Commission on the basis of the following information
— they develop innovatory techniques, processes or
                                                                  to be provided by the applicants:
     products or exploit a new application of
     techniques, processes or products whose research
     stage is completed,                                          — a detailed description of the project, including the
                                                                      organization of its management,
— they offer prospects of industrial and commercial
     viability,                                                   — the importance of the project for the security of
                                                                      the Community's hydrocarbons supplies,
 — they present difficulties with regard to finance
     because of the considerable technical and                     — the nature and extent of the technical             and
     economic risks involved, to the extent that they                 economic risks inherent in the project,
     would very probably not be carried out without
     Community financial support.                                  — the cost of the project, its expected profitability
                                                                       and the financing arrangements proposed,
 2.    The prospects may be carried out within or
 outside the territory of the Community.                           — the time-scale for carrying out the project,
 3.    Financial support may be granted for a project              — the financial situation and technical capabilities of
 as a whole or for the various stages of a project.                    the person or persons responsible for the project,
                                                                   — details of any form of cooperation envisaged with
                          Article 3                                    other undertakings in the Community or non-
 All projects shall be the responsibility of a natural                 member countries,
 person or a legal person constituted in accordance
 with the laws of the Member States.                               — details of any financial aid which the project has
                                                                       received at an earlier stage of research and
 If the creation of a legal entity with the legal capacity             development from the Community or the Member
 to carry out a project involves additional costs for the              States,
 ---pagebreak---  No C 325/8                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               6.12.84
 — details of any other measure of financial support,            Throughout the duration of the work and during the
     adopted or expected from the Member States or                five years following its completion, the Commission
     the Community,                                               and the Court of Auditors, or their representatives,
                                                                 shall have access to the accounts relating to the
 — an assessment of any possible impact on the safety
                                                                 project for which support has been granted.
     of persons and on the environment,
                                                                 Documents relating to the projects must be preserved
 — any other factor which may                 justify  the       during the same period.
     Community support requested.
                                                                 4.    Where the extent of Community financial
 2.    The Commission shall decide whether to grant              support and the size of the project so warrant, the
 support for projects after consulting an advisory               Commission may participate as an observer in
 committee made up of representatives from the                   meetings of the bodies responsible for the
 Member States.                                                  management of projects, if the contract so provides.
The committee, chaired by a representative of the
                                                                                         Article 8
 Commission, shall draw up its rules of procedure.
                                                                 The information gathered pursuant to this Regulation
 3.    As a general rule, preference shall be given to           shall be confidential.
those projects involving the association of at least two
independent companies which are not established in                                       Article 9
the same Member State.
                                                                 A regular report shall be made by the Commission to
                                                                 the Council and to the European Parliament on the
                        Article 6
                                                                 application of this Regulation.
The support granted by the Community must not
affect the conditions of competition in a manner                                        Article 10
incompatible with the relevant provisions of the
Treaty.                                                          The appropriations allocated as financial support
                                                                 pursuant to this Regulation shall be entered in the
                                                                 general budget of the European Communities.
                        Article 7
                                                                The total amount of appropriations which is regarded
 1.   The Commission shall negotiate and conclude
                                                                 as necessary for the period 1 January 1985 to 31
the contracts necessary for the execution of projects
                                                                 December 1989 pursuant to this Regulation is 200
selected in accordance with the procedure laid down
                                                                 million ECU.
in Article 5 (2). To that end, it shall draw up a model
contract setting forth the rights and obligations of
                                                                                        Article 11
each party and in particular the procedures for any
repayment of financial support granted and for access            Regulation (EEC) N o 3056/73 is hereby repealed.
to and dissemination, as well as utilization, of
knowledge.                                                      However, Regulation (EEC) No 3056/73 shall
                                                                 continue to apply in respect of projects submitted in
2.    The person or persons responsible for executing           response to invitations to submit projects published
a project in receipt of Community support shall send            pursuant to that Regulation.
the Commission every six months or at its request a
report on the fulfilment of contractual obligations                                     Article 12
towards the Commission and in particular on the
                                                                This Regulation shall enter into force on the day
progress of work on the project and the expenditure
                                                                following its publication in the Official Journal of the
incurred in carrying it out.
                                                                 European Communities.
3.    The Commission may have checks carried out                It shall apply until 31 December 1989.
on the spot and on the basis of documents enabling it
to monitor the performance of the contract and in               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
particular the progress and execution of the project.           directly applicable in all Member States.