CELEX: 51998PC0723
Language: en
Date: 1998-12-04
Title: Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                  Brussels, 04.12.1998
                                                  COM(1998) 723 final
                                                  98/0101 (SYN)
                             Amended proposal for a
                        COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)
amending Council Regulation (EC) No. 2236/95 laying down general rules for the
  granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks
                      (Com (98) 172 final-98/0101
                                     final-98/0101 (SYN))
           (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                               of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                               Explanatory memorandum
                                              I
(1)    The Commission put forward to the Council and the Parliament on 18 March
        1998 a proposal for amending the (EC) Council Regulation n°2236/95 laying
       down general rules for granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-
       European networks (COM (98) 172 final).
(2)    The European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal at its first reading
       in the plenary session in Strasbourg on 19 November 1998. It has adopted 27
       amendments.
(3)    The Commission can accept 18 amendments out of the 27 adopted by the
       Parliament. 10 amendments can be accepted in full and included as such in the
       Commission proposal (n°2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22). They will improve
       the initial text and make it more precise. 8 amendments are acceptable in principle
       (n°l, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 17, 20) and have been introduced either with slight drafting
       changes or in a provision different from the one proposed by the EP. The
       remaining 9 amendments proposed by the European Parliament are not acceptable
       to the Commission.
       On the following pages are the changes described in detail. First are the changes
       which the Commission can accept in full or in principle, followed by those that
       the Commission can not accept.
(4)    The opinion of the Economic and Social committee delivered on 9 September has
       also been taken into consideration, at least partially, via the EP amendments.
                                              II
The following amendments have been accepted by the Commission :
       Amendment 1 (recital 2a)
       Amendment 1 stresses the importance of granting increased aid to applicant
       countries as well as the need for co-ordination with PHARE and I SPA
        instruments. This amendment deals with the same issue as amendment 2 and its
       principle has been introduced in recital 3. The coordination issue is already
        covered in the original recitals. .
        Amendment 2 (recital 3)
       The addition of "or to* links with third counlries",highlights the importance of
        granting a higher level of support to the projects which are connecting the
        infrastructure in the current European Union to the infrastructure networks in the
        applicant counties.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 3 (recital 4a new)
Amendment 3 requires the application for support to include a detailed
breakdown of the financial sources of finance.
Amendment 4 (recital 4b new)
This amendment aims to take into consideration the effects at regional, national
and European level of a project eligible for Community support. However, this is
not an additional criterion but rather further information required for assessment
of applications.
Amendment 6 (recital 8a new)
Amendment 6 reinforces and details the scope for the Community to use part of
the TEN-budget for risk-capital participation. This new way of using part of the
TEN-funds is a very important element in attracting private investment into
projects and to motivate the private sector to engage in public-private
partnerships. It has been partially introduced in the existing recital 2 to complete
the existing text.
Amendment 7 (recital 10)
Amendment 7 adds to the original Commission proposal that to raise the profile
of European Community subsidies, the regulation should specify how the
beneficiary should publicise the Community contribution. The analogy with
structural funds cannot be followed, as it would be disproportionate to the TEN
support.
Amendment 8 (art. 4.1.a in reg. 2236/95)
This specifies that only in exceptional cases and based on a proposal by the
Commission, and where appropriate with the consent of the member states,
Community participation may exceed the normal limit of 50%.
Amendment 9 (art. 4.1 .b in reg. 2236/95)
As concerns the duration of subsidies of loan interest, it shall as a general rule not
exceed seven years. This is in line with the Commission opinion.
Amendment 10 (art. 4.1.e in reg. 2236/95)
Amendment 10 specifies that if part of the TEN-budget is used for risk-capital
participation there needs to be a substantial private sector investment following
the Community's participation.
Amendment 12 (art. 5.3 in reg. 2236/95)
This specifies that especially for projects linking the Community with third-
countries, Community aid may reach 20% of the total investment cost, (see
amendment 2).
Amendment 14 (art. 9.1a third indent in reg. 2236/95) new
Amendment 14 states that estimates of external costs and of induced-traffic
volumes shall be submitted, where appropriate, to the Commission, together with
other economic analyses such as cost-benefit analyses and financial profitability
analyses.
Amendment 15 (art. 9.1a fifth indent in reg. 2236/95) new
                                          3
 ---pagebreak--- This states that the information given in the application forms must also contain a
description of the project's consistency with regional development plan and
foreseeable socio-economic effects.
Amendment 16 (art. 9.1a last indent in reg. 2236/95) new
This amendment states that in the financial plan which is part of the application
form it must clearly be stated how much of the financing comes from regional,
local and private sources.
Amendment 17 (art. 9.2. in reg. 2236/95)
The applicant for Community support shall supply the Commission any other
relevant additional information which the Commission requires, such as the
hypotheses on which the cost/benefit analysis is based. This amendment makes
the existing text, more explicit.
Amendment 18 (art. 15.4. in reg. 2236/95)
Amendment 18 states that the Commission and the Member States shall evaluate
the effects of the programme or projects including the environmental impact. This
evaluation should also include a discussion on the possible side effects, which
have appeared during and after the realisation of the project.
Amendment 19 (art. 16.2. in reg. 2236/95)
This requires there to be on all buildings constructed with support under this
regulation and accessible to the public, a permanent commemorative plaque with
the European emblem and a reference to co-financing by the Community.
Amendment 20 (art. 16 in reg. 2236/95), new
Amendment 20 says that the Commission shall once a year submit to the
European Parliament a report on the substance and implementation of the current
multi annual programme (MIP). This could be covered by the annual report on
TENs to the EP.
Amendment 22 (art. 18 in reg. 2236/95), new
This includes a reference amount of 5500 million ECU for the implementation of
this regulation in the period 2000-2006, which is consistent with the financial
statement attached to the original Commission proposal.
                                          Ill
The following amendments are not acceptable to Commission and therefore arc
not included in the modified proposal.
Amendment 5 (recital 8)
Amendment 5 says that the Commission should co-ordinate funding TEN
infrastructure with the other main Community financial instruments, and that the
co-ordination obligations of the Member states should be set out. The
Commission considers it unnecessary to stipulate in the regulation itself the
internal working procedures of the Commission. The provision on co-ordination
obligations for the Member States has not been adopted in the corresponding
                                          4
 ---pagebreak--- article.
Amendment 11 (art. 4.2.a in reg. 2236/95), new
It is here mentioned that at least 55% of the funds available should go to railways,
a maximum of 25% to roads and a maximum of 15% to traffic management
projects. The Commission rejects this proposal, as financial needs by modes can
not be foreseen in advance national priorities put forward by Member States. It
could also lead to poor management of the available funds.
Amendment 13 (art. 6.1a in reg. 2236/95), new
Here again restrictions are imposed on the way the budget is to be used. The
amendment stipulates that no more than 50% of the Community subsidies may be
used for priority projects, and that the rest should be used for other projects. The
amendment also mentions annex 1 and 3 in decision No. 1692/96/EC, which are
the guidelines for transport; the financial regulation concerns all three TEN
sectors.
Amendment 21 (art. 17.3. and 17.4. in reg. 2236/95), new
This proposes including a new committee procedure in the regulation. The
Commission can not accept this proposal, as it is a horizontal issue to be dealt
with separately. The consultative committee procedure proposed does not
conform to the procedure in Comitology Decision 87/373 of the Council and so
can not be used unless and until this decision is amended by the Council for
which a separate proposal by the Commission has been put forward this year.
Amendment 23 (art. 19 in reg. 2236/95), new
In this amendment it is proposed that the Council shall examine whether or not
this regulation may be extended beyond the period specified in article 18 (2000-
2006). The Commission rejects this amendment because such a provision is
unnecessary. The regulation will automatically apply after 2006 if it has not been
revised.
Amendment 24 (art. 16.1a in reg. 2236/95), new
It proposes that the Commission shall draw up an environmental impact statement
on each major project financed with Community aid. It falls under the
responsibility of the Member States to ensure that projects comply with
Community rules.
Amendment 25 (art.4.3 in reg.2236/95, new)
 This amendment develops the same idea on private financing as in the proposal of
the Commission. The existing proposal is coherent with the provision of the
Cohesion Fund, and leaves more flexibility for the Commission to promote
recourse to private financing.
Amendment 26 (art. 14 in reg.2236/95)
This amendment specifies the financial instruments and policies with which co-
ordination is needed. They are all already covered by the existing text
 ---pagebreak--- "Community financial instruments". There is no need to go into details in the text
of the regulation.
Amendment 30 (art. 15.2 in reg.2236/95)
This amendment imposes a systematic evaluation of individual projects by both
MS and Commission. The detailed evaluation of specific projects falls under the
responsibility of the MS, and is coherent with the subsidiarity principle. Global
and overall evaluation of the TEN programme is done by the Commission.
 ---pagebreak---                                         Amended proposal for a
                                   COUNCIL REGULATION (EC)
   amending Council Regulation (EC) No. 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of
  Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks (Com (98) 172 final-98/0101
                                                (SYN))
 Initial proposal                                            Modified proposal
                                                      Recital 2
(2)       Whereas      Community           financial  (2)      Whereas        Community           financial
participation provided for under that Regulation      participation provided for under that Regulation
may exceed the limit of 50% for studies               may exceed the limit of 50% for studies
undertaken on the initiative of the Commission;       undertaken on the initiative of the Commission;
whereas it is necessary to facilitate the financing   whereas in order to allow the Community to act as
of certain projects by including, among the           a catalyst for private sector involvement in the
possible forms of aid, contributions to ihe           financing of TENs, risk-capital as a form of aid
formation of risk capital; whereas it is desirable    under this regulation shall provide a basis for
to use the financial resources provided              future Community action to support public-private
under Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 in order to         partnership TEN projects; whereas it is desirable
maximize the contribution from private finance;      to use the - financial resources provided
                                                     under Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 in order to
                                                     maximize the contribution from private finance;
                                                     Recital 3
(3)      Whereas provision should be made so         (3) Whereas provision should be made so that
that certain projects related to more than one       certain projects related to more than one Member
Member State, or contributing strongly to the        State, or to links with third countries, in particular
broader trans-European interest, including those     relevant applicant countries, or contributing
with an important environmental dimension,           strongly to the broader trans-European interest,
may receive an increased level of support;           including       those    with    very       important
                                                     environmental dimension, may receive an
                                                     increased level of support
                                                     Recital 4a
                                                     4a. 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, from national,
                                                     regional and local government bodies, as well as
                                                     the extent of financial contributions from the
                                                     private sector
                                                     Recital 4b
                                                     ^^_ Whereas the effects at regional, national and
                                                     Iviiropean level of the projects^ eligible for
                                                     * '«immunity subsidies under this R egti lal i< mi mist
                                                     be included as an additional information required
 ---pagebreak---                                                        for the assessment of applications
                                                       Recital 10
  (10)    Whereas it is necessary to specify the 10. Whereas in order to increase the visibility of
  manner in which beneficiaries should publicize European Community subsidies it is necessary to
  Community contributions;                            specify the manner in which beneficiaries should
                                                      Dublicise Community contributions;
                                                       HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                       Article 4                                            Article 4
                     Forms of aid                                         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, (a) Co-financing of studies related to projects,
  including preparatory, feasibility and evaluation including preparatory, feasibility and evaluation
 studies, and other technical support measures studies, and other technical support measures for
 for these studies.                                   these studies.
 Community participation may in general not Community participation may in general not
 exceed 50% of the total cost of a study              exceed 50% of the total cost of a study.
 In exceptional cases, at the initiative of the       In exceptional cases, upon a relevant initiative by
 Commission and with the consent of the               the Commission and, where appropriate, with the
 Member       States    concerned,     Community      consent of the Member States concerned,
 participation may exceed the limit of 50%, in        Community participation may exceed the limit of
 particular for studies undertaken at the initiative  50%.
 of the Commission;
(b) subsidies of the interest on loans granted by b) subsidies of the interest on loans granted by the
the European Investment Bank or other public European Investment Bank or other public or
or private financial bodies                          private financial bodjes. As a general rule, the
                                                     duration of such a subsidy shall not exceed seven
(c) contributions towards fees for guarantees for    (c) contributions towards fees for guarantees for
loans from the European Investment Fund or           loans from the European Investment Fund or
private financial bodies;                            private financial bodies;
(d) direct grants to investments in duly justified (d) direct grants to investments in duly justified
cases;                                               cases;
(e) grants or risk-capital participation, for (e) grants or risk-capital participation, for
investment funds or comparable financial investment funds or comparable                           financial
undertakings with a priority focus on providing undertakings with a priority focus on providing
risk capital for trans-European network projects; risk capita] for trans-European network projects
                                                     and      involvuig ^substantial      private    sector
 ---pagebreak---                                                    investment;
3. The following paragraph is added to article The following sub-paragraph is added to article 5
5(3)
                    Article 5                                             Article 5
3. However in the case of projects related to      3. However in the case of projects related to more
more than one Member State, or contributing        than one Member State, or links with third-
strongly to the broader trans-European interest,  countries or contributing strongly to the broader
including    those    having an         important trans-European interest, including those having an
environmental dimension, the total amount of       important environmental dimension, the total
Community aid under this Regulation may           amount of Community aid under this Regulation
reach 20% of the total investment cost.           may reach 20% of the total investment cost.
                                                                          Article 9
                                                      Information required for the assessment and
                                                               identification of applications
                                                   I. Each application for financial aid shall include
                                                  all the information necessary for the examination
                                                  of the project according to Articles 5, 6 and 7, and
                                                  in particular:
                                                  (a) if the application concerns a project
                                                  - the body responsible for carrying out the project,
                                                  - a description of the project concerned and the
                                                  type of Community aid envisaged,
                                                  - the results of the cost/benefit analysis, including
                                                  the results of the potential economic viability, of
                                                  the financial profitability analysis, and where
                                                  appropriate considerations of externalities and of
                                                  induced traffic,
                                                  - the position of the project, according to the
                                                  guidelines, in the field of transport, on the axes
                                                  and nodes,
                                                  - consistency with regional planning, and the
                                                  foreseeable socio-economic effects,
                                                  - a summary description of the environmental
                                                  impact, based on the assessments carried out in
                                                  accordance with Council Directive 85/337/EEC of
                                                  27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of
                                                  certain public and private projects on the
                                                  environment,
                                                  - a statement that alternative possibilities of public
                                                  and private financing, including the European
                                                  Investment Fund and the European Investment
                                                    9
 ---pagebreak---                                                    Bank, have been examined,
                                                   - a financial plan listing, in euros 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
                                                   b) if the application relates to a study, the study's
                                                   objective and purpose and the methods and
                                                   techniques envisaged;
                                                   c) a provisional time-table of work;
                                                   d) a description of the control measures to be
                                                   operated by the Member State concerned over the
                                                   use of the funds requested.
                                                   2. Applicants shall supply the Commission with
                                                   any relevant additional information which it
                                                   requires, such as the hypothesis on which
                                                   cost/benefit analysis is based.
                                                   3. The Commission may seek any specialist
                                                   advice it requires in order to assess an application,
                                                    including the opinion of the European Investment
                                                    Bank.
                   Article 15                                              Article 15
4.      The Commission and the Member               4. The Commission and the Member States shall
States shall assess the manner in which the         assess the manner in which the projects and
projects and the programmes have been carried       programmes have been carried out and evaluate
out and evaluate the impact of their                the impact of their implementation, in order to
implementation, in order to assess whether the      assess whether the original objectives can be, or
original objectives can be, or have been,           have been, achieved. This evaluation shall, inter
achieved. This evaluation shall, inter alia, cover  alia, cover the impact of projects on the
the impact of projects on the environment,          environment, regard being had to the Community
regard being had to the Community laws in            laws in force This evaluation should also discuss
force. The Commission may also require the          possible side effects which have appeared during
beneficiary to provide a specific evaluation on     and after the realisation of the project. The
projects or groups of projects supported under      Commission may also require the beneficiary to
this Regulation, or to provide it with the           provide a specific evaluation on projects or
information and the assistance required to           groups supported under this Regulation, or to
evaluate such projects.                              provide it with the information and the assistance
                                                     required to evaluate such projects.
 12. The second sentence     of article   16(2) is    Article If) is replaced hv the following :
replaced hy the following
                   Article 16                                               Article 16
                                                     10
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    Information and publicity
                                                    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 the 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 of the
                                                    revisions provided in article 5a.
2. They shall ensure, in particular in the case of   2. They shall ensure, in particular in the case of
infrastructure works, that directly visible display  infrastructure works, that directly visible display
panels are erected bearing the Community logo        panels are erected bearing the Community logo
and the expression "Trans-European networks".        and the expressions "Trans-European networks".
In the case of studies and/or any other              At all facilities accessible to the public they shall
documents concerning a project, they shall          ensure the affixing of permanent commemorative
ensure that they carry the Community logo.           plaques with the European emblem and a
                                                     reference to cofinancing by the Community. In
                                                     the case of studies and/or any other documents
                                                     concerning a project, they shall ensure that they
                                                     carry the Community logo.
                                                    Article 18 is replaced by the following
                                                                           Article 18
                                                                      Budgetary resources
                                                     The amount serving as financial reference for
                                                     implementation of this regulation shall amount to
                                                     ECU 5500 million for the period 2000-2006. The
                                                     annual appropriations shall be approved by the
                                                     budgetary authority within the limits set by the
                                                     Financial Perspective.
                                                     it
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                 ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(98) 723 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                           07 10 06 11
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-722-EN-C
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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