CELEX: 51985PC0838
Language: en
Date: 1985-12-31
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) INSTITUTING A COMMUNITY PROGRAMME FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN LESS-FAVOURED REGIONS OF THE COMMUNITY BY EXPLOITING INDIGENOUS ENERGY POTENTIAL (VALOREN PROGRAMME)

31. 12. 85                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                         No C 358/11
2.     The decision whether to grant aid from the Fund shall                     shall act by a majority of 45 votes, the votes of the Member
be taken in accordance with Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EEC)                    States being weighted as laid down in Article 148 (2) of the
No 729/70.                                                                       Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
3.     Advance payments may be granted by the Fund on the                        3.      The Commission shall adopt the measures, which shall
basis of the financial arrangements adopted by the United                        be immediately applicable. However, if such measures are
Kingdom and in the light of progress made in implementing                        not in accordance with the opinion delivered by the Standing
the projects.                                                                    Committee on Agricultural Structures, they shall be
4.     Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be               communicated forthwith by the Commission to the Council.
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in                            In that case, the Commission may defer application of the
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.                                        measures which it has adopted by not more than one month
                                                                                 from the date of such communication. The Council, acting
                                                                                 by a qualified majority, may adopt a different decision within
                              Article 8                                          one month.
1.     In cases where recourse is had to the procedure laid
down in this Article, the matter shall be referred to the
Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures by its                                                        Article 9
chairman either on his own initiative or at the request of the
representative of a Member State.                                                This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
                                                                                 following its publication in the Official Journal of the
2.     The chairman shall submit a draft of the measures to be                   European Communities.
taken. The Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures
shall deliver its opinion on these measures within a time limit                  This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
set by the chairman according to the urgency of the matter. It                   applicable in all Member States.
                                                                        ANNEX
                                                                                                                        (million ECU)
                                                                                 Total maximum                   Total cost
                                Measures to be financed
                                                                                   eligible cost                to EAGGF
                1. Improvement of structures for production                            52,5                        21,0
                   and of rural infrastructure, including the costs
                   of activating the programme ( ] )
               2. Investments to improve agricultural housing                            8,0                        3,2
                   and investments relating to tourism and
                   small-scale industries on agricultural hold-
                   ings
               3. Payments to farmers who subscribe to certain                           2,0                        0,8
                   agreements relating to environmental
                   protection
                                                              Total                    62,5                        25,0
               (') Measures for the Western Isles provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 1929/81.
               Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) instituting a Community programme for the development of
               certain less-favoured regions of the Community by exploiting indigenous energy potential (Valoren
                                                                     programme)
                                                                 COM(8S).838        final
                                                                   (85/C 358/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                        Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1787/84 of
                                                                                 19 June 1984 on the European Regional Development
                                                                                Fund (*), and in particular Article 7 (4) thereof,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community,                                                              (») OJNoL 169, 28. 6. 1984, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 358/12                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                 31. 12. 85
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   the Community's energy objectives; whereas, therefore, it
                                                                     provides a better link between the Community's regional
                                                                     development objectives and the objectives of Community
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,             energy policy;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
                                                                     Whereas the information received from the Member States
Committee,                                                           concerned reveals that they possess exploitable indigenous
                                                                     energy resources and potential in the field of energy
                                                                     saving;
Whereas Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1787/84,
hereinafter referred to as 'the Fund Regulation', provides for
participation by the Fund in Community programmes the
purpose of which is to help in solving serious problems              Whereas Community assistance makes it possible to exploit
affecting the socio-economic situation in one or more regions        the technical and economic experience gained by the
and which are designed to provide a better link between the          Community pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No
Community's objectives for the structural development or             3640/85 (3), on the promotion, by the granting of financial
conversion of regions and the objectives of other Community          support, of demonstration projects relating to the
policies;                                                            exploitation of alternative energy sources, to energy saving
                                                                     and to the substitution of hydrocarbons, and of industrial
                                                                     pilot projects and demonstration projects relating to the
Whereas Ireland, the Mezzogiorno and some regions in                 liquefaction and gasification of solid fuels; whereas
Greece, Spain and Portugal have to contend with particularly         Community assistance can thus facilitate, through their wide
serious economic problems; whereas these regions are, at             dissemination, measures to place new techniques on an
the same time, confronted with serious energy problems               economically viable footing;
affecting their socio-economic situation, such as heavy
dependence on imports, especially oil, for their energy needs,
a large share of hydrocarbons in the generation of electricity       Whereas larger-scale application of new energy techniques
and a decline in the energy content of gross domestic product        under satisfactory economic conditions necessitates
that is less pronounced than the Community average;                  preparation at regional level involving appropriate technical
                                                                     studies and market surveys, a coordinated and consistent
                                                                     approach based on local or regional energy plans, technical
Whereas similar economic and energy problems are                     assistance for users, in particular small and medium-sized
encountered in Corsica, in the French overseas departments           enterprises, and promotional and information campaigns;
and in Northern Ireland;
                                                                     Whereas, in the regions qualifying for assistance under
Whereas the exploitation of local energy resources and the
                                                                     Council Regulation (EEC) No 2618/80 of 7 October 1980
efficient use of energy are apt to foster the economic
                                                                     instituting a specific Community regional development
development of the regions concerned by raising the level of
                                                                     measure contributing to improving security of energy supply
production, permitting job creation and promoting the
                                                                     in certain Community regions by way of improved use of new
dissemination of new technologies;
                                                                     techniques for hydro-electric power and alternative energy
                                                                     sources ( 4 ), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 218/84 (5),
                                                                     and under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2088/85 of
Whereas, because of their structural economic problems, the
                                                                     23 July 1985 concerning the integrated Mediterranean
aforementioned Member States and regions are finding it
                                                                     programmes (6), additional measures are required to
difficult to meet the energy objectives laid down by the
                                                                     augment and supplement the assistance available;
Community in the Council resolution of 9 June 1980 (*);
whereas those objectives include inter alia reducing the
average ratio for the whole Community of the rate growth of
gross primary energy consumption to that of gross domestic           Whereas Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on
product, reducing oil consumption in the Community,                  the assessment of the effects of certain public and private
covering a large proportion of primary energy requirements           projects on the environment (7) provides inter alia that
for the production of electricity by means of solid fuels and        certain types of projects are to be made subject to an
nuclear energy, and encouraging the use of renewable energy          assessment where Member States consider that their
sources so as to secure an overall reduction in the                  characteristics so require;
Community's dependence on imported energy; whereas,
in recommendation 82/604/EEC ( 2 ), the Council also
encouraged investment in the efficient use of energy;                Whereas Community assistance must be provided under
                                                                     multiannual programmes drawn up by the Member States
Whereas a Community programme to exploit indigenous
energy potential also contributes towards attainment of              (3) OJ No L 350, 27. 12. 1985, p. 29.
                                                                     (4) OJ No L 271, 15. 10. 1980, p. 23.
                                                                     (5) OJ No L 27, 31. 1. 1984, p. 19.
H OJ No C 149, 18. 6. 1980, p. 1.                                    («) OJ No L 197, 27. 7. 1985, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 247, 23. 8. 1982, p. 9.                                  (7) OJ No L 175, 5. 7. 1985, p. 40.
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 12. 85                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 358/13
concerned in collaboration with the Commission; whereas             (c) in Greece: all regions with the exception of'area A' of the
the Commission, in approving the programmes, should                      prefecture of Attiki as currently defined by Law No
establish that the measures planned are in keeping with this              1262/82 of 14 June 1982 (Official Journal of the
Regulation,                                                              Hellenic Republic, 16 June 1982, A No 70, p. 559);
                                                                    (d) in Ireland: all regions;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                        (e) in Italy: the regions and zones of the Mezzogiorno;
                           Article 1                                (f) in Portugal: 0);
                                                                    (g) in the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland.
A Community programme within the meaning of Article 7 of
the Fund Regulation that contributes to the development of
certain less-favoured regions of the Community by exploiting
indigenous energy potential is hereby established.
                                                                                                 Article 4
                                                                    The Fund may participate, under the                  Community
                           Article 2                                programme, in the following operations:
The purpose of the Community programme shall be to                   1. Exploitation of local energy resources
contribute to strengthening the economic base in the regions
concerned by improving local energy supply conditions, to                For the purposes of this Regulation, these shall
foster job creation and to help raise technological standards            comprise:
in those regions. To this end, the programme shall provide
for the implementation of a series of consistent, multiannual            (a) alternative and renewable energies, namely solar
measures aimed at the exploitation of local energy resources                   and wind energy, biomass including urban waste,
and the efficient use of energy together with promotional                      small-scale hydro-power and geothermal energy.
measures in both cases, including the dissemination of new
technologies.                                                                  The following operations shall be eligible under this
                                                                               heading:
The Community programme shall thereby seek to provide a                        — investments in energy generation                and
better link between the Community's objectives for the                            conversion,       including      connections     to
structural development of regions and the objectives of                           distribution grids, for example, installation of
Community energy policy.                                                          mini-turbines, including preparation of existing
                                                                                  sites and the related hydro-electric installations,
                                                                                  wind-powered generators, equipment utilizing
                                                                                  solar energy and installations to recover energy
                           Article 3                                              from biomass, as well as the prospection and
                                                                                  development of geothermal fields and
                                                                                  particularly installations for exploiting such
1.     The Community programme shall concern regions                              fields,
which satisfy each of the following conditions:
                                                                               — feasibility studies in these fields and
(a) they are faced with a particularly difficult economic                         environmental impact studies as provided for in
     situation, in respect of the Community as a whole;                           Council Directive 85/337/EEC;
(b) they are located:                    i                               (b) small deposits of peat and lignite, as defined in the
                                                                               Annex to this Regulation.
     — either in Member States that have considerable
         leeway to make up as regards attainment of the                        The following operations shall be eligible under this
         objectives of Community energy policy, or                             heading:
     — on islands having to contend with high energy costs                     — investment in the extraction and processing of
         and heavily dependent on external energy                                 the fuel. Large combustion plants shall include
         supplies;                                                                equipment and devices to reduce air pollution as
                                                                                  provided for in the Community directives,
(c) they are normally covered by a national regional aid                       — feasibility studies in these fields and
     scheme.                                                                      environmental impact studies as provided for in
                                                                                  Directive 85/337/EEC.
2.     The regions satisfying the conditions set out in
paragraph 1 are:                                                    (') The regions will be determined by the Commission once the
                                                                        regional State aid scheme submitted by the Member State under
(a) in Spain: (*);                                                      Articles 92 and 93 of the EEC Treaty has been declared
                                                                        compatible with the common market, pursuant to Article 92 of
(b) in France: Corsica and the overseas departments;                    the Treaty.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 358/14                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    31. 12. 85
    Efficient use of energy in small and medium-sized                               local energy resources and with the efficient use
    enterprises in the industrial, craft industry and service                       of energy,
     sectors, including tourism, and in connection with
     infrastructures, within the limits laid down in the Annex                  — encouraging the design, manufacture and
     to the Fund Regulation.                                                        installation of such plant, equipment and
                                                                                    processes;
    For the purposes of this Regulation, this use shall
    cover:                                                                 (c) information and publicity campaigns aimed at
                                                                               making potential users aware of the advantages
     (a) energy savings:
                                                                               accruing from the exploitation of local energy
          The following operations shall be eligible under this                resources and the efficient use of energy and of the
          heading:                                                             support measures planned under the Community
                                                                               programme. Such campaigns may include the
          — investment projects to reduce specific energy                      organization of seminars, courses and briefings, the
              consumption, such as insulation, regulation,                     publication of standards and the dissemination of
              lagging and load balancing,                                      the results of demonstration projects.
          — feasibility studies in these fields;
    (b) oil substitution
          The following operations shall be eligible under this                                  Article 5
          heading:
          — investment projects to secure efficient utilization       The Community programme shall be financed jointly by the
              of natural gas, combined heat and electricity           Member State concerned and the Community. Assistance
              generation, recovery of waste heat and the              from the Fund, which may not exceed 55 % of the total
              replacement of oil products by urban,                   public expenditure taken into account in the programme,
              agricultural and industrial waste, by lignite or        shall be provided from the appropriations entered for this
              peat and by agricultural by-products,                   purpose in the general budget of the European communities.
                                                                      The Community contribution shall be as follows:
          — feasibility studies in these fields and
              environmental impact studies as provided for in
              Directive 85/337/EEC.                                   1. Operations relating to the exploitation of local energy
                                                                          resources and to the efficient use of energy, as referred to
                                                                          in Article 4 (1) and (2):
    Promotion at local and regional levels of improved use of
    energy potential.                                                     (a) infrastructure investment projects financed wholly
                                                                               or partly by public authorities or by an equivalent
    The following operations shall be eligible under this                      body responsible for the implementation of
    heading:                                                                   infrastructure projects: 55 % of the total
                                                                               expenditure borne by a public authority or
                                                                               equivalent body;
    (a) surveys and studies aimed at:
          — better identifying the opportunities for                      (b) investment projects in the industrial, craft industry
              exploiting local energy resources and for making                 and service sectors: 50 % of the public expenditure
              efficient use of energy,                                         resulting from the grant of investment aid;
          — pinpointing potential markets for the plant and
              equipment needed to exploit energy resources;               (c) feasibility and environmental impact studies: either
              these studies may concern the adaptation of such                 70 % of their cost or 50 % of the public expenditure
              plant and equipment to local conditions,                         resulting from the grant of aid in respect of them.
          — preparing the ground for local and regional
              energy programmes contributing to a better              2. Promotion of improved exploitation of indigenous
              balance between regional energy needs and local             energy potential:
              and national resources and to integrated
              utilization of those resources;                             (a) operations referred to in Article 4 (3) (a): either
                                                                               70 % of the cost of surveys or studies or 50 % of the
    (b) provision of advisory services and technical back-up                   public expenditure resulting from the grant of aid in
          for small and medium-sized enterprises in the                        respect of them;
          industrial, craft industry and service sectors,
          including tourism, with a view to:                              (b) operations referred to in Article 4 (3) (b):
          — facilitating use of the plant, equipment and                       — 50 % of the public expenditure resulting from
              processes associated with the exploitation of                        the grant of aid to businesses, or
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 12. 85                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                               N o C 358/15
          — aid covering part of the expenditure incurred by          — an appropriate share of the Fund's contribution shall be
              advisory and technical back-up agencies in                  earmarked for the least-favoured regions covered by the
              respect of the provision of services to businesses.         programme,
              This aid shall be degressive and shall be granted
              for three years. It shall cover 70 % of                 — the programme shall comprise regional or local and,
              expenditure in the first year and shall not exceed          where appropriate, sectoral sub-programmes depending
              50 % of total expenditure over the three-year               on the operations prescribed in Article 4; the
              period;                                                     sub-programmes shall be extensive enough to warrant
                                                                          implementation of the promotional measures provided
     (c) operations referred to in Article 4 (3) (c): aid                 for in Article 4 (3),
         covering 50 % of the cost of information and
         publicity campaigns.                                         — of the operations provided for in Article 4, priority shall
                                                                          be given to the exploitation operations referred to in
                                                                          Article 4 (1),
                                                                      — of the operations provided for in Article 4 (2), priority
                            Article 6                                     shall be given to the operations affording the best return
                                                                          on investment in terms of energy saving,
1.     All or part of the aid may be in the form of a capital         — the Fund's contribution to the promotional measures
grant or an interest subsidy.                                             provided for in Article 4 (3) may not exceed 20 % of the
                                                                          total contribution to the programme; in addition, the
                                                                          Fund's contribution to the surveys and studies provided
2.     The following shall be eligible for Fund assistance in
                                                                          for in Article 4 (3) (a) may not exceed 5 % of the total
respect of operations referred to in Article 5: public
                                                                          contribution to the progamme.
authorities, local and regional authorities, other bodies,
businesses or individuals.
                                                                                                  Article 8
3.     The investment projects referred to in Article 4 shall
match established performances and shall not therefore be
eligible under Regulation (EEC) No 3640/85.                           1.     The duration of the programme shall be five years from
                                                                      the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
4. (a) Aid granted under the Community programme shall                2.     The intervention programme shall be submitted to the
          not be combined with aid provided for in the Fund           Commission for adoption as a programme agreement in
          Regulation or in Regulation (EEC) No 2618/80,               accordance with Article 13 (1) of the Fund Regulation. The
          except where this is expressly provided for by the          Commission shall establish that the programme is
          Council, including in Regulation (EEC) No                   compatible with Article 44 of the Fund Regulation.
          2088/85;
     (b) Furthermore, the aids referred to in Article 5 (1) (c)       3.     In addition to publication of the decisions concerning
          and (2) may not have the effect of reducing the share       the grant of Fund assistance for the programme, the
          of expenditure borne by recipient businesses to less        programme adopted shall be published by the Commission
          than 20 % of total expenditure.                             for information purposes.
                                                                                                  Article 9
                             Article 7
                                                                      The amount of Fund assistance may not exceed the amount
                                                                      laid down by the Commission when adopting the agreement
The competent authorities in each of the Member States                referred to in Article 8 (2).
concerned shall, in consultation with the Commission, draw
up within a period of six months from the entry into force of
this Regulation an intervention programme satisfying the
                                                                                                 Article 10
following conditions:
— it shall contain the particulars referred to in the Annex to        This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
    this Regulation,                                                  publication in the Official Journal of the European
                                                                      Communities.
— it shall fall within the framework of the regional
    development programmes referred to in Article 2 (3) of            This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
    the Fund Regulation,                                              applicable in all Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- ^oC^^l^                                  C^tttci^l]onrn^iotrn^^iirooc^nCornrnnnin^                                           ^t.t^ ^
       The intervention programme, broken down, where appropriate, by region and comprising the particulars hstedin
       Article^of the Fund Regulation and some further particulars,shall be drawn up on the basis of the following
       outlined
        1. general information
            m^ aconcise analysis ofthe situation and prospects in the energy field and the interrelationship between them
                 and the socio-economic situations
            ^    a brief description of measures adopted to meet energy needs, indicating the bodies responsible^
            ^   the amount of expenditure incurred in previous years and that forecast for the period covered by the
                programmed
        ^. ^ptoitation of local energy resources and efficient use of energy
            ^    an analysis of the situation and prospects in both these fields andadescnption of measures adopted and
                 existing aid schemes, indicating the average amount of public expenditure involved each year.
            ^    in relation to the operations referred to in A r t i c l e ^ O ^ ^ ^ ^
                   ^   forecasts for investment in alternative and renewable energies ^solarandwind energy, biomass
                       including urban waste,smallscalehydropower and geothermalenergy^,location of projects,and
                       information on their technical advancement and economic feasibility^
                  m^ forecasts for exploitation of small deposits of peat and lignite, defined in the content of the present
                       Regulation as being those deposits or group of deposits in the same basin with an annual production
                       of less than ^OeoOro tonnes oil equivalents location and average annual production of each site^
                       investments needed and average cost per tonne oil equivalent produced^
                 ^     forecasts fonnvestments in energy saving and oil substitution,broken down bytechnological sector,
                       and information on their economic feasibility^
                 ^     details ofhow experience gained from the demonstration projects partfinanced by the Community
                       under Regulation ^ F ^ C ^ o ^ ^ e ^ ^ ^ has been taken into accounts
                  ^    forecasts relating to feasibility studies and environmental impact studies^
                 ^     expected results,in quantified form,of measures to improve the energy situation^supphes and cost^
                       and the socioeconomic situation ^particularly employment and technology transfers^
        ^. promotion at local and regional levels of improved exploitation of energy potential
            ^    an analysis of the situation and needs in this field andadescnption of studies,surveys or promotional
                 campaigns undertaken and of existing aidschemes for advisory services and technical backup,indicating
                 the average amount of public expenditure involved each year^
            ^b^ operations referred to in Article^tO^
                   ^i^ a programme for carrying out surveys and studies^
                  ^    forecasts for the granting of aid to businesses in connection with advisory services and technical
                       backup, indicating the expected results with regard to theproduction and use o f t h e plant,
                       equipment and processes associated with the exploitation of local energy resources and with the
                       efficient use of energy^
                 ^iii^ forecasts relating to the organisation of information and publicity campaigns^
        ^.   The programme a s a w h o l e
             ^a^ summary of objectives'
             ^    timetabled
             ^    estimates of the volume of public expenditure connected with the programmers implementation,
                  including an annual breakdown of such expenditure for each of the operations envisaged a n d a c l e a r
                  indication of the various national and Community sources of financed
             ^    in so far as this information has not been identified with sufficient accuracy in the regional development
                  programme,adescnption of the existing or future public measures which it is intended to implement
                  alongside the special programmed
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 12. 85                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                        No C 358/17
                 (e) an indication of the authorities or bodies responsible for carrying out the various parts of the programme
                     and the coordination arrangements;
                 (f) details of the Commission's involvement in the programme follow-up;
                 (g) arrangements for publicizing ERDF aid, the purpose being to make potential beneficiaries and trade and
                     industry aware of the opportunities offered by the programme and of the role played by the Community,
                     as well as to inform the public at large of the ERDF contribution towards the region's economic
                     development.
           Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) laying down implementing rules for Regulation
                             (EEC) No 3331/82 on food-aid policy and food-aid management (')
                                                           COM(8S) 857 final
                                                             (85/C 358/05)
           Annex I is hereby amended as follows:
                                                                 'ANNEX J
           The quantities referred to in Article 1 to be made available annually:
           — for cereals:
               (a) an initial instalment of 927 700 tonnes;
               (b) a second instalment of up to 232 300 tonnes,
           — for milk powder:
               a maximum of 108 600 tonnes,
           — for butteroil:
               a maximum of 28 700 tonnes,
           — for sugar:
               a maximum of 11 000 tonnes,
           — for vegetable oil (seed oil and olive oil):
               a maximum of 9 100 tonnes,
           — for other products:
               quantities totalling not more than 211 700 tonnes cereal equivalent,
           — food aid in the form of the above products totalling not more than 546 900 tonnes of cereal equivalent to be
               kept in reserve for food emergencies.'
           (») O] No C 250, 2. 10. 1985, p. 7.