CELEX: 51993PC0379(05)
Language: en
Date: 1993-07-15
Title: Re-examined proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guidance Section

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                               COMMUNITIES
                                                 C0MC93) 379 final
                                                 Brussels, 15 July 1993
                           Re-examined proposal for a         SYN455
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
      amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988
      on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their effectiveness
       and on coordination of their activities between themselves
         and with the operations of the European Investment Bank
                and the other existing financial instruments
                           Re-examined proposal for a        SYN455
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
   amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988
  laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
                  as regards coordination of the activities
           of the different Structural Funds between themselves
         and with the operations of the European Investment Bank
                and the other existing financial instruments
                           Re-examined proposal for a       SYN457
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
   amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                 Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the
                      European Regional Development Fund
                           Re-examined proposal for a       SYN457
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC]
        amending Regulation (EEC) No 4255/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                          Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
                     as regards the European Social Fund
                          Re-examined proposal for a        SYN457
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
        amending Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                         Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
             as regards the European Agricultural Guidance and
                   Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guidance Section
                          Re-examined proposal for a             <?YN4*57
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
   laying down provisions for implementing Council Regulation (EEC)
            No 2052/88 as regards the Financial Instrument for
                               Fisheries Guidance
       (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(2)(d)
                               of the EEC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                                     A-
                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On 24 June 1993, following Parliament's first reading on 22 June, the
Commission sent to the Council amended proposals for the Structural Funds
Regulations (EEC) Nos 2052/88, 4253/88, 4254/88, 4255/88 and 4256/88 and
the Regulation for the FIFG.
In its communication to Parliament of 7 July, the Commission commented on
the common position adopted by the Council on 3 July, welcoming its
acceptance of a large number of Parliament's most important amendments, or
 at least those which the Commission itself had accepted: regular
 information to Parliament on the Community's structural measures, greater
 attention to environmental policy and equal opportunities for men and
 women, and a more detailed method for designating the areas eligible under
 Objectives 2 and 5(b).
 However, in its communication the Commission also regretted that the
 Council had watered down the principle of associating the economic and
 social partners in the preparation and implementation of Community
  structural measures. It also deplored the establishment of a new
  Management Committee for the Community initiatives.
  Subsequently, a meeting between Parliament, the Council and the Commission
  on 12 June reached an agreement enabling Parliament to complete its
  consideration of and issue opinions on the six proposed regulations.
  As a result of that arrangement between the three Institutions and the
  votes on amendments at second reading and Parliament's opinions on 14 July,
  the Commission is now sending to the Council its re-examined proposals for
  the Regulations concerned which, in view of the extreme urgency of the
"patter, comprise only the amendments to the proposals it sent on 24 June.
   Its rë-examination covers in particular:
       a new wording in the Framework Regulation and the ERDF and ESF
       Regulations concerning the association of the economic and social
       partners, as agreed at the meeting between the three institutions;
       communication to Parliament of proposed Community initiatives (under
       the Coordination Regulation and the ERDF Regulation) that are to be
       transmitted to the new Management Committee composed of representatives
       of the Member State;
       a reference to the Green Paper on the       Community initiatives  in a
       recital to the Coordination Regulation;
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 2 -
-   the   laying   down   of  arrangements   for   the   implementation  of
    Objective 5(a) by the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission
    and after securing Parliament's opinion before 31 December 1993
    (Framework Regulation, EAGGF Guidance Section Regulation and FIFG
    Regulation).
The Commission has, however, been unable to accept the other amendments
voted by Parliament on second reading because it considered that it had
already taken them into account in large measure, at least in spirit, in
its amended proposals and because it was necessary to preserve the delicate
balance of the common position adopted by the Council. However, it must be
noted that Parliament's main concerns have been met by the statements made
by the Commission to the whole House and recorded in the minutes of the
tri-partite meeting of 12 July and in those of Parliament's plenary sitting
of 13 July. These centred principally on:
-   taking account of the guidelines laid down by Parliament in its debate
    on the Green Paper on the Community initiatives;
-   whenever possible, seeking Parliament's comments before the decision to
    introduce each Community initiative;
    establishment of a code of conduct to give Parliament a greater role in
    the monitoring and assessment of Community structural measures;
    a commitment by the three Institutions to complement assistance from
    the Structural Funds by ad hoc measures in areas of non-member
    countries bordering on the Community to be financed from a specific
    budget heading lying outside Title B-2;
-   presentation as necessary of appropriate proposals on the Regulations
    governing the Structural Funds in the light of the first three-year
    report on economic and social cohesion.
 ---pagebreak---                                      s
                          Re-examined proposal for a
                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
        amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988
        on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their effectiveness
         and on coordination of their activities between themselves
           and with the operations of the European Investment Bank
                 and the other existing financial instruments
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
    The first subparagraph of Article 4(1) is replaced by the following:
 "Community operations shall be such as to complement or contribute to
 corresponding national operations. They shall be established through close
 consultations between the Commission, the Member States concerned and the
 competent authorities and bodies - including, within the context of each
 Member State's national institutional rules and current practices, the
 economic and social partners - designated by the Member State at national,
 regional, local or other level, with each party acting as a partner in
 pursuit of a common goal. These consultations are hereinafter referred to
 as the 'partnership*. The partnership shall cover the preparation,
 financing, monitoring and assessment of operations."
    Article 11 is replaced by the following:
                                  "Article 11
                                Objective 5(a)
 The detailed rules for implementing operations relating to the adjustment
 of structures in agriculture and the fisheries sector (Objective 5(a))
 shall be laid down in accordance with Article 3(4) and (5)."
 ---pagebreak---                             Re-examined proposal for a
                             COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
       amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988
     laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/83
                    as regards coordination of the activities
              of the different Structural Funds between themselves
            and with the operations of the European Investment Bank
                  and the other existing financial instruments
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
     A new recital is inserted:
  '7a.    Whereas operations of significant interest to the Community
          undertaken at the initiative of the Commission have an important
           role to play in achieving the general objectives of Community
           structural policy as set out in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC)
           No 2052/88; whereas these initiatives should primarily help to
           promote     cross-border,    trans-national   and    inter-regional
           cooperation and assist the most remote regions, in accordance with
           the principle of subsidiarity; whereas the Commission has adopted,
           as COM (93) 282, a Green Paper on the future of the Community
           initiatives in order to encourage a wide discussion on the types
          of Community initiatives to be undertaken in the future;"
     The first subparagraph of Article 11(1) is amended to read as follows:
 "In accordance with Article 5(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the
 Commission may on its own initiative, after informing the European
 Parliament [        ] and in accordance with the procedures provided for in
 Title VIII, decide to propose to the Member States that they submit
 applications for assistance in respect of measures of significant interest
 to the Community. Any assistance approved pursuant to this provision shall
 be reflected in the establishment or revision of the relevant Community
 support framework."
 ---pagebreak---                            Re-examined proposal for a
                             COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
      amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                 Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the
                     European Regional Development Fund
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
    The third subparagraph of Article 3(2) is replaced by the following:
 "When they are undertaken on the initiative of the Commission, the
 Commission, after informing [ ] the European Parliament and after
 consulting the Committee referred to in Article 29a of Regulation (EEC)
 No 4253/88, shall lay down their guidelines and invite the Member States
 concerned to establish requests for assistance. It shall order their
 publication in the Official    Journal  of the European Communities."
    Article 9 is replaced by the following:
 "The Community's regional action shall be carried out in close
 consultation between the Commission, the Member States concerned and the
 competent authorities and bodies - including, within the context of each
 Member State's national institutional rules and current practices, the
 economic and social partners - designated by the Member States, in
 accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, for the
 implementation of measures at regional level."
 ---pagebreak---                                     é
                          Re-examined proposal for a
                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
          amending Regulation (EEC) No 4255/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                         Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
                     as regards the European Social Fund
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
    The second subparagraph of Article 4(1) is replaced by the following:
 "These plans should indicate the manner in which the obligation referred
 to in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 to involve the economic and
 social partners in the partnership (        ), within the context of each
 Member State's national institutional rules and current practices, has
 been taken into account."
    The second indent of Article 4(3) is replaced by the following:
 "- the way in which the Member States will secure, within the context of
    each Member State's national institutional rules and current practices,
    the participation of the economic and social partners and of vocational
    training bodies at the approporiate level when preparing actions,
    particularly as regards anticipating the effects of industrial changes
    and changes in production systems;"
 ---pagebreak---                                   >
                          Re-examined proposal for a
                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
          amending Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 of 19 December 1988
                   laying down provisions for implementing
                         Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
              as regards the European Agricultural Guidance and
                   Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guidance Section
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
The following Article is inserted:
                                 "Article 11a
 Without prejudice to Article 33 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, the
 Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission in accordance with the
 procedure laid down in Article 43 of the Treaty, shall decide not later
 than 31 December 1993 on adjustments to common measures financed under
 Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88, with a view to achieving the
 goals set out in Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and in accordance with the
 rules set out in Regulations (EEC) Nos 2052/88 and. 4253/88 as well as with
 Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88."
 ---pagebreak---                          Re-examined proposal for a
                          COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
      laying down provisions for implementing Council Regulation (EEC)
             No 2052/88 as regards the Financial Instrument for
                             Fisheries Guidance
The amended proposal remains unchanged except for the following:
The following is inserted:
                                 "Article 6
Without prejudice to Article 33 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88         and
Article 9 of this Regulation, the Council, acting on a proposal from   the
Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 43 of the
Treaty, shall adopt not later than 31 December 1993 the detailed rules and
conditions for the FIFG contribution to the measures for adaptation     of
structures in the sector covered by this Regulation."
 ---pagebreak---                                                  j
                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475
                                                               COM(93) 379 final
                                                       DOCUMENTS
 EN                                                                             01
                                Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-407-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-58312-6
Office for Offidal Publications of the European Conuamnities
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