CELEX: 51982PC0357
Language: en
Date: 1982-09-14
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON THE PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVES IN SUPPORT OF CATEGORIES OF INVESTMENT IN THE RATIONAL USE OF ENERGY

30. 10. 82                        Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 285/5
                                              COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation on the payment of financial incentives in support of
                                 categories of investment in the rational use of energy
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 27 September 1982)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                    Whereas certain categories of investment in this field
COMMUNITIES,                                                   are especially important in ensuring the achievement
                                                               of the energy policy objectives, particularly the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
                                                               diversification of sources of energy and the modifying
European Economic Community, and in particular                 of the pattern of demand, and in consequence are of
Article 235 thereof,                                           great public interest;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                               Whereas this applies to investments designed to
Having regard to the opinion of the European                   exploit industrial waste heat, or recover heat from
Parliament,                                                    waste or to encourage the use of solid fuel in the
                                                               production of heat for district heating systems;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                              Whereas this also applies to investment enabling firms
                                                               to replace more rapidly oil-fired plant by coal-fired
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty, the              plant using novel high-yield techniques;
Community has as its task to promote throughout the
Community a harmonious development of economic                 Whereas this applies equally to investments in the
activities, a continuous and balanced expansion and            preparation of coal to render this fuel economically
an increase in stability;                                      attractive for use in heat-generating plant the
                                                               location, size, and fuel requirements of which vary
Whereas there exists in this context a critical need for       widely;
the Community to diversify its energy supplies and to
switch away from oil to alternative forms of energy;           Whereas this applies equally to investments designed
                                                               to produce energy from urban, agricultural and
Whereas it is also important in this context that the          industrial waste, and also from agricultural by-
structure of energy demand should be modified so as            products;
to reduce substantially and permanently the constraint
which excessive energy dependence still imposes on             Whereas the commitment of these categories of
the economic activity of the Community;                        investment encounters economic and financial
                                                               obstacles arising from uncertainty about the future
Whereas at the same time the structure of demand for           course of energy prices, the long payback period
energy cannot be sufficiently modified without a               generally required for investment, the cost of
volume of investment markedly higher than that                 equipment, high and unstable interest rates, and
which has so far been made in the Community as a               budgetary constraints which restrict the activity of
whole;                                                         certain organizations, especially local authorities;
Whereas in the present situation many producers and
                                                               Whereas there is a need to bring into play the
 consumers hesitate before making the requisite
                                                               Community's lending instruments which are suitable
 investments, particularly as a result of the uncertainty
                                                               for accelerating the implementation of investment
about the prospects of the economy or in respect of
                                                               projects falling under one of the four headings set out
energy;
                                                               above, these investment projects having been hindered
Whereas despite the national measures already                  hitherto by the obstacles and uncertainties referred to
introduced to encourage investment, the volume of              above;
investment in energy — and especially in the rational
                                                               Whereas the granting of a specific incentive funded
use of energy ( 0 - 4 % of GDP in 1980) — has
                                                               from the budget of the European Communities —
remained insufficient;
                                                               and associated with, and where appropriate additional
Whereas the Community should therefore provide an              to other national or Community incentives — would
additional active aid to investment in the rational use        be capable of initiating or accelerating the decisions
of energy;                                                     to invest;
 ---pagebreak---  No C 285/6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                            30. 10. 82
Whereas, in this context, it is appropriate that                                         Article 3
 investors granted loans under the terms of Article 54
 of the ECSC Treaty should also be eligible for such            1.    Subject to the provisions of Article 5 (2), the
 incentives;                                                   rate and duration of the interest rebate referred to in
                                                               paragraph 1 shall be as follows:
Whereas such investments are likely to have                    — 3 % per annum for a period of 10 years in the
significant positive effects on economic and industrial             case of category 1,
activity, competitiveness and hence on employment;
                                                               — 3 % per annum for a period of five years for cate-
Whereas the granting of these aids by the Community                 gories 2, 3 and 4.
must not affect the conditions of competition in a
manner incompatible with the relevant principles set           2.     When the interest rebate applies to ECSC loans,
out in the Treaty;                                             the sum is paid directly to the investor. In all other
                                                               cases, it will be paid to the EIB.
Whereas the Treaty does not provide the specific
powers necessary for these purposes,                                                    Article 4
                                                               The procedure governing applications for subsidized
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                   loans, their payment and their administration will be
                                                               in accordance with the rules and procedures
                          Article 1
                                                               governing each of the individual lending instruments
Investment which falls within one of the four cate-            listed in Article 1.
gories set out below and which is in receipt either of
loans granted by the European Investment Bank from                                      Article 5
its own resources, or of loans granted under the               The financial incentives provided for in Article 1 of
Council decisions empowering the Commission to
                                                               this Regulation may be additional to:
contract loans under the New                   Community
Instrument, or of loans granted under Article 54 of            (a) the subsidy of certain loans granted in the context
the ECSC Treaty may receive a specific incentive                    of the European Monetary System and to aids
granted in the form of an interest rebate:                          paid from the Regional Development Fund;
Category 1: investment in heat generation for                  (b) subsidies which may in certain cases be granted
               district-heating systems using industrial            under Article 54 of the ECSC Treaty. In this case
              waste heat, solid fuels and waste                     the rate and duration of the rebate granted in
               material;                                            respect of this Regulation shall be limited to 2 %
                                                                    per year over five years;
Category 2: investment        in the      conversion   of
              industrial fuel-oil-fired plant to coal          (c) existing national aids, subject to such conditions
              using innovatory high-yield technology;               as may be determined by the Commission.
Category 3: investment in operations related to the
              preparation of coal for users other than                                  Article 6
              power stations and coking plants;                Sums payable in respect of incentives granted under
Category 4: investment in the generation of energy             this Regulation shall be paid by the Commission from
              from urban, agricultural and industrial          the appropriations provided for this purpose in the
              waste and from agricultural by-products.         general budget of the European Communities.
                          Article 2                                                     Article 7
Subject to approval of the granting of a subsidized            1.     Provisions for the implementation of this Regu-
loan, the Commission shall decide on the eligibility of        lation shall be adopted by the Commission.
projects for an interest rebate in accordance with the
following guidelines:                                          2.     Except in respect of rebates on ECSC loans, the
— the investment must be consistent with the energy            application of this Regulation shall be covered by a
                                                               Cooperation Agreement between the Commission and
    objectives of the Community,
                                                               the European Investment Bank.
— the investment must make use in an efficient
    manner of adequately proven technology,                                             Article 8
— the investment must be consistent with the
    provisions of the Treaty and of derived                    This Regulation shall come into force on 1 January
    legislation, particularly in the area of competition,       1983; it shall apply until 31 December 1987.
    in addition to Community regulations and policies          This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
    which apply to the cases in question.                      directly applicable in all Member States.