CELEX: 51981PC0589
Language: en
Date: 1981-10-26
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) AMENDING REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 724/75 ESTABLISHING AN EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

No C 336/60                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 12. 81
                 Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 establishing a
                                                European Regional Development Fund
                                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 29 October 1981)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                              Whereas to improve the impact of Fund assistance and the
                                                                      complementary character of Fund assistance measures
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                  and those of national and regional authorities, it is
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                      appropriate to replace the system of financing individual
thereof,                                                               investments gradually by a system of financing
                                                                       programmes, which contracts may concern both
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                     infrastructure and national aid systems in industrial,
                                                                       handicraft and service activities;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
liament,
                                                                       Whereas the economic situation and that of employment
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social                in the Community require seeking the best possible use of
Committee,                                                             growth potential in less favoured regions;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 of 18                       Whereas to this end it is desirable to broaden the field of
March 1975 establishing a European Regional                            aid of the section of the Fund divided in national quotas to
Development Fund('), as last amended by Council                        include financing of operations designed to promote the
Regulation (EEC) No 3325/80 (2), established a                         local development potential of regions;
European Regional Development Fund designed to
correct the main regional imbalances in the                           Whereas accelerated Fund payments are of a nature to
Community;                                                            facilitate realization of measures assisted by the Fund;
                                                                      whereas the introduction, under certain conditions, of a
Whereas Article 22 of the said Regulation provides that               system of advance payments complies with this
the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, should                purpose;
reconsider this Regulation before 1 January 1982;
                                                                       Whereas the eminently Community character of specific
Whereas the coordination of national regional policies                 measures of regional development justifies their adoption
with each other and with that of the Community is an                   by the Commission after consulting the Fund
essential element in Community regional policy, intended               Committee;
to promote the convergence of national economies and a
more balanced distribution of economic activities within               Whereas to enable a better integration of financial
Community territory;                                                   resources, both Community and national, in the areas
                                                                       affected by especially serious problems, due particularly
Whereas it appears necessary, in view of the trend of the              to delayed development or industrial or urban decline, it
economic and social situation of the Community, on the                 is appropriate to promote the implementation in those
one hand to adapt the section of the Fund, which is                    areas of integrated development operations, closely
divided in national quotas, to concentrate Fund                        concerted between the Community and the national
assistance on regions experiencing particularly serious                authorities concerned,
structural problems and on the other hand to allocate
more credits from the section not distributed in national              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
quotas to regions particularly affected by recent, serious
 problems of industrial decline or by the consequences of                                         Article 1
certain Community policies;
                                                                       The,text of Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 of 18 March
                                                                       1975 establishing a European Regional Development
Whereas the regions with particularly serious structural
                                                                       Fund is replaced by the text annexed to this Regulation.
 problems in which the Fund is called upon to give
 assistance must be decided according to Community
 criteria, taking account in particular of the relative                                           Article 2
 intensity of the social and economic problems of regions,             This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
 in relation to the Community average, which problems
                                                                       1982.
 are to be assessed both by the level of economic
 development and by the situation with regard to                       This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
 employment;                                                           directly applicable in all Member States.
 (') O J N o L 7 3 , 2 1 . 3. 1975, p. 1.
 (2) OJ No L 349, 23. 12. 1980, p. 10.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                            Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 336/61
                                                           ANNEX
               Regulation concerning the coordination of regional policies and the European Regional
                                                     Development Fund
               Delegations from the present text of the Regulation are indicated by the sign [. . .], and
               additions or amendments are printed in italic.
                                                           TITLE I
                                      COORDINATION OF REGIONAL POLICIES
                       Article 1 (new)                            2.     The Commission, working in close association
                                                                  with the Regional Policy Committee, shall prepare a
                                                                  periodic report on the situation and socio-economic
1.    In order to contribute to the achievement of a high         changes in the regions of the Community and on national
degree of convergence of the economies of Member States           regional policies. To this end, Member States shall
and a more balanced distribution of economic activities           provide the Commission with the relevant information.
throughout the Community, Member States and the                   This     report shall be prepared             at   regular,
Commission shall institute coordination            between        two-and-a-half-year intervals, with every other report
national regional policies and between those policies and         coinciding with the examination of the medium-term
Community regional policy according to the procedures             economic policy programmes. On the basis of this report,
provided for in Article 2 below.                                  the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission
                                                                  and after consulting the European Parliament and the
2.     The object of such coordination shall be:                  Economic and Social Committee, shall adopt the regional
                                                                  policy guidelines and priorities.
— the adaptation of national regional policies so as to
    avoid, in particular, contradictory results;
— the closer convergence between national regional                3. (a) Member States shall communicate to the
    policies and Community objectives and priorities in                   Commission        their    regional    development
    particular the regional;                                              programmes, and any amendments thereto, for
                                                                          the regions and areas covered by a regional State
— to ensure especially that aids take account of the                      aid scheme. Such programmes shall be prepared in
    severity of the regional problems existing within each                accordance with the joint outline drawn up by the
    member country and at Community level.                                Economic Policy Committee (J) and in the light of
                                                                          the Commission recommendation of 23 May
                                                                          1979 (2). They shall be indicative in nature and
3.    This coordination must take account of the impact                   shall specify the objectives of the development of
upon regions of the economic and sectoral policies of the                 the region concerned and the means to be
Community and of the Member States.                                       employed. They shall be prepared in close
                                                                          association with the regional authorities
                                                                          concerned.      When       communicating      these
                                                                          programmes, Member States shall transmit to the
                                                                          Commission the information concerning, where
                       Article 2 (new)
                                                                          their entire territory is concerned, the essential
                                                                          public measures that are likely to influence the
1.    Preparation of the periodic report and examination                  regional balance, including expenditure in each
of regional development programmes and the regional                       region under their infrastructure budgets.
impact assessment shall be instrumental in promoting the
said coordination, with a key role also being performed          (>) OJ No C 69, 24. 3. 1976, p. 2.
by coordination of general regional aid schemes.                 (2) OJ No C 143, 12. 6. 1979, p. 9.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/62                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 12. 81
          The regional development programmes shall be                         — the financial means employed, both from
          examined by the Commission and the Regional                              national and Community sources, making
          Policy Committee in the light of the coordination                        separate mention, where applicable, of those
          objectives as laid down in Article 1 above. The                          provided by the Fund or under the
          Regional Policy Committee shall make known its                           Community's other financial instruments;
          views on them to the Commission, which shall,
          where necessary, address the appropriate                             — the rate of utilization of the major
          recommendations to Member States.                                        infrastructures completed during the year,
                                                                                   when possible.
     (b) Before 31 May each year, Member States shall
                                                                       4.     The Commission is analyzing the regional impact of
          send to the Commission a report on the
          implementation of the regional development                   the main common policies and essential measures which it
          programmes, giving for each region and for the               proposes to the Council. It is informing the latter of the
          preceding year:                                              way in which account is taken of this analysis, including,
                                                                       where relevant, its intention to implement a specific
          — quantified information on the results of                   Community measure as indicated in Article 27 of the
                  measures carried out in the regions in terms of      current Regulation. The Council, on a proposal from the
                  investment and jobs;                                 Commission, will adopt the required measures.
                                                                TITLE II
                             GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL
                                                       DEVELOPMENT FUND
                     Article 3 (former Article 1)                           for in Title III. [. . .] The resources of the Fund
                                                                           intended for financing such measures shall be
The European Regional Development Fund, hereinafter                        allocated as follows:
referred to as 'the Fund', is intended to correct the
                                                                           — The Mezzogiorno as defined in Article 1 of
principal regional imbalances within the Community
                                                                                Decree No 218 of 6 March 1978 issued by the
resulting in particular from agricultural preponderance,
                                                                                President of the Italian Republic        43 • 67 %
industrial change and structural underemployment.
                                                                            — Greek regions, with the exception of A areas as
                                                                                defined in Article 4 of the Greek Law No
                      Article 4 (former Article 2)                              1116/81 of 14 January 1981, paragraph 1,
                                                                                taking into account Article 4, paragraph 2 of the
1.      [ . . . ] , the endowment for the Fund shall be                         same Law                                  15*97 %
determined annually in the general budget of the
                                                                            — Ireland                                      7-31 %
European Communities, with a distinction being made
between the measures referred to in Title 111 and                               Assisted areas as defined in section 7,
 Title IV.                                                                      paragraph 7 of the United Kingdom Industry Act
                                                                                of 9 August 1972 and elaborated upon in the
2.      The annual budget shall indicate for the relevant                       decision of the United Kingdom Government of
year under the heading for the Fund:                                            17 July 1979 and in the subsequent decisions
                                                                                implemented with effect from 1 August 1982 in
(a) appropriations for commitment;                                              Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the North
 (b) appropriations for payment.                                                and North West of England                 29 • 28 %
                                                                            — Greenland                                    1 • 30 %
 Unless any specific provision of this Regulation provides
 otherwise, the Financial Regulation applicable to the                      — French overseas departments                  2-47%
 general budget of the Communities shall apply to the
 management of the Fund.                                                     The distribution of the resources of the Fund referred
                                                                            to above shall be applied on a global basis for periods
 3.     The following may be financed by the Fund with a                   of three years.
 view to contributing to attainment of the objectives
 referred to in Article 3:                                                  When granting aid from the Fund, priority will be
                                                                           given to investments located in national priority
 (a) Community measures to assist regions suffering from                   zones, taking account of the principle of coordinating
      especially serious structural problems, as provided                   regional State aid schemes at Community level.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 336/63
(b) specific Community regional development measures                      specific problems of the regions and to the relative
     to assist regions particularly affected by recent and                severity of regional imbalances in the Community.
     serious problems of industrial decline or by the effects
     of certain Community policies, as provided for in
     Title IV. The assistance allotted to these measures                                     Article S (new)
     may not exceed 20 % of the Fund's resources.
                                                                     Measures referred to in Article 4 (3) (b) which are carried
                                                                     out in regions or areas covered by a regional State aid
                                                                     scheme and all the measures referred to in Article 4 (3) (a)
     The Fund's resources intended for financing these               shall form part of a regional development programme as
     measures shall be used having due regard to the                 referred to in Article 2, paragraph 3.
                                                            TITLE III
                 COMMUNITY MEASURES T O ASSIST REGIONS EXPERIENCING ESPECIALLY
                                            SERIOUS STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS
                         CHAPTER 1                                  schemes for industry, the artisanat or the services sector,
                                                                    including tourism.
                  GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE
                        Article 6 (new)                             2.      Infrastructures to be financed under investment
                                                                    programmes shall contribute to the development of the
                                                                    region or area in which they are located.
1.     The list of regions and zones referred to in A rticle 4
(3) (a) may be revised by the Council, acting by a qualified
majority on a proposal from the Commission, in                      3.      State aid schemes for industry, the artisanat or the
                                                                    services sector shall be financed in respect of economically
particular where the analysis made in the periodic report
                                                                    sound activities that create or maintain jobs. The
referred to in Article 2 (2) reveals substantial changes in
                                                                    Community may finance all or only part of the aid
the relative severity of socio-economic problems in the
                                                                   schemes.
regions of the Community.
2.     The Commission may, at the request of the
Member State concerned and in accordance with the                                           Article 8 (new)
procedure laid down in Article 31, decide to make
amendments to the said list which shall not have the effect         1.     As a general rule, the duration of programmes
                                                                    referred to in Article 7 may not be less than three
of increasing the population in the eligible regions and
                                                                   years.
areas in a particular Member State by more than
0-5 %.
                                                                   2.      The programmes shall concern one or more, or
                                                                   part, of the regions or areas referred to in
                                                                   Article 4 (3) (a).
                         CHAPTER 2
                   OPERATIONAL RULES                               3.      They shall include the following:
                                                                   (a) expected      results, where possible in       quantified
                            Section 1:
                                                                        form;
Provisions relating to the financing of programme                  (b) measures to be taken to achieve these results, together
                            contracts                                   with the implementation schedule;
                        Article 7 (new)                           (c) plan for financing the programme, making a
                                                                        distinction between Community, national and
1.     The Fund shall participate in the measures referred              regional sources of finance;
to in Article 4 (3) (a) by financing programmes stipulating
                                                                  (d) designation of the authorities or agencies responsible
the conditions for financial assistance by the Community               for implementing the programme and the actions
in respect of infrastructure investments and/or State aid               within it;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/64                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  23. 12. 81
(e) essential ancillary measures that are taken by the             provided for in Article 31. The provision of Fund
     Member State in question and do not benefit from              assistance shall be decided upon by the Commission at the
     Community financing;                                          same time and in accordance with the same procedure.
(f) information showing that Community aid will result
                                                                    5.     The Commission shall decide the aids from the
     in additional financing and, consequently, additional
                                                                   Fund in accordance with Article 31. The programme
     practical measures to promote development of the
                                                                   contract shall be attached to the grant decision.
     region covered by the programme contract; -
(g) steps relating to the measures envisaged to protect the         6.     The aids from the Fund shall be published in the
     environment in the regions concerned;                          Official journal of the European Communities.
(h) arrangements to publicize the provision of Fund
     assistance, the purpose being to inform potential                                   Article 10 (new)
     beneficiaries and the various sections of the economy
     of the opportunities afforded by the programme and            1.     Each year, before 31 May, the Member State
     of the role played by the Community.                         concerned shall submit to the Commission a report giving
                                                                  details of the progress made in implementing each
4.      The details of elements provided for at paragraph 3       programme during the preceding calendar year and
to be contained in the programmes shall be determined by          making reference to the information required under
the Commission in accordance with the procedure                   Article 8 (3). These reports shall enable the Commission
referred to in Article 31.                                         to verify implementation of the programme, to take note
                                                                  of their effects and, where necessary, to determine
                                                                  whether the operations are being carried out in a
                        Article 9 (new)
                                                                  consistent manner. They shall be communicated to the
                                                                  Fund Committee.
1.     Programmes that might qualify for assistance from
the Fund shall be submitted to the Commission by the
                                                                   2.     On the basis of these reports, the Commission shall
Member State in question. They shall be drawn up by the
                                                                  present a report in the manner set out in Article 36.
latter in close association with the authorities
concerned.
                                                                   3.     In the event of a programme in the course of
2.      The Fund's contribution to programme financing             implementation       being substantially amended, the
may amount to 50 % of the expenditure taken into                   procedure provided for in Article 31 shall apply.
account in determining the amount of Fund assistance.
                                                                   4.      Upon completion of each programme, the
 The Commission shall lay down the criteria for                    Commission shall inform the Fund Committee of the
implementing this paragraph in accordance with the                 results achieved.
procedure provided for in Article 31.
                                                                                         Article 11 (new)
3.      The Commission shall assess a programme taking
due account of its consistency with the regional                   1.     For a transitional period of three years beginning on
development programmes and of its contribution to                  1 January 1982, the Fund may contribute both to the
attainment of the Community's regional objectives and             financing of programmes in accordance with the
priorities, and notably the creation or maintenance of            arrangements laid down in this Section and to the
productive jobs, mobilization of the indigenous potential         financing of investment projects in accordance with the
of the region concerned and strengthening of its economic         arrangements laid down in Section 2.
base.
                                                                   2.      In the second and the third year of the transitional
 4.     // the Commission considers that the programme             period and subject to the provisions of paragraph 3
submitted can receive assistance from the Fund, it will            hereafter and Sections 3 and 4, the proportion of Fund
 inform the Member State concerned adding its                      assistance allocated to the financing of programmes may
 observations. The Commission and the Member State                  not, for each Member State, be lower than 30 % and
concerned shall finalize the programme by common                    60 % respectively of the appropriations available for
 consent which must in particular detail the complete               Community        measures to assist regions having
financial plan. A programme which becomes in this way              particularly serious structural problems. After the end of
 the subject of an agreement between the Commission and             the transitional period, all available appropriations shall,
 the Member State is considered to be, under the terms of          also subject to paragraph 3 below and to the provisions of
 the present Regulation, a programme contract.                     Sections 3 and 4, be used for the financing of
                                                                   programmes.
 The programme and the programme contracts, in which
the Commission may among other things lay down                     3.      At the end of the transitional period, investment
special conditions          relating especially     to   the       projects costing more than 40 million ECU may continue
implementation of Article 8 (3) (f), shall be approved by          to be financed by the Fund, in accordance with the
the Commission in accordance with the procedure                    arrangements laid down in Section 2.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 336/65
                           Section 2                                3.      All or part of the Fund's contribution may be in the
                                                                    form of an interest-rate subsidy on Community loans
    Provisions relating to the financing of investment              made in the regions or areas referred to in Article 4 (3)
                            projects                                (a).
              Article 12 (former Article 4 (2))
                                                                                    Article 13 (former Article 5)
1.     In the case of investment projects in industry, the
                                                                     1.     The provision of Fund assistance shall be decided
artisanat or the services sector, the amount of the Fund's
                                                                    upon by the Commission in the light of the relative
contribution shall be equal to 20 % of the investment
                                                                    severity of the economic imbalance of the region in which
cost; it may not, however, exceed 50 % of the aid granted
                                                                    the investment project is carried out and of the direct or
to each project by the public authorities under a regional
                                                                    indirect impact of the project on employment. The
aid scheme and, moreover, it shall be confined to that part
                                                                    Commission shall examine, in particular, the consistency
of the investment cost not exceeding 100 000 ECU per
                                                                    of the project with all the measures taken by the Member
job created or 50 000 ECU per job maintained.
                                                                    State concerned to assist that region, as described in the
                                                                    information supplied by Member States pursuant to
In the case of the services sector and the artisanat, the
                                                                    Article 2, with particular reference to:
Fund's contribution shall he calculated on the basis of the
number of jobs created or maintained. It shall amount to
20 000 ECU per job but may not exceed 50 % of national              (a) the project's contribution           to   the  economic
aid.                                                                      development of the region;
The State aids to be taken into consideration shall be              (b) its consistency with the Community's programmes or
grants, interest-rate subsidies or their equivalent where                 objectives;
loans at reduced rates of interest are concerned,
irrespective of whether such aid is linked to the amount of         (c) the situation in the economic sector concerned and
investment or to the number of jobs created.                              the profitability of the investment made;
Such aids may include aid granted in respect of an                  (d) whether the project is located in a frontier area, i.e. in
investment project and linked to the transfer of plant and                a region adjacent to one or more other Member
workers. The aid equivalent shall be calculated in                        States;
accordance with an implementing regulation adopted
                                                                    (e) other assistance granted by Community institutions
pursuant to Article 31. Aid granted in the form of rent
                                                                          or by the European Investment Bank, either in respect
reductions or exemptions in respect of buildings,
                                                                          of the same project or for other measures in the same
including plant, may also be taken into account provided
                                                                          region. In this way, Fund assistance will be
the same calculation can be carried out.
                                                                          coordinated with other Community assistance in
                                                                          such a way as to promote comprehensive convergent
In accordance with a prior decision by the Member State
                                                                          and coordinated measures in a given region and to
concerned notified at the same time as the grant
                                                                          guarantee, in particular, consistency between
application, the Fund's contribution as thus defined may
be in addition to aid granted by the public authorities in                regional policy and the policy on agricultural
respect of the relevant investment project, or may remain                 structures.
credited to those authorities in partial repayment of such
aid. In this case, the financial effort of the Member State         2. (a) In the case of investments of 5 million ECU or
in the region in question shall be increased by the amount                     more, the provision of Fund assistance shall be
of Community assistance.                                                       decided upon by the Commission in accordance
                                                                               with the procedure provided for in Article 31.
2.     In the case of infrastructu re investment p rojects, the
amount of the Fund's contribution shall be equal to 30 %
of the total cost of the investment measures carried out                  (b) In the case of investment projects costing less than
where the project costs less than 5 million ECU and to                         5 million ECU, the Commission shall decide on
 between 10 % and 30 % where the project costs 5 million                       the Fund contributions and shall inform the Fund
 ECU or more.                                                                  Committee of these decisions taken.
 However, the maximum contribution may rise to 50 % in
 the case of projects of particular importance to the
 development of the region in which they are located.
                                                                                     Article 14 (former Article 7)
 Member States shall give priority to the submission of
grant applications in respect of investment projects                  1.     Applications for Fund assistance shall be submitted
carried out by regional or local authorities.                         to the Commission by Member States, together with such
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/66                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                23. 12. 81
information as will enable the Commission to assess the           4.     Provision of Fund assistance shall be decided upon
merit of the investment projects in the light of Articles 2       by the Commission:
and 13.
                                                                  (a) on an aggregated basis for each application covered
                                                                       by paragraph 2;
2.      In the case of investments of less than 5 million
ECU, Member States shall present grouped applications             (b) on a case-by-case basis for applications covered by
at the beginning of each quarter. These applications shall             paragraph 3.
be submitted on a region-by-region basis, with a
distinction being made between investments in industry,            5.    Member States shall give priority to the submission
the artisanat or the services sector and investments in            of grant applications in respect of projects costing
infrastructure.                                                    5 million ECU or more.
These applications shall state:
                                                                                  Article 15 (former Article 10)
(a) in respect of investments in industry, the artisanat or
     the service sectors, the names of the undertakings
     concerned, their sector of activity, and the location of      1.    The investors concerned shall be informed, in
     each investment and its object (establishment,                agreement with the Member States in question, that part
     extension, conversion or restructuring of an                  of the aid granted to them has been provided by the
     undertaking), the total amount of investment                  Community. In the case of infrastructure projects,
     involved, the predicted overall effect on employment          Member States, in agreement with the Commission, shall
     (creation or maintenance of jobs) the estimated               take all necessary steps to ensure the assistance from the
     implementation schedule, total aids granted in                Fund is given suitable publicity.
     connection with which Fund assistance is requested,
     and the planned schedule of payments;                         2.     The list of projects that have received Fund
(b) in respect of investments in infrastructure, the               assistance shall be published every six months in the
     location of each investment and its object, its               Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall
     contribution to the development of the region,                specify the nature and location of each project and the
     predicted total expenditure and expenditure to be             amount of investment involved.
     borne by public authorities, the planned schedule of
     payments, the name of the responsible authorities,
     the total amount of assistance requested from the
     Fund, and the estimated implementation schedule.
                                                                                              Section 3
 3.      In the case of investment projects costing 5 million      Provisions relating to the financing of operations aimed at
 ECU or more, applications shall be submitted separately           exploiting the indigenous development potential of the
 and shall include the following information:                                                  regions
 (a) in respect of projects in industry, the artisanat or the
      services sector, the name of the undertaking, the                                   Article 16 (new)
      sector of activity, the object of the project and its
      location, the effect on employment, the planned
      implementation schedule, the details of any grants,           The Fund may contribute to the financing of operations
      interest-rate subsidies or loans at reduced rates of          aimed at exploiting the indigenous development potential
      interest, the planned schedule for payment of such            of the regions that fall within one of the following
      aids, any other form of aid granted or planned by the         categories:
      public authorities and the financing plan, indicating
      in particular any other Community aids requested or
                                                                    (a) measures to provide small and medium-sized
      planned.
                                                                        businesses, artisanal enterprises and rural tourism
      The Member State shall specify in its application the             with facilities enabling them to expand their means of
      total amount of assistance which, in its opinion,                 action and to have access to new technology. Such
      should be granted to the undertakings and the                     measures shall include:
      contribution it is seeking from the Community;
                                                                        — operating aids for agencies compiling and
  (b) in respect of infrastructure projects, the responsible                disseminating information on product and
       authority, the object of the project, its location, its               technological innovations and for conducting
       contribution to the development of the region, its                   feasibility studies and projects permitting the
       cost, its financing plan, the implementation schedule                 introduction      of    these   innovations    in
       and the planned schedule of payments.                                 undertakings;
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 336/67
    — aids for conducting sectoral studies with a view to           3.     The Fund contribution shall be decided by the
        providing fuller information on access to                   Commission according to the procedure set out in
        national, Community and external markets and               Article 31.
        aids to encourage the dissemination of
        information concerning the findings of such
        studies;
                                                                                             Section 4
    — aids to increase the efficiency of undertakings by
        making it easier for them to obtain management                            Provisions relating to studies
        and organizational advice; these aids shall cover
        the expenditure of undertakings relating to
        services provided by consultancy firms or                                 Article 18 (former Article 12)
        bodies;
                                                                    1.    The Fund may contribute to the financing of studies
    — starting-up aids facilitating the introduction of
                                                                   closely related to Fund operation and conducted at the
        services to be used jointly by two or more
                                                                   request of a Member State.
        undertakings, and covering in part operating
        expenditure relating to the common services;
                                                                   2.     Fund assistance may not exceed 50 % of the cost of
    — aids to promote more effective exploitation of               the study.
        regional potential in the field of rural tourism and
        related to a part of the operating expenses of
        agencies responsible for the promotion and
        coordinated          management         of       tourist                           CHAPTER 3
        accommodation;
                                                                                    PAYMENTS AND CHECKS
(b) assistance for the regional or local authorities in
    working out a programme and making the technical
    and financial preparations for, and in implementing,                                     Section 1
    operations that might qualify for Fund assistance; as
    well as improving the performance of the agencies                          Provisions relating to programmes
    called on to fulfil these tasks;
(c) measures to promote the establishment and
    expansion of small and medium-sized businesses by                                    Article 19 (new)
    providing them with easier access to the capital
    market, in accordance with arrangements to be                   1.     The budget appropriations for the financing of a
    adopted by the Council, acting on a proposal from              programme shall be committed in allocations covering a
    the Commission, pursuant to an implementing                    period of one year. The first allocation shall be committed
    regulation.                                                     once the grant decision has been taken by the
                                                                    Commission. Subsequent allocations shall be committed
                                                                   subject to the budget resources available and the progress
                       Article 17 (new)                             of the programme.
The Fund contribution o/ measures provided for in                   2.     Those expenditures        which the       authorities
Article 16 shall be determined as follows:                         concerned have or expect to be made from 1 January of
                                                                    the year in which the programme is presented to the
1. (a) for the operations provided for at (a) first and             Commission shall be eligible for Fund contributions.
         third to fifth indents are degressive for a period of
         three years, at a rate of 70 % for the first year, and
        shall not exceed an average of 55 %for the period
        of three years.
                                                                                         Article 20 (new)
         For the feasibility  studies provided for at (a) first
         indent, the Fund     contribution shall not exceed         1.    Each payment application shall be accompanied by
         70 % of the cost      of the study, with a limit of       a certificate issued by the Member State and evidencing
        50 000 ECU per        study;                               execution of the operations and the existence of detailed
    (b) for the operations provided for at (a), second             supporting documents. It shall contain the following
         indent, 70% of the cost of the studies and                information:
         expenditure relating to the dissemination of their        — object of the operations covered by the payment
         results.                                                       application;
2.     For operations provided for at (b), 70 % of the             — amount and type of expenditure incurred in respect of
expenses to be borne by the regional or local                           the individual operations during the period covered
authorities.                                                            by the application;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/68                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 12. 81
 — confirmation that the operations described in the                     — the amount actually invested and confirmation
     payment application were started as provided for in                      that the project carried out corresponds to the
      the programme.                                                          initial project;
                                                                         — the date of completion of the project;
 2.      The Member State in question shall keep available               — the number of jobs created or maintained by a
for inspection by the Commission for a period of three                        project in industry, the artisanat or the services
 years following the last payment made in connection with                     sector;
 the programme all the documents in support of
                                                                         — the amounts of public expenditure.
 expenditure incurred under the programme or certified
 copies thereof.
                                                                     2.     Where expenditure provided for in the decisions
                                                                     referred to in Article 14 consists in aids granted in the
 The Commission reserves the right to make a detailed                form of interest-rate subsidies or loans at reduced rates of
examination        of each individual project being                  interest, the amount of the Fund's contribution in respect
implemented in the framework of the programme.                       of such aids that is still due when the projects are
                                                                     completed shall be paid in a single transaction upon
                                                                     presentation of the certificate evidencing completion.
 3.      Payments shall be addressed by the Commission:
 — to the public authorities commissioning the work
      where the programme contract concerns the financing            3.     Member States shall designate the authorities or
      of an infrastructure investment programme;                     agencies authorized to issue the certificates referred to in
                                                                     this Article. In the case of infrastructure investment
 — to an agency designated for this purpose by the                   projects, payments shall be addressed by the Commission
      Member State concerned where the programme                     to the bodies supervising the work concerned in the
      contract concerns the financing of a State aid scheme          particular investment.
      in industry, the artisanat or the services sector.
                                                                     In the case of investments in industry or the service sector
                                                                     payments shall be addressed to the Member State or to a
                                                                     body designated by it for this purpose.
                             Section 2
                                                                                     Article 22 (former Article 11)
          Provisions relating to investment projects
                                                                     Payments made by Member States as from 1 January of
                                                                     the year during which the grant application was
                  Article 21 (former Article 8)                      submitted and in respect of projects not completed by that
                                                                     date shall be eligible for contributions from the Fund.
  1.     The amount of Fund assistance, calculated where
 applicable on the basis of the aid equivalent according to
 an implementing regulation adopted pursuant to                      This time limit may be extended by six months for
 Article 3 1 , shall be paid as and when expenditure is              payments in respect of projects in Greenland.
 incurred, upon presentation by the Member State
 concerned of quarterly statements certifying expenditure
 and the existence of detailed supporting documents and
 containing the following information:                                                           Section 3
  (a) for intermediate payment applications:                          Provisions relating to operations aimed at exploiting the
       — the name of the undertaking concerned or, in the                 indigenous development potential of the regions
           case of infrastructure projects, the name of the
           responsible authority;
                                                                                             Article 23 (new)
       — the location of the project;
       — total public expenditure incurred after the date             1.    Grant applications shall be submitted          to the
           referred to in Article 22 and that part of the             Commission via the Member States.
           amount for which payment is requested;
       — the amount of the payment requested from the                2.      They shall state:
           Fund;
                                                                      — for measures referred to in Article 16 (a), the object of
       — a forecast of future payment applications;
                                                                          the measure, its location, the nature of the agencies or
  (b) for final payment requests, all the information                     businesses benefiting from the measure, its effect on
       referred to at (a), with the exception of the last indent,         employment, the planned implementation schedule
       together with:                                                    and the financing arrangements;
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 336/69
— for measures referred to in Article 16 (b), the object of                                  Section 5
     the measure, its location, the effect expected by the
     regional or local authorities and the duration of and                        Provisions relating to checks
     arrangements for financing the measure.
3.      Payment requests shall be submitted to the                                Article 25 (former Article 9)
Commission by Member States, together with a
certificate issued by the latter and evidencing execution of       1.     Where a measure that has received a contribution
the operations and the existence of detailed supporting            from the Fund has not been carried out as planned, or if
documents.       They shall contain the             following      the conditions imposed by the provisions which govern
information:                                                       the measure are not fulfilled, the Fund's contribution may
                                                                   be reduced or cancelled if the Commission, after
— object of the operations covered by the payment
                                                                   consulting the Fund Committee, so decides.
     application;
— amount and type of expenditure incurred in respect of            Any sums paid [. . .] shall be repaid to the Community by
     the individual operations during the period covered           the Member State concerned or, where applicable, by the
     by the application.                                           body to which the Fund contribution has been paid within
                                                                   twelve months of the date on which the relevant decision
4.      Payments shall be addressed by the Commission to           was communicated.
the public authorities, agencies or businesses concerned.
 The aids provided for at Article 16 (a) third and fourth          Member States shall repay to the Commission the amount
indents and, when they directly benefit businesses, the            of Fund assistance received in all cases where national aid
aids provided for at Article 16 (a) first indent, shall not        used as the basis for calculating the amount of Fund
 reduce the businesses' share of total expenditure to less         assistance has been repaid to the Member State concerned
 than 20 %.                                                        by the investor.
                                                                   2.     Member States shall make available to the
                           Section 4                               Commission all the information necessary to ensure
                                                                   effective operation of the Fund and shall take all the steps
                          Advances                                 likely to facilitate such monitoring as the Commission
                                                                    may deem useful in managing the Fund, including
                                                                   on-the-spot checks. They shall notify the Commission of
                       Article 24 (new)                            the cases referred to in the first subparagraph of
                                                                   paragraph 1.
 1.     In the case of measures referred to in Articles 7,12
 and 16, undertaken after the entry into effect of the
 revised version of the present regulations, advances of up         3.    Notwithstanding checks carried out by Member
 to 80 % may be granted by the Fund in the light of                 States in accordance with national laws, regulations or
 progress made in the operations and available budget               administrative provisions, and without prejudice to
 resources.                                                         Article 206 of the Treaty or to any inspection arranged on
                                                                    the basis of Article 209 (c) of the Treaty, on-the-spot
 2.     At the Member State's request, the Commission can           checks or enquiries in respect of operations financed by
 make an initial advance of 80 % of its aid in respect of the       the Fund shall, be carried out by the competent
first annual allocation, after the starting date scheduled          authorities of the Member State and by officials of the
for the implementation of operations.                               Commission or any other persons empowered by the
                                                                    Commission for this purpose. The Commission shall
 3.     Applications for advances in respect of the other           determine time limits for the performance of the checks
 annual allocations may be submitted where at least 60 %            and inform the Member State concerned of them in
 of the planned operations covered by the preceding                 advance in order to obtain all the assistance necessary.
 allocation have been completed and where work covered
 by any other previous allocations has been concluded.              4.    The purpose of such on-the-spot checks or
                                                                    enquiries in respect of operations financed by the Fund
 4.     The balance shall be paid at the request of the             shall be to verify:
 Member State upon presentation of a certified statement
 that the operations covered by the first allocation can be         (a) the conformity of administrative practices with
 deemed to have been completed, and of a statement of                   Community rules;
 public expenditure made.                                           (b) the existence of supporting documents and the fact
                                                                        that they correspond to the operations financed by
 5.     The form and conditions of the applications for                 the Fund;
 advances referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be
 determined in accordance with the procedure laid down              (c) the conditions under which operations financed by
 in Article 31.                                                         the Fund are executed and monitored;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/70                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 12. 81
(d) the conformity of projects carried out with the               allocated to another activity in one of the eligible regions
     operations financed by the Fund.                             of the same Member State under the conditions laid down
                                                                  in this Regulation.
5.     The Commission may suspend payment of
assistance in respect of a particular operation if a check
reveals irregularities or a substantial change in the object
or conditions of the project for which the Commission's                                 Article 26 (new)
approval has not been sought.
                                                                  Member States shall, within three years of completion of
6.     By way of derogation from Article 6 (2) of the             the actions financed by the Fund, inform the Commission
Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to            of the following:
the general budget of the European Communities ('), if an         — in the case of investment projects in industry, the
operation that has received assistance from the Fund has               artisanat or the services sector, the number of jobs
not been completed or has been carried out in such a                   created;
manner that payment of only part of the Fund assistance
granted in respect of that project is justified, the              — in the case of infrastructure investment projects
outstanding part of the Fund's contribution shall be                   costing more than 5 million ECU, the rate of
                                                                       utilization of the infrastructure in question, where
    OJNoL356, 31. 12. 1977, p. 1.                                     such information is available.
                                                          TITLE IV
                         SPECIFIC COMMUNITY REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MEASURES
               Article 27 (former Article 13)                     of [. . .] employment in regions or areas experiencing
                                                                  difficulties.
1.     In the case of Community measures referred to in
this Title, the Fund shall also grant assistance in regions       These measures shall be financed jointly by the
or areas which may differ from those referred to in               Community and by the Member State or States
Article 4 (3) (a) provided the Member State concerned             concerned.
has already taken action, or takes action at the same time,
to tackle the problems which the Community measures in
question are intended to resolve.                                 3.      Member States shall provide the Commission with
                                                                  the information on regional problems that might qualify
                                                                  for a specific measure within the meaning of
2.     The measures referred to in this Title may differ in       paragraph 2.
whole or in part from the measures referred to in Title III.
 They shall be aimed at Community regions and zones
particularly affected:
                                                                  4.     Without prejudice to the responsibilities of the
                                                                  Commission with regard to State aids under Articles 92,
— either by recent, serious problems of industrial                93 and 94 of the Treaty, the Commission shall fix,
    decline,                                                      according to the procedure provided for at Article 31:
— or by certain Community policies or by measures
    adopted by the Community in order to facilitate the           (a) the nature of the operations eligible for Fund
    implementation      or to mitigate the regional                    assistance;
    consequences of these policies.
                                                                  (b) the areas and regions in which the Fund may grant
                                                                       assistance;
These measures may not have as their object the internal
                                                                  (c) the national public aid taken into consideration in
reorganization of declining sectors but may, by                        granting Fund assistance;
establishing new economic activities and the
implementation of new technology, promote the creation            (d) the contribution of the Fund;
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 12. 81                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 336/71
(e) the categories of beneficiaries of Fund assistance;                          Article 28 (former Article 14)
(f) the financing arrangements;                                    1.    The Fund may bear all or part of the cost of
                                                                   preparatory studies for specific Community regional
(g) the arrangements to publicise the provision of Fund            development measures. [. . .]
     assistance, the purpose being to inform potential
     beneficiaries and the various sections of the economy         2.    The Commission shall decide the amount of Fund
     of the opportunities afforded by the programme and            contribution and inform the Fund Committee of the
     of the role played by the Community.                         studies undertaken and of their results.
                                                           TITLE V
                                           GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
                          CHAPTER 1                                                       CHAPTER 2
     PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE INTEGRATED                                            OTHER PROVISIONS
             OPERATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT
                                                                                 Article 30 (former Article 15)
                      Article 29 (new)
1.     In the granting of Fund assistance, investments and         1.    A Fund Committee (hereinafter referred to as 'the
measures referred to in Titles III and/or IV which form           Committee') is hereby established. It shall be composed of
part of an integrated development operation may be                representatives of the Member States and chaired by a
accorded priority treatment and a preferential rate.              representative of the Commission.
2.     An 'integrated development operation' comprises a
coordinated package of public and private measures and            2.     Within the Committee, the votes of the Member
investments which have the following characteristics:             States shall be weighted in accordance with Article
                                                                  148 (2) of the Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
(a) they relate to a limited geographical area suffering
     from particularly serious problems associated in
     particular with under-development or with industrial
     or urban decline and likely to affect the region in
     question;                                                                   Article 31 (former Article 16)
(b) the Community through the combined use of various
     structural financial instruments, and the national and        1.    Where the procedure    laid down in this Article is to
     local authorities in Member States, contribute in            be followed, the chairman     shall bring the matter before
     close association to their implementation.                   the Committee, either on      his own initiative or at the
                                                                  request of a representative   of a Member State.
3.      The Member States concerned shall ensure the
concerted use of Community and national financial
resources and close coordination between the individual           2.     The representative of the Commission shall submit
public authorities taking part in the implementation of           drafts of decisions to be taken. The Committee shall
the integrated operation.                                         deliver its opinion on such drafts within a time limit that
                                                                  the chairman may determine in the light of the urgency of
4.      The Commission too shall ensure the concerted use         the matters under consideration. Opinions of the
of the various Community              structural financial        Committee shall be adopted by a majority of forty-five
instruments.                                                      votes.
5.      The Fund's      contribution to investments and
measures that form     part of the operations referred to in      3.     The Commission shall take decisions which shall
this Article may be    increased by 10 % points, but shall        apply immediately. However, if these decisions are not in
not exceed 80 %         of expenditure, according to the          accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall
Article 31.                                                       forthwith be communicated by the Commission to the
 ---pagebreak--- No C 336/72                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                 23. 12. 81
Council. In that event, the Commission shall defer               principles set out in the relevant provisions of the Treaty
application of the decisions taken by it for not more than       and elaborated upon in the principles for the coordination
two months from the date of such communication. The              of the general regional aid schemes. In particular, the
Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a              provisions of this Regulation shall not prejudice
different decision within two months.                            application of Articles 92, 93 and 94 of the Treaty,
                                                                 particularly as regards establishing and modifying the
                                                                 areas covered by a regional aid scheme and referred to in
              Article 32 (former Article 17)                     Article 2 (3) [ . . . ] .
The Committee may consider any other matter relating to
the Fund's operation referred to it by its chairman, either
on his own initiative or at the request of a representative                    Article 36 (former Article 21)
of a Member State.
                                                                 1.     Before 1 October each year, the Commission shall
                                                                 present to the Council, to the Parliament and to the
              Article 33 (former Article 18)                     Economic and Social Committee a report on the
                                                                 implementation of this Regulation during the preceding
                                                                 year.
The necessary measures for implementing this Regulation
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 31.                                              2.     The report shall also deal with the financial
                                                                 management of the Fund and discuss the Commission's
                                                                 conclusions based on the checks carried out in respect of
              Article 34 (former Article 19)                     Fund operations.
 1.    Member States shall take the measures necessary to
indicate separately and in a manner reflecting the special                     Article 37 (former Article 22)
characteristics of national budget systems the amounts
received from the Fund.                                          On a proposal from the Commission, the Council shall
                                                                 re-examine this Regulation within three years from
2.     At the request of the Commission, Member States           1 January 1982.
shall provide it with information on the allocation of the
amounts received from the Fund.
                                                                                Article 38 (former Article 23)
              Article 35 (former Article 20)
                                                                 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day
Assistance from the Fund shall not distort the conditions        following its publication in the Official Journal of the
of competition in a manner incompatible with the                 European Communities.