CELEX: 51993PC0303(03)
Language: en
Date: 1993-06-24
Title: Amended 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

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                           C0M(93) 303 final - SYN 455-457
                                           Brussels,24 June 1993
                              Amended 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
m
                              Amended proposal for a             SYN 455
                             COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
     amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988
    aying 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
                              Amended proposal for a             SYN 457
                             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
                              Amended 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
                              Amended 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
                              Amended proposal for a
                            COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
      aying 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(3)
                                of the EEC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                               -A
                         EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The European Parliament, consulted by the Council in accordance with
Articles 130e, 130e, 126, 127 and 43 of the Treaty respectively on the
proposals for Regulations amending Regulations (EEC) Nos 2052/88,
4253/88, 4254/88, 4255/88, 4256/88 and the proposal for a Regulation
on the FIFG, has adopted a significant number of amendments. The
Economic and Social Committee has also delivered an opinion and
proposed amendments.
During the debates on the amendments, the Commission first of all set
out its general approach to the review of the Funds, namely that the
fundamental principles of the 1988 reform will remain unchanged and
that amendments to the texts should remain limited. At the same time,
the Commission noted that the great majority of amendments put forward
by Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee contained few
fundamental differences to the Commission's concept. The Commission
thus stated that it could accept in whole or in part a number of
Parliaments' amendments, some of which are significant, especially as
regards the following:
- Parliament is to be more regularly informed about the Community's
  structural measures, including the communication of Community
  decisions and more detailed annual reports, with due regard to the
  administrative responsibilities of each of the Institutions.
- Increased account is to be taken of the other Community policies,
  including environmental policy in keeping with the principles of
  sustainable development, equal opportunities for men and women, etc.
- A more explicit method is to be introduced for designating areas
  eligible   under   Objectives 2   and  5(b) which    emphasises   the
  involvement of the Member States in the decision-making process,
- There is to be greater transparency      in the allocation  of  funds
  between the Member States.
The  Commission herewith presents the Council with amended proposals
for the Regulations in question which include Parliament's amendments
and other modifications resulting from discussions on the proposals in
the mean time.
 ---pagebreak---                                   yVcc _
The Commission has also noted that a significant number of amendments,
while substantively acceptable to the Commission, tend, in its
opinion, towards laying down too many details in the Council
Regulations as regards managing the Structural Funds; for that reason,
and with a view to simplifying matters, the Commission has not
accepted them.
The Commission wishes to draw the Council's attention to the fact that
it has accepted the wording of a number of other Parliament amendments
only in part, although it does agree to a large extent with their
spirit, as could be gauged from the positions adopted by the
Commission   during  the Council's    examination   of   the  proposed
Regulations. These involve in particular:
- reinforcing partnership with the competent regional and local
  authorities, as well as widening it to include the economic and
  social partners, with due regard to the financial, legal and
  institutional responsibilities of each; this point is also stressed
  by the ESC;
- defining the role of Community initiatives; in this regard it should
  be noted that the Commission is willing to seek Parliament's views
  before launching such initiatives, and has in fact been doing so
  since 1989.
To help the reader, the original version of the proposals is set out
in the left-hand column while the amended proposals are set out in the
right-hand column opposite with the changes underlined.
 ---pagebreak---                                  _    Ah-
                        Amended proposal for a
                 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No      ./93
                            Of         1993
     amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 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
                        (Framework Regulation)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN             THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,                            COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty             Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Economic      establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular            Community, and in particular Article
Article 130d thereof,                   130d thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from      Having regard to the proposal from the
the Commission,*                        Commission,(^)
Having regard to the opinion of the     Having regard to the opinion of the
European Parliament,2                   European Parliament,(2)
Having regard to the opinion of the     Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee,-*        Economic and Social Committee,(3)
   Whereas Article 19 of Regulation     1. Whereas Article 19 of Regulation
   (EEC) No 2052/88 4 requires the          (EEC) No 2052/88<4> requires the
   Council to re-examine this               Council to re-examine this
   Regulation on the basis of a             Regulation on the basis of a
   Commission proposal before 31            Commission proposal before 31
   December 1993;                           December 1993;
 1  OJ  No  C
2   OJ  No  C
3   OJ  No  C
4   OJ  No  L 185, 15.7.1988, p. 9.
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 2 -
2. Whereas the Structural Funds     2. Whereas the Structural Funds should
   should continue to be governed       continue to be governed until 1999
   until 1999 by the main               by the main principles of the 1988
   principles of the 1988 reform;       reform; whereas experience hitherto
   whereas experience hitherto has      has demonstrated the need for
   demonstrated the need for            improvements to make structural
   improvements to make structural      policies more effective and
   policies more effective;             transparent;
3. Whereas Article 1 of Regulation   3. Whereas Article 1 of Regulation
   (EEC) No 2052/88 lays down the       (EEC) No 2052/88 lays down the
   priority objectives for              priority objectives for Community
   Community action through the         action through the Structural Funds,
   Structural Funds, the European       the European Investment Bank and the
   Investment Bank and the other        other financial instruments;
   financial instruments;
4. Whereas the Community has         4. Whereas the Community has undertaken
   undertaken a reform of the           a reform of the common agricultural
   common agricultural policy           policy entailing structural
   entailing structural measures,       measures, particularly for the
   particularly for the promotion       promotion of rural development;
   of rural development;
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 3 -
5. Whereas Community measures for    5. Whereas Community measures for the
   the improvement of the               improvement of the conditions under
   conditions under which fishery       which fishery and aquaculture
   and aquaculture products are         products are processed and marketed
   processed and marketed were laid     were laid down by Council
   down by Council Regulation (EEC)     Regulation (EEC) No 4042/89 of
   No 4042/89 of 19 December            19 December 1989;(5) whereas
   1989;5 whereas Community             Community measures to improve and
   measures to improve and adapt        adapt structures in the fisheries
   structures in the fisheries and      and aquaculture sector were laid
   aquaculture sector were laid         down by Council Regulation (EEC) No
   down by Council Regulation           4028/86 of 18 December 1986,(6>
   (EEC) No 4028/86 of 18 December      as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
   1986,6 as last amended by            No 3946/92 of 19 December
   Regulation (EEC) No 3946/92 of       1992;(7) whereas finance for
   19 December 1992;7 whereas           these operations comes from a
   finance for these operations         variety of budgetary resources,
   comes from a variety of              including, in some cases, the EAGGF
   budgetary resources, including,      Guidance Section; whereas it is
   in some cases, the EAGGF             appropriate to bring all these
   Guidance Section; whereas it is      resources under a single financial
   appropriate to bring all these        instrument for fisheries guidance
   resources under a single              (hereinafter referred to as
   financial instrument for              "FIFG"); whereas, to the extent
   fisheries guidance (hereinafter      that that single instrument
   referred to as "FIFG");               supports the achievement of the
   whereas, to the extent that          objectives set out in Article 130a
   that single instrument supports      of the Treaty, assistance from it
   the achievement of the                should be coordinated with that
   objectives set out in Article         from the Structural Funds; whereas
   130a of the Treaty, assistance        all the provisions governing the
   from it should be coordinated         Structural Funds should therefore
   with that from the Structural         be extended to that instrument;
   Funds; whereas all the
   provisions governing the
   Structural Funds should
   therefore be extended to that
   instrument;
5   OJ No L 388, 30.12.1989, p. 11.
6   OJ No L 376, 31.12.1986, p. 7.
7   OJ No L 401, 31.12.1992, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 4 -
6. Whereas the Structural Funds      6. Whereas the Structural Funds
   constitute the chief means of        constitute the chief means of
   redressing the socio-economic        redressing the socio-economic
   disturbances which the review of     disturbances which the review of the
   the common fisheries policy is       common fisheries policy is likely to
   likely to create in certain          create in certain coastal areas;
   coastal areas; whereas, it is        whereas, it is consequently
   consequently necessary, other        necessary, other than in regions
   than in regions covered by           covered by Objective 1, to adjust
   Objective 1, to adjust the           the eligibility criteria for
   eligibility criteria for             Objectives 2 and 5(b) to take
   Objectives 2 and 5(b) to take        account of these problems;
   account of these problems;
   Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)     Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)
   No      /93 introduces a             No 792/93 of 30 March 1993°
   temporary cohesion financial          introduces a temporary cohesion
   instrument through which the          financial instrument through which
   Community makes a financial          the Community makes a financial
   contribution to projects             contribution to projects relating to
   relating to the environment and      the environment and to the trans-
   to the trans-European transport      European transport Infrastructure
   infrastructure networks in           networks in Greece, Spain, Ireland
   Greece, Spain, Ireland and            and Portugal, provided these
   Portugal, provided these              countries have a convergence
   countries have a convergence         programme which has been examined by
   programme which has been             the Council designed to avoid an
   examined by the Council designed      excessive public sector deficit;
   to avoid an excessive public         whereas this Regulation is temporary
   sector deficit; whereas this          in nature pending the establishment
   Regulation is temporary in            of the Cohesion Fund under Article
   nature pending the establishment      130d of the draft Treaty on European
   of the Cohesion Fund under            Union and will be re-examined before
   Article 130d of the draft Treaty      31 December 1993; whereas the
   on European Union and will be         financial instrument for which
   re-examined before 31 December        provision has been made, as amended
   1993; whereas the financial           if necessary (hereinafter referred
   instrument for which provision        to as the "cohesion financial
   has been made, as amended if          instrument"), should be covered by
   necessary (hereinafter referred       Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88; whereas
   to as the "cohesion financial         under Article 7 of Regulation (EEC)
   instrument"), should be covered       No 792/93 no item of expenditure may
   by Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88;       benefit both from that instrument
                                         and from the EAGGF, the ESF or the
                                         ERDF;
8   OJ No L 79, 1.4.1993, p.74,
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 5 -
8. Whereas Objectives 3 and 4 are     8. Whereas Objectives 3 and 4 are
   concerned, on the one hand, with       concerned, on the one hand, with
   combating long-term unemployment       combating long-term unemployment
   and, on the other hand, the            and, on the other hand, the
   occupational integration of            occupational Integration of young
   young people; whereas these            people; whereas these Objectives,
   Objectives, for whose                  for whose implementation the ESF is
   implementation the ESF is              responsible, should be clarified by
   responsible, should be clarified       combining them under Objective 3,
   by combining them under                widening the latter to facilitate
   Objective 3, widening the latter       the Integration into working life of
   to facilitate the integration          persons threatened with exclusion
   into working life of social            from the labour market and
   categories excluded from the           introducing a new Objective 4 to
   labour market and introducing a        facilitate the adaptation of workers
   new Objective 4 to facilitate          to industrial changes and changes in
   the adaptation of workers to           production systems;
    industrial changes and changes
    in production systems;
                                       8a. Whereas the principle of equal
                                            opportunities for men and women is
                                            a goal which the Community seeks
                                            and to which strucutral measures
                                            should contribute;
9. Whereas Article 3(1) of             9. Whereas Article 3(1) of Regulation
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88             (EEC) No 2052/88 specifies the tasks
    specifies the tasks of the ERDF;      of the ERDF; whereas these should be
   whereas these should be extended       extended to support for investment
    to support for investment in          in the fields of education and
    education and health in the           health in the Objective 1 regions;
    Objective 1 regions;
10.   Whereas this Article specifies   10. Whereas this Article specifies at
      at paragraph 3 the tasks of           paragraph 3 the tasks of the ESF;
      the ESF; whereas these should         whereas these should be amended to
      be amended to take account of         take account of the new definition
      the new definition of                 of Objectives 3 and 4; whereas, as
      Objectives 3 and 4;                   part of the redefinition of
                                            measures eligible for assistance
                                            from the ESF, aid for employment
                                            could be presented in the form,
                                            inter alia, of aid for geographical
                                            mobility;
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 6 -
11. Whereas the European Council    11. Whereas the European Council of 11
    of 11 and 12 December 1992           and 12 December 1992 fixed the
    fixed the resources available        resources available for commitment
    for commitment by the                by the Structural Funds and other
    Structural Funds and other           structural operations for the
    structural operations for the        period 1993-99; whereas these
    period 1993-99; whereas it           resources are spending targets;
    also fixed the resources in          whereas it also fixed the resources
    real terms available for             in real terms available for
    commitment under Objective 1         commitment under Objective 1 for
    for that period; whereas those       that period; whereas those amounts
    amounts will permit                  will permit commitments under
    commitments under Objective 1        Objective 1 and under the cohesion
    and under the cohesion               financial instrument to double in
    financial instrument to double       the four Member States eligible
    in the four Member States            under that financial instrument,
    eligible under that financial        "so reaching about ECU 85 billion
    instrument, "so reaching about       in those four Member States for the
    ECU 85 billion in those four         period 1993-99";
    Member States for the period
    1993-99";
12. Whereas, in order to increase    12. Whereas, in order to increase the
    the effectiveness of the             effectiveness of the structural
    structural policies, the             policies, the partnership should be
    partnership should be                strengthened by inclusion of the
    strengthened by inclusion of         economic and social partners at the
    the economic and social              various phases of programming, on
    partners on the basis of a           the basis of a better definition of
    better definition of the             the responsibilities of each party
    responsibilities of each party       having regard to the principle of
    having regard to the principle       subsidiarity;
    of subsidiarity, monitoring
    and continuous assessment
    should be developed and
    provision should be made for
    greater flexibility in the
     implementation of Community
    structural assistance to meet
    real needs;
 ---pagebreak---                                    7 -
                                   12a.   Whereas the appraisal, monitoring
                                          and assessment of operations
                                          should be developed and provision
                                          should be made for greater
                                          flexibility in the implementation
                                          of Community structural
                                          assistance to meet real needs;
                                          whereas, in order to make
                                          assistance more effective and to
                                          ensure that in the medium term
                                          there will accrue social and
                                          economic benefits commensurate
                                          with the resources deployed,
                                          operations should be subject to a
                                          thorough ex-ante appraisal before
                                          resources are committed;
13. Whereas the EIB has stated its 13. Whereas the EIB will continue to
    willingness to continue to          devote the majority of its
    devote the majority of its          resources to promoting economic and
    resources to promoting              social cohesion and in particular
    economic and social cohesion        to developing further loans in the
    and in particular to                Member States which benefit from
    developing further loans in         the cohesion financial instrument
    the Member States which             and in the Community's Objective 1
    benefit from the cohesion           regions;
    financial instrument and in
    the Community's Objective 1
    regions;
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 8 -
14. Whereas, in order to improve      14. Whereas, in order to improve
    transparency, there should be         transparency, there should be an
    a breakdown of the commitment         indicative breakdown of the
    appropriations of the                 resources of the Structural Funds
    Structural Funds by Member            available for commitment by Member
    State and by each of the              State and by each of the Objectives
    Objectives 1 to 4 and 5(b)            1 to 4 and 5(b), whereby "full
    allocated to those objectives,        account should be taken as now, of
    whereby "full account should          national prosperity, regional
    be taken as now, of national          prosperity, population of the
    prosperity, regional                  regions, and the relative severity
    prosperity, population of the         of structural problems, including
    regions, and the relative             the level of unemployment and, for
    severity of structural                the appropriate objectives, the
    problems, including the level         needs of rural development areas";
    of unemployment and, for the
    appropriate objectives, the
    needs of rural development
    areas";
15. Whereas, in order to avoid        15. Whereas, in order to avoid
    excessive increases in                excessive increases in budgetary
    budgetary expenditure in the          expenditure in the less prosperous
    less prosperous regions, it is        regions, it is desirable that the
    desirable that the levels of          levels of Community participation
    Community participation for           for operations supported by the
    operations supported by the           Structural Funds be modulated and
    Structural Funds be modulated         that, in consequence, intervention
    and that, in consequence,             rates may be increased, in
     intervention rates may be            exceptional cases, in these
     increased, in exceptional            regions;
    cases, in these regions;
16. Whereas, in order to secure       16. Whereas, in order to secure
    effective concentration of            effective concentration of
     assistance, Community measures        assistance, Community operations
    under Objective 2 could cover         under Objective 2 could cover up to
    up to 15% of the Community             15% of the Community population;
     population;
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 9 -
17. Whereas, in order to ensure     17. Whereas, in order to ensure better
    better coordination between          coordination between structural
    structural assistance under          assistance under Objectives 2 and
    Objectives 2 and 5(b), the           5(b), the lists of areas eligible
    lists of areas eligible under        under those Objectives should, as
    those Objectives should, as          far as possible, be adopted at the
    far as possible, be adopted at       same time;
    the same time;
18. Whereas, in order to simplify       [    )
    programming procedures, there
    should be provision for the
    Member States to submit their
    applications for assistance at
    the same time as their
    development plans and that the
    number of operational
    programmes should be limited;
19. Whereas measures to speed up    18. Whereas measures to speed up the
    the adjustment of agricultural       adjustment of agricultural and
    and fisheries structures             fisheries structures (Objective
    (Objective 5(a)) should be           5(a)) should be coordinated with
    coordinated with the other           the other Objectives referred to in
    Objectives referred to in this       this Regulation, particularly as
    Regulation, particularly as          far as programming is concerned;
    far as programming is
    concerned;
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 10 -
20.  Whereas Community policy in      19. Whereas the principles and goals of
     the field of the environment         sustainable development are set out
      is designed to ensure a high        in the Community programme of
      level of protection while           policy and action in relation to
     taking account of the variety        the environment and sustainable
     of situations in the various         development as referred to in the
     regions of the Community;            Council Resolution of 1 February
     whereas the requirements of          1993;9 whereas Community policy in
     environmental protection             the field of the environment is
      should form part of the             designed to ensure a high level of
      definition and implementation       protection while taking account of
      of other Community policies;        the variety of situations in the
     whereas the Member States            various regions of the Community;
      should therefore include in         whereas the requirements of
      the development plans               environmental protection should
      submitted under Objectives 1,       form part of the definition and
      2 and 5 an assessment of the         implementation of other Community
      environmental situation and         policies; whereas the Member States
      the environmental impact of          should therefore include in the
      the measures planned as well        development plans submitted under
      as the steps they have taken        Objectives 1, 2 and 5 an assessment
      to associate their                  of the environmental situation and
      environmental authorities with      the environmental impact of the
      the preparation and                 measures planned as well as the
      implementation of the plans;         steps they have taken to associate
                                          their environmental authorities
                                          with the preparation and
                                           implementation of the plans;
21.   Whereas a report on progress    20. Whereas a report on progress in
      in achieving economic and            achieving economic and social
      social cohesion should be            cohesion should be presented every
      presented every three years,         three years,
9   OJ No C 138, 17.5.1993, p.l.
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 11 -
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
              Article 1                               Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 is        Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 is hereby
hereby amended as follows:            amended as follows:
1. In the first paragraph of          1. In the first paragraph of Article 1,
   Article 1, "the Financial             "the Financial Instrument for
   Instrument for Fisheries              Fisheries Guidance (hereinafter
   Guidance (hereinafter referred        referred to as the "FIFG")," is
   to as the "FIFG")," is inserted       inserted after "Community action
   after "Community action through       through the Structural Funds," and
   the Structural Funds," and "the       "the cohesion financial instrument"
   cohesion financial instrument,"       is inserted after: "the EIB".
   is inserted after: "the EIB".
2. Points 3, 4 and 5 of Article 1
   are replaced by:                      Points 3, 4 and 5 of Article 1 are
                                         replaced by:
   "3. combating long-term unem-
        ployment and facilitating        "3. combating long-term unem-
        the integration into working          ployment and facilitating the
        life of young people and              integration into working life of
        those socially excluded from          young people and those
        the labour market, (here-             threatened with exclusion from
        inafter referred to as                the labour market, (here-inafter
        •Objective 3');                       referred to as 'Objective 3');
   4. facilitating the adaptation           facilitating the adaptation of
      of workers to industrial              workers to industrial changes and
      changes and to changes in             to changes in production systems,
      production systems, (here-             (here-inafter referred to as
      inafter referred to as                 •Objective 4');
       •Objective 4');
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 12 -
   5. promoting rural development        5. promoting rural development by:
       by:
                                          a. speeding up the adjustment of
     a. speeding up the adjustment            agricultural structures in the
         of agricultural structures           framework of the reform of the
         in the framework of the              common agricultural policy;
         reform of the common
         agricultural policy;             b. facilitating the development and
                                              structural adjustment of
     b. facilitating the structural           ruralareas
         adjustment of rural areas
                                           (hereinafter referred to as
      (hereinafter referred to as          "Objective 5(a) and 5(b)").
      "Objective 5(a) and 5(b)").
      In the framework of the review       In the framework of the review of
      of the common fisheries             the common fisheries policy,
      policy, measures for the            measures for the adjustment of
      adjustment of fisheries              fisheries structures come under
      structures come under               Objective 5(a)."
      Objective 5(a)."
3. In Article 2(1), "and the FIFG'    3. In Article 2(1), "and the FIFG" is
   is inserted after: "The               inserted after: "The Structural
   Structural Funds, the 'EAGGF          Funds, the 'EAGGF Guidance Section'
   Guidance Section', the 'ESF',         the 'ESF', the 'ERDF'".
   the 'ERDF'".
4. In the first line of the fifth     4. In the first line of the fifth
   indent of Article 2(1), ", FIFG'      indent of Article 2(1), ", FIFG' xs
   is added.                             added.
   In Article 3(1) the following is      In Article 3(1) the following is
   added:                                added:
     (d) investment in operations          (d) investment in operations in the
         relating to education and             fields of education and health
         health in regions concerned           in regions concerned by
         by Objective 1."                      Objective 1."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 13 -
6. Article 3(2) is replaced by:       6. Article 3(2) is replaced by:
    '2. Pursuant to Article 123 of        '2. In accordance with Article 123
        the Treaty, the ESF shall             of the Treaty, the ESF shall
        have the task of improving            have the priority task of
        the workings of the labour            providing support for Objectives
        market and developing human           3 and 4 throughout the Community
        resources. As a priority,             and, in addition, shall provide
        it shall provide support              support for Objectives 1, 2 and
        for Objectives 3 and 4                5(b).
        throughout the Community
        and, in addition, shall
        provide support for
        Objectives 1, 2 and 5(b).
      It shall contribute in               It shall contribute in particular
      particular to :                      to :
      (a) combating unemployment;          (a) combating unemployment;
      (b) facilitating access to the       (b) facilitating access to the
          labour market;                        labour market;
      (c) promoting equal oppor-           (c) promoting equal oppor-tunities
          tunities in the labour                in the labour market;
          market;
                                           (d) developing skills, abilities
      (d) developing skills, abi-               and professional
          lities and qualifi-                   qualifications;
          cations, including
          facilitating the adap-
          tation of workers to
          industrial changes and to
          changes in production
          systems;
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 14 -
     (e) encouraging growth in             (e) encouraging the creation of
         employment.                           jobs.
     The ESF shall provide support        The ESF shall provide support for
     for studies and pilot schemes        studies or pilot schemes concerning
     especially those covering            regional development at Community
     aspects common to several            level, especially where frontier
     Member States, which may             regions of Member States are
     include the development of           involved."
     labour market activities at
     Community level."
7. Points (a) and (c) of Article      7. Points (a) and (c) of Article 3(3)
   3(3) are replaced by:                 are replaced by:
    (a) strengthening and re-
        organizing agricultural and        (a) strengthening and re-organizing
        forestry structures,                   agricultural and forestry
        including those for the                structures, including those for
        marketing and processing of            the marketing and processing of
        agricultural and forestry              agricultural and forestry
        products, and helping to               products, and helping to offset
        offset the effects of                  the effects of natural
        natural handicaps on                   handicaps on agriculture;"
        agriculture;"
    (c) helping to ensure a fair           (c) helping to ensure a fair
        standard of living for                 standard of living for
        farmers;".                             farmers;".
8. In Article 3(3)(d), "and to        8. In Article 3(3)(d), "and to offset
   offset the effects of natural         the effects of natural handicaps on
   handicaps on agriculture" is          agriculture" is deleted.
   deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 15 -
9. The following subparagraph is       9. The following subparagraph is added
    added to Article 3(3):                to Article 3(3):
    "The EAGGF Guidance Section           "The EAGGF Guidance Section shall
    shall also contribute to              also contribute to technical
   technical assistance and               assistance and information
    information operations, and           operations, and provide support for
   provide support for studies or         studies or pilot schemes concerning
   pilot schemes concerning the           the adjustment of agricultural
    adjustment of agricultural            structures and the promotion of
    structures and the promotion of       rural development at Community
    rural development at Community        level."
    level."
10.   The following Article 3a is      10. The following Article 3a is
      inserted:                            inserted:
              Article 3a                              Article 3a
           Task of the FIFG                        Task of the FIFG
    The tasks and specific                The tasks and specific provisions
    provisions governing operations       governing operations under the FIFG,
    under the FIFG, including             including transitional provisions,
    transitional provisions, shall        shall be laid down pursuant to
    be laid down pursuant to Article      Article 43 of the Treaty.
    43 of the Treaty.
    The provisions governing the          The provisions governing the
    Structural Funds under this           Structural Funds under this
    Regulation and the provisions         Regulation and the provisions laid
    laid down pursuant to Article         down pursuant to Article 3(5) shall
    3(5) shall apply to the FIFG."        apply to the FIFG."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -lo-
ll. The second sentence of Article  11. The second sentence of Article 4(1)
    4(1) is replaced by: "They           is replaced by: "They shall be
    shall be established through         established through close
    close consultations between          consultations between the
    the Commission, the Member           Commission, the Member State
    State concerned and the              concerned and the competent
    competent authorities and            authorities,and bodies, including
    bodies, including the economic       the economic and social partners,
    and social partners,                 designated by the Member State at
    designated by the Member State       national, regional, local or other
    at national, regional, local         level, with each party acting as a
    or other level, with each            partner in pursuit of a common
    party acting as a partner in         goal."
    pursuit of a common goal."
                                    11a.   The following subparagraph is
                                           added to Article 4(1):
                                        "Partnership shall be carried out
                                        with full regard to the respective
                                        institutional, legal and financial
                                        powers of the partners."
12. In Article 4(3), the words:      12. In Article 4(3), the words: "the
    "the authorities referred to         authorities referred to in
    in paragraph 1" are replaced         paragraph 1" are replaced by "the
    by "the authorities and bodies       authorities and bodies referred to
    referred to in paragraph 1".         in paragraph 1".
13. In the first subparagraph of     13. The first subparagraph of Article
    Article 5(2), "In the case of        5(2)is replaced by:
    the Structural Funds," is
    replaced by "In the case of         "2. In the case of the Structural
    the Structural Funds and the            Funds and the FIFG, financial
    FIFG,".                                 assistance may be provided in
                                            one of the following forms:".
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 17 -
14.   In point (d) of Article 5(2),
      "including repayments" is       14. In point (d) of Article 5(2),
      deleted.                            "including repayments" is deleted.
15.   Point (e) of Article 5(2) is    15. Point (e) of Article 5(2) is
      replaced by:                        replaced by:
    "(e) support for technical           "(e) support for technical
         assistance, including the            assistance, including the
         measures to prepare,                 measures to prepare, appraise,
         accompany and assess                 monitor and assess operations,
         operations, and pilot and            and pilot and demonstration
         demonstration projects."             projects."
                                      15a The following subparagraph is added
                                          after point (e) of Article 5(2):
                                         "With the exception of those
                                         referred to at (e) undertaken at the
                                         initiative of the Commission, the
                                         forms of assistance may comprise
                                         only those established by the Member
                                         State or the responsible authorities
                                         which it has designated and
                                         submitted to the Commission by the
                                         Member State or any other body,
                                         where such exists, which it has
                                         designated for that purpose."
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 18 -
16.   The first subparagraph of
      Article 5(3) is replaced by:     16. The first subparagraph of Article
                                           5(3) is replaced by:
    "- individual loans, global
       loans and framework loans or       "- individual loans, global loans
       other forms of part-financing          and framework loans or other
       specific invest-ment projects          forms of part-financing specific
       or pro-grammes;"                       investment projects or
                                              programmes;"
17.   The second indent of Article     17. The second indent of Article 5(3)
      5(3) is deleted.                      is deleted.
18.   In the second subparagraph of    18. In the second subparagraph of
      Article 5(5), "Where an              Article 5(5), "Where an operational
      operational programme involves       programme involves operations under
      operations under more than one       more than one Fund and/or more than
      Fund and/or more than one            one other financial instrument, it
      other financial instrument, it       may be implemented ..." is replaced
      may be implemented ..." is           by "Where a form of assistance
      replaced by "Where a form of          involves operations under more
      assistance involves operations       than one Fund and/or more than one
      under more than one Fund             other financial instrument, it may
      and/or more than one other           be implemented ...".
      financial instrument, it may
      be implemented ...".
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 19 -
19. In the third subparagraph of    19. In the third subparagraph of
    Article 5(5), "Operational          Article 5(5), "Operational
    programmes shall be                 programmes shall be undertaken
    undertaken ..." are replaced         ..." are replaced by "Assistance
    by "Assistance shall be             shall be undertaken ...".
    undertaken ...".
                                    19a.   The title of Article 6 is
                                           replaced by "Appraisal,
                                           monitoring and assessment'
20. In the second subparagraph of   20. The second subparagraph of Article
    Article 6(1), "submit" is            6(1) is replaced by:
    replaced by "inform" and
    "reports on" is deleted.           "The Commission shall regularly
                                       inform the European Parliament and
                                       the Committees referred to in
                                       Article 17 of the implementation of
                                       operations. It shall lay before
                                       those Committees the annual report
                                       referred to in the first paragraph
                                       of Article 16."
21. In Article 6(2), "an ex-ante    21. Article 6(2) is replaced by:
    and an ex-post assessment" is
    replaced by "continuous            "2.   In order to gauge their
    assessment".                            effectiveness, Community
                                            structural operations shall be
                                            the subject of appraisal,
                                            monitoring and assessment
                                            designed to highlight their
                                            impact with respect to the
                                            objectives set out in Article 1
                                            and to analyse their effects on
                                            specific structural problems."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 20 -
                                      22. The words "and the principle of
                                          equal opportunities for men and
                                          women." are Inserted at the end of
                                          Article 7(1).
22.   The following new subparagraph
      is inserted between the first
      and second subparagraphs of
      Article 8(1):
    "The figures for the five new
    German Lander and eastern Berlin
    shall not be included in the
    calculation of the Community
    average."
23.   After "Northern Ireland," in    23. After "Northern Ireland," in the
      the second (now the third)           second (now the third) subparagraph
      subparagraph of Article 8(1),       of Article 8(1), "the five new
      "the five new German Lander,        German Lander, eastern Berlin" is
      eastern Berlin," is inserted.        inserted.
 ---pagebreak---                                   - 21 -
24. In Article 8(2), "the Annex."   24. In Article 8(2), "the Annex,    xs
    is replaced by "Annex I."           replaced by "Annex I."
25. In Article 8(3), "for five      25. In Article 8(3), "for five years
    years from the entry into            from the entry into force of this
    force of this Regulation." is       Regulation." is replaced by "for
    replaced by "for six years           six years from 1 January 1994."
    from 1 January 1994."
26. In Article 8(4), the two        26. In Article 8(4), the first
    indents are replaced by:             subparagraph is replaced by:
                                       "The Member States shall submit
                                       their regional development plans to
                                       the Commission. These plans shall
                                       include:
     a description of the current       '- a description of the current
     situation with regard to              situation with regard to
     disparities and development           disparities and development gaps,
     gaps, the financial resources         the financial resources deployed
     deployed and the main results         and the main results of
     of operations undertaken in           operations undertaken in the
     the previous programming              previous programming period in
     period, parti-cularly those           the context of Community
     in receipt of Community               structural assistance received
     structural assis-tance;               and with regard to the assessment
                                           results available;
    a description of an                -   a description of an appropriate
    appropriate strategy to                strategy to achieve the
    achieve the objectives under           objectives under Article 1 and
    Article 1, the regional                the regional development
    development priorities                 priorities selected, their
    selected, their specific               specific objectives, quantified
    objectives, quantified where           where they lend themselves to
    they lend themselves to                quantification; a prior appraisal
    quantification, and the                of the expected impact, including
    expected impact, as well as            that on jobs, of the operations
    the corresponding opera-tions;         involved in order to show that
    an ex-ante assessment of these         the socio-economic benefits are
    different elements;                    commensurate with the resources
                                           deployed;
 ---pagebreak---                                - 22 -
an assessment of the                  an assessment of the
environmental situation of the        environmental situation of the
region concerned and its              region concerned and of the
expected development with             environmental impact of the said
regard to the strategy and            strategy and operations in terms
operations foreseen above and         of sustainable development and
the arrangements made to              the arrangements made to
associate the environmental           associate the responsible
authorities in the prepa-             environmental authorities
ration and implementation of          designated by the Member States
the operations foreseen in the        in the preparation and
plans;                                implementation of the operations
                                      foreseen in the plans and to
                                      ensure compliance with Community
                                      environmental rules;
a financial table summa-rizing        an indicative financial table
the national and Community            summarizing the national and
financial resour-ces devoted          Community financial resources
to each regional development          planned for each regional
priority, as well as an               development priority in the plan,
indication of the use to be           as well as an indication of the
made of assistance available          use to be made of assistance
under the Funds, the EIB and          available under the Funds, the
the other financial                   EIB and the other financial
instruments in implementing           instruments in implementing the
the plans."                           plans."
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 23 -
27.   The third and fourth             27. The third and fourth subparagraphs
      subparagraphs of Article 8(4)        of Article 8(4) are replaced by:
      are replaced by:
    "Member States shall also submit      "Member States shall also submit the
    the plans referred to in Article      plans referred to in Article 10 and
    10 and Article 11(1) for the          Article 11(1) for the regions
    regions concerned. The elements       concerned. The elements of the plans
    of the plans referred to in           referred to in Article 10 and in
    Article 10 and in Article 11(1)       Article 11(1) may also be included
    may also be included in the           in the regional development plans of
    regional development plans of         the regions concerned.
    the regions concerned.
    In order to expedite the              [    ]
    examination of applications and
    the implementation of
    assistance, the Member States
    shall wherever possible include
    with their plans applications
    for operational programmes and
    other forms of assistance that
    they cover."
28.   The first subparagraph of        28. The first subparagraph of Article
      Article 8(5) is replaced by:         8(5) is replaced by:
    "The Commission shall examine         "The Commission shall examine the
    the proposed plans and the other      proposed plans and the other
    information referred to in            information referred to in paragraph
    paragraph 4 to determine whether      4 to determine whether they are
    they are consistent with the          consistent with the objectives of
    objectives of this Regulation         this Regulation and with the
    and with the provisions and           provisions and policies referred to
    policies referred to in Articles      in Articles 6 and 7. On the basis
    6 and 7. On the basis of all          of all the plans referred to in
    the plans referred to in              paragraph 4, it shall establish,
    paragraph 4, it shall establish,      through the partnership referred to
    through the partnership referred      in Article 4(1), in agreement with
    to in Article 4(1) and in             the Member State concerned and in
    agreement with the Member State       accordance with the procedures
    concerned and in accordance with      referred to in Article 17, the
    the procedures referred to in         Community support framework at the
    Article 17, the Community             relevant geographical level for
    support framework at the              Community structural assistance."
    relevant geographical level for
    Community structural
    assistance."
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 24 -
29.   The first indent of the second   29. The first indent of the second
      subparagraph of Article 8(5)         subparagraph of Article 8(5) is
      is replaced by:                      replaced by:
    "- the ex-ante assessment of the      "- the development objectives,
       development objectives,               quantified if they lend
       quantifying where it lends            themeselves to quantification,
       itself to quantification, the         the progress to be achieved
       progress to be achieved               during the period concerned
       during the period concerned           compared to the current
       compared to the current               situation, the priorities adopted
       situation and the priorities          for Community assistance and the
       adopted for Community                 arrangements for appraisal,
       assistance;".                         monitoring and assessment of the
                                             operations planned;".
                                       29a.  In the fourth subparagraph of
                                             Article 8(5), the words "with
                                             regard for the partnership as
                                             defined in Article 4(1)" are
                                             added after "revised and
                                             adjusted,".
                                       29b.  Article 8(6) is deleted.
                                       30. Article 8(7) becomes Article 8(6)
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 25 -
30.   In Article 8(6), "a limited
      number of" is inserted before
      "operational programmes."
                                       [    )
31.   At the beginning of the second
      subparagraph of Article 9(2),
      "In addition, on receipt of a
      reasoned request from a Member
      State," is added.
                                       31. The following is added to the first
                                           indent of Article 9(2):
                                          "and areas satisfying those criteria
                                          adjacent to an Objective 1 region;".
32.   The third indent of the second   32. The third indent of the second
      subparagraph of Article 9(2)          subparagraph of Article 9(2) is
      is replaced by:                      replaced by:
    "- areas which have recorded          "- areas which have recorded
       substantial job losses over            substantial job losses over the
       the last three years or are            last three years or are
       experiencing or are                    experiencing or are threatened
       threatened with such losses            with such losses in industrial
       in industrial sectors which            sectors which are vital to their
       are vital to their economic            economic development, including
       development, including those           those losses brought about by
       losses brought about by                industrial changes and changes in
       industrial changes and                 production systems, with a
       changes in production                  consequent serious worsening of
       systems, with a consequent             unemployment in those areas;".
       serious worsening of
       unemployment in those
       areas;".
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 26 -
33. The following indents are        33. The following indents are added to
    added to the second                  the second subparagraph of Article
    subparagraph of Article 9(2):        9(2):
     areas, especially urban
     areas, with severe problems        "- areas, especially urban areas,
     linked to the rehabilitation           with severe problems linked to
     of large numbers of derelict           the rehabilitation of large
     industrial sites;                      numbers of derelict industrial
                                            sites;
    other industrial or urban           -   other industrial or urban areas
    areas where the socio-economic          where the socio-economic impact
    impact of restructuring of the          of restructuring of the fisheries
    fisheries sector, assessed on           sector, assessed on the basis of
    the basis of objective                  objective criteria, justifies
    criteria, justifies it."                it."
                                     33a.   Article 9(3) is replaced by:
                                     "3. As soon as this Regulation has
                                          entered into force, the Member
                                          States shall, on the basis of
                                          paragraph 2 and with regard to the
                                          principle of concentration, propose
                                          to the Commission a list of areas
                                          which they consider should be
                                          eligible for an operation under
                                          Objective 2 and shall provide the
                                          Commission with all relevant
                                          information.
                                        On the basis of that information and
                                        its overall assessment of the
                                        proposals submitted, the Commission
                                        shall, in close cooperation with the
                                        Member State concerned and in
                                        accordance with the procedure
                                        referred to in Article 17, draw up
                                        an initial list, valid for three
                                        years, of the areas referred to in
                                        paragraph 1. The Commission shall
                                        inform the European Parliament of
                                        this list."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 27 -
                                      33b.   In Article 9(4) "the Commission
                                             shall seek to ensure" is replaced
                                             by "the Commission and the Member
                                             States shall seek to ensure".
34.  Article 9(5) is replaced by:     34. Article 9(5) is replaced by:
        Western Berlin shall be               Western Berlin shall be eligible
        eligible for aid under this           for aid under this Objective for
        Objective for the first               the first three-year programming
        three-year programming                period referred to in
        period referred to in                 paragraph 6."
        paragraph 6."
                                      34a.   In Article 9(6), the words "in
                                             cooperation with the Member State
                                             concerned." are added after
                                             "periodically".
35.   In Article 9(7), "Three years   35. In Article 9(7), "Three years after
      after this Regulation enters         this Regulation enters into force,"
      into force," is replaced by          is replaced by "Three years after
      "Three years after the entry         the entry into force of the list
      into force of the list               referred to in paragraph 3,".
      referred to in paragraph 3,".
36.   The first indent of Article     36. Article 9(8) is replaced by the
      9(8) is replaced by the              following:
      following three indents:
                                      "(8)   The Member States concerned shall
                                             submit their regional and social
                                             conversion plans to the
                                             Commission. These plans shall
                                             include:
    '- a description of the current       '- a description of the current
       situation, the financial              situation, the financial
       resources deployed and the            resources deployed and the main
       main results of operations            results of operations undertaken
       undertaken in the previous            in the previous programming
       programming period, parti-            period as part of Community
       cularly those in receipt of           structural assistance and the
       Community structural assis-           results of assessments available;
       tance;
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 28 -
      a description of an                   a description of an appropriate
      appropriate strategy to               strategy to achieve the
      achieve the objectives under          objectives under Article 1 and
      Article 1, the conversion             the conversion priorities
      priorities selected for the           selected for the areas concerned,
      areas concerned, quantifying          quantifying the progress
      the progress anticipated where        anticipated where this lends
      this lends itself to                  itself to quantification; a prior
      quantification, and the               appraisal of the expected impact,
      expected xmpact with respect          including that on jobs, of the
      to the current situation, in          operations Involved to show that
      relation to the financial             the socio-economic benefits are
      resources deployed, as well as        commensurate with the financial
      the corresponding operations;         resources deployed;
      an ex-ante assessment of these
      different elements;
      an assessment of the                - an assessment of the
      environmental situation of the        environmental situation of the
      region concerned and its              region concerned and of the
      expected development with             environmental xmpact of the said
      regard to the strategy and            strategy and operations in
      operations foreseen above; the        accordance with the principles of
      arrangements made to associate        sustainable development; the
      the environmental authorities         arrangements made to associate
      in the prepa-ration and               the responsible environmental
      implementation of the                 authorities designated by the
      operations foreseen in the            Member State in the preparation
      plans;".                              and implementation of the
                                            operations foreseen in the plans
                                            and to ensure compliance with
                                            Community rules on the
                                            environment;".
37.   The second subparagraph of
      Article 9(8) is replaced by:
    "In order to expedite the
    examination of applications and
    the implementation of
    assistance, the Member States
    shall include with their plans
    applications for operational
    programmes and other forms of
    assistance that they cover."
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 29 -
                                       37. In Article 9(9), "On the basis of
                                           these plans," is added at the
                                           beginning of the second sentence.
38.   The first indent of the second   38. The first indent of the second
      subparagraph of Article 9(9)         subparagraph of Article 9(9) is
      is replaced by:                      replaced by:
    "- the ex-ante assessment of the      "- the conversion objectives,
       conversion objectives,                quantified if they lend
       quantifying, where its lends          themselves to quantification, the
       itself to quantification, the         progress to be achieved during
       progress to be achieved               the period concerned compared to
       during the period concerned           the current situation, the
       compared to the current               priorities adopted for Community
       situation and the priorities          assistance and the arrangements
       adopted for Community                 for the appraisal, monitoring and
       assistance;".                         assessment of the operations
                                             planned;".
                                       38a.  In the third subparagraph of
                                             Article 9(9), "in accordance with
                                             the partnership as defined in
                                             Article 4(1)" is added after
                                             "revised and adjusted".
39.   In Article 9(10), "a limited     39. Article 9(10) is deleted.
      number of" is inserted before
      "operational programmes."
                                       39a.  Article 9(11) becomes Article
                                             9(10).
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 30
40.   Article 10 is replaced by:       40. Article 10 is replaced by:
    '1. Objective 3                        1. Objective 3
      The Member States concerned          The Member States shall submit to
      shall submit to the Commission       the Commission plans for operations
      plans for operations to combat       to combat long-term unemployment
      long-term unemployment and to        and to facilitate the integration
      facilitate the integration           into working life of young people
      into working life of young           and those threatened with exclusion
      people and social categories         from the labour market (Objective
      excluded from the labour             3).
      market (Objective 3 ) .
      These plans shall include in         The plans shall include:
      particular:
      - a description of the current       - a description of the current
        situation, the financial             situation, the financial
        resources deployed and the           resources deployed and the main
        main results of operations           results of operations undertaken
        undertaken in the previous           in the previous programming
        programming period,                  period in the context of
        particularly those in                Community structural assistance
        receipt of Community                 received and with regard to the
        structural assistance;               assessment results available;
 ---pagebreak---                              - 31 -
a description of an                  a description of an appropriate
appropriate strategy to              strategy to achieve the
achieve the objectives under         objectives under Article 1 and
Article 1, the priorities            the priorities selected for the
selected for the                     implementation of Objective 3,
implementation of Objective          quantifying the progress
3, quantifying the progress          anticipated where this lends
anticipated where this lends         Itself to quantification; a prior
itself to quantification,            appraisal of the expected impact,
and the expected impact with         including that on jobs, of the
respect to the current               operations Involved in order to
situation, in relation to            show that the socio-economic
the financial resources              benefits are commensurate with
deployed, as well as the             the financial resources deployed;
corresponding operations; an
ex-ante assessment of these
different elements;
an indication of the use to        - an Indication of the use to be
be made of assistance                made of assistance available
available under the ESF -            under the ESF - where
where appropriate, in                appropriate, in conjunction with
conjunction with assis-tance         assistance from other existing
from the EIB or other                Community financial instruments -
existing Community financial         in implementing the plan.
instruments - in
implementing the plan.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 32 -
  The Commission shall                The Commission shall establish, for
  establish, for each Member          each Member State and for the
  State and for the individual        individual plans submitted to it
  plans submitted to it through       through the partnership referred to
  the partnership referred to in      in Article 4(1), in agreement with
  Article 4(1), in agreement          the Member State concerned and in
  with the Member State               accordance with the procedures set
  concerned and in accordance         out in Article 17, the Community
  with the procedures set out in      support framework for the
  Article 17, the Community           attainment of Objective 3.
  support framework for the
  attainment of Objective 3.
2. Objective 4                       2. Objective 4
  The Member States concerned         The Member States shall submit to
  shall submit to the Commission      the Commission plans for operations
  plans for operations designed       designed to facilitate the
  to facilitate the adaptation        adaptation of workers to industrial
  of workers to industrial            changes and to changes in
  changes and to changes in           production systems (Objective 4 ) .
  production systems (Objec-
  tive 4 ) .
  These plans shall include in        These plans shall include:
  particular:
  - a description of the current      - a description of the current
    situation and of likely             situation and of likely changes
    changes in jobs and                 in jobs and occupations,
    occupations, stressing needs        stressing needs in terms of
    in terms of initial and             initial and further vocational
    further vocational training;        training;
 ---pagebreak---                                - 33 -
a description of an                   a description of an appropriate
appropriate strategy to               strategy to achieve the
achieve the objectives under          objectives under Article 1 and
Article 1, the priorities             the priorities selected for the
selected for the                      implementation of Objective 4,
implementation of Objective 4,        quantifying the progress
quantifying the progress              anticipated where this lends
anticipated where this lends          itself to quantification; a prior
itself to quantification, and         appraisal of the expected xmpact,
the expected impact with              including that on jobs, of the
respect to the current                operations involved in order to
situation, in relation to the         show that the socio-economic
financial resources deployed,         benefits are commensurate with
as well as the corresponding          the financial resources deployed;
operations; an ex-ante
assessment of these different
elements;
- measures adopted to involve         measures adopted to involve the
  the competent authorities           competent authorities and bodies
  and organi-zations at the           designated by the Member State at
  appropriate levels in the           the appropriate levels in the
  preparation and                     preparation and implementation of
  implementation of operations        operations featuring in the plan;
  featuring in the plan;
- an indication of the use to         an indication of the use to be
  be made of assistance               made of assistance available
  available under the ESF -           under the ESF - where
  where appropriate, in               appropriate, in conjunction with
  conjunction with assis-tance        assistance from the EIB or other
  from the EIB or other               existing Community financial
  existing Community financial        instruments - in implementing the
  instruments - in                    plan.
  implementing the plan.
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 34 -
  The Commission shall                  The Commission shall establish, for
  establish, for each Member            each Member State and for the
  State and for the individual          individual plans submitted to it
  plans submitted to it through         through the partnership referred to
  the partnership referred to in        in Article 4(1), in agreement with
  Article 4(1), in agreement            the Member State concerned and in.
  with the Member State                 accordance with the procedures• set
  concerned and in accordance           out in Article 17, the Community
  with the procedures set out in        support framework for the
  Article 17, the Community             attainment of Objective 4,
  support framework for the
  attainment of Objective 4.
3. Common provisions                  3. Common provisions
3.1. The plans shall distinguish      3.1. The plans shall distinguish
     between the information                 between the information
     relating to regions covered             relating to regions covered by
     by Objective 1 and the rest             Objective 1 and the rest of the
     of the territory. The                   territory. The information \
     information relating to                 relating to Objective 1 regions
     Objective 1 regions may be              may be included in the regional
     included in the regional                development plans referred to.
     development plans referred               in Article 8(4).
     to in Article 8(4).
3.2. In order to expedite the         t     )
     examination of applications
     and the implementation of
     assistance, the Member
     States shall, wherever
     possible, include with
     their plans applications
     for operational programmes
     and other forms of
     assistance that they cover.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 35 -
3.3. The Commission shall            3.2. The Commission shall examine
     examine the proposed plans            the proposed plans to determine
     to determine whether they             whether they are consistent
     are consistent with the               with the objectives of this
     objectives of this                    Regulation and with the
     Regulation and with the               provisions and policies
     provisions and policies               referred to in Articles 6 and
     referred to in Articles 6             7. It shall draw up the
     and 7. The Commission shall           Community support frameworks.
     draw up the Community
     support frameworks.
  Each Community support              Each Community support framework
  framework shall feature in          shall cover in particular:
  particular:
                                      - the planned objectives,
  - an ex-ante assessment of the         quantified, if they lend
    planned objectives,                  themselves to quantification, the
    quantifying, where it lends          progress to be achieved during
    itself to quanti-fication,           the period concerned compared to
    the progress to be achieved          the current situation, the
    during the period concerned          specific priorities adopted for
    compared to the current              Community assistance and the
    situation and the specific           arrangements for appraisal,
    prio-rities adopted for              monitoring and assessment of the
    Community assistance;                operations planned;
  - the forms of assistance;           - the forms of assistance;
  - the indicative financing           - the indicative financing plan,
    plan, with details on the            with details of the amount of
    amount of assistance and its         assistance and its source;
    source;
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 36 -
      - the duration of the                - the duration of the assistance.
        assistance.
                                           The Community support framework
      The Community support                may, if necessary, be revised and
      framework may, if necessary,         adjusted, in accordance with the
      be revised and adjusted on the       partnership as defined in Article
      initiative of the Member State       4(1), on the initiative of the
      or of the Commission in              Member State or of the Commission
      agreement with the Member            in agreement with the Member State,
      State in the light of relevant       in the light of relevant new
      new information and of the           information and of the results
      results obtained during              obtained during implementation of
      implementation of the                the operations concerned.
      operations concerned.
   3.4. Assistance in respect of          [    1
         Objectives 3 and 4 shall be
         predominantly in the form
         of a limited number of
         operational programmes.
    3.5. The arrangements for             3.3. The arrangements for
         implementation of this                 implementation of this Article
         Article shall be specified             shall be specified in the
         in the provisions referred             provisions referred to in
         to in Article 3(4) and                 Article 3(4) and (5)."
         (5)."
41.   Article 11 is replaced by:       41. Article 11 is replaced by:
              Article 11                               Article 11
            Objective 5(a)                           Objective 5(a)
    1. The Member States shall            1. The Member States shall submit
       submit their plans for                their plans for operations under
       operations under Objec-               Objective 5(a) to the Commission.
       tive 5(a) to the Commission.          The plans shall be drawn up at
       The plans shall be drawn up           the appropriate geo-graphical
       at the appropriate geo-                level and shall distinguish
       graphical level (national or          between:
       regional) and shall
       distinguish between:
 ---pagebreak---                               - 37 -
  operations concerning
  agricultural structures and          operations concerning
  those concerning fisheries           agricultural structures and those
  structures;                          concerning fisheries structures;
  information concerning the           information concerning the
  Objective 1 regions, that            Objective 1 regions, that
  concerning the Objective             concerning the Objective 5(b)
  5(b) areas and that                  areas and that concerning the
  concerning the rest of the           rest of the territory.
  territory.
Information concerning the          Information concerning the
Objective 1 regions may also        Objective 1 regions may also be
be included in the regional         included in the regional
development plans referred to       development plans referred to in
in Article 8(4).                    Article 8(4).
If operations in respect of         If operations in respect of
Objective 5(a) are submitted        Objective 5(a) are submitted as
as part of a number of plans        part of a number of plans presented
presented by the same Member        by the same Member State, the
State, the Member State shall       Member State shall provide the
provide the Commission with a       Commission with a summary for
summary for agricultural            agricultural structures and a
structures and a summary for        summary for fisheries structures
fisheries structures covering       covering all assistance under
all assistance under Objective      Objective 5(a) to be implemented on
5(a) to be implemented on its        its territory.
territory.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 38 -
2. The plans referred to in          2. The plans referred to in
   paragraph 1 shall include:            paragraph 1 shall include:
  - a description of the current      - a description of the current
    situation, the financial             situation, the financial
    resources deployed, and the          resources deployed, and the main
    main results of the                  results of the operations
    operations undertaken                undertaken hitherto in the
    hitherto which received              context of Community structural
    Community struc-tural                assistance received and with
    assistance;                          regard to the assessment results
                                         available;
    a description of the                 a description of the measures
    measures selected for the            selected for the adjustment of
    adjustment of agricultural           agricultural and fisheries
    and fisheries structures,            structures, quantifying, where it
    quantifying, where it lends          lends itself to quantification,
    itself to quanti-fication,           the progress anticipated and a
    the progress anticipated and         prior appraisal of the expected
    the expected xmpact,                 impact, including that on jobs,
    compared to the current              of the operations Involved in
    situation, in relation to            order to show that the socio-
    the financial resources              economic benefits are
    deployed as well as the              commensurate with the financial
    corresponding operations; an         resources deployed;
    ex-ante assessment of these
    different elements;
    an assessment of the               - an assessment of the
    environmental situation and          environmental situation and of
    its expected deve-lopment            the environmental impact of the
    with respect to the measures         said measures in accordance with
    and operations foreseen              the principles of sustainable
    above; the arrangements made         development; the arrangements
    to associate the environ-            made to associate the responsible
    mental authorities in the            environmental authorities
    preparation and imple-               designated by the Member State In
    mentation of the operations          the preparation and
    foreseen in the plans;                implementation of the operations
                                          foreseen in the plans and to
                                         ensure compliance with Community
                                         environmental rules;
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 39 -
    an indication of the use to        - an indication of the use to be
    be made of assistance                made of assistance available
    available under the Funds,           under the Funds and the other
    and the other financial              financial instruments in
    instruments in imple-menting         implementing the plans.
    the plans.
  In order to expedite the            [    )
  examination of applications
  and the implementation of
  action, the Member States
  shall include with their plans
  applications for operational
  programmes and other forms of
  assistance that they cover.
3. The Commission shall examine       3. The Commission shall examine the
   the proposed plans to                 proposed plans to determine
   determine whether they are            whether they are consistent with
   consistent with the objec-            the objec-tives of this
   tives of this Regulation and          Regulation and with the
   with the provisions and               provisions and policies referred
   policies referred to in               to in Articles 6 and 7. In
   Articles 6 and 7. In                  accordance with the procedures
   accordance with the                   referred to in the provisions
   procedures referred to in the         laid down pursuant to Article
   provisions laid down pursuant         3(5), the Commission shall draw
   to Article 3(5), the                  up through the partnership
   Commission shall draw up              referred to in Article 4(1) and
   through the partnership               in agreement with the Member
   defined in Article 4(1), in           State concerned, the programming
   agreement with the Member             of Objective 5(a) in the
   State concerned, the                  following way:
   programming of Objective 5(a)
   in the following way:
 ---pagebreak---                               - 40 -
(a) in the case of the               (a) in the case of the Objective 1
    Objective 1 regions,                 regions, operations under
    operations under Objec-              Objective 5(a) shall be
    tive 5(a) shall be                   integrated into the Community
    integrated into the                  support frameworks drawn up
    Community support frame-             pursuant to Article 8(5), a
    works drawn up pursuant to           distinction being made between
    Article 8(5), a                      those relating to agricultural
    distinction being made               structures and those relating
    between those relating to            to fisheries structures;
    agricultural struc-tures
    and those relating to
    fisheries structures;
(b) in other cases, a                (b) in other cases, a Community
    Community support frame-             support framework for
    work for agricultural                agricultural structures and a
    structures and a Commu-              Community support framework for
    nity support framework for           fisheries structures shall be
    fisheries structures shall           drawn up for each Member State;
    be drawn up for each                 each Community support
    Member State; the                    framework shall distinguish
    Community support frame-             between operations to be
    work for agricultural                implemented in the
    structures shall dis-                Objective 5(b) areas and those
    tinguish between opera-              for rest of the territory.
    tions to be implemented in
    the Objective 5(b) areas
    and those for rest of the
    territory.
The Community support                The Community support frameworks
frameworks shall include:            shall include in particular:
- the measures selected for          - the measures selected for
  Community assistance;                Community assistance. Including
                                       the arrangements for the
- the forms of assistance;             appraisal, monitoring and
                                       assessment of the operations
                                       planned;
                                     - the forms of assistance;
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 41 -
    the indicative financing          - the indicative financing plan,
    plan, with details on the            with details on the amount of
    amount of assistance and its         assistance and its source;
    source;
                                      - the duration of the assistance.
    the duration of the
    assistance.
  The Community support               The Community support framework
  framework may, if necessary,        may, if necessary, be revised and
  be revised and adjusted on the      adjusted, in accordance with the
  initiative of the Member State      partnership as defined in Article
  or of the Commission in             4(1), on the initiative of the
  agreement with the Member           Member State or of the Commission
  State in the light of relevant       in agreement with the Member State,
  new information and of the           in the light of relevant new
  results obtained during              information and of the results
  implementation of the                obtained during implementation of
  operations concerned.               the operations concerned.
4. The arrangements for              4. The arrangements for
   implementation of this                implementation of this Article
   Article shall be specified in         shall be specified in the
   the provisions referred to in         provisions referred to in Article
   Article 3(4) and (5)."                3(4) and (5)."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 42 -
42. The following Article 11a is      42. The following Article 11a is
inserted:                             inserted:
              Article 11a                            Article 11a
            Objective 5(b)                          Objective 5(b)
   1. The rural areas outside            1. The rural areas outside Objective
       Objective 1 regions that may          1 regions that may receive
       receive Community assistance          Community assistance under
       under Objective 5(b) are              Objective 5(b) are those which
       those which have a low level          have a low level of socio-
       of socio-economic deve-               economic development assessed on.
       lopment assessed on the basis         the basis of gross domestic
       of gross domestic product per         product per inhabitant and also
       inhabitant and also satisfy           satisfy at least two of the
       at least two of the following         following three criteria:
       three criteria :
      (a) high share of agricultural       (a) high share of agricultural
          employment in total                  employment in total employment;
          employment;
      (b) low level of agricultural        (b) low level of agricultural
          income, notably as                   income, notably as expressed in
          expressed in terms of                terms of agricultural value
          agricultural value added             added by agricultural work unit
          by agricultural work unit            (AWU);
           (AWU);
      (c) low population density           (c) low population density and/or a
          and/or a significant                 significant depopulation trend.
          depopulation trend.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 43 -
  Assessment of the eligibility       Assessment of the eligibility of
  of areas according to the           areas according to the above
  above criteria shall take into      criteria shall take into account
  account socio-economic              socio-economic parameters which
  parameters which indicate the       indicate the seriousness of the
  seriousness of the general          general situation in the areas
  situation in the areas              concerned, and how it is
  concerned, and how it is            developing.
  developing.
2. In addition, on receipt of a      2. Community assistance may also be
   reasoned request from a              extended to other rural areas
   Member State, Community              with a low level of socio-
   assistance may also be               economic development, if they are
   extended to other rural areas        affected by one or more of the
   with a low level of socio-           following criteria:
   economic development, if they
   are affected by one or more
   of the following criteria:
    the peripheral nature of            the peripheral nature of areas or
    areas or islands in relation        islands in relation to major
    to major centres of economic        centres of economic and
    and commercial activity in          commercial activity in the
    the Community;                      Community;
    the sensitivity of the area         the sensitivity of the area to
    to developments in                  developments in agriculture
    agriculture especially in           especially in the framework of
    the framework of the reform         the reform of the common
    of the common agricultural          agricultural policy, assessed on
    policy, assessed on the             the basis of the trend in
    basis of the trend in               agricultural incomes and the size
    agricultural incomes and the        of the agricultural labour force;
    size of the agricultural
    labour force;
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 44 -
    the structure of agri-               the structure of agri-cultural
    cultural holdings and the            holdings and the age structure of
    age structure of the                 the gainfully employed agri-
    gainfully employed agri-             cultural labour force;
    cultural labour force;
    the pressures exerted on the         the pressures exerted on the
    environment and on the               environment and on the
    countryside;                         countryside;
    the situation of areas               the situation of areas within
    within mountain or less-             mountain or less-favoured areas
    favoured areas classified            classified pursuant to Article 3
    pursuant to Article 3 of             of Directive 75/268/EEC;
    Directive 75/268/EEC;
    the socio-economic xmpact on         the socio-economic xmpact on the
    the area, as measured by             area, as measured by objective
    objective criteria, of the           criteria, of the restructuring of
    restructuring of the                 the fisheries sector.
    fisheries sector.
3. As soon as this Regulation        3. As soon as this Regulation has
   has entered into force, the           entered into force, the Member
   Commission shall establish            States shall, on the basis of
   the list of eligible areas in         paragraphs 1 and 2 and with
   accordance with the procedure         regard to the principle of
   foreseen in the provisions            concentration, propose to the
   laid down pursuant to Article         Commission a list of areas which
   3(5). Member States shall, in         they consider should be eligible
   respect of the areas which in         for a measure under Objective
   their view should benefit             5(b) and shall provide the
   from assistance under                 Commission with all relevant
   Objective 5(b), provide the           information.
   Commission with such
   information as may help it in       On the basis of that information
   this task. On the basis of          and its overall assessment of the
   that information and of its         proposals submitted, the Commission
   overall assessment of the           shall, in close cooperation with
   proposals submitted, the            the Member States concerned and in
   Commission shall determine          accordance with the procedure
   which areas are eligible.           referred to in Article 17, draw up
                                       the list of eligible areas. The
                                       Commission shall Inform the
                                       European Parliament of this list.
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 45 -
4. In selecting rural areas and       4. In selecting rural areas and in
   in programming assistance              programming assistance from the
   from the Funds, the                    Funds, the Commission and the
   Commission shall take care to          Member States shall seek to
   ensure that assistance is              ensure that assistance is
   effectively concentrated on            genuinely concentrated on areas
   areas suffering from the most          suffering from the most serious
   serious problems of rural              problems of rural development.
   development.                           The Member States shall supply
                                          the Commission with any
                                          information which might assist it
                                          in this task.
5. The Member States concerned        5. The Member States concerned shall
   shall submit their rural               submit their rural development
   development plans to the               plans to the Commission. Those
   Commission. Those plans shall          plans shall include:
   include in particular:
  - a description of the current        - a description of the current
    situation, the financial              situation, the financial
    resources deployed and the            resources deployed and the main
    main results of operations            results of operations undertaken
    undertaken in the previous            in the previous programming
    programming period,                   period, in the context of
    particularly those in                 Community structural assistance
    receipt of Community                  received and with regard to the
    structural assistance;                assessment results available;
 ---pagebreak---                              - 46 -
a description of an                   a description of an appropriate
appropriate strategy to               strategy to achieve the
achieve the objectives under          objectives under Article 1 and
Article 1, the rural                  the rural development priorities
development priorities                selected for the areas concerned,
selected for the areas                quantifying, where it lends
concerned, quantifying,               Itself to quantification, the
where it lends itself to              progress anticipated; a prior
quantification, the progress          appraisal of the expected impact,
anticipated and the expected          including that on jobs, of the
impact with respect to the            operations Involved in order to
current situation, in                 show that the socio-economic
relation to the financial             benefits are commensurate with
resources deployed, as well           the financial resources deployed;
as the corresponding
operations; an ex-ante
assessment of these
different elements;
an assessment of the                - an assessment of the
environmental situation of            environmental situation of the
the area concerned and its            area concerned and of the
expected development with             environmental impact of the said
regard to the strategy and            strategy and operations in
operations foreseen above             accordance with the principles of
and the arrangements made to          sustainable development; the
associate the envi-ronmental          arrangements made to associate
authorities in the                    the responsible environmental
preparation and                       authorities designated by the
implementation of the                 Member State in the preparation
operations foreseen in the            and implementation of the
plans;                                operations foreseen in the plans
                                      and to ensure compliance with
                                      Community environmental rules;
an indication of the use to           an indication of the use to be
be made of assistance                 made of assistance available
available under the                   under the different Funds, the
different Funds, the EIB and          EIB and the other financial
the other financial                    instruments in imple-menting the
 instruments in imple-menting         plans;
the plans;
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 47 -
    any link with the                  - any link with the consequences of
    consequences of reform of            reform of the common agricultural
    the common agricultural              policy and the review of the
    policy and the review of the         common fisheries policy.
    common fisheries policy.
  To expedite the examination of      [   1
  applications and
  implementation of assistance,
  Member States shall include
  with their plans applications
  for operational programmes and
  other forms of assistance that
  they cover.
6. The Commission shall examine       6. The Commission shall examine the
   the proposed plans to                 proposed plans to determine
   determine whether they are            whether they are consistent with
   consistent with the                   the objectives of this Regulation
   objectives of this Regulation         and with the provisions and
   and with the provisions and           policies referred to in Articles
   policies referred to in               6 and 7. On the basis of these
   Articles 6 and 7. It shall            plans, it shall establish,
   establish, through the                through the partnership referred
   partnership referred to in            to in Article 4(1), in agreement
   Article 4(1), in agreement            with the Member State concerned
   with the Member State                 and in accordance with the
   concerned and in accordance           procedures referred to in Article
   with the procedures referred          17, the Community support
   to in Article 17, the                 framework for rural development.
   Community support framework
   for rural development.
 ---pagebreak---                               - 48 -
The Community support               The Community support framework
framework shall cover in            shall cover in particular :
particular :
                                    - the rural development objectives,
~ the ex-ante assessment of            quantified if they lend
  the rural development                themselves to quantification, the
  objectives, quantifying,             progress to be achieved during
  where it lends itself to             the period concerned compared to
  quantification, the pro-             the current situation, the rural
  gress to be achieved during          development priorities adopted
  the period concerned                 for Community assistance and the
  compared to the current              arrangements made for the
  situation and the rural              appraisal, monitoring and
  development priori-ties              assessment of the operations
  adopted for Community                planned;
  assistance;
- the forms of assistance;           - the forms of assistance;
- the indicative financing           - the indicative financing plan,
  plan, with details of the            with details of the amount of
  amount of assistance and its         assistance and its source;
  source;
- the duration of the                - the duration of the assistance.
  assistance.
                                     The Community support frameworks
The Community support                may, if necessary, be revised and
frameworks may, if necessary,        adjusted, in accordance with the
be revised and adjusted on the       partnership defined in Article
initiative of the Member State       4(1), on the initiative of the
concerned or of the Commission       Member State concerned or of the
in agreement with the Member         Commission in agreement with the
State in the light of relevant       Member State, in the light of
new information and of the           relevant new Information and of the
results obtained during              results obtained during
implementation of the                implementation of the operations
operations concerned.                concerned.
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 49 -
      The Community support                The Community support frameworks
      frameworks under Objective           under Objective 5(b) shall indicate
      5(b) shall indicate for              for information the details of the
      information the details of the       operations concerning the
      operations concerning the            adjustment of agri-cultural
      adjustment of agri-cultural          structures under Objective 5(a) to
      structures under Objective           be implemented in the areas
      5(a) to be implemented in the        eligible under Objective 5(b).
      areas eligible under Objective
      5(b).
    7. Assistance under Objective         [     )
       5(b) shall be predominantly
       in the form of a limited
       number of operational
       programmes.
    8. The arrangements for               7. The arrangements for
       implementation of this                 implementation of this paragraph
       paragraph shall be specified           shall be specified in the
       in the provisions referred to          provisions referred to in Article
       in Article 3(4) and (5)."              3(4) and (5)."
43.   Article 12 is replaced by the    43. Article 12 is replaced by the
      following:                            following:
              Article 12                               Article 12
 Fund resources and concentration          Fund resources and concentration
    1. Commitment appropriations for      1. The resources available for
       the Structural Funds and the           commitment from the Structural
       FIFG shall be ECU 141 471              Funds and the FIFG shall be ECU
       million (1992 prices) from             141 471 million (1992 prices)
       1994 to 1999.                          from 1994 to 1999.
 ---pagebreak---                                   50 -
  The annual breakdown of these        The annual breakdown of these
  appropriations is shown in           appropriations is shown in Annex
  Annex II.                            II.
2. A considerable proportion of          A considerable proportion of
   budgetary resources shall be          budgetary resources shall be
   concentrated on the less-             concentrated on the less-
   developed regions covered by          developed regions covered by
   Objective 1.                          Objective 1.
  Commitment appropriations for        The resources available for
  these regions shall be ECU           commitment for these regions shall
  96 346 million (1992 prices)         be ECU 96 346 million (1992 prices)
  from 1994 to 1999.                   from 1994 to 1999.
  The annual breakdown of these        The annual breakdown of these
  appropriations is shown in           resources is shown in Annex II.
  Annex II.
  All operations under                 All operations under Objectives 1
  Objectives 1 to 5 to assist          to 5 to assist the regions covered
  the regions covered by               by Objective 1 shall be taken into
  Objective 1 shall be taken           account for this purpose.
  into account for this purpose.
3. For the four Member States        3. For the four Member States
   eligible for the cohesion             eligible for the cohesion
   financial instrument, the             financial instrument, the
   Commission shall ensure that          increase in commitment
   the increase in commitment            appropriations for the Structural
   appropriations for the                Funds shall permit a doubling of
   Structural Funds permits a            commitments in real terms under
   doubling of commitments in            Objective 1 and the financial
   real terms under Objective 1           instrument for cohesion between
   and the financial instrument          1992 and 1999.
    for cohesion between 1992 and
    1999.
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 51 -
4. The Commission shall make         4. Following transparent procedures,
   allocations per Member State         the Commission shall make
   for each of the Objectives 1         indicative allocations per Member
   to 4 and 5(b) of the                 State for each of the Objectives
   commitment appropriations of         1 to 4 and 5(b) of the commitment
   the Structural Funds taking          appropriations of the Structural
   account of national pros-            Funds taking into account the
   perity, regional prosperity,         following objective criteria:
   population of the regions,           national prosperity, regional
   and the relative severity of         prosperity, population of the
   structural problems, inclu-          regions, the relative severity of
   ding the level of                    structural problems, including
   unemployment and, for the            the level of unemployment and,
   appropriate Objectives, the          for the appropriate Objectives,
   needs of rural development.          the needs of rural development.
                                        These criteria shall be weighted
                                        in an appropriate fashion for the
                                        purpose of allocating resources.
5. For the period referred to at     5. For the period referred to in
   paragraph 2, 10% of                  paragraph 1, at least 10% of
   commitment appropriations for        commitment appropriations for the
   the Structural Funds shall be        Structural Funds shall be devoted
   devoted to funding assistance        to funding assistance undertaken
   undertaken on the initiative         on the initiative of the
   of the Commission according          Commission according to Article
   to Article 5(5).                     5151.
6. For the purpose of their          6. For the purpose of their
   inclusion in the general             inclusion in the general budget
   budget of the European               of the European Communities, the
   Communities, the sums                sums referred to in paragraphs 1
   indicated at paragraphs 2 and        and 2 and in Annex II shall be
   3 and in Annex II shall be           amended before each annual
   amended before each annual           budgetary procedure to reflect
   budgetary procedure to               price changes in the Community."
   reflect price changes in the
   Community."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 52 -
      44. [No change to the English   44. [No change to the English text.]
          text.]
45.   In the second indent of         45. The second indent of Article 13(1)
      Article 13(1), "and budgetary       is replaced byt
      cons-traints arising from the
      implementation of convergence      "the financial capacity of the
      programmes;" is added.             Member State concerned, taking into
                                         account in particular the relative
                                         prosperity of that State and the
                                         need to avoid excessive increases in
                                         budgetary expenditure in the least
                                         prosperous Member States;".
                                      45a.   In the fourth indent of Article
                                             13(1) the words "and national"
                                             are added.
46.   The first subparagraph of       46. The first subparagraph of Article
      Article 13(3) is replaced by:        13(3) is replaced by:
    "3. The Community contribution
        granted by the Funds and the      '3. The Community contribution
        FIFG in respect of the                granted by the Funds and the
        various objectives listed in          FIFG in respect of the various
        Article 1 shall be subject            objectives listed in Article 1
        to the following ceilings:"           shall be subject to the
                                              following ceilings:"
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 53 -
47.   The following is added to the   47. The following is added to the first
      first indent of Article 13(3):       indent of Article 13(3):
    "when the regions are located in
    a Member State concerned by the       "When the regions are located in a
    cohesion financial instrument        Member State concerned by the
    the Community contribution may,      cohesion financial instrument the
    in exceptional and duly              Community contribution may, in
    justified cases, rise to a           exceptional and duly justified
    maximum of 85% of the total          cases, rise to a maximum of 85% of
    cost;".                              the total cost;".
                                      47a    In Article 13(4) "duly justified'
                                             is added after "cost in".
48.   In Article 14(1), "or the       48. In Article 14(1), "or the FIFG" is
      FIFG" is added after "from           added after "from only one Fund".
      only one Fund".
49.   In Article 14(2), "unless       49. In Article 14(2), "unless otherwise
      otherwise permitted by the           permitted by the provisions
      provisions referred to in            referred to in Article 3(4) and
      Article 3(4) and (5)" is added       (5)" is added after "Article 1 at a
      after "Article 1 at a time,".        time,".
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 54 -
50.   Article 14(3) is replaced by:   50. Article 14(3) is replaced by:
    '3. Any territory may be
        eligible for assistance           '3. Any territory may be eligible
        under only one of the                 for assistance under only one of
        Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b).              the Objectives 1, 2 or 5(b)."
51. Article 15(1) and (2) is          51. Article 15(1) and (2) is replaced
replaced by:                          by:
    "1. This Regulation shall not         "1. This Regulation shall not affect
        affect multiannual                    multiannual operations,
        operations, including the             including the adjustment of
        adjustment of Community               Community support frameworks and
        support frameworks and forms          forms of assistance, approved by
        of assistance, approved by            the Council or by the Commission
        the Council or by the                 on the basis of the existing
        Commission on the basis of            rules governing the Funds before
        the existing rules governing          the entry into force of this
        the Funds before the entry            Regulation.
        into force of this
        Regulation.
    2. Applications for assistance           Applications for assistance from
       from the Funds towards an             the Funds towards an operation
       operation which are submitted         which are submitted under the
       under the provisions applying         provisions applying before the
       before the entry into force           entry into force of this
       of this Regulation shall be           Regulation shall be considered
       considered and approved by            and approved by the Commission on
       the Commission on the basis           the basis of those provisions."
       of those provisions."
52.   Article 15(3), (4) and (5) is   52. Article 15(3), (4) and (5) is
      deleted.                             deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 55 -
53.   In the second line of Article    53. In the second line of Article
      15(6), "where appropriate" is        15(6), "where appropriate" is
      deleted and the text following       deleted and the text following "the
      "the new system" replaced by         new system" replaced by "and that
      "and that grants of assistance       grants of assistance for projects
      for projects granted                 granted assistance before 1 January
      assistance before 1 January          1989 shall be finally concluded no
      1989 shall be finally                later than 30 June 1995."
      concluded no later than 30
      June 1995."
54.   The following third paragraph    54. The following third paragraph is
      is added to Article 16:              added to Article 16:
    "The Commission shall submit a
    report at three-yearly intervals      "The Commission shall submit a
    to the European Parliament, the       report at three-yearly intervals to
    Council and the Economic and          the European Parliament, the Council
    Social Committee on the progress      and the Economic and Social
    made towards economic and social      Committee on the progress made
    cohesion and the contribution of      towards economic and social cohesion
    the Funds, the FIFG, the              and the contribution of the Funds,
    cohesion financial instrument,        the FIFG, the cohesion financial
    the EIB and the other financial       instrument, the EIB and the other
    instruments. The report shall,        financial instruments. The report
    if necessary, make proposals          shall, if necessary, make proposals
    with regard to Community              with regard to Community policies
    policies affecting economic and       affecting economic and social
    social cohesion* The first            cohesion. The first report shall be
    report shall be produced no           produced no later than 31 December
    later than 31 December 1996."         1996."
55.   In Article 17(1), "three" is     55. In Article 17(1), "three" is
      replaced by "four".                  replaced by "four".
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 56 -
56.   The third indent of Article      56. The third indent of Article 17(1)
      17(1) is replaced by:                is replaced by:
    "- Objective 5(a)                     "- Objective 5(a)
      - Management Committee com-          - Management Committee corn-posed of
        posed of representatives of           representatives of the Member
        the Member States                     States (adjustment of
        (adjustment of agricul-tural          agricultural structures);
        structures);
      - Management Committee                  Management Committee composed of
        composed of repre-sentatives          representatives of the Member
        of the Member States                  States (adjustment of fisheries
        (adjustment of fisheries              structures);
        structures);
      Objective 5(b)                          Objective 5(b)
      - Management Committee                  Management Committee referred to
        referred to under the first           under the first sub-indent of
        sub-indent of Objective               Objective 5(a)."
        5(a)."
57.   In Article 17(2), "and the       57. In Article 17(2), "and the second
      second subparagraph of Article        subparagraph of Article 3a." is
      3a." is added.                        added.
58.   Article 19 is replaced by:       58. Article 19 is replaced by:
    "On a proposal from the               "On a proposal from the Commission,
    Commission, the Council shall         the Council shall re-examine this
    re-examine this Regulation            Regulation before 31 December 1999.
    before 31 December 1999.
    It shall act on the proposal in       It shall act on the proposal in
    accordance with the procedure         accordance with the procedure laid
    laid down in Article 130d of the      down in Article 130d of the Treaty.
    Treaty."
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 57 -
   59.  The Annex is replaced by        59. The Annex is replaced by Annexes 1
        Annexes I and II to this            and 2 to this Regulation.
        Regulation.
                                 Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
Done at
                                       For the Council
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                       Annex
                                           I
                       Regions concerned by Objective 1
BELGIUM:    Hatnaut
GERMANY:     Brandenburg,    Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,   Ost-Berlin,  Sachsen,
             Sachsen-Anhalt, Thuringen
GREECE:     The whole country
SPAIN:      Andalucla, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y Leon, Cast11la-La
            Mancha, Ceuta y Melilla, Comunidad Valenciana, Extremadura,
          . Galicia, Islas Canarias, Murcia
FRANCE:     Overseas departments. Corse.
IRELAND:     The whole country
ITALY:       Basilicata,   Calabria,  Campania,   Molise,  Puglia, Sardegna,
           ; siciita
PORTUGAL:   The whole country
UNITED KINGDOM: Highlands and Jslands, Merseyside, Northern Ireland.
 ---pagebreak---                                   •  - $ %
                                                               Annex II
            Commitment appropriations for the period 1994-99
                         ECU million (1992 prices)
                    1994   1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   94-99
Structural Funds   20 135 21 480 22 740 24 026 25 690 27 400 141 471
and FIFG
of which Objective 13 220 14 300 15 330 16 396 17 820 19 280  96 346
    1 regions:
 ---pagebreak---                                             — &o -
                        Amended proposal for a
                  COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No ../..     SYN 455
                         of                1993
             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
                       (Coordination Regulation)
     THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN              THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
     COMMUNITIES,                             COMMUNITIES,
     Having regard to the Treaty              Having regard to the Treaty
     establishing the European Economic       establishing the European Economic
     Community, and in particular             Community, and in particular
     Articles 130e and 153 thereof,           Articles 130e and 153 thereof,
     Having regard to the proposal from       Having regard to the proposal from
     the.Commission,*                         the Commission,(*)
     In cooperation with the European         In cooperation with the European
     Parliament,2                             Parliament,(2)
     Having regard to the opinion of the      Having regard to the opinion of the
     Economic and Social Committee,3          Economic and Social Committee,(3)
     1    OJ No C
     2    OJ No C
     3    OJ No C
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 6H-
1. Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)  1. Whereas Council Regulation
   No ... of          19934 amends      (EEC) No ... of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of       1993(4)amends Regulation
   24 June 1988 on the tasks of the     (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June
   Structural Funds and their           1988 on the tasks of the
   effectiveness and on coor-           Structural Funds and their
   dination of their activities         effectiveness and on coor-
   between themselves and with the      dination of their activities
   operations of the European           between themselves and with the
   Investment Bank and the other        operations of the European
   existing financial instru-           Investment Bank and the other
   ments;5 whereas Regulation           existing financial instru-
   (EEC) No 4253/88 should              ments; (5) whereas Regulation
   therefore be amended;6               (EEC) No 4253/88 should
                                        therefore be amended;(6)
2. Whereas under Article 3a of       2. Whereas under Article 3a of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 the      Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 the
   provisions of that Regulation        provisions of that Regulation
   governing the Structural Funds       governing the Structural Funds
   and the provisions necessary         and the provisions necessary
   for the coordination of the          for the coordination of the
   activities of the different          activities of the different
   Structural Funds between             Structural Funds between
   themselves and with the              themselves and with the
   operations of the EIB and the        operations of the EIB and the
   other existing financial             other existing financial
   instruments apply to the FIFG;       instruments apply to the FIFG;
   OJ No L 185, 15.7.1988, p. 9.
   OJ No L 374, 31.12.1988, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                   ~<D<2
3. Whereas the coordination             Whereas the coordination
   provided for in Regulation (EEC)     provided for in Regulation (EEC)
   No 4253/88 should therefore be       No 4253/88 should therefore be
   extended to the FIFG, to the         extended to the FIFG and to the
   cohesion financial instrument        cohesion financial instrument;
   and to the trans-European            whereas coordination through the
   networks;                            Communities budgetary resources
                                        can also concern the measures
                                        accompanying the reform of the
                                        CAP, the framework programmes
                                        for research and technological
                                        development, the trans-European
                                        networks and the economic
                                        restructuring of the countries
                                        of central and eastern Europe;
                                        whereas the coherence and
                                        economic and social
                                        effectiveness of Community
                                        action depends on coordination,
                                        particularly with the Framework
                                        Programmes for research and
                                        technological development and
                                        education and training
                                        programmes;
4. Whereas the Member States should     Whereas the Member States should
   submit their development plans       submit their development plans
   as soon as possible in order not     as soon as possible in order not
   to delay the implementation of       to delay the implementation of
   structural assistance from           structural assistance from
   1 January 1994;                      1 January 1994;
 ---pagebreak---                                     G^ —
5. Whereas, in order to simplify     5. Whereas, in order to simplify
   programming procedures, there        and speed up programming
   should be provision for the          procedures, there should be
   Commission to adopt                  provision for the Commission to
   simultaneously the Community         adopt simultaneously the
   support frameworks and the forms     Community support frameworks and
   of assistance submitted at the       the forms of assistance
   same time as development plans;      submitted at the same time as
   whereas for the same reason          development plans; whereas for
   there should be provision for        the same reason there should be
   the plan and the application for     provision for the plan and the
   assistance to be presented in a      application for assistance to be
   single document and for the          presented in a single document
   adoption of the Community            and for the adoption of the
   support framework and grant of       Community support framework and
   assistance to be made in a           grant of assistance to be made
   single Commission decision;           in a single Commission decision;
6. Whereas, in accordance with the   6. Whereas, in accordance with the
   principle of subsidiarity,           principle of subsidiarity, and
   implementation of the forms of       without prejudice to the
   assistance contained in the           Commission's powers,
   Community support frameworks         particularly its responsibility
   should be primarily the               for the management of the
   responsibility of the Member          Community's financial resources,
   States;                               implementation of the forms of
                                         assistance contained in the
                                         Community support frameworks
                                         should be primarily the
                                         responsibility of the Member
                                         States, which must, however,
                                         exercise this at the most
                                         appropriate level of
                                         decent ra1i zat ion;
7. Whereas the principle of          7.  Whereas the principle of
   additionality and the criteria        additionality and the criteria
   and procedures for its                and procedures for its
   verification should be defined;       verification should be defined;
 ---pagebreak---                                     -6<<-
8.  Whereas, in order to increase          Whereas, in order to increase
    the flexibility of Community           the flexibility of Community
    structural assistance, there           structural assistance, there
    should be provision for                should be provision for
    assistance undertaken at the           assistance undertaken at the
    initiative of the Commission in        initiative of the Commission in
    the context of Objectives 1, 2         the context of Objectives 1, 2
    and 5(b) to concern                    and 5(b) to concern
    exceptionally areas other than         exceptionally areas other than
    those eligible under those             those eligible under those
    Objectives; whereas the question       Objectives; whereas the question
    of cross-border cooperation with       of cross-border cooperation with
    Community priority regions may         Community priority regions may
    also be addressed by Phare,            also be addressed by Phare,
    taking account of complementary        taking account of complementary
    support under the Community            support under the Community
    Structural Funds;                      Structural Funds;
    Whereas, in order to minimize          Whereas, in order to minimize
    delays in financial flows, the         delays in financial flows, the
    time allowed for the Commission        time allowed for the Commission
    to pay financial assistance to         to pay financial assistance to
    the Member State and for the           the Member State and for the
    Member State to pay that               Member State to pay that
    assistance to the final                assistance to the final
    beneficiaries should be laid           beneficiaries should be laid
    down;                                  down, so that the funds are
                                           available to the final
                                           beneficiaries in good time for
                                           them to carry out their
                                           measures;
10. Whereas the role and powers of     10. Whereas the role and powers of
    the Monitoring Committees should       the Monitoring Committees should
    be laid down; whereas,                 be laid down; [
    furthermore, for reasons of
                                                               2
    increased transparency, it is
    considered appropriate that
    projects benefiting from
    Community assistance should be
    specified when published by
    notice in the Official Journal
    of the European Communities
    under the rules relating to the
     award of public contracts;
 ---pagebreak---                                    -GS--
                                       10a Whereas there should be greater
                                           transparency in the
                                           implementation of structural
                                           assistance; whereas, to that
                                           end, care should be taken to
                                           ensure that plans, Community
                                           support frameworks and measures
                                           benefiting from assistance are
                                           accessible to the public in
                                           accordance with the rules laid
                                           down in Directive 90/313/EEcf7)
                                           on the freedom of access to
                                           information on the environment;
                                           whereas it is considered
                                           appropriate that projects
                                           benefiting from Community
                                           assistance should be specified
                                           when published by notice in the
                                           Official Journal of the European
                                           Communities under the rules
                                           relating to the award of public
                                           contracts;
11. Whereas assessment is primarily    11. Whereas appraisal and assessment
    the responsibility of the Member       are the responsibility of both
    States;                                the Member State and the
                                           Commission in the framework of
                                           partnership; whereas, in
                                           addition, to enhance the
                                           effectiveness and financial
                                           viability of Community
                                           assistance, ex-ante appraisal,
                                           monitoring and ex-post
                                           assessment should be
                                           strengthened
(7) OJ No L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.
 ---pagebreak---                                      £6-
12. Whereas it is appropriate to lay  12. Whereas it is appropriate to lay
    down specific transitional            down specific transitional
    provisions, including provisions      provisions, including provisions
    to ensure that aid to Member          to ensure that aid to Member
    States is not interrupted             States is not interrupted
    pending the establishment of the      pending the establishment of the
    plans and operational programmes      plans and operational programmes
    in accordance with the new            in accordance with the new
    system and that the grant of          system [   ],
    assistance for projects granted
    assistance before 1 January 1989
    may be finally concluded no
    later than 30 June 1995,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
              Article 1                             Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 is        Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 is
hereby amended as follows:            hereby amended as follows:
    In Article 1, "and the FIFG" is   1.  In Article 1, "and the FIFG' is
    inserted after "different             inserted after "different
    Funds".                               Funds".
    In Article 2, "and the FIFG' xs       In Article 2, "and the FIFG' is
    inserted in the title.                inserted in the title.
    In the first paragraph of             In the first paragraph of
    Article 2, "and the FIFG" is          Article 2, "and thé FIFG" is
    inserted after "various Funds"        inserted after "various Funds".
 ---pagebreak---                                     éf
   In the third indent of Article      In the third indent of Article
   2, "integrated operational          2, "integrated operational
   programmes" is replaced by          programmes" is replaced by
   "integrated forms of                "integrated forms of
   assistance".                        assistance".
                                    4a The fourth indent of Article 2
                                       starts with the words "ex-ante
                                       appraisal,".
5. In Article 3(1), "and the FIFG"  5. In Article 3(1), "and the FIFG"
   is inserted after "assistance       is inserted after "assistance
   from the Funds".                    from the Funds".
   The third indent of Article 3(1) 6. The third indent of Article 3(1)
   is replaced by:                     is replaced by:
   "-  from resources from the         "-  from resources from the
       Community budget allocated          Community budget allocated
       to:                                 in particular to:
         the financial cohesion              the financial cohesion
         instrument;                         instrument;
         other action for                    other action for
         structural purposes;                structural purposes;
         accompanying measures for
         the reform of the CAP;
       - the framework programmes
         in the area of research
         and technological deve-
          lopment ;
       - trans-European networks;
       - economic restructuring of
         central and eastern
         Europe."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -6g-
7.  Article 4 is deleted.             7.  Article 4 is deleted.
    In the first subparagraph of      8.  In the first subparagraph of
    Article 5(1), "objectives 1 to 4      Article 5(1), "objectives 1 to 4
    and 5(b)" is replaced by              and 5(b)" is replaced by
    "Objectives 1 to 5".                  "Objectives 1 to 5".
    In the first subparagraph of      9.  In the first subparagraph of
    Article 5(2), "the development        Article 5(2), "the development
    of rural areas" is replaced by        of rural areas" is replaced by
    "rural development".                  "rural development".
10. In the first subparagraph of      10. In the first subparagraph of
    Article 5(2), the text after          Article 5(2), the text after
    "vocational training measures"        "vocational training measures"
    is replaced by "under Objective       is replaced by "under Objective
    1 and possibly those in               1 and possibly those in
    connection with Objectives 3 and      connection with Objectives 3 and
    4."                                   4."
11. The fourth subparagraph of        11. The fourth subparagraph of
    Article 5(2) is deleted.              Article 5(2) is deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                     ~6«>-
12. The fifth subparagraph of          12. The fifth subparagraph of
    Article 5(2) is replaced by:           Article 5(2) is replaced by:
    "In the plans, Member States           "In the plans, Member States
    shall indicate the particulars         shall indicate the particulars
    relating to each Fund, including       relating to each Fund, including
    the volumes of assistance              the volumes of assistance
    requested. In accordance with          requested. In order to expedite
    Articles 8 to 11a of Regulation        the examination of applications
    (EEC) No 2052/88, in order to          and the implementation of
    expedite the examination of            assistance, they shall include
    applications and the                   in their plans, applications for
    implementation of assistance,          assistance for operational
    they shall include in their            programmes and other forms of
    plans, according to the                assistance.
    provisions in the aforementioned
    articles, applications for             Member States may submit in a
    assistance for operational             single document the information
    programmes and other forms of          required in each plan as
    assistance.                            referred to in Articles 8 to 11a
                                           of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
    The plan and applications for          and the information required
    assistance may be submitted in a       under Article 14(2)."
    single document."
13. In the first paragraph of          13. In the first paragraph of
    Article 6, "period of between          Article 6, "period of between
    three and five years," is              three and five years," is
    replaced by "period of three or        replaced by "period of three or
    six years. The first programming       six years. The first programming
    period shall begin on 1 January        period shall begin on 1 January
    1994."                                 1994."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -^o
14. The second paragraph of Article   14. The second paragraph of Article
    6 is replaced by:                     6 is replaced by:
    "Plans in respect of Objectives       "Unless otherwise arranged with
    1, 3, 4 and 5(a) shall be             the Member State, plans in
    submitted not later than three        respect of Objectives 1, 3, 4
    months after the entry into           and 5(a) shall be submitted not
    force of this Regulation. Plans       later than three months after
    in respect of Objectives 2 and        the entry into force of this
    5(b) shall be submitted not           Regulation. Plans in respect of
    later than three months after         Objectives 2 and 5(b) shall be
    the establishment of the list of      submitted not later than three
    eligible areas under the              months after the establishment
    Obj ectIves concerned.".              of the list of eligible areas
                                          under the Objectives
                                          concerned.".
15. The third paragraph of Article 6  15. The third paragraph of Article 6
    is deleted.                           is deleted.
                                      15a Article 7(2) ends as follows:
                                          "and the Member State's
                                          economic, social and regional
                                          policies."
16. In Article 8(1), "objectives 1    16. In Article 8(1), "objectives 1
    to 4 and 5(b)" is replaced by         to 4 and 5(b)" is replaced by
    "Objectives 1 to 5".                  "Objectives 1 to 5".
17. The second subparagraph of        17. The second subparagraph of
    Article 8(1) is deleted.              Article 8(1) is deleted.
18. Article 8(2) is replaced by:      18. Article 8(2) is replaced by:
     '2. A Community support               '2. A Community support
         framework shall cover a               framework shall cover a
         period of three or six                period of three or six
         years.                                years.
 ---pagebreak---                                     -7-1
19. In the first indent of Article     19. In the first indent of Article
    8(3), "their specific                  8(3), "their specific
    objectives, quantified where           objectives, quantified where
    they lend themselves to                they lend themselves to
    quantification, an ex-ante             quantification, an ex-ante
    assessment and the expected            appraisal and the expected
    xmpact," is inserted after             impact, including with regard to
    "Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88,".        employment together with
                                           information on their consistency
                                           with the economic, social and
                                           regional policies of the Member
                                           State concerned;" is inserted
                                           after "Regulation (EEC)
                                           No 2052/88".
20. The second indent of Article       20. The second indent of Article
    8(3) is replaced by:                   8(3) is replaced by:
     '- for Objective 1, an outline        "-  an outline of the assistance
        of the assistance which is             which is not decided at the
        not decided at the same time           same time as the Community
        as the Community support               support framework including,
        framework including, for               for operational programmes,
        operational programmes,                their specific objectives
        their specific objectives              and the main types of
        and the main types of                  measure involved;"•
        measure involved;".
21. The following indents are          21. The following indents are
    inserted after the third indent        inserted after the third indent
    of Article 8(3):                       of Article 8(3):
     '- the procedures for                 "-  the procedures for
        monitoring and assessment;             monitoring and assessment;
        the procedures for verifying           the procedures for verifying
        additionality and an initial            additionality and an initial
        appraisal of the latter,               appraisal of the latter,
        including the transparency              including the transparency
        of the relevant financial              of the relevant financial
         flows;                                 flows from the Member States
                                                to the final beneficiaries;
 ---pagebreak---                                      K-
        for Objectives 1, 2 and               for Objectives 1, 2 and
        5(b), the arrangements for            5(b), the arrangements for
        associating the environ-              associating the environ-
        mental authorities in the             mental authorities in the
        implementation of the                 implementation of the
        Community support frame-              Community support frame-
        work;".                               work; ".
22. Article 9 is replaced by:         22. Article 9 is replaced by:
              Article 9                             Article 9
            Additionality                         Additionality
    1.  In order to achieve a                 In order to achieve a
        genuine economic impact, the          genuine economic impact, the
        Structural Funds appro-               Structural Funds and the
        priations allocated in each           FIFG appropriations
        Member State to each of the           allocated in each Member
        objectives under Article 1            State to each of the
        of Regulation (EEC) No                Objectives under Article 1
        2052/88 may not replace               of Regulation (EEC) No
        public expenditure on                 2052/88 may not replace
        structural or comparable              public expenditure on
        expenditure undertaken by             structural or comparable
        the Member State in all the           expenditure undertaken by
        territories eligible under            the Member State in all the
        an objective.                         territories eligible under
                                              an Objective.
    2.  For this purpose, in              2.  For this purpose, in
        establishing and imple-               establishing and imple-
        menting the Community                 menting the Community
        support frameworks, the               support frameworks, the
        Commission and Member State           Commission and Member State
        concerned shall ensure that           concerned shall ensure that
        the Member State maintains,           the Member State maintains,
        in all the territories                in all the territories
        concerned, its public                 concerned, its public
        structural or comparable              structural or comparable
        assistance at least at the            expenditure at least at the
        same level as in the                  same level as in the
        previous programming period           previous programming period
        taking into account,                  taking into account,
        however, the macro-economic           however, the macro-economic
        circumstances in which the            circumstances in which the
        funding takes place                   funding takes place
        including the implementation          including the implementation
        of convergence programmes.            of convergence programmes.
 ---pagebreak---                                      =fb-
        The Commission and Member             The Commission and Member
        State shall also agree, in            State shall also agree, in
        establishing the Community            establishing the Community
        support frameworks, the               support frameworks, the
        arrangements for verifying            arrangements for verifying
        additionality.                        additionality.
        To permit verification of             To permit verification of
        the principle of                      the principle of
        additionality, the Member             additionality, the Member
        State shall provide the               State shall provide the
        relevant financial infor-             relevant financial infor-
        mation to the Commission at           mation to the Commission
        the time of the submission            whenever the latter so
        of the plans and regularly            requests, at the time of the
        during the implementation of          submission of the plans and
        the Community support                 regularly during the
        frameworks."                          implementation of the
                                              Community support
                                              frameworks."
23. The second subparagraph of        23. The second subparagraph of
    Article 10(1) is replaced by:         Article 10(1) is replaced by:
    "When adopting its decision on        "When adopting its decision on
    the Community support framework,      the Community support framework,
    the Commission shall also             the Commission shall, in
    approve applications for              accordance with Article 14(3),
    assistance submitted at the same      also approve applications for
    time as the plans insofar as          assistance submitted at the same
    they include the information          time as the plans insofar as
    requested under Article 14(2).        they include the information
    Adoption of the Community             requested under Article 14(2).
    support framework and grant of        Where the Member State submits a
    assistance may be made in a           single programming document
    single Commission decision."          including all the information
                                          referred to in the last
                                          subparagraph of Article 5(2),
                                          the Commission shall adopt a
                                          single decision, on the basis of
                                          a single document, which
                                          includes both the information
                                          referred to in Article 8(3) and
                                          the assistance from the Fund as
                                          referred to in the last
                                          subparagraph of Article 14(3). w
 ---pagebreak---                                     -^H~
                                      23a The following sentence is added
                                          to the first subparagraph of
                                          Article 10(2): "At the request
                                          of the European Parliament, the
                                          Commission shall transmit to it
                                          this decision and the CSF which
                                          it approves, for information."
24. The existing paragraph of         24. The existing paragraph of
    Article 11 is numbered "1'            Article 11 is numbered "1*
                                      24a In the new paragraph 1 of
                                          Article 11 the words "and after
                                          having informed the European
                                          Parliament accordingly" are
                                          added after the words "with the
                                          procedures provided for in Title
                                          VIII"
25. In the new paragraph 1 of         25. In the new paragraph 1 of
    Article 11, "not covered by the       Article 11, "not covered by the
    plans referred to in Title II"        plans referred to in Title II"
    is deleted.                           is deleted.
26. The following subparagraph is     26. The following subparagraph is
    added to the new paragraph 1 of       added to the new paragraph 1 of
    Article 11:                           Article 11:
    "For operations of transnational      "For operations of transnational
    interest, pursuant to the first       interest, pursuant to the
    subparagraph, the Commission may      previous subparagraph, two or
    invite two or more Member States      more Member States, may, on
    to submit a single application        their own initiative or at the
    for assistance. In response to        invitation of the Commission,
    these applications, the               submit a single application for
    Commission may approve a single       assistance. In response to such
    grant of assistance for all the       applications, the Commission
    Member States concerned."             may, in concertation with the
                                          Member States, adopt a single
                                          decision granting aid for all
                                          those Member States."
 ---pagebreak---                                     -^T
27. The following new paragraph 2 is  27. The following new paragraph 2 is
    added to Article 11:                   added to Article 11:
         For a limited part of the              For a limited part of the
         funds available, the forms             funds available, the forms
         of assistance approved under           of assistance approved under
         paragraph 1 in the context             paragraph 1 in the context
         of the priority Objectives             of the priority Objectives
         1, 2 and 5(b) may cover                1, 2 and 5(b) may cover
         areas other than those under           areas other than those under
         Article 8, 9 and 11a of                Article 8, 9 and 11a of
         Regulation (EEC) No                    Regulation (EEC) No
         2052/88."                              2052/88."
28. In Article 12, "which may be      28. In Article 12, the remainder of
    implemented" is replaced by            the sentence after "in the form
    "which shall be implemented",          of operational programmes' is
                                           deleted.
29. The first subparagraph of         29. The first subparagraph of
    Article 13(1) is replaced by:          Article 13(1) is replaced by:
    "1. At the initiative of a             "1. At the initiative of a
         Member State or of the                 Member State or of the
         Commission pursuant to                 Commission pursuant to
         Article 11, in agreement               Article 11, in agreement
         with the Member State                  with the Member State
         concerned, assistance shall            concerned, assistance shall
         be implemented in the form             be implemented in the form
         of an integrated approach              of an integrated approach
         if:".                                  if:".
30. In point (c) of Article 13(1),     30. In point (c) of Article 13(1),
     "programme" is replaced by             "programme" is replaced by
     "assistance".                          "assistance".
31. In Article 13(2), "in              31. In Article 13(2), "in
    particular" is inserted after          particular" is inserted after
     "considered".                          "considered".
 ---pagebreak---                                      ye-
32. In Article 14(1), "and the FIFG'  32. Article 14(1) reads as follows:
    is inserted after "the
    Structural Funds".                    "1. Applications for assistance
                                              from the Structural Funds
                                              and the FIFG, not Including
                                              technical assistance
                                              measures as referred to in
                                              Article 5(2)(a) of
                                              Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
                                              and undertaken on the
                                              Commission's initiative,
                                              shall be prepared by the
                                              Member State or the
                                              competent national,
                                              regional, local or other
                                              authorities designated by
                                              the Member States and shall
                                              be submitted to the
                                              Commission by the Member
                                              State or by any body it may
                                              designate to do so. Each
                                              application shall relate
                                              chiefly to the forms of
                                              assistance provided for in
                                              Article 5 of the above-
                                              mentioned Regulation."
33. The following subparagraph is     33. [   ]
    added to Article 14(1):
    "Applications for assistance in
    the form referred to in Article
    5(2)(e) of Regulation (EEC) No
    2052/88 may also be submitted by
    any individual or public or
    private body according to the
    rules referred to in the
    provisions laid down pursuant to
    Article 3(4) of that
    Regulation."
 ---pagebreak---                                      -w
34. In Article 14(2), ", where this    34. In Article 14(2), ", where this
     is not already included in the         is not already included in the
     plans," is inserted after "in          plans," is inserted after "in
     order to assess them".                 order to assess them".
35. In Article 14(2), "including an    35. In Article 14(2), a new sentence
     appraisal of the medium-term           beginning as follows:
     economic and social benefits           "Applications shall also include
     commensurate with the resources        the results of the ex-ante
     deployed" is added after               appraisal of the medium-term
     "specific objectives".                 economic and social benefits of
                                            the measure commensurate with
                                            the resources to be deployed,"
                                            is added after "specific
                                            objectives".
36. In the second subparagraph of      36. In the second subparagraph of
     Article 14(3), "and the FIFG" is       Article 14(3), "and the FIFG" is
     inserted after "assistance from        inserted after "assistance from
     the Funds".                            the Funds".
37. In the second subparagraph of      37. In the second subparagraph of
     Article 14(3), "the financing of       Article 14(3), "the financing of
     an operational programme" is           an operational programme" is
     replaced by "the financing of          replaced by "the financing of
      assistance, including assistance      assistance, including assistance
     established".                          established".
 38. The last sentence of the second    38. The last sentence of the second
      subparagraph of Article 14(3) is       subparagraph of Article 14(3) is
     deleted.                               deleted.
 39. In Article 15(1), "Objectives 1    39. In Article 15(1), "Objectives 1
      to 4 and 5(b)" is replaced by          to 4 and 5(b)" is replaced by
      "Objectives 1 to 5".                   "Objectives 1 to 5".
 ---pagebreak---                                    -Y8
40. The first subparagraph of         40. The first subparagraph of
    Article 15(2) is replaced by:          Article 15(2) is replaced by:
    "2. Except as provided for in          "2. Except as provided for in
        Article 33 of this                     Article 33 of this
        Regulation, expenditure may            Regulation, expenditure may
        not be considered eligible             not be considered eligible
        for assistance from the                for assistance from the
        Funds if incurred before the           Funds if incurred before the
        date on which the                      date on which the
        corresponding application              corresponding application
        reaches the Commission.                reaches the Commission.
41. The second subparagraph of         41. The second subparagraph of
    Article 15(2) is deleted.              Article 15(2) is deleted.
42. In Article 16(2), "whose'          42. In Article 16(2), "whose'
    replaces "if the".                     replaces "if the".
43. In Article 16(2), "ECU 15          43. In Article 16(2), "ECU 15
    million" is replaced by "ECU 25        million" is replaced by "ECU 25
    million" and "ECU 10 million" is       million" and "ECU 10 million" is
    replaced by "ECU 20 million".          replaced by "ECU 15 million".
44. The second subparagraph of         44. The second subparagraph of
    Article 16(2) is deleted.              Article 16(2) is deleted.
45. Article 16(4) is deleted.          45. Article 16(4) is deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                     -?<$-
46. In the first paragraph of           46. In the first paragraph of
    Article 17(1), "the rate of             Article 17(1), "the rate of
    contribution by the Funds to the        contribution by the Funds to the
    financing of measures covered by        financing of measures covered by
    Objectives 1 to 4 and 5(b) shall        Objectives 1 to 4 and 5(b) shall
    be laid down" is replaced by            be laid down" is replaced by
    "the contribution of the Funds          "the contribution of the Funds
    to the financing of measures            to the financing of measures
    covered by Objectives 1 to 5            covered by Objectives 1 to 5
    shall be laid down".                    shall be laid down".
47. The second subparagraph of          47. The second subparagraph of
    Article 17(1) is deleted.               Article 17(1) is deleted.
48. In Article 17(2), "shall be         48. In Article 17(2), "shall be
    fixed as a percentage and" is           fixed as a percentage and" is
    deleted.                                deleted.
49. In Article 17(4), "The rates of     49. In Article 17(4), "The rates of
    contribution for individual             contribution for individual
    measures forming part of                measures forming part of
    operational programmes may be           operational programmes may be
    differentiated" is replaced by          differentiated" is replaced by
    "The contribution of the Funds          "The contribution of the Funds
    for individual measures forming         for individual measures forming
    part of operational programmes          part of operational programmes
    may be differentiated".                 may be differentiated".
50. In Article 18, "the rates of        50. In Article 18, "the rates of
    contribution from the Funds             contribution from the Funds
    established" is replaced by "the        established" is replaced by ' the
    contribution from the Funds             contribution from the Funds
    established".                           established".
51. In the first subparagraph of        51. In the first subparagraph of
    Article 20(2), "and subject to          Article 20(2), "and subject to
    the provisions of paragraph 3"          the provisions of paragraph 3"
    is added after "as a general            is added after "as a general
    rule".                                  rule".
 ---pagebreak---                                     — %o —
52. In the second subparagraph of      52. In the second subparagraph of
    Article 20(2), "initial or             Article 20(2), "initial or
    revised" is added after "based         revised" is added after "based
    on the".                               on the".
53. In Article 20(3), "or, subject     53. In Article 20(3), "or, subject
    to available funding, where the        to available funding, where the
    Community assistance granted 1 B       Community assistance granted is
    less than ECU 40 million" is           less than ECU 40 million" is
    inserted after "less than two          inserted after "less than two
    years".                                years".
54. In Article 21(1), "the authority   54. In Article 21(1), "the authority
    designated" is replaced by "the        designated" is replaced by "the
    authority or body designated".         national, regional or local
                                           authority or body designated".
55. In Article 21(1), "as a general    55. In Article 21(1), "as a general
    rule within two months from            rule within two months from
    receipt of an acceptable               receipt of an acceptable
    application." is added after           application." is added after
    "application submitted through         "application submitted through
    the Member State concerned".           the Member State concerned".
56. The following subparagraph is      56. The following subparagraph is
    added to Article 21(3):                added to Article 21(3):
    "The payments shall be made to         "The payments shall be made to
    the final beneficiaries without        the final beneficiaries without
    any reduction or retention that        any reduction or retention that
    could reduce the amount of             could reduce the amount of
    financial assistance granted to        financial assistance to which
    them."                                 they are entitled."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -SA-
57. In the first indent of Article    57. In the first indent of Article
    21(4), "the designated                 21(4), "the designated
    authority" is replaced by "the         authority" is replaced by "the
    designated authority or body".         designated authority or body".
58. In Article 21(5), "and as a       58. In Article 21(5), "and as a
    general rule within three months       general rule within three months
    from receipt of the                    from receipt of the
    appropriations by the Member           appropriations by the Member
    State" is added.                       State and provided that the
                                           latter considers the application
                                           of the beneficiaries to be
                                           admissible" is added.
59. Article 21(6) is deleted.          59  Article 21(6) is deleted and
                                           paragraph 7 is renumbered
                                           paragraph 6.
60. In the first subparagraph of       60. In the first subparagraph of
    Article 22(1), ". In compliance        Article 22(1), ". In compliance
    with the provisions of the             with the provisions of the
    Financial Regulation and" is           Financial Regulation and" is
    deleted.                               deleted.
61. In the first paragraph of          61. In the first paragraph of
    Article 23, "in implementing the       Article 23, "in implementing the
    operations" is inserted after          operations" is inserted after
    "Member States shall take the          "Member States shall take the
    necessary measures".                   necessary measures".
62. In the third indent of Article     62. In the third indent of Article
    23(1), "For global loans as well       23(1), "For global grants the
    as operations undertaken in            intermediary may, with the
    accordance with the second             agreement of the Member State
    subparagraph of Article 14(1),         concerned, take up a bank
    the intermediary, individual or        guarantee or other insurance
    body concerned may, with the           covering this risk." is added.
    agreement of the Commission,
    take up a bank guarantee or
    other insurance covering this
    risk." is added.
 ---pagebreak---                                    -SSL-
63. The second subparagraph of         63. The second subparagraph of
    Article 23(1) is replaced by:          Article 23(1) is replaced by:
    "Member States shall inform the        "Member States shall inform the
    Commission of the measures taken       Commission of the measures taken
    for those purposes and, in             for those purposes and, in
    particular, the description of         particular, the description of
    the management and control             the management and control
    systems established to ensure          systems established to ensure
    the efficient implementation of        the efficient implementation of
    operations. They shall inform          operations. They shall regularly
    the Commission of the progress         inform the Commission of the
    of administrative and judicial         progress of administrative and
    proceedings."                          judicial proceedings."
64. The third subparagraph of          64. The third subparagraph of
    Article 23(1) is replaced by:          Article 23(1) is replaced by:
    Member States shall keep and           "Member States shall keep and
    make available to the Commission       make available to the Commission
    any appropriate national control       any appropriate national control
    reports on the measures included       reports on the measures included
    in the programmes or other             in the programmes or other
    operations concerned.                  operations concerned."
65. The following subparagraph is      65. The following subparagraph is
    added to Article 23(1):                added to Article 23(1):
    As soon as this Regulation              "As soon as this Regulation
    enters into force the Commission       enters into force the Commission
    shall draw up detailed                 shall draw up detailed
    arrangements for implementation        arrangements for implementation
    of this paragraph in accordance        of this paragraph in accordance
    with the procedures referred to        with the procedures referred to
    in Title VIII.                         in Title VIII and inform the
                                           European Parliament thereof."
 ---pagebreak---                                      trs-
                                      65a "and management and inspection
                                           arrangements" is added to the
                                           first subparagraph of
                                           Article 23(2).
                                      65b In Article 23(3) "regarding
                                           expenditure on the operation" is
                                           replaced by "regarding
                                           expenditure and checks on the
                                           operation".
                                      65c In Article 24(1), "or none of
                                           it" is added after appears to
                                           justify only part of the
                                           assistance allocated".
66. In Article 24(2), "an             66. In Article 24(2), "an
    irregularity and in particular a       irregularity and in particular a
    significant change" is replaced        significant change" is replaced
    by "an irregularity or a               by "an irregularity or a
    significant change".                   significant change".
67. In Article 24(3), "may be         67. In Article 24(3), "may be
    charged" is replaced by "shall         charged" is replaced by "shall
    be charged".                           be charged".
68. The second subparagraph of         68. The second subparagraph of
    Article 25(1) is deleted.              Article 25(1) is deleted.
69. In the first subparagraph of       69. The first indent of Article
    Article 25(2), ", and to the           25(2) reads as follows: "the
    structural and socioeconomic           stage reached in the operation
    situation in the countries where       and the goals to be attained
    the assistance is to be                within a given timespan;".
    provided" is deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                     -%M
70. Article 25(5) is replaced by:     70. Article 25(5) is replaced by:
     '5. The Monitoring Committee          '5. The Monitoring Committee
         •hall, if necessary, without          shall, if necessary, without
         modifying the total amount            modifying the total amount
         of the Community contri-              of the Community contri-
         bution approved and within            bution approved and within
         harmonized limits for each            harmonized limits for each
         objective to be agreed in             Objective, adjust the
         the framework of the                  arrangements for granting
         partnership, adjust the               assistance as Initially
         procedure for granting                approved as well as, within
         assistance as initially               the limits of available
         approved as well as the               funds and budgetary rules,
         financing plan envisaged.             the financing plan
         Other amendments required             envisaged, including any
         which exceed these limits             transfers between Community
         shall be decided by the               funding sources and
         Commission after the                  resulting amendments in
         Monitoring Committee has              financing rates. The above-
         delivered its opinion."               mentioned harmonized limits
                                               for each Objective shall be
                                               established by the
                                               Commission in accordance
                                               with the procedure laid down
                                               in Title VIII and included
                                               in the Community support
                                               frameworks.
                                               Amendments shall be notified
                                               immediately to the
                                               Commission and the Member
                                               State concerned. They shall
                                               apply as soon as the
                                               Commission and the Member
                                               State concerned have
                                               confirmed them, within
                                               twenty working days of the
                                               date of receipt of the said
                                               notification, as confirmed
                                               by the Commission.
                                          Other amendments required which
                                          exceed these limits shall be
                                           decided by the Commission after
                                           the Monitoring Committee has
                                           delivered its opinion."
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 8sr-
71. The following subparagraph is      71. The following is added to
    added to Article 25(6):                Article 25(6):
    "For this purpose, in the              "For this purpose, in the
    context of the application of          context of the application of
    Community rules on the award of        Community rules on the award of
    public contracts, notices sent         public contracts, notices sent
    for publication in the Official        for publication in the Official
    Journal of the European                Journal of the European
    Communities shall specify those        Communities shall specify those
    projects benefiting from               projects in respect of which
    Community assistance."                 Community assistance has been
                                           applied for or granted."
72. Article 25(7) is replaced by:      72. Article 25(7) is replaced by:
    "7. Wherever this Regulation or        "7. Wherever this Regulation or
         the Regulations referred to            the Regulations referred to
         in Article 3(4) and at                 in Article 3(4) and at
         Article 3a of Regulation               Article 3a of Regulation
         (EEC) No 2052/88 provide for           (EEC) No 2052/88 provide for
         the Commission to determine            the Commission to determine
         detailed arrangements for              detailed arrangements for
         implementation, the precise            implementation, the precise
         details which are adopted              details which are adopted
         shall be notified to the               shall be notified to the
         Member States and published            Member States and published
         in the Official Journal of             in the Official Journal of
         the European Communities."             the European Communities."
73. The first sentence of Article      73. The title of Article 26(1) is
     26(1) is replaced by:                 replaced by "Appraisal and
                                            assessment".
     "Assessment shall in the first
     instance be the responsibility
     of the Member States and be
     carried out within the framework
     of the partnership."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -£6-
74. In the second sentence of        74. Article 26(1) is replaced by the
    Article 26(1), ", where              following:
    appropriate," is deleted.
                                         "1. Appraisal and assessment
                                              shall be the responsibility
                                              of the Member States and the
                                              Commission within the
                                              framework of partnership.
                                              The competent authorities in
                                              the member States shall
                                              contribute in such a way as
                                              to ensure that appraisal and
                                              assessment can be carried
                                              out in the most effective
                                              manner. In this connection,
                                              appraisal and assessment
                                              shall make use of the
                                              various particulars hat the
                                              monitoring arrangements can
                                              yield in order to gauge the
                                              socioeconomic impact of the
                                              operat ion s, where
                                              appropriate in close
                                              association with the
                                              Monitoring Committees."
75. In the first subparagraph of     75  Article 26(2), is replaced by
    Article 26(2), "Ex ante and ex       the following:
    post" is replaced by
     "Continuous".                        "1. In order to ensure the
                                              effectiveness of Community
                                              assistance, structural
                                              measures shall be the
                                              subject of ex-ante
                                              appraisal, monitoring and
                                              ex-post assessment.
                                              Effectiveness shall be
                                              measured at three levels:
                                              - their overall impact on
                                                the objectives set out in
                                                Article 130a of the
                                                Treaty, and in particular
                                                the strengthening of the
                                                economic and social
                                                cohesion of the Community;
                                                the impact of operations
                                                proposed in the plans and
                                                 implemented under each
                                                 Community support
                                                 framework;
 ---pagebreak---         - the impact of individual
          operations (programmes,
          etc.).
        Appraisal and assessment
        shall, according to the
        circumstances, be carried
        out by contrasting the goals
        with the results obtained,
        where applicable, and by
        reference to macroeconomic
        and sectoral indicators
        based on regional or
        national statistics, to
        information yielded by
        descriptive and analytical
        studies and to qualitative
        analyses.
        Appraisal and assessment
        shall take account of the
        socioeconomic benefits
        expected or achieved
        commensurate with the
        resources deployed,
        conformity with Community
        policy and rules as referred
        to in Article 7(1) of
        Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
        and the conditions in which
        the measures are
        implemented."
75a In Article 26(3) "appraisals
    and" is added after "take into
    account the findings of".
75b In Article 26(4), "appraisal
    and" is added before "assessment
    principle and procedures".
75c In Article 26(5), "appraisals
    and" is added after "The results
    of the".
 ---pagebreak---                                      -s?>~
76. In Article 26(5), "the annual      76. In Article 26(5), "the annual
    report pursuant" is replaced by        report pursuant" is replaced by
    "the annual report and the             "the annual report and the
    three-yearly report pursuant".         three-yearly report pursuant".
                                       76a In the forth subparagraph of
                                           Article 28, "relating to the
                                           guidelines for action in
                                           connection with Objectives 3 and
                                           4," are deleted.
77. The title of Article 29 is         77. The title of Article 29 is
    replaced by "Committee on              replaced by "Committee on
    Agricultural Structures and            Agricultural Structures and
    Rural Development and Standing         Rural Development and Standing
    Committee on the Fishing               Committee on the Fishing
    Industry".                             Industry".
78. The first paragraph of Article     78. The first paragraph of Article
    29 is numbered "1".                    29 is numbered "1".
79. In the fifth subparagraph of the   79. In the fifth subparagraph of the
    new paragraph 1 of Article 29,         new paragraph 1 of Article 29,
    the indents are replaced by:           the indents are replaced by:
     »- relating to Community                  relating to Community
        support frameworks for the             support frameworks for the
        speeding-up of the                     speeding-up of the
        adjustment of agricultural             adjustment of agricultural
        structures under Objective             structures under Objective
        5(a);                                  5(a);
 ---pagebreak---                                      - <^p)-
         relating to the esta-                   relating to the esta-
         blishment of the list of                blishment of the list of
         areas eligible under                    areas eligible under
         Objective 5(b) as well as to            Objective 5(b) as well as to
         Community support frameworks            Community support frameworks
         under this Objective."                  under this Objective."
80. The following subparagraph is        80. The following subparagraph is
    inserted after the fifth                 inserted after the fifth
    subparagraph of the new                  subparagraph of the new
    paragraph 1 of Article 29:               paragraph 1 of Article 29:
    "The Committee shall also be             "The Committee shall also be
    consulted on operations con-             consulted on operations con-
    cerning agricultural structures          cerning agricultural structures
    and rural development included           and rural development included
    in the draft Commission                  in the draft Commission
    decisions relating to the                decisions relating to the
    Community support frameworks for         Community support frameworks for
    the Objective 1 regions."                the Objective 1 regions."
81. In the sixth subparagraph of the     81. In the sixth subparagraph of the
    new paragraph 1 of Article 29,           new paragraph 1 of Article 29,
    "provided for in this Article"           "provided for in this Article"
    is replaced by "provided for in          is replaced by "provided for in
    this paragraph".                         this paragraph".
82. In the seventh subparagraph of       82. In the seventh subparagraph of
    Article 29 "and paragraph 2 of           Article 29 "and paragraph 2 of
    this Article" is inserted after          this Article" is inserted after
    "Articles 27 and 28".                    "Articles 27 and 28".
83. The following paragraph 2 is         83. The following paragraph 2 is
    added to Article 29:                     added to Article 29:
     '2. The provisions detailing the            The provisions detailing the
         operation of the Standing               operation of the Standing
         Committee on the Fishing                Committee on the Fishing
         Industry shall be laid down             Industry shall be laid down
         in accordance with the                  in accordance with the
         provisions laid down                    provisions laid down
         pursuant to the first                   pursuant to the first
         paragraph of Article 3a of              paragraph of Article 3a of
         Regulation No 2052/88."                 Regulation No 2052/88."
 ---pagebreak---                                     -cbo
84. The second sentence of the first  84. The second sentence of the first
    subparagraph of Article 30(1) is       subparagraph of Article 30(1) is
    replaced by:                           replaced by:
    "It shall seek the opinion of          "It shall seek the opinion of
    the appropriate Committees on          the appropriate Committees on
    their proposals to Member States       their proposals to Member States
    referred to in the first               referred to in the first
    paragraph of Article 11, and may       paragraph of Article 11, and may
    seek the opinion of the                seek the opinion of the
    Committees on any matter               Committees on any matter
    relating to assistance                 relating to assistance
    operations under the Funds,            operations under the Funds,
    other than those provided for in       other than those provided for in
    this Title."                           this Title."
85. In Article 31(1), "the first      85. Article 31(l; is replaced by the
    paragraph of" is added after           following:
    "referred to in".
                                       '1. The annual reports referred to
                                           in the first subparagraph of
                                           Article 16 of Regulation (EEC)
                                           No 2052/88 shall review,     inter
                                           alia:
                                                 the efforts deployed under
                                                 all the Funds, the EIB and
                                                 the other existing financial
                                                 instruments in support of
                                                 the priority Objectives
                                                 referred to in Article 1 of
                                                 the aforementioned
                                                 Regulation;
 ---pagebreak--- -<%~\~
       the activities of each Fund,
       the utilization of their
       budgetary resources and the
       concentration of assistance
       within the meaning of
       Article 12 of Regulation
       (EEC) No 2052/88, and the
       deployment of the other
       financial instruments for
       which the Commission has
       responsibility and where
       their resources have been
       concentrated; these reviews
       shall include an annual
       breakdown by Member State of
       appropriations committed and
       appropriations paid out in
       respect of each Fund and the
       FIFG, together with the
       Community initiatives and
       technical assistance;
       the coordination of
       assistance provided by the
       Funds between themselves and
       with the assistance granted
       by the EIB and the other
       existing financial
       instruments;
       the results of the
       appraisal, monitoring and
       assessment referred to in
       Article 26, Indicating any
       changes made to operations,
       and an assessment of the
       compatibility of Fund
       operations with Community
       policies, including those on
       environmental protection,
       competition and public
       procurement;
 ---pagebreak---                                    _c^â.—
                                              the results of controls
                                              carried out, indicating the
                                              number and financial volume
                                              of irregularities detected
                                              and the lessons to be drawn
                                              from these controls;
                                              the results of analysis of
                                              the impact of Community
                                              assistance and policies as
                                              compared with the Objectives
                                              listed in Article 1 of
                                              Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
                                              and in particular their
                                              impact on the socioeconomic
                                              development of the regions;
                                              information on the opinions
                                              of the Committees delivered
                                              in accordance with Title
                                              VIII;
                                              an analysis of the follow-up
                                              to recommendations and
                                              comments made by the
                                              European Parliament in its
                                              opinion on the previous
                                              year's annual report."
86. Article 31(3) is replaced by:     86. Article 31(3) is replaced by:
    "3. The three-yearly report           "3. The three-yearly report
        referred to in the third              referred to in the third
        subparagraph of Article 16            subparagraph of Article 16
        of Regulation (EEC) No                of Regulation (EEC) No
        2052/88 shall review in               2052/88 shall review in
        particular:                           particular:
        - progress made in achieving          - progress made in achieving
          economic and social                   economic and social
          cohesion;                             cohesion;
 ---pagebreak---                                      «v^
          the role of the Structural             the role of the Structural
          Funds, the FIFG, the                   Funds, the FIFG, the
          financial instrument for               financial instrument for
          cohesion, the EIB and                  cohesion, the EIB and
          other financial instru-                other financial instru-
          ments as well as the                   ments as well as the
          impact of other Community              impact of other Community
          policies in the completion             policies in the completion
          of this process;                       of this process;
          the measures which need to             the measures which need to
          be taken in order to                   be taken in order to
          strengthen economic and                strengthen economic and
          social cohesion."                      social cohesion."
87. Article 32(1) becomes Article     87. Article 32(1) becomes Article
    32(2) and the following new           32(2) and the following new
    paragraph 1 is inserted:              paragraph 1 is inserted:
        Member States shall ensure         '1. Member States shall ensure
        that adequate publicity is             that adequate publicity is
        given to the plans referred            given to the plans referred
        to in Article 5(1) before              to in Article 5(1), where
        their submission to the                possible before their
        Commission."                           submission to the
                                               Commission."
                                      87a The following is added to the
                                          new paragraph 2 of Article 32:
                                          "Once this Regulation has come
                                          into force, the Commission shall
                                          draw up detailed arrangements
                                          for information and publicity
                                          concerning assistance from the
                                          Funds and the FIFG, shall inform
                                          the European Parliament thereof
                                          and shall publish them in the
                                          Official Journal of the European
                                          Communities.
 ---pagebreak--- 88. Article 33(1) is deleted.        88. Article 33(1) is deleted.
89. Article 33(2) to (5) is replaced 89. Article 33(2) to (5) is replaced
    by:                                  by:
    "2. In drawing up Community          "2. In drawing up Community
        support frameworks, the              support frameworks, the
        Commission shall take                Commission shall take
        account of any operation             account of any operation
        already approved by the              already approved by the
        Council or by the Commission         Council or by the Commission
        before the entry into force          before the entry into force
        of this Regulation and               of this Regulation and
        having financial reper-              having financial reper-
        cussions during the period           cussions during the period
        covered by those support             covered by those support
        frameworks. These                    frameworks. These
        operations shall not be              operations shall not be
        subject to compliance with           subject to compliance with
        Article 15(2).                       Article 15(2).
    3.  Notwithstanding Article          3.  Notwithstanding Article
        15(2), pending the adoption          15(2), requests for
        of the Community support             expenditure received by the
        frameworks covering the              Commission before 31 March
        period from 1 January 1994,          1994 and fulfilling all the
        requests for expenditure             conditions under
        received by the Commission           Article 14(2) may be
        before 31 March 1994 and             regarded as eligible for
        fulfilling all the con-              Community assistance from 1
        ditions under Article 14(2)          January 1994.
        may be regarded as eligible
        for Community assistance
        from 1 January 1994.
 ---pagebreak---                              ^ ^ ~
For expenditure on Objective           For expenditure on Objective
5(a) operations approved               5(a) operations approved
before the entry into force            before the entry into force
of this Regulation without             of this Regulation without
budgetary commitment the               budgetary commitment the
programming provisions and             programming provisions and
the financial provisions               the financial provisions
under Articles 20 and 21               under Articles 20 and 21
shall apply from 1 January             shall apply from 1 January
1994.                                  1994.
Sums committed in respect of       [ ]
grants of assistance for
projects decided by the
Commission before 1 January
1989 with respect to the
Structural Funds, and for
which the Commission had not
received a final payment
request before 31 December
1994 shall be automatically
decommitted by the
Commission by 30 June 1995
at the latest."
 ---pagebreak---                                    -°^~
                                 Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following       its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
Done at
                                       For the Council
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                     -<&f -
                   Amended proposal for a
             COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No .../.        SYN 457
       amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88
                     of 19 December 1988
          laying down provisions for xmplementing
        Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the
             European Regional Development Fund
                      (ERDF Regulation)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN              THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,                             COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty              Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Economic       establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article     Community, and in particular Article
130e thereof,                            130e thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from       Having regard to the proposal from
the Commission(l),                       the Commission(*),
In cooperation with the European         In cooperation with the European
Parliament(2),                           Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the      Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee(3),        Economic and Social Committee(3),
(1) ...
(2) ...
(3) ...
 ---pagebreak---                                       -^8
1.   Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)  1. Whereas Council Regulation
     No .../93 of ... 1993<4) amends      (EEC) No .../93 of ...
     Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of       1993(4)amends Regulation
     24 June 1988 on the tasks of the     (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June
     Structural Funds and their           1988 on the tasks of the
     effectiveness and on                 Structural Funds and their
     coordination of their activities     effectiveness and on
     between themselves and with the      coordination of their acti-
     operations of the European           vities between themselves and
     Investment Bank and the other        with the operations of the
     existing financial instru-           European Investment Bank and
     m e n t s ^ ) ; whereas Council      the other existing financial
     Regulation (EEC) No .../93, of       instruments^5); whereas Coun-
     ... 1993(6) amends Regulation        cil Regulation (EEC) No .../93,
     (EEC) No 4253/88 laying down         of ... 1993(6) amends
     provisions for xmplementing          Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88
     Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as       laying down provisions for
     regards the coordination of the      implementing Regulation (EEC)
     activities of the different          No 2052/88 as regards the
     Structural Funds between             coordination of the activities
     themselves and with the              of the different Structural
     operations of the European           Funds between themselves and
     Investment Bank and the other        with the operations of the
     existing financial instru-           European Investment Bank and
     ments ( 7 ); whereas Council         the other existing financial
     Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88 of       instruments (7 ); whereas
     19 December 1988 should              Council Regulation (EEC) No
     therefore also be amended( 8 );      4254/88 of 19 December 1988
                                          should therefore also be
                                          amended( 8 );
 (4)
 (5) OJ No L 185, 15.07.1988, p.9.
 (6)
 (7) OJ No L 374, 31.12.1988, p.l.
 (8) OJ No L 374, 31.12.1988, p.15.
 ---pagebreak---                                      •°&    -
    Whereas Article 3(1) of Council      2.   Whereas Article 3(1) of Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 in            Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 in
    the regions concerned by                  the regions concerned by
    Objective 1, extends the scope            Objective 1, extends the scope
    of the ERDF to investment in the          of the ERDF to investment in the
    fields of education and health;           fields of education and health;
    whereas the contribution of ERDF          whereas the contribution of ERDF
    assistance to the establishment           assistance, as part of its
    and development of trans-                 regional development role, to
    European networks in the areas            the establishment and
    of transport, télécommunications          development of regional and
    and energy infrastructures and            trans-European networks in the
    as well as to the establishment           areas of transport,
    of more favourable conditions,            telecommunications and energy
    particularly in the Objective 1           infrastructures and as well as
    regions, for the implementation           to the establishment of more
    of the multiannual framework              favourable conditions,
    programmes in the field of                particularly in the Objective 1
    research and technological                regions, and to an increase in
    development should be specified;          the facilities in the regions in
    whereas according to Article 7            the field of research and
    of Regulation (EEC) No .../..             technological development with a
    establishing the cohesion                 view to enabling them to better
    financial instrument, a project           participate in the Community's
    may not benefit simultaneously            multiannual Framework Programmes
    from the Fund and from the ERDF;          should be specified; whereas
                                              according to Article 7 of
                                              Regulation (EEC) No 792/93 of 30
                                              March 1993(*> establishing the
                                              cohesion financial instrument, a
                                              project may not benefit
                                              simultaneously from the Fund and
                                              from the ERDF;
                                         2a. Whereas the principles and
                                              objectives of sustainable
                                              development are set out in the
                                              Community programme of policy
                                              and action in relation to the
                                              environment and sustainable
                                              development as laid down in the
                                              Council Resolution of
                                              1 February 1993(9*T
(9) OJ No L 79, 1.4.1993, p. 74.
(9a) OJ No C 138, 17.5.1993, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                     —AGO -
3.  Whereas the regional partnership  3.  Whereas the regional partnership
    should be strengthened by             should be strengthened by
    including the economic and            including the economic and
    social partners, in accordance        social partners, in accordance
    with Article 4 of Council             with Article 4 of Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88;          Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88;
4.  Whereas in order to increase the  4.  Whereas in order to increase the
    effectiveness of regional             effectiveness of regional
    policies there should be              policies there should be
    increased flexibility in the          increased flexibility in the
    implementation of the                 implementation of the
    Community's regional assistance       Community's regional assistance
    particularly by extending the         particularly by extending the
    forms of assistance which may         forms of assistance which may
    apply to Community initiatives;       apply to Community initiatives;
5.  Whereas Article 12 of Council     5.  Whereas Article 12 of Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88           Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88
    provides for allocations per          provides for allocations per
    Member State for each of the          Member State for each of the
    Objectives 1 to 4 and 5(b) of         Objectives 1 to 4 and 5(b) of
    the commitment appropriations of      the commitment appropriations of
    the Structural Funds; whereas,        the Structural Funds; whereas,
    in consequence, the last              in consequence, the last
    subparagraph of Article 3(2) and      subparagraph of Article 3(2) and
    Article 13 of Council Regulation      Article 13 of Council Regulation
     (EEC) No 4025/88 may be deleted;      (EEC) No 4025/88 may be deleted;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
              Article 1                             Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88 is        Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88 is
hereby amended as follows:            hereby amended as follows:
1.  The first indent of point (b) of  1.  The first indent of point (b) of
    Article 1 is replaced by:             Article 1 is replaced by:
 ---pagebreak---                                 ^AJDA—
    in the regions designated              in the regions designated
    under objective 1,                     under Objective 1,
    investment contributing to             investment contributing to
    increasing economic poten-             increasing economic poten-
    tial, development, struc-              tial, development, struc-
    tural adjustment of these              tural adjustment of these
    regions as well as that                regions including that
    contributing to the                    contributing to the
    establishment and deve-                establishment and deve-
    lopment of trans-European              lopment of trans-European
    networks in the areas of               networks in the areas of
    transport, tele-                       transport, tele-
    communications and energy              communications and energy
    infrastructures;"                      infrastructures;"
Points (d) and (e) of Article 1     2. Points (d) and (e) of Article 1
become points (g) and (h).             become points (g) and (h).
The following new point (d) is         The following new point (d) is
added to Article 1:                    added to Article 1:
 (d) in the regions designated          (d) in the regions designated
     under Objective 1, and                 under Objective 1, and
     particularly in areas where            particularly in areas where
     the need is demonstrated,              the need is demonstrated,
     investment in the fields of            investment in the fields of
     health and education                   health and education
     contributing to their                  contributing to their
     structural adjustment;".               structural adjustment;".
The following new point (e) is         The following new point (e) is
added to Article 1:                    added to Article It
 (e) measures in the field of           (e) measures contributing to
     research and technological             regional development in the
     development, including                 field of research and
     those contributing to the              technological development,
     implementation of the                  apart from, however,
     Community's multiannual                measures linked to the
     framework programmes; apart            labour market and the
     from, however, measures                development of human
     linked to the labour market            resources".
     and the development of
     human resources'*.
 ---pagebreak---                                 -A&X
                                   4a. Point (f) in Article 1 is
                                       replaced by the following:
                                       "(f) productive investment and
                                            Investment aimed at
                                            environmental protection in
                                            accordance with the
                                            principles of sustainable
                                            development where such
                                            Investment is linked to
                                            regional development;
                                   4b. Point (h) in Article 1 is
                                       replaced by the following:
                                       "(h) the preparatory, ex-ante
                                            appraisal, monitoring and
                                            ex-post assessment measures
                                            referred to in Article 7."
The second subparagraph of         5.  The second subparagraph of
Article 2(2) is deleted.               Article 2(2) is deleted.
In the fourth subparagraph of      6.  In the fourth subparagraph of
Article 2(2) "for a period of          Article 2(2) "for a period of
five years" is replaced by "for        five years" is replaced by "for
a period of six years".                a period of six years".
 ---pagebreak---                                   -Ao°>-
7. In the fourth subparagraph of    7.  In the fourth subparagraph of
   Article 2(2) the last sentence       Article 2(2) the last sentence
   is deleted.                          shall read as follows:
                                        "The data relating to the fifth
                                        and sixth years may be supplied
                                        on an indicative basis."
8. The second subparagraph of       8.  The second subparagraph of
   Article 2(3) is deleted.             Article 2(3) is deleted.
                                    8a. In the third subparagraph of
                                        Article 2(3) the phrase "or
                                        other authorities" is replaced
                                        by "or other authorities or
                                        bodies designated by them".
                                    8b. In Article 3(1) the words "or
                                        other types of assistance such
                                        as those referred to in Article
                                        5(2) of Regulation (EEC)
                                        No 2052/88" are added after
                                        "regional operational
                                        programmes".
                                    8c. At the end of the first
                                        subparagraph of Article 3(2),
                                        the words "and Article 11 of
                                        Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88" are
                                        added.
 ---pagebreak---                                    - Ao4
9.  In the third subparagraph of      9.  The third subparagraph of
    Article 3(2) "to establish            Article 3(2) is replaced by the
    operational programmes" is            following:
    replaced by "to establish
    requests for assistance."             "When they are undertaken on the
                                          initiative of the Commission,
                                          the Commission, after consulting
                                          the Committee referred to in
                                          Article 27 of Regulation (EEC)
                                          No 4253/88 and after notifying
                                          the European Parliament, shall
                                          lay down the 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."
10. The last subparagraph of Article  10. The last subparagraph of Article
    3(2) is deleted.                      3(2) is deleted.
                                      10a.     In the first subparagraph of
                                               Article 5(1) the words
                                               "following details" are
                                               replaced by "the information
                                               set out below.
                                      10b.     The following text is added
                                               to the fist subparagraph of
                                               Article 5(1):
                                           "However, in the case of
                                          projects forming part of an
                                          operational programme, the
                                           information may be sent to the
                                           Commission at a later date but
                                           before the starting date of each
                                           project at the latest.
                                           The information shall cover:"
 ---pagebreak---                                      Xo9
11. The following paragraph 3 is      11. The following paragraph 3 is
    added to Article 6:                    added to Article 6:
    "3. In accordance with the third        '3. In accordance with the third
        subparagraph of Article 5(5)            subparagraph of Article 5(5)
        of Regulation (EEC) No                  of Regulation (EEC) No
        2052/88, global grants may              2052/88, global grants may
        be undertaken on the                    be undertaken on the
        initiative of the Member                initiative of the Member
        States or of the Commission,            States or of the Commission,
        in agreement with the Member            in agreement with the Member
        State concerned. Commission             State concerned. Commission
        initiatives in the framework            initiatives in the framework
        of the tasks assigned to the            of the tasks assigned to the
        ERDF by Article 3(1) of the             ERDF by Article 3(1) of the
        said Regulation shall                   said Regulation shall
        concern the objectives                  concern the objectives
        referred to at Article 3(2)             referred to at Article 3(2)
        of this Regulation."                    of this Regulation."
                                      11a.      The title of Article 7 is
                                                amended as follows:
                                                "Preparatory, appraisal,
                                                monitoring and assessment
                                                measures".
                                      lib.      In point 1 of Article 7 the
                                                phrase "preparatory,
                                                accompanying and assessment
                                                measures necessary" is
                                                replaced by "preparatory,
                                                ex-ante appraisal,
                                                monitoring and ex-post
                                                assessment measures
                                                necessary'
 ---pagebreak---                                     — AoS
                                      lie Article 7(2) is replaced by the
                                           following:
                                           "Measures carried out on the
                                           Commission's initiative may, in
                                           exceptional circumstances, be
                                           financed by the ERDF at a rate
                                           of 100%; [ ] those carried out
                                           on behalf of the Commission [ ]
                                           shall be financed at a rate of
                                           100%. For other measures the
                                           rates laid down in Article 7 of
                                           Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88
                                           shall apply."
                                      lid The last subparagraph of
                                           Article 8(1) is deleted.
                                      lie In Article 8(2), "and amending'
                                           is added after "notably in
                                           establishing"
12. In Article 9 "the Member State    12. In Article 9 "the Member State
    concerned and the competent            concerned and the competent
    authorities designated by the          authorities designated by the
    latter," is replaced by "the           latter," is replaced by "the
    Member State concerned and the         Member State concerned and the
    competent authorities and              competent authorities and
    bodies, including the economic         bodies, including the economic
    and social partners, designated        and social partners, designated
    by the Member State,".                 by the Member State,".
                                      12a.     Article 12 is replaced by
                                               the following:
                                           "Transitional provisions"
                                           Any part of amounts committed to
                                           grant aid ERDF projects adopted
                                           by the Commission before
                                           1 January 1989 and for which the
                                           Commission has not received a
                                           request for final payment before
                                           31 December 1994 shall be
                                           officially decommitted by the
                                           Commission by 30 June at the
                                           latest."
13. Article 13 is deleted.             13. Article 13 is deleted.
 ---pagebreak---                                       A^f
                                 Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Done at
                                         For the Council
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                   -AoÇ-
           Amended proposal for a
          COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
amending Council 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
        (submitted by the Commission)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                       - A O ^ -
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN               THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,                              COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty               Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Economic        establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles     Community, and in particular
126 and 127 thereof,                      Articles 126 and 127 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the    Having regard to the proposal from
Commission'*),                            the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the       Having regard to the opinion of the
European Parliament'^) ,                  European Parliament (2) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the       Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee(^),         Economic and Social Committee (3),
    (1) OJ No. C
    (2) OJ No. C
    (3) OJ No. C
 ---pagebreak---                                     _AAo-
                                      1.  Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)
 Whereas Council Regulation (EEC)        No      /93 of             1993
No       /93 of            1993(4)       (4) has amended Regulation (EEC)
has amended Regulation (EEC) No          No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the
2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the           tasks of the Structural funds and
tasks of the Structural funds and        their effectiveness and on
their effectiveness and on               coordination of their activities
coordination of their activities         between themselves and with the
between themselves and with the          operations of the European
operations of the European               Investment Bank and the other
Investment Bank and the other            existing financial instruments
existing financial instruments(^)        (5); whereas Council Regulation
; whereas Council Regulation (EEC)       (EEC) No ..../93 of           1993
No      /93 of          1993(6) has      (6) has amended Regulation (EEC)
amended Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88      No 4253/88 laying down provisions
laying down provisions for               for implementing Regulation (EEC)
implementing Regulation (EEC) No         No 2052/88 as regards
2052/88 as regards coordination of       coordination of the activities of
the activities of the different          the different Structural Funds,
Structural Funds, on the one hand,       on the one hand, between
between themselves and with the          themselves and with the
operations of the European               operations of the European
Investment Bank and the other            Investment Bank and the other
existing financial instruments^),        existing financial instruments
on the other; whereas it is              (7), on the other; whereas it is
necessary also to amend Council          necessary also to amend Council
Regulation (EEC) No 4255 of 19           Regulation (EEC) No 4255 of 19
December 1988( 8 );                      December 1988 (8);
(4)
 (5) OJ No. L 185 of 15.07.1988, p. 9
 (6)
 (7) OJ No. L 374 of 31.12.1988, p. 1
 (8) OJ No. L 374 of 31.12.1988, p. 21
 ---pagebreak---                                     ^A AA-
Whereas Article 3 paragraph 2 of      2. Whereas (     )it is (...)
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 lays      necessary to extend the scope of the
down that the ESF shall have the      Fund, in particular following the
task of improving the workings of     redefinition of Objectives 3 and 4,
the labour market and developing      as well as the definition of a new
human resources; whereas it is        Objective 4; whereas it is
therefore necessary to extend the     necessary to provide for the
scope of the Fund, in particular      explicit inclusion of persons
following the redefinition of         exposed to exclusion from the
Objectives 3 and 4, as well as the    labour market and to render more
definition of a new Objective 4;      flexible the eligibility criteria
whereas it is necessary to provide    for categories that are already
for the explicit inclusion of         eligible;
persons exposed to social exclusion
and to render more flexible the       2a. Whereas, given limited funding
eligibility criteria for categories   available, actions aimed at
that are already eligible; whereas    combating long-term unemployment and
it is necessary to redefine           integrating young people into
eligible actions in order to          employment must continue to be given
 increase the effectiveness of the    priority under Objective 3;
 implementation of policy aims in
the context of all Objectives under   2b. Whereas it is necessary to
which the Fund takes action;          redefine eligible actions in order
whereas it is necessary that the      to increase the effectiveness of the
actions taken by the Fund under the   implementation of policy aims in
different Objectives form a           the context of all Objectives under
coherent approach so as to improve    which the Fund takes action and to
the workings of the labour market     foresee an extension of this action,
and to develop human resources;       in particular in the form of,
                                      employment aids which could, for
                                      example, take the form of aids for
                                      geographical mobility, subsidies for
                                      recruitment and for the creation of
                                      self-employed activities;
                                      2c. Whereas it is necessary that the
                                      Member States and the Commission
                                      ensure respect for the principle of
                                      equality of opportunities for men
                                      and women in the implementation of
                                      actions financed by the ESF under
                                      all the objectives; whereas it is
                                      necessary that the actions taken by
                                      the Fund under the different
                                      Objectives form a coherent approach
                                      so as to improve the workings of the
                                       labour market and to develop human
                                      resources;
 ---pagebreak---                                       - ^A% —
3. Whereas it is necessary to ensure     3.Whereas it is necessary to ensure
   that Objective 4 strengthens          that Objective 4 strengthens
   employment and job qualifications     employment and job qualifications
   through anticipation, counselling,    through anticipation, counselling,
   networking and training operations    networking and training operations
   throughout the Community and          throughout the Community and
   therefore that it must: be            therefore that it must: be
   horizontal, covering the economy as   horizontal, covering the economy as
   a whole, without a priori reference   a whole, without a priori reference
   to industries or specific sectors;    to industries or specific sectors;
   aim at workers in employment and at   aim at workers in employment and at
   improving their qualifications and    improving their qualifications and
   employment opportunities; be          employment opportunities; be
   targetted as far as the type of       targetted as far as the type of
   actions is concerned; and             actions is concerned; and complement
   complement not substitute for         not substitute for efforts that
   efforts that firms undertake          firms undertake themselves;
   themselves;
 ---pagebreak---                                        -~^A^~
4. Whereas it is necessary to ensure       4. Whereas it is necessary to ensure
   that the actions in relation to         that the actions in relation to
   Objective 4 address the underlying      Objective 4 address the underlying
   causes of problems relating to          causes of problems relating to
   industrial adaptation and do not        industrial adaptation including
   deal with short-term market related     services and do not deal with
   symptoms; that the actions meet the     short-term market related symptoms;
   general needs of workers resulting      that the actions meet the general
   from industrial change and changes      needs of workers resulting from
   in production systems identified or     industrial change and changes in
   predicted and are not conceived to      production systems identified or
   benefit a single firm or a              predicted and are not conceived to
   particular industry; that               benefit a single firm or a
   particular attention is devoted to      particular industry; that particular
   small and medium-sized enterprises      attention is devoted to small and
   and that special attention is           medium-sized enterprises and that
   devoted to enhancing access to          special attention is devoted to
   training;                               enhancing access to training;
5. Whereas Objective 4 should              5. Whereas, having regard to the
   concentrate on actions in the areas     strategic importance in this respect
   of training related to the              of the continuing training of
    introduction, use and development      workers. Objective 4 should
   of new or improved production           concentrate on actions in the areas
   methods, in particular new              of training related to the
   organisational techniques, new          introduction, use and development of
   technologies and changing market        new or improved production methods,
   and societal requirements,              in particular new organisational
   particularly with regard to the         techniques and new technologies,
   protection of the environment, and      and on changes in markets and in
   training related to the necessary       society, particularly with regard
   adaptation of workers in small and      to the protection of the
   medium-sized enterprises as a           environment; whereas training
   result of the changes in production     should also be linked to the
    systems and the trend towards less     necessary adaptation of workers in
   vertical integration as well as the     small and medium-sized enterprises
   need to demonstrate the                 as a result of the changes in
   qualitative and environmental           production systems and the trend
    soundness of products and              towards less vertical integration,
   processes;                              as well as the need to demonstrate
                                           the qualitative and environmental
                                            soundness of products and processes;
6. Whereas it is necessary to define       6. Whereas it is necessary to define
   eligible expenditure for Fund           eligible expenditure for Fund
    assistance within the framework of     assistance within the framework of
   the partnership;                        the partnership;
 ---pagebreak---                                         -   y^A\\~
7. Whereas it is necessary to ensure      7. Whereas it is necessary to ensure
    that the support of the Fund is       that the support of the Fund is
    concentrated under each Objective     concentrated under each Objective
    on the most important needs and the   on the most important needs and the
    most effective actions;               most effective actions;
8. Whereas it is necessary to complete    8. Whereas it is necessary to
    and to specify the content of plans   complete and to specify the content
    and forms of assistance especially    of plans and forms of assistance
    as a result of the redefinition of    especially as a result of the
    Objectives 3 and 4;                   redefinition of Objectives 3 and 4;
9. Whereas it is necessary, in            9. Whereas it is necessary, in
    application of Article 13 paragraph        application of Article 13
     5 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88,         paragraph 5 of Regulation (EEC)
     that firms shall finance an               No 2052/88, that firms shall
     appropriate portion of the cost of        finance an appropriate portion of
     actions to promote the training of        the cost of actions to promote
     employees;                                the training of their employees;
 10.   Whereas the Fund shall contribute  10.     Whereas the Fund shall
       in addition to support for                 contribute additionally to
       technical assistance and for               support for technical
       pilot and demonstration projects           assistance and for pilot and
       in accordance with Article 5,              demonstration projects in
       paragraph 2, point (e) of                  accordance with Article 5,
       Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88;               paragraph 2, point (e) of
                                                  Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88;
 11.   Whereas it is necessary, in         11.    Whereas it is necessary, in
       application of Article 14                  application of Article 14
       paragraph 2 of Regulation (EEC)            paragraph 2 of Regulation (EEC)
       No 2052/88, that the Fund may              No 2052/88, that the Fund may
       finance under more than one                finance under more than one
       Objective actions concerning in            Objective actions concerning in
       particular the development of              particular the development of
       employment, training and other             employment, training and other
       similar structures, including the           similar structures, including
       training of teachers, trainers             the training of teachers,
       and other categories of staff of            trainers and other categories
       those structures;                          of staff of those structures;
 12.   Whereas it is necessary to          12.    Whereas the transitional
       establish provisions for                    provisions should be specified;
        information and publicity
       concerning assistance from the
       Fund;
 ---pagebreak---                                        AAS
13.  Whereas it is necessary to delete  13.  Whereas it is necessary to
     all reference to the guidelines         delete all reference to the
     regarding Fund support as their         guidelines regarding Fund
     function is henceforth ensured by       support as their function is
     the definition of policy aims and       henceforth ensured by the
     by the obligation to concentrate        definition of policy aims and
     Fund action on the most important       by the obligation to
     needs and the most effective            concentrate Fund action on the
     actions;                                most important needs and the
                                             most effective actions;
14.  Whereas the Fund will be subject   14.  (.    1
     to the measures for financial
     control set out in Article 23 of
     Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:            HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 ---pagebreak---                                       -^\AG-
                                                        ARTICLE 1
               ARTICLE 1
                                         Regulation (EEC) No 4255/88 is
Regulation (EEC) No 4255/88 is           amended as follows:
amended as follows:
                                         1. Article 1 is replaced as follows:
1. Article 1 is replaced as follows:
                                                        "ARTICLE 1
               "ARTICLE 1
                                                          Scope
                  Scope
                                         Within the framework of the task
Within the framework of the task         entrusted to it by Article 123 of
entrusted to it by Article 123 of        the Treaty and in accordance with
the Treaty and in accordance with        Article 3 paragraph 2 of Regulation
Article 3 paragraph 2 of Regulation      (EEC) No 2052/88 the Fund shall
(EEC) No 2052/88 the Fund shall          support:
support:
                                         1) Under Objective 3, throughout the
1) Under Objective 3, throughout the        Community, actions aiming
   Community, actions aiming to:
                                              actions aiming to in the first
      in the first place                      place
   a) facilitate the occupational           a) facilitate the occupational
        integration of unemployed                integration of unemployed
        persons exposed to long-term            persons exposed to long-term
        unemployment in particular              unemployment in particular
        through (i) training, pre-               through (i) vocational
        training including upgrading             training, pre-training
        of basic skills, guidance and            including upgrading of basic
        counselling and                          skills, guidance and
        (ii) employment aids;                    counselling; (ii) temporary
                                                 employment aids; and (iii) the
                                                development of appropriate
                                                 training, employment and
                                                 support structures, including
                                                 the training of necessary
                                                 staff, and provision for the
                                                 care of dependent persons;
 ---pagebreak--- b)  facilitate the occupational    b) facilitate the occupational
    integration of young people in     integration of young people in
    search of employment through       search of employment through
    actions described in a)            actions described in a ) ,
    including the provision of         including the provision of
    vocational training                vocational training
    opportunities to enable them       opportunities to enable them
    to receive up to two years of      to receive up to two years or
    initial training leading to a      more of initial training
    vocational qualification;          leading to a vocational
                                       qualification;
and also :                         and also :
c)  promote integration into the   c)  promote integration of (     )
    labour market of persons           persons exposed to exclusion
    exposed to social exclusion        from the labour market through
    through actions described in       actions described in a) (...);
    a) and through the development
    of appropriate training,
    employment and support
    structures including the
    training of necessary staff
    and provision for childminding
    arrangements;
d)  promote equal opportunities    d)  promote equal opportunities
    for men and women in respect       for men and women in respect
    of employment, especially in       of employment, especially in
    non-traditional areas of work      (...) areas of work where
    and particularly for women         women are under-represented
    without vocational                 and particularly for women
    qualifications or returning to     without vocational
    the labour market after a          qualifications or re-
    period of absence, through         integrating in the labour
    actions described in a) and by     market after a period of
    provision for childminding         absence, through actions
    arrangements and other             described in a) (...);
    accompanying actions;
 ---pagebreak---                                       - -AA8-
2) Under Objective 4, throughout the    2) Under Objective 4, throughout the
   Community, actions aiming to            Community, actions aiming to
   facilitate the adaptation of            facilitate the adaptation of
   workers to industrial change and        workers to industrial change and
   to changes in production systems        to changes in production systems
   in particular through: (i) the          in particular through: (i) the
   anticipation of labour market           anticipation of labour market
   trends and vocational                   trends and vocational
   qualification requirements; (ii)        qualification requirements; (ii)
   the provision of vocational             vocational training and
   training, retraining guidance and       retraining, guidance and
   counselling; (iii) assistance for       counselling; (iii) assistance for
   the improvement and development of      the improvement and development of
   appropriate training systems. The       appropriate training systems. The
   actions should take into account,       actions should take into account,
   in particular, the specific needs       in particular, the specific needs
   of small and medium-si zed              of small and medium-si zed
   enterprises;                            enterprises;
3) Under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b, in     3) Under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b, in
   the regions concerned, actions          the regions concerned, actions
   aiming to :                             aiming to :
   a)  support employment growth and       a)   support employment growth and
       stability in particular                  stability in particular
       through continuing training,            through continuing training,
       vocational guidance and                 vocational guidance and
       counselling of workers,                 counselling of workers,
       especially those in small and            especially those in small and
       medium-sized enterprises and            medium-sized enterprises and
       of people who have lost their            those who are threatened with
        jobs, as well as by the                 unemployment, and of people
       development of appropriate              who have lost their jobs, as
       training systems including the          well as by support for the
       training of trainers and by             development of appropriate
       the improvement of employment            training systems including the
       services;                                training of trainers and by
                                                the improvement of employment
                                                services;
   b)  boost human potential in            b)   boost human potential in
       research, science and                    research, science and
        technology, particularly                technology, particularly
       through the provision of                 through the provision of
        post-graduate training, the             post-graduate training and
        training of managers,                   the training of managers and
        technicians and other                   technicians (... ) of research
        personnel of research                   establishments (...);
        establishments and through the
        transfer of know-how in
        relation to the workings of
        the labour market and the
       development of human
        resources;
 ---pagebreak---                                        AA%-
4) Under Objective 1, in the regions    4) Under Objective 1, in the regions
   concerned, actions aiming to :          concerned, actions aiming to :
   a)   strengthen and improve             a)    strengthen and improve
        education and training                   education and training
        systems, particularly through            systems, particularly through
        the training of teachers,                the training of teachers,
        trainers and other categories            trainers and (... )
        of staff, through encouraging            administrative staff, through
        links between training centres           encouraging links between
        or higher education                      training centres or higher
        establishments and firms and             education establishments and
        by financing training                    firms and by financing
        provision within the national            training provision within the
        secondary or equivalent and              national secondary or
        higher education systems                 equivalent and higher
        which has a clear link to the            education systems which has a
        labour market, new technology            clear link to the labour
        or economic development!                 market, new technology or
                                                 economic development;
   b)   contribute to development       b)   contribute to development through
        through the training of public      the training of public officials
        officials in particular where       (...) where this is necessary for
        this is necessary for the           the (... ) implementation of
        effective implementation of         policies promoting development and
        policies promoting development      structural adjustment.
        and structural adjustment.
   The Member States and the            5J. The Member States and the
   Commission shall ensure that             Commission shall ensure that
   action under the different               action under the different
    objectives forms a coherent             objectives respects the principle
    approach to improving the workings      of equality of opportunities for
    of the labour market and                men and women.
   developing human resources, taking
    into account the development,           The Member States and the
    reconversion or structural              Commission shall ensure that
    adjustment objectives in the            action under the different
   Member States or regions                 objectives forms a coherent
    concerned.                              approach to improving the workings
                                            of the labour market and
                                            developing human resources, taking
                                            into account the development,
                                            reconversion or structural
                                            adjustment objectives in the
                                            Member States or regions
                                            concerned.
    In addition the Fund may also        (L In addition the Fund may also
    support throughout the Community        support throughout the Community
    actions in accordance with Article      actions in accordance with Article
    5 (2) (e) of Regulation (EEC)           5 (2) (e) of Regulation (EEC)
    No 2052/88."                            No 2052/88."
 ---pagebreak--- 2. Article 2 is replaced as follows:   2. Article 2 is replaced as follows:
              "ARTICLE 2                                  "ARTICLE 2
         Eligible expenditure                        Eligible expenditure
1) Fund assistance may be granted      1) Fund assistance may be granted
   towards expenditure to cover:          towards expenditure to cover:
   - the income and related costs as      - the salary and related costs as
   well as subsistance and travel         well as subsistence and travel
   costs of people participating in       costs of people participating in
   actions foreseen in Article 1 of       actions foreseen in Article 1 of
   this Regulation;                       this Regulation;
   - the cost of employment aids          - the preparatory, operating,
   granted under arrangements for         management and evaluation costs of
   such aids provided for in the          actions foreseen in Article 1 of
   Member States;                         this Regulation, after deduction
                                          of receipts;
                                           - the cost of employment aids
                                          granted under arrangements for
                                          such aids provided for in the
                                          Member States;
     the net administrative costs          ( • - • • )
     relating to the actions
     described in Article 1 of this
     Regulation.
     The nature and amounts of these      The nature (... ) of these costs
      costs will be defined and agreed     and these receipts will be defined
     within the framework of the           and agreed within the framework of
      partnership at the programming       the partnership at the programming
      stage.                               stage.
     The Commission shall ensure that      Without prejudice to control by
      Fund expenditure for training        the Commission the Member States
      actions of the same type does        shall ensure that costs of
      not develop in different ways.       individual actions are kept within
      To this end, after the Committee     limits appropriate to each type of
      referred to in Article 28 of         action.
      Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 has
      delivered its opinion, it shall
      determine for each Member State,     The Commission shall ensure that
      in cooperation with that State       Fund expenditure for training
      and progressively, the               actions of the same type does not
      indicative average amounts for       develop in different ways. To this
      expenditure according to the         end, after the Committee referred
      type of training involved.           to in Article 28 of Regulation
                                           (EEC) No 4253/88 has delivered its
      Without prejudice to control by      opinion, it shall determine for
      the Commission the Member States     each Member State, in cooperation
      shall ensure that costs of           with that State (...) the
      individual actions are kept           indicative average amounts for
      within limits appropriate to         expenditure according to the type
      each type of action.                 of training involved.
9\ Under Obiect.ive 4. througnout ine  à) unaer uojective 4, tnrougnout tne
 ---pagebreak---                                       A%A-
2) Fund assistance may also be        2) Fund assistance may also be
   granted towards expenditure to        granted towards expenditure to
   cover the cost of actions under       cover the cost of actions under
   Article 5 (2) (e) of Regulation       Article 5 (2) (e) of Regulation
   (EEC) No 2052/88 including            (EEC) No 2052/88 including
   actions under Articles 6 and 8 of     actions under Article 6 of this
   this Regulation."                     Regulation."
3. Article 3 is replaced as follows:  3. Article 3 is replaced as follows:
              "ARTICLE 3                             "ARTICLE 3
       Concentration of action                Concentration of action
   The Member States and the             The Member States and the
   Commission shall ensure within the    Commission shall ensure within the
   partnership at the planning and       partnership at the planning and
   programming stage that Community      programming stage that Community
   support to be provided under each     support to be provided under each
   Objective is concentrated on the      Objective is concentrated on the
   most important needs and the most     most important needs and the most
   effective actions relating to the     effective actions relating to the
   aims defined in Article 1 of this     aims defined in Article 1 of this
   Regulation, so as to contribute to    Regulation, so as to contribute to
   the Objectives and fulfil the         the Objectives and fulfil the
   tasks of the Fund as set out in       tasks of the Fund as set out in
   Articles 1 and 3 (2) of (EEC)         Articles 1 and 3 (2) of (EEC)
   Regulation No 2052/88."               Regulation No 2052/88."
4. Article 4 is replaced as follows:  4. Article 4 is replaced as follows:
              "ARTICLE 4                             "ARTICLE 4
                 Plans                                  Plans
1) The plans referred to in Articles  1) The plans referred to in Articles
   8, 9, 10 and 11a of Regulation        8, 9, 10 and 11a of Regulation
   (EEC) No 2052/88 shall provide,       (EEC) No 2052/88 shall provide,
   particularly for that part            particularly for that part
   relating to the Fund, the             relating to the Fund, the
   description, including figures        description, including figures
   where these are appropriate, of:      where these are appropriate, of:
   - the imbalance between demand and    - the imbalance between demand and
     supply in employment including         supply in employment including
     female employment,                    female employment,
 ---pagebreak---                                         ~ yvSUL-
   - the nature and characteristics          - the nature and characteristics
      of unfilled vacancies,                   of unfilled vacancies,
-  the occupational opportunities            - the occupational opportunities
   which appear on labour markets,             which exist on labour markets,
   - the types of actions to be              - the types of actions to be
      implemented, the categories and          implemented, the categories and
      the number of persons involved,          the number of persons involved,
      taking account of the need for           taking account of the need for
      concentration stipulated in              concentration stipulated in
      Article 3 of this Regulation;            Article 3 of this Regulation;
   - the expected contribution of the        - the expected contribution of the
      actions concerned to the                 actions concerned to the
      promotion of equal opportunities         promotion of equal opportunities
      between men and women in the             between men and women in the
      labour market;                           labour market.
   These plans should indicate the           These plans shall indicate the
   manner in which the obligation            manner in which the obligation
   referred to in Article 4 of               referred to in Article 4 of
   Regulation (EEC) Nfi 2052/88 to           Regulation (EEC) N B 2052/88 to
    include the economic and social          include the economic and social
   partners in the partnership has           partners in the partnership has
   been taken into account .                 been taken into account .
2) The plans referred to in Article       2) The plans referred to in Article
    10 paragraph 1 of Regulation (EEC)       10 paragraph 1 of Regulation (EEC)
   No 2052/88 shall in addition to           No 2052/88 shall, in addition to
   the items of paragraph 1 of the           the items of paragraph 1 of the
   present Article indicate :                present Article, indicate the way
                                             in which the Member State will,
    - the way in which the Member            where appropriate, secure the
       State will, where appropriate,        participation of non-governmental
       secure the participation of non-      organisations providing services
      governmental organisations             in the areas concerned for the
      providing services in the areas        preparation and management of
      concerned for the preparation          actions in favour of persons
      and management of actions in           described in Article 1 paragraph 1
      favour of persons described in         of this Regulation.
      Article 1 paragraph 1 of this
      Regulation.
 ---pagebreak---                                       - >\2/î>—
3)   The plans referred to in Article   3)   The plans referred to in Article
     10 paragraph 2 of Regulation            10 paragraph 2 of Regulation
     (EEC) No 2052/88 shall in               (EEC) No 2052/88 shall, in
     addition to the items of                addition to the items of
     paragraph 1 of the present              paragraph 1 of the present
     Article indicate :                      Article, indicate :
   - the imbalance between the             - the imbalance between the
     qualifications which are                qualifications which are jn
     available and those which are in        supply and those which are in
     demand on the employment market         demand on the employment market
     with particular reference to the        with particular reference to the
     workers affected by industrial          workers affected by industrial
     change and changes in production        change and changes in production
     systems;                                systems;
   - the way in which the Member           - the way in which the Member
     States will secure the                  States will secure the
     participation of the economic           participation of the economic
     and social partners and of              and social partners and of
     vocational training bodies, at          vocational training bodies, at
     the appropriate level, when             the appropriate level, when
     preparing actions, particularly         preparing actions, particularly
     as regards anticipating the             as regards anticipating the
     effects of industrial change and        effects of industrial change and
     changes in production systems;          changes in production systems;
   - the links of the actions to           -   the relationship between the
     other Community policies                actions and other Community
     relating to industrial change           policies regarding industrial
     and changes in production               change and changes in production
     systems including to vocational         systems, and in particular the
     training policy."                        link with vocational training
                                             policy."
 ---pagebreak---                                       ~~-A9.L<-
5. Article 5 is replaced as follows:    5. Article 5 is replaced as follows:
               "ARTICLE 5                               "ARTICLE 5
          Forms of assistance                      Forms of assistance
1) Applications for Fund assistance      1) Applications for Fund assistance
   shall be presented in the form of :      shall mainly be presented in the
                                            form of:
   a) operat1ona1 programmes,
   b) global grant schemes,                 a) operational programmes,
   c) technical assistance, pilot           b) global grant schemes,
        and demonstration projects          c) technical assistance, pilot
                                                 and demonstration projects
   within the meaning of Article 5
   (2) of Regulation (EEC) No               in accordance with Article 5 (2)
   2052/88.                                 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88.
                                         2) The Member States shall
2) The Member States shall                  communicate the information needed
   communicate the information needed       to examine, manage, monitor,
   to examine, manage, monitor,             control and evaluate actions,
   control and evaluate actions.            making a distinction between men
   More specifically, this                  and women where possible. More
    information relates to that             specifically, this information
   described in Article 14(2) of            relates to that described in
   Regulation No 4253/88, including         Article 14(2) of Regulation No
   indicators such as the                   4253/88, including indicators such
   geographical concentration, the          as the geographical concentration,
   target groups, the number of             the target groups, the number of
   persons involved and the duration        persons involved and the duration
   of the actions;                          of the actions;
3) Pursuant to Article 13(5) of          3) Pursuant to Article 13(5) of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the         Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the
   recipient firms shall finance an         (...) firms whose workers are to
   appropriate portion of the cost of       benefit from training actions
   actions to promote the training of       shall finance an appropriate
   employees;                               portion of the cost of these
                                            actions (...);
4) The applications for assistance       4) The applications for assistance
    shall be accompanied by a form           shall be accompanied by a form
   drawn up, within the framework of        drawn up within the framework of
    the partnership, using                  the partnership, using
   computerised means listing the           computerised means listing the
   actions under each form of               actions under each form of
   assistance so that it can be             assistance so that the latter can
   followed through from budgetary          be followed through from budgetary
   commitment to final payment."             commitment to final payment."'
 ---pagebreak--- 6. Article 6 is replaced as follows:  6. Article 6 is replaced as follows:
              "ARTICLE 6                             "ARTICLE 6
   Technical assistance, pilot and       Technical assistance, pilot and
demonstration projects                        demonstration projects
1) The Fund may finance outside the   1) The Fund may finance outside the
   Community Support Frameworks up to    Community Support Frameworks up to
   a limit of 1% of its annual           a limit of 1% of its annual
   allocation preparatory,               allocation preparatory,
   accompanying and assessment           accompanying and evaluation
   actions in Member States or at        actions in Member States or at
   Community level necessary for the     Community level necessary for the
   implementation of the actions set     implementation of the actions set
   out in Article 1 of this              out 1n Article 1 of this
   Regulation and carried out on the     Regulation and carried out on the
   Commission's initiative or by the     Commission's initiative or on its
   Commission. They include:             behalf. They include:
                                         a) actions of an innovatory
   a) actions of an innovatory               nature which are intended to
       nature which are intended to          test new approaches to the
       test new approaches to the            content, methods and
       content, methods and                  organization of vocational
       organization of vocational            training, including the
       training including the                 integration of the Community
        integration of the Community         dimension of vocational
       dimension of vocational               training and more generally,
       training and more generally           the development of employment
       the development of employment          including the promotion of
        including the integration of         equal employment opportunities
       persons exposed to exclusion          for women and men and the
       from the labour market , with         vocational integration of
       a view to establishing a basis        persons exposed to exclusion
       for subsequent Fund assistance        from the labour market , with
        in a number of Member States;        a view to establishing a basis
                                             for subsequent Fund assistance
                                              in a number of Member States;
   b)  studies, technical assistance     b)   studies, technical assistance
       and the exchange of experience        and the exchange of experience
       which has a multiplier effect,        which has a multiplier effect,
       and follow-up to, detailed            and follow-up to, detailed
       evaluation of, and control of         evaluation of, and control of
       actions financed by the Fund;         actions financed by the Fund;
 ---pagebreak---                                       Alk-
   c)  actions aimed, within the         c) actions aimed, within the
       framework of social dialogue,           framework of social dialogue,
       at staff from undertakings in           at staff from undertakings in
       two or more Member States,              two or more Member States,
       concerning the transfer of              concerning the transfer of
       special knowledge relating to           special knowledge relating to
       the modernization of the                the modernization of the
       production apparatus;                   production apparatus;
   d)  information of the various        d)    information for the various
       partners involved, the final            partners involved, the final
       recipients of aid from the              recipients of aid from the
       Fund and the general public.            Fund and the general public.
2) In accordance with the last sub-   2) In accordance with the last sub-
   paragraph of Article 3 paragraph 2    paragraph of Article 3 paragraph 2
   of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, on    of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, on
   the initiative of the Commission      the initiative of the Commission
   the Fund may also contribute up to    the Fund may also contribute up to
   a limit of 1% of its annual           a limit of 1% of its annual
   allocation to the financing of:       allocation to the financing of:
   a)  studies,                          a) studies,
   b)  pilot projects including          b)    pilot projects, including
       exchanges of experience and             exchanges of experience and
       transfers of know-how                   transfers of know-how
   relating to the labour market at      relating to the labour market at
   Community level or contributing to    Community level or contributing to
   the implementation of Community       the implementation of Community
   vocational training policy.           vocational training policy.
   These should concern in               These should concern in
   particular: the design and            particular: the design and
   development of job search systems,    development of job search systems,
   job supply and demand mechanisms      of job supply and demand
   and methods for forward looking       mechanisms, of methods for forward
   labour force management, for the       looking labour force management as
   anticipation of skill needs, and      well as for the anticipation of
   for the integration into              skill needs, for the promotion of
   employment of persons exposed to      eoual opportunities for men and
   social exclusion; the improvement     women on the labour market and
   of training structures; the           for the integration into
   establishment or development of a     employment of persons exposed to
   national system of validation and      (...) exclusion from the labour
   accreditation of qualifications;      market; the improvement or
   or should complement specific         overhaul of training structures;
   Community programmes;                 the establishment or development
                                         of a national system of validation
                                         and accreditation of
                                         qualifications; or should
                                         complement specific Community
                                         programmes.
 ---pagebreak---                                       <\%.y-
3) Actions carried out on the         3) Actions carried out on the
   Commission's initiative may, in       Commission's initiative may, in
   exceptional circumstances, be         exceptional circumstances, be
   financed by the Fund at a rate of     financed by the Fund at a rate of
   100%, it being understood that        100%, it being understood that
   those carried out by the              those carried out on behalf of the
   Commission itself are financed at     Commission itself are financed at
   a rate of 100%."                      a rate of 100%."
7. Article 7 is replaced as follows:  7. Article 7 is replaced as follows:
               "ARTICLE 7                            "ARTICLE 7
    Combination and overlapping of        Combination and overlapping of
              assistance                            assistance
Pursuant to Article 14(2) of          Pursuant to Article 14(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the Fund Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the Fund
may finance under more than one of    may finance under more than one of
the objectives set out in Article 1   the objectives set out in Article 1
of the said Regulation actions        of the said Regulation actions
concerning in particular the          concerning in particular the
development of employment, training   development of employment, training
and other similar structures,         and other similar structures,
including the training of teachers,   including the training of teachers,
trainers and other categories of      trainers and other categories of
staff of those structures as well as  staff of those structures as well as
actions of technical assistance."     actions of technical assistance."
8. Article 8 is replaced as follows:  8. Article 8 is replaced as follows:
               "ARTICLE 8                           " ARTICLE 8
       Information and publicity              Transitional provisions
The provisions on information and     Sums committed in respect of grants
publicity referred to in Article 32   of assistance for projects decided bv
of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88        the Commission before 1 January 1990
concerning assistance from the Fund   with respect to the European Social
shall be adopted by the Commission    Fund, and for which the Commission
and published in the Official Journal has not received a final payment
of the European Communities."         claim before 31 December 1994. shall
                                      be automatically decommitted bv the
                                      Commission bv 30 June 1995 at the
                                      latest, without prejudice to projects
                                      which are being held over for
                                      administrative or judicial reasons.
 ---pagebreak---                                       A%8~
9. Article 9 is deleted.               9. Article 9 is deleted.
              ARTICLE 2                              ARTICLE 2
This Regulation shall enter into       This Regulation shall enter into
force on the third day following its   force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal    publication in the Official Journal
of the European Communities.           of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in    This Regulation shall be binding in
its entirety and directly applicable   its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.                  in all Member States.
Done at Brussels,                      Done at Brussels,
                      For the Council                     For the Council
 ---pagebreak---                                ~AZ<^-
                    Amended proposal for a
                   COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
                amending Regulation (BBC) No 4256/88
laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (BBC) No 2052/88
               as regards the BA6GF Guidance Section
 ---pagebreak--- THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular                 European Economic Community, and in particular
Article 43 thereof.                                            Article 43 thereof,
Having    regard     to    the    proposal         from    the Having regard to the proposal from the Commission
Commission*'5,                                                 (1),
Having regard     to   the   opinion     of    the    European Having regard to     the  opinion  of   the  European
Parliament*25,                                                 Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and               Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee**5,                                           Social Committee (3),
Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No            Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No
                 (4)
     /93 of            amending Regulation (EEC) No                 /93 of     (4) amending Regulation (EEC) No
2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the tasks of the                    2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the tasks of the
Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on                Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on
coordination of their activities between themselves            coordination of their activities between themselves
and with the operations of the European Investment             and with the operations of the European Investment
Bank     and     the     other     existing          financial Bank and the other existing financial instruments
 instruments*'5;                                               (5);
Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No            Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No
                (6)
     /93 of           amending Regulation (EEC) No                  /93 of    (6) amending Regulation (EEC) No
4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions             4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions
 for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as               for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as
 regards coordination of the activities of the                 regards coordination of the activities of the
different Structural Funds between themselves and              different Structural Funds between themselves and
with the operations of the European Investment Bank            with the operations of the European Investment Bank
and the other existing financial instruments*75;               and the other existing financial instruments (7);
Whereas, as a result of the amendments to the                  Whereas, as a result of the amendments to the
 aforementioned Regulations and to take account of             aforementioned Regulations and to take account of
 the experience acquired. Council Regulation (EEC)              the experience acquired. Council Regulation (EEC)
 No 4256/88    of     19 December 1988          laying    down No 4256/88    of    19 December 1988    laying    down
provisions    for     implementing      Regulation       (EEC) provisions    for   implementing   Regulation    (EEC)
No 2052/88     as     regards    the       EAGGF      Guidance No 2052/88 as regards the EAGGF Guidance Section
 Section*85 should be amended;                                  (8) should be amended;
          (1)
          (2)
          (3)
          (4)
          (5) O J N o 1 8 5 , 1 5 . 7 . 1 9 8 8 , p . 9.
          (6)
          (7) N o L 3 7 4 , 3 1 . 1 2 . 1 9 8 8 , p . 1.
          (8) O J N o L 3 7 4 , 3 1 . 1 2 . 1 9 8 8 , p . 25.
 ---pagebreak---                                                       --A7>A-
Whereas Objective 5a horizontal measures should be        Whereas Objective 5a horizontal measures should be
better integrated in development plans and Community      better integrated in development plans and Community
Support Frameworks;                                       Support Frameworks;
Whereas    the  accompanying   measures   for agri-       Whereas the accompanying       measures for agri*
environment, afforestation and early retirement           environment, afforestation and early retirement
adopted under the reform of the CAP are to be              adopted under the reform of the CAP are to be
financed in future by the EAGGF Guarantee Section;         financed in future by the EAGGF Guarantee Section;
Whereas the list of measures eligible under               Whereas the list of measures eligible under
Objectives 1 and 5b should be revised on the basis        Objectives 1 and 5b should be revised on the basis
of    experience,   strengthening,   in   particular,      of experience, and having regard to the need to base
measures to promote local products, to prevent             rural    development   both    on   non-agricultural
natural disasters, renovate villages and protect and       activities and on multiple activities by farmers and
conserve the rural heritage;                               to the need to reverse the trend towards economic
                                                           and social decline and "human desertification1*,
                                                           strengthening, in particular, measures to promote
                                                           local products and environmentally friendly ways of
                                                           agriculture, horticulture and livestock breeding and
                                                           rearing, to prevent natural disasters, renovate
                                                           villages and protect and conserve the rural
                                                           heritage;
Whereas the scope of Article 8 should be extended to       Whereas the scope of Article 8 should be extended to
 incorporate rural development more effectively in         incorporate rural development more effectively in
measures carried out under that Article, and to            measures carried out under that Article, and to
 strengthen measures relating to information and the       strengthen measures relating to information and the
dissemination of knowledge;                                dissemination of knowledge;
Whereas measures relating to the fisheries sector          Whereas measures relating to the fisheries sector
 are the subject of a specific Regulation and no           are the subject of a specific Regulation and no
 longer fall within the scope of this Regulation,           longer fall within the scope of this Regulation,
 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                      Article  1                                                Article  1
 Council Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 of 19 December        Council Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 of 19 December
 1988 is hereby amended as follows:                         1988 is hereby amended as follows:
 1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:                 1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:
 ---pagebreak---                                                          -A^bl-
                      "Article 1                                                  "Article 1
    The    Guidance    Section     of    the    European      1. The   Guidance    Section    of   the    European
    Agricultural    Guidance    and Guarantee      Fund,         Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,
    (hereinafter called 'the Fund 1 ), may finance               (hereinafter called 'the Fund'), may finance
    measures for performing the tasks referred to In             measures for performing the tasks referred to in
    Article 3(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 in               Article 3(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 in
    order to attain Objectives 1 and 5 as set out In             order to attain Objectives 1 and 5 as set out in
    Article 1 of that Regulation, with the exception             Article 1 of that Regulation, with the exception
    of Objective 5a measures concerning fisheries                of Objective 5a Matures concerning fisheries
    structures, in accordance with the criteria and              structures, in accordance with the criteria and
    objectives set out in this Regulation.                       objectives set out In this Regulation.
 2. The conditions and criteria laid down in Council          2. The conditions and criteria laid down in Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 shall apply to                   Régulation (EEC) No 4253/88 shall apply to
    measures financed under this Regulation, except              measures financed under this Regulation, except
    if this Regulation or provisions adopted under               if this Regulation or provisions adopted under
    Article 2(1) thereof specify otherwise."                     Article 2(1) thereof specify otherwise."
2. The heading    of   Title  I   is  replaced   by  the     2. The heading   of  Title   I  is  replaced  by the
   following:                                                   following:
                        "TITLE I                                                   "TITLE I
Speeding    up   the    adjustment    of    agricultural     Speeding up the adjustment of agricultural structure
structures in the context of the reform of the               in the context of the reform of the common
common agricultural policy                                   agricultural policy
                    (Objective 5a)"                                             (Objective Sel"
3. Article 2 is replaced by the following:                   3. Article 2 is replaced by the following:
 ---pagebreak---                                                      -AV^~
                     "Article   2                                            "Article  2
1. The Fund may finance common measures adopted by       1. The Fund may finance common measures adopted by
   the Council in accordance with the procedure             the Council in accordance with the procedure
   laid down      in the third subparagraph of              laid down in the third subparagraph of
   Article 43(2) of the Treaty, in order to speed           Article 43(2) of the Treaty, in order to speed
   up the adjustment of agricultural structures, in         up the adjustment of agricultural structures, in
   particular in the context of the reform of the           particular in the context of the reform of the
   common agricultural policy.                              common agricultural policy.
2. The common measures referred to in paragraph 1        2. The common measures referred to in paragraph 1
   may be:                                                  may be:
   measures to support fsrm incomes, and to                 measures to support farm incomes, and to
   maintain viable agricultural communities in              maintain viable agricultural communities in
   mountain, hill or less-favoured arees by means           mountain, hill or less-favoured areas by means
   of agricultural aid such as compensation for             of agricultural aid such as compensstion for
   permanent natural handicaps.                             permanent naturaI handi caps,
   measures to encourage the installation of young          concrete measures to encourage the installation
   farmers.                                                 of young farmers.
   measures to improve the efficiency of the                measures to improve the efficiency of the
   structures of holdings, especially investments           structures of holdings, especially investments
   aimed at reducing production costs and improving         aimed at reducing production costs and improving
   the living and working conditions of farmers,            the living and working conditions of farmers and
   promoting     the    diversification    of  their        farmers' wives or partners whose major activity
   activities and promoting animal welfare, as well         Is on the farm, promoting the diversification of
   as    preserving   and    improving   the natural        their activities and promoting animal welfare,
   environment.                                             as well as preserving and improving the natural
                                                            envi ronment1
   measures to improve the marketing, including the         measures to improve the marketing, including the
   marketing of produce at the farm, and processing         marketing of produce at the farm, and processing
   of agricultural and forestry products and to             of agricultural and forestry products and to
   encourage    the establishment      of producers'        encourage the establishment of producers'
   associations,                                            associations,
   measures to encourage assistance to farmers and          measures to encourage assistance to farmers and
    for the creation of groupings with a view to            for the creation of groupings with a view to
    improving production conditions.                         improving production conditions.
 ---pagebreak---                                                           A~^-
 3. The common measures which are applicable at              3. The common measures which are applicable at
     present in the domain covered by this Title                 present in the domain covered by this Title
     shall remain in force until they are adjusted               shall remain in force until they are adjusted
     pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No                pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No
           /93."                                                 ...../93."
4. The heading     of Title     II is replaced    by the    4. The heading     of Title    II is replaced by the
    following:                                                  following:
                         "TITLE II                                                  "TITLE II
Promoting rural development and the structural              Promoting rural development and the structural
adjustment of the less-developed regions                    adjustment of the Iess-developed regions
                     [Objective No 11"                                          [Objective No 1]"
5. Article 3(1) is replaced by the following:               5. Article 3(1) is replaced by the following:
                        "Article   3                                               "Article   3
 1. Within the context of its contribution to                 1. Within the context of its contribution to
     achieving Objective 1 referred to in Article 1              achieving Objective 1 referred to in Article 1
     of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the Fund may                of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88. the Fund may
      finance    measures     for    rural   development,        finance measures for sustainable development of
      including     developing       and    strengthening         the rural environment, including developing and
      agricultural and forestry structures, and for              strengthening      agricultural   and    forestry
     maintaining the landscape."                                 structures which use methods an dtechniques that
                                                                  respect the environment, and for maintaining.
                                                                  enhancing and restoring the landscape and
                                                                  combating pollution."
6. Article 5 is replaced by the following:                  6. Article 5 is replaced by the following:
                        "Article   5                                               "Article   5
  Financial assistance by the Fund may relate to the          Financial assistance by the Fund may relate to the
  following:                                                  following:
  (a) the conversion, diversification, reorientation          (a) the conversion, diversification, reorientation
       and    adjustment    of production      potential,          and   adjustment    of production    potential,
       including      the    production    of    non-food          including     the    production   of   non-food
       agricultural products,                                      agricultural products.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                  A"*>S"~-
(b) promotion and investments in fevour of local                     (b) promotion.     approval     certification     and
    agricultural and forestry products.                                  investments in favour of local or regional
                                                                         agricultural and forestry products of high
(c) if their financing is not provided for by                        (c) if their financing is not provided for by
    Council       Regulation (EEC)       No 4254/88         of           Council     Regulation (EEC)    No 4254/88     of
    19 December 1988 laying down provisions for                          19 December 1988 laying down provisions for
    implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as                          implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as
    regards the European Regional Development Fund                       regards the European Regional Development Fund
    * 15 , and respecting the tasks of the Funds as                      (1), and respecting the tasks of the Funds as
    set out in Article 3(3) of Regulation (EEC) No                       set out in Article 3(3) of Regulation (EEC) No
    2052/88:                                                             2052/88:
    the development and improvement of rural                           - the development and improvement of rural
    infrastructures linked to agricultural and                           infrastructures linked to agricultural and
    forestry development.                                                forestry development.
    measures        to     achieve        diversification,             - measures      to    achieve     diversification,
    especially those providing multiple activities                       especially those providing multiple activities
    or alternative incomes for farmers,                                  or alternative incomes for farmers,
    the renovation end development of villages and                     - the renovation and development of villages and
    the protection and conservation of the rural                         the protection and conservation of the rural
    heritage.                                                            heritage,
(d) reparcelling and associated work.                                (d) reparcelling in conditions compatible with
                                                                         preservation of      the countryside and the
                                                                         natural environment of farming and forestry
                                                                         holdings, and associated work.
(e) individual or        collective    land      or    pasture       (e) individual or     collective   land  or   pasture
     improvement,                                                         improvement.
(f) irrigation,      including    the      renovation and            (f) irrigation. including the renovation and
     improvement      of   irrigation       networks,      the            improvement of irrigation networks, notably to
     creation of collective irrigation works from                         improve the efficiency of water use; the
     existing main channels, the creation of small                       creation of collective irrigation works from
     irrigation      systems     not       supplied       from           existing main channels, the creation of small
     collective networks, and the renovation and                          irrigation    systems    not    supplied    from
     improvement of drainage systems.                                     collective networks, and the renovation and
                                                                          improvement of drainage systems.
           (1) O J N o L 3 7 4 , 3 1 . 1 2 . 1 9 8 8 , p . 1 5 .
 ---pagebreak---                                                               — -A~t>6.-
(g) encouragement        for      tourist      and      craft        (g) encouragement     for     tourist      and     craft
    investments, including the improvement of                            investments, including the improvement of
    living accommodation on agricultural holdings.                       living accommodation on agricultural holdings
                                                                         and the rural habitat.
(h)   restoring agricultural and forestry production                 (h)   restoring agricultural and forestry production
      potential after natural disasters, and the                           potential after natural disasters, and the
      introduction       of     appropriate        prevention              introduction    of    appropriate      prevention
      measures       in       ultra-peripheral          areas              measures     in      ultra-peripheral        areas
      particularly at risk from such disasters,                            particularly at risk from such disasters.
(i) where their financing is not provided for under                  (i) where their financing is not provided for under
    the accompanying measures adopted under the                          the accompanying measures adopted under the
    reform of the common agricultural policy:                            reform of the common agricultural policy:
    the development and exploitation of woodlands                        the development and exploitation of woodlands
    under the conditions laid down by Council                            under the conditions laid down by Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 1610/89 of 29 May 1989                           Regulation (EEC) No 1610/89 of 29 May 1989
    laying     down     provisions      for     implementing             laying down      provisions     for    implementing
    Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 as regards the                           Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 as regards the
    scheme to develop and optimally utilize                              scheme to develop and optimally utilize
    woodlands in rural areas in the Community*15,                        woodlands in rural areas in the Community (1),
  • protection of the environment, maintenance of                      • protection of the environment, maintenance of
    the countryside and restoration of landscapes.                       the countryside and restoration of landscapes.
(j) the development of agricultural and forestry                     (j) the development of agricultural and forestry
    advisory services, and the improvement of                            advisory services, and the improvement of
    facilities     for      agricultural     and     forestry            facilities for agricultural          and forestry
    vocational training,                                                 vocational training.
(k) financial engineering measures for agricultural                  (k) financial engineering measures for agricultural
    and agri-food businesses, and for businesses                         and agri-food businesses, and for businesses
    for     the     processing       and    marketing      of            for     the   processing     and    marketing     of
    agricultural          and      forestry         products,            agricultural       and     forestry        products,
    particularly the provision of guarantees where                       particularly the provision of guarantees where
     this    is     necessary       for    the      effective            this     is   necessary     for    the     effective
     implementation of the other measures provided                        implementation of the other meesures provided
    for in this Article."                                                for in this Article."
          (1) O J N o L 1 6 5 , 1 5 . 6 . 1 9 8 9 , p . 3
 ---pagebreak--- 7. The heading of Title      III   is replaced by the 7. The heading of Title III      is replaced by the
                                                         following:
    following:
                                                                           "TITLE III
                      "TITLE III
                                                        Promoting rural development in Objective 5b areas"
 Promoting rural development in Objective 5b areas"
8. Article 7 is replaced by the following:            8. Article 7 is replaced by the following:
                      "Article   7                                        "Article   7
 Without prejudice to the particulars referred to In   Without prejudice to the particulars referred to in
 Article 11a(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and     Article 11a(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and
 Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, rural       Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, rural
 development plans shall Include en identification     development plans shall include an identification
 of the problème of agricultural structures at a       of the problems of agricultural structures at a
 relevant geographical level. As a general rule        relevant geographical level. As a general rule
 these plans have a duration of six years and may be   these plans have a duration of six years and may be
 updated annually."                                    updated annually."
9. Article 8 is replaced by the following:            9. Article 8 is replaced by the following:
                       "Article 8                                          "Article 8
 1. In achieving the tasks set out in the second       1. In achieving the tasks set out in the second
     subparagraph of Article 3(3) and as part of the      subparagraph of Article 3(3) and as part of the
     assistance referred to In Article 5(2)(e) of         essistance referred to in Article 5(2)(e) of
     Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the Fund may devote     Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, the Fund may devote
     up to 1% of its annual budget to financing:          up to IX of its annual budget to financing:
   - preparatory,   accompanying.     Information and   - preparatory, accompanying,      information and
     evaluation measures relating to agricultural and     evaluation measures relating to agricultural and
     rural development policies,        including any     rural development policies, including any
     technical   assistance measures and general          technical assistance measures and general
     studiea necessary for their implementation.          studies necessary for their implementation.
 ---pagebreak---                                                         -A-bg
  - pilot    projects   for adjusting     agricultural        * pilot projects for adjusting agricultural
    structures and promoting rural development,                 structures and promoting rural development,
  • demonstration projects, including projects for            * demonstration projects, including projects for
    developing and exploiting forests, to show the              developing and exploiting forests, to show the
    real possibilities of systems, methods and                  real possibilities of systems, methods and
    techniques of production end management which               techniques of production and management which
    are in accordance with the objectives of the                are in accordance with the objectives of the
    common agricultural policy,                                 common agricultural policy,
  • the measures needed for the circulation, at               - the measures needed for the circulation, at
    Community level, of the knowledge, experience               Community level, of the knowledge, experience
    and results of the work on rural development and            and results of the work on rural development and
    improving agricultural structures.                          improving agricultural structures.
 2. Measures implemented on the initiative of the            2. Measures implemented on the initiative of the
    Commission may be financed, exceptionally, at               Commission may be financed, exceptionally, at
    the rate of 100X; those implemented by the                  the rate of 100X; those implemented by the
    Commission itself shall be financed at the rate             Commission itself shall be financed at the rate
    of 100X. For other measures, the rates given in             of 100X. For other measures, the rates given in
    Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 shall             Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 shall
    apply."                                                     apply."
10. Article 10 is replaced by the following:                10. Article 10 is replaced by the following:
                      "Article 10                                                "Article 10
 The provisions on information and publicity                 Sums committed in respect of grants of assistance
 referred to in Article 32 of Regulation (EEC) No            for projects decided by the Commission before 1
 4253/88    concerning    EAGGF   (Guidance   Section)       January 1989 with respect to Regulations (EEC) Nos
 assistance shall be adopted by the Commission and           17/64* 15 .   355Z77* 25 .   1760/78* 35 . 269Z79* 45 .
 published in the Official Journal of the European           1938/81* . 1941/81* . 1943/81* . 2088/85* 85
                                                                        55             65           7>
 Communities."                                               and 3974Z86** 5 . and for which no final payment
                                                             request has been received before 31 December 1994.
                                                             shall be automatically decommited by the Commission
                                                             bv 30 June 1995. Unused advances shall be repaid.
          (1)  OJ  No      34,  27. 2.1964     P« 1586.
          (2)  OJ  No      51,  23. 2.1977     P-      1.
          (3)  OJ  No    204,   28. 7.1978     P-     78.
          (4)  OJ  No      38,  14. 2.1979     P-      1.
          (5)  OJ  No     197,  20. 7.1981     P-      1
          (6)  OJ  No     197,  20. 7.1981     P«     13.
          (7)  OJ  No     197,  29. 7.1981     P.     23,
          (8)  OJ  No     197,  27. 2.1985     P«      1,
          (9)  OJ  NO     370,  30.12.1986     P-      9,
 ---pagebreak---                                                      AC&-
11. Article 11 is replaced by the following:           11. Article 11 is replaced by the following:
                     "Article 11                                           "Article 11
 Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, with the exception of      Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, with the exception of
 Article 1(1) to (3) shall no longer apply as           Article 1(1) to (3) shall no longer apply as
 regarda EAGGF, Guidance Section, subject to the        regards EAGGF, Guidance Section, subject to the
 implementation of Article 15 of Regulation (EEC) No    implementation of Article 15 of Regulation (EEC) No
 2052/88 and Article 33 of Regulation (EEC) No          2052/88 and Article 33 of Regulation (EEC) No
 4253/88."                                              4253/88."
                      Article 2                                             Article 2
Without   prejudice to Article 33 of Council           Without prejudice to Article 33 of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, with a view to            Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88, with a view to
achieving the objectives referred to in Regulation     achieving the objectives referred to in Regulation
(EEC) No 2052/88 end in the light of the rules, in     (EEC) No 2052/88 and in the light of the rules, in
particular those relating to programming, laid down    particular those relating to programming, laid down
by Regulations (EEC) No 2052/88 and 4253/88 and of     by Regulations (EEC) No 2052/88 and 4253/88 and of
Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88, the Council, acting on    Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88, the Council, acting on
a proposal from the Commission in accordance with      a proposal from the Commission in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 43 of the Treaty,   the procedure laid down in Article 43 of the Treaty,
shall decide before 31 December 1993 on the            shall decide before 31 December 1993 on the
adjustment of the common measures financed under       adjustment of the common measures financed under
Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88.              Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88.
                      Article 3                                             Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third    This Regulation shall enter into force on the third
day following its publication in the Official          day following its publication in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.                   Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
directly applicable in all Member States.              directly applicable in all Member States.
 Done at Brussels,                                      Done et Brussels,
                               For the Council                                        For the CounciI
                               The President                                          The President
 ---pagebreak---                               Amended Proposal for a
                       COUNCIL REGULATION (BBC) Ho       /..
         laying down provisions for implementing Council Regulation (BBC)
                No 2052/88 as regards the Financial Instrument for
                                Fisheries Guidance
                           (presented by the Commission)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in
particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission * 15 ,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament * 2 ) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee * 3 ) ,
U)
I»?
 ---pagebreak---                                         -J^\A-
Whereas the common fisheries policy         Whereas the common fisheries policy
supports the general objectives of          supports the general objectives of
Article 39 of the Treaty; whereas in        Article 39 of the Treaty; whereas in
particular Council Regulation (EEC)         particular Council Regulation (EEC)
No 3760/92     of     20 December 1992      No 3760/92     of     20 December 1992
establishing a Community system for         establishing a Community system for
fisheries      and      aquaculture (*)     fisheries      and      aquaculture (*)
contributes   towards     achieving   a     contributes   towards     achieving   a
balance between conservation and the        balance between conservation and the
management of resources, on the one         management of resources, on the one
hand, and the fishing effort and the        hand, and the fishing effort and the
stable and rational exploitation of         stable and rational exploitation of
those   resources    on    the   other;     those   resources    on    the   other;
Whereas fisheries structural measures       Whereas fisheries structural measures
should contribute to the attainment of      should contribute to the attainment of
the objectives of the common fisheries      the objectives of the common fisheries
policy    and    the   objectives    of     policy    and    the   objectives    of
Article 130a;                               Article 130a;
 (4)    OJ No L 389, 31.12.1992» p.l.
 (4)    OJ No L 389, 31.12.1992, p.l.
 ---pagebreak---                                                        -A^<L-
Whereas      the       incorporation              of      Whereas       the     incorporation             of
structural measures in the fisheries                       structural measures in the fisheries
and   aquaculture       sector     into         the       and    aquaculture      sector    into        the
operational framework resulting from                      operational framework resulting from
the reform of the Structural Funds as                     the reform of the Structural Funds as
laid down in Council Regulation (BBC)                     laid down in Council Regulation (BBC)
No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the                         No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the
tasks of the Structural Funds and                         tasks of the Structural Funds and
their       effectiveness          and            on      their        effectiveness       and             on
coordination      of    their      activities             coordination      of    their    activities
between    themselves       and    with         the       between     themselves     and   with         the
operations of the European Investment                     operations of the European Investment
Bank and the other existing financial                     Bank and the other existing financial
instruments ( 5 ),      as     amended            by       instruments ( 5 ),     as    amended           by
Regulation      (BBC)       No ..../.. <6>,               Regulation      (EEC)      No ..../.. < 6 ) ,
and Council Regulation (BBC)                      No      and Council Regulation (EEC)                     No
4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying                        4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying
down    provisions       for    implementing              down     provisions     for    implementing
Regulation      (EEC)      No     2052/88 as              Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards
regards coordination of the activities                    coordination of the activities of the
of the different Structural Funds                         different Structural Funds between
between    themselves       and    with         the       themselves and with the operations of
operations of the European Investment                     the European Investment Bank and the
Bank and the other existing financial                     other           existing           financial
instruments (7 ),        as     amended             by     instruments ( 7 ),     as . amended            by
Regulation        (EEC)       No . . . . / . . ( 8 ) ,    Regulation        (EEC)     No . . . . / . . ( 8 ) ,
should     improve      the     synergy           of       should     improve    the     synergy          of
Community operations and enable a more                    Community operations and enable a
coherent contribution to be made to                       more coherent contribution to be made
the strengthening of economic and                         to the strengthening of economic and
social cohesion;                                           social cohesion;
Whereas the tasks of the Financial                        Whereas the tasks of the Financial
Instrument     for    Fisheries       Guidance             Instrument     for   Fisheries     Guidance
(FIFG) should be defined on the basis                      (FIFG) should be defined on the basis
of     its     contribution         to          the       of      its     contribution       to         the
achievement      of    Objective 5(a)              as      achievement     of    Objective 5(a)            as
defined in Article 1 of Regulation                        defined in Article 1 of Regulation
(BBC) No 2052/88;                                          (BBC) No 2052/88;
(5)      OJ  No  L  185,  15.7.1988, p.9.
(6)      OJ  No  L  ...,        , p.
(7)      OJ  No  L  374,  31.12.1988, p.l,
(8)      OJ  No  L  ...,         , p.
(5)      OJ  No  L  185,  15.7.1988, p.9.
(6)      OJ  N6  L  ...,         , p.
(7)      OJ  No  L  374,  31.12.1988, p.l,
(8)      OJ  No  L  ...,        , p.
 ---pagebreak---                                           —>uo-
Whereas the Community should provide        Whereas the Community should provide
financial assistance in those fields        financial assistance in those fields
which are crucial for the structural        which are crucial for the structural
adaptation necessary to achieve the         adaptation necessary to achieve the
objectives of the common fisheries          objectives of the common fisheries
policy; whereas,      furthermore,     aid  policy; whereas,      furthermore,    aid
measures in this sector should be           measures in this sector should be
subject    to   compliance     with    the  subject    to   compliance     with   the
objectives     of     balance     between   objectives     of     balance     between
resources     and     fishing     effort;   resources     and     fishing     effort;
Whereas    the    structural     measures   Whereas    the    structural     measures
ensuring the coherence of the common        ensuring the coherence of the common
fisheries         policy          require   fisheries         policy          require
differentiated,               multiannual   differentiated,               multiannual
programming;                                programming;
Whereas the Council should lay down at      Whereas the Council, having consulted
a later date general criteria and           the European Far1lament, should lay
priorities for Community assistance in      down at a later date general criteria
order to guarantee the coherence of         and     priorities      for     Community
the     common      fisheries     policy;   assistance in order to guarantee the
                                            coherence of the common fisheries
                                            policy;
Whereas the Commission should lay down      Whereas the Commission should lay down
at a later date detailed implementing       at a later date detailed implementing
rules and administrative procedures;        rules and administrative procedures;
whereas the management committee for        whereas the management committee for
Objective 5(a)        (adaptation       of  Objective 5(a)        (adaptation      of
fisheries structures) referred to in        fisheries structures) referred to in
Article 17(1)    of    Regulation    (EEC)  Article 17(1)    of    Regulation   (BBC)
No 2052/88,    should    participate    in  No 2052/88,    should    participate   in
this;                                       this;
 ---pagebreak---                                              —^HH-
Whereas the measures provided for will         Whereas the measures provided for will
coincide with the scope of council             coincide with the scope of Council
Regulation (BBC) No 4028/86 of 18              Regulation (BBC) No 4028/86 of 18
December 1986 on Community measures to         December 1986 on Community measures to
improve and adapt structures in the            improve and adapt structures in the
fisheries and aquaculture s e c t o r O        fisheries and aquaculture sectort9)
and     Council       Regulation      (BBC)    and     Council      Regulation      (BBC)
No 4042/89 of 19 December 1989 on the          No 4042/89 of 19 December 1989 on the
improvement of the conditions under            improvement of the conditions under
which fishery and aquaculture products         which fishery and aquaculture products
are    processed      and    marketed< 10 )|   are   processed      and    marketed (*°);
whereas, therefore, these Regulations          whereas, therefore, these Regulations
should be repealed and the detailed            should be repealed and the detailed
rules    necessary     for a transition        rules   necessary     for   a transition
preventing       an     interruption     in    preventing     an      interruption     in
structural aid should be laid down;            structural aid should be laid down;
Whereas however Regulation (EEC) No            Whereas however Regulation (EEC) No
4028/86    establishes     in a uniform        4028/86   establishes     in a uniform
manner the maximun amounts of aid              manner the maximun amounts of aid
which     can    be    granted   to    each    which    can   be    granted    to    each
individual          project       directly     individual         project       directly
contributing to priority requirements          contributing to priority requirements
of    the    common    fisheries    policy;    of   the    common    fisheries    policy;
whereas the Council must continue to           whereas      the      Council       having
establish these maximum amounts in a           consultated the European Parliament,
uniform manner,                                must   continue to       establish   these
                                               maximum amounts in a uniform manner,
 (9)      OJ  No L  376, 31.12.1986,  p.7.
 (10)     OJ  No L  388, 30.12.1989,  p.l.
 (9)      OJ  No L  376, 31.12.1986,  p.7,
 (10)     OJ  No L  388, 30.12.1989,  p.l,
 ---pagebreak---                                       -^MS-
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATIONS             HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATIONS
               Article 1                                        Article 1
1. The structural measures implemented   1. The structural measures implemented
   under this Regulation in the              under this Regulation              in the
   fisheries and aquaculture sector          fisheries and aquaculture sector
   and the industry processing and           and the industry processing and
   marketing       their       products      marketing              their       products
   (hereinafter referred to as "the          (hereinafter referred to as "the
   sector") shall support the general        sector") shall support the general
   objectives of Articles 39 and 130a        objectives of Articles 39 and 130a
   of the Treaty and the objectives          of the Treaty and the objectives
   set out     in Regulations     (BBC)      set out            in Regulations     (BBC)
   No 3760/92 and No 2052/88.                No 3760/92 and No 2052/88.
2. The tasks of the FIFG shall be:       2. The tasks of the FIFG shall bet
a) to contribute to a rational and       a) to contribute to (             ) achieving a
   responsible management of marine          balance on a sustainable basis
   resources and seek to establish a         between           resources    and    their
   durable balance between available         exploitation;
   and    accessible   resources    and
   fishing capacities;
b) to  strengthen the competitiveness    b) to    strengthen the competitiveness
   of  structures and the development        of   structures and the development
   of  economically viable businesses        of   economically viable businesses
   in the fisheries sector;                  in the fisheries sector;
c) to improve market supply and the      c) to improve market supply and the
   value added to fisheries and              value added to fisheries and
   aquaculture products.                     aquaculture products.
Furthermore the FIFG shall contribute    Furthermore the FIFG shall contribute
towards    technical   assistance   and  towards         technical      assistance    and
information measures, and support         information measures, and support
studies and pilot projects for the       studies and pilot projects for the
adaptation of fisheries structures.      adaptation of fisheries structures.
                                                .s-'-Kpr  c .-                      nii>
 ---pagebreak---                                           ->14 6~
               Article 2                                    Article 2
   FIFG assistance may be granted for        1. FIFG assistance may be granted for
   the implementation of measures               the implementation of measures
   directly     contributing     towards        directly     contributing     towards
   ensuring    compliance     with    the       ensuring    compliance     with    the
   requirements     of     the     common       requirements     of     the     common
   fisheries     policy     and,     more       fisheries     policy     and,     more
   particularly, compliance with the            particularly, compliance with the
   decisions     taken    pursuant     to       decisions     taken    pursuant     to
   Articles 8 and 11 of Regulation              Articles 8 and 11 of Regulation
   (EEC) No 3760/92, in particular in           (EEC) No 3760/92, in particular in
   the following fieldss                        the following fields:
-  adaptation of fishing capacities          - t J
   and    regulation       of    fishing
   activities,
   reorientation of fishing activities       - I J
   towards resources in waters under
   the sovereignty or jurisdiction of
   third countries,
   controlling fishing activities, in        -   [ J
   particular    by    fitting   special     -  redeployment operations
   equipment on board vessels.               "   joint enterprises
                                             -  joint ventures
                                             -  adjustment of capacities
                                             In the framework of the procedure
                                             referred to at paragraph 8, the
                                             Council may adapt the list of fields
                                             referred to in this paragraph.
2. The provisions of Article 13(3) of        2. The provisions of Article 13(3) of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and of           Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and of
   Article 17 of Regulation (BBC) No            Article 17 of Regulation (BBC) No
   4253/88 shall apply to measures              4253/88 shall apply to measures
   referred   to     in   paragraph    1.       referred    to    in  paragraph     1.
   However the aid granted to each              However the aid granted to each
   individual project under measures            individual project under measures
   referred to in paragraph 1 shall             referred to in paragraph 1 shall
   not exceed the maximum amount to             not exceed the maximum amount to
   be established pursuant to the               be established pursuant to the
   procedure referred to in article 8.          procedure referred to in article 8.
 ---pagebreak---                                           -yu^f-
               Article 3                                     Article 3
1. The FIFG may contribute towards the       1. The FIFG may contribute towards the
   funding     of     investments     and       funding      of     investments     and
   operations in support of one or              operations in support of one or
   more of the tasks referred to in             more of the tasks referred to in
   Article 1(2), in particular in the           Article 1(2), in particular in the
   following fieldss                            following fields:
-  renewal and modernization      of  the    -  [    1
   fishing fleet,
   development and rationalization of        -   [   1
   off-shore        and       land-based
   aquaculture,
   development of coastal sea areas          -   t
   with a view to protecting or
   developing marine resources,
   improvement    in   the quality     of    - I
   facilities for      landing, fishery
   products,
   adding value to fishery products by          [     )
   improving    the   conditions    under       restructuring and renewal of the
   which    they    are   marketed    and       fishing fleet
   processed and by promoting them.          -  modernization of the fishing fleet
                                             -  improvement of the conditions under
                                                which     fishery    and    aquaculture
                                                products are processed and marketed
                                             -  development     of    aquaculture   and
                                                structural works in coastal waters
                                             -  exploratory fishing
                                             -   facilities at fishing ports
                                             -   search for new markets
                                             -   specific measures
                                             In the framework of the procedure
                                             referred to at paragraph 8, the
                                             Council may adapt the list of fields
                                             referred to in this paragraph.
2. In particular, the investments and        2. In particular, the investments and
   operations      referred     to     in       operations       referred      to    in
   paragraph 1 may cover the operating          paragraph 1 may cover the operating
   conditions on board vessels, an              conditions on board vessels, an
   improvement in the selectivity of             improvement in the selectivity of
    fishing   methods    and   gear,   an       fishing     methods    and   gear,   an
    improvement in product quality, and          improvement in product quality, and
   the    introduction     of   Community       the     introduction     of   Community
   standards for product hygiene, for           standards for product hygiene, for
   health and safety at the workplace,          healtfh and safety at the workplace,
   and for environmental protection.            and for environmental protection.
 ---pagebreak---                                         Al\%~
3. The contribution of FIFG referred       3. [   1
   to in paragraph 1 may also cover
   structuring   measures    aimed   at
   strengthening    the    professional
   cohesion    and    its    level   of
   organisation and which contribute
   to   the   implementation    by  the
   profession itself of actions of
   collective interest.
4. The rates of aid referred to in         (   J 3^ The limits of             nity.
   Article 13(3) of Regulation (BBC)       participation referred to in Article
   No 2052/88 and in Article 17(3) of      13(3) of Regulation (BBC) No 2052/88
   Regulation (BBC) No 4253/88 shall       and in Article 17(3) of Regulation
   apply to investments and operations     (BBC)   No 4253/88   shall   apply   to
   referred to in this Article.            investments and operations referred to
                                           in this Article.
                                           4. For all the above Investments and
                                           operations mentioned in paragraph 1,
                                           account   shall   be   taken   of   the
                                           implications for the environment.
 ---pagebreak---                                             ~A\«>-
               Article 4                                       Article 4
1. Within the fields specified in               1. Within the fields specified in
   Articles 2 and 3 and up to a                    Articles 2 and 3 and up to a
   maximum of 3% of the budget funds               maximum of 3% of the budget funds
   available annually for structural               available annually for structural
   measures in the sector, the FIFG                measures in the sector, the FIFG
   may finance :                                   may finance :
-  studies,    pilot     projects       and     -  studies,    pilot     projects     and
   demonstration projects,                         demonstration projects,
   the provision     of    services     and        the   provision   of   services and
   technical    assistance       for    the        technical    assistance     for    the
   purposes     in     particular        of        purposes     in     particular      of
   preparing,      accompanying         and        preparing,      accompanying       and
   assessing the implementation of                 assessing the implementation of
   this Regulation,                                this Regulation,
-  concerted     action      to      remedy     -  concerted     action     to     remedy
   particular difficulties affecting               particular difficulties affecting
   specific aspects of the sector,                 specific aspects of the Beetor,
-  schemes to disseminate information.          -  schemes to disseminate information.
2. Measures referred to in paragraph 1          2. Measures referred to in paragraph 1
   and implemented at the Commission's             and implemented at the Commission's
   initiative can exceptionnelly be                initiative can exceptionnally be
   financed at a rate of 100%; those               financed at a rate of 100%; those
   implemented    by    the     Commission         implemented [     ] for the benefit
   itself shall be financed at the                 of the Commission itself shall be
   rate of 100%.                                   financed at the rate of 100%.
 ---pagebreak---                                         -A*Ï<Ï-
               Article 5                                       Article 5
1. in particular, and in addition to            1. In particular, and in addition to
   information referred to in Article              information referred to in Article
   11(2) of Regulation        (EEC) No             11(2) of Regulation        (EEC) No
   2052/88, each plan for the actions              2052/88, each plan for the actions
   in   fisheries    structures    shall           in   fisheries    structures    shall
   include a description of the                    include a description of the
   various fields referred to in                   various fields referred to in
   Articles 2 and 3; it shall take                 Articles 2 and 3; it shall take
   account in particular of decisions              account in particular of decisions
   adopted pursuant to Articles 8 and              adopted pursuant to Articles 8 and
   11 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.              11 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.
2. In accordance with article 11(2) of          2. In accordance with article 11(2) of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and                 Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and
   with article 5(2) of Regulation                 with article 5(2) of Regulation
   (EEC) No 4253/88, the Member States             (EEC) No 4253/88, the Member States
   shall include with their plan's                 shall include with their plan's
   applications     for     operational            applications     for     operational
   programmes and other forms of                   programmes and other forms of
   assistance that they cover.                     assistance that they cover.
               Article 6                                       Article 6
In accordance with Article 10(1) of             In accordance with Article 10(1) of
Regulation   (EEC) No 4253/88, the              Regulation   (EEC) No 4253/88, the
adoption of the Community support               adoption of the Community support
Framework and the granting of aid can           Framework and the granting of aid can
be governed by a single Commission              be governed by a single Commission
decision.                                       decision.
               Article 7                                       Article 7
1. The Commission shall decide on FIFG          1. The Commission shall decide on FIFG
   assistance on the terms laid down               assistance on the terms laid down
   in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC)               in Article 14 of Regulation (BBC)
   No 4253/88.                                     No 4253/88.
2. The intermediate authority or body           2. The intermediate authority or body
   referred to in Article 14(1) and                referred to in Article 14(1) and
   Article 16(1) of Regulation (EEC)               Article 16(1) of Regulation (EEC)
   No 4253/88 and the Member State                 No 4253/88 and the Member State
   concerned shall be notified of the              concerned shall be notified of the
   decisions     referred      to     in           decisions     referred      to     in
   paragraph 1.                                    paragraph 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                            .— A^A
                Article 8                                     Article 8
Without prejudice to Article 33 of            Without prejudice to Article 33 of
Regulation     (BBC)     No 4253/88    and    Regulation     (EEC)     No 4253/88    and
Article 11 of this Regulation, the            Article 11 of this Regulation, the
Council, acting on a proposal from the        Council, acting on a proposal from the
Commission in accordance with the             Commission in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 43 of          procedure laid down in Article 43 of
the Treaty, shall adopt not later than        the Treaty, shall adopt not later than
31 December 1992 the general criteria         31 December 1992 the general criteria
and     the      Community      assistance    and     the      Community      assistance
priorities provided        for in this        priorities provided        for in this
Regulation and the maximum amounts            Regulation and the maximum amounts
referred to in article 2(2).                  referred to in article 2(2).
                Article 9                                     Article 9
In accordance with the procedure laid         In accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 10, the Commission            down in Article 10, the Commission
shall adopt:                                  shall adopt:
-   detailed rules      for   implementing       detailed rules for         implementing
   this Regulation,                              this Regulation,
-   detailed    rules     necessary    for       detailed     rules     necessary    for
   establishing       the    data    bases       establishing       the    data    bases
    required    for    implementing    and        required    for    implementing    and
    assessing the measures provided for           assessing the measures provided for
    in this Regulation.                           in this Regulation.
               Article 10                                    Article 10
1. Pursuant       to     Article 17     of    1. Pursuant       to     Article 17     of
   Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and               Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and
   Article 29(2) of Regulation (EEC)             Article 29(2) of Regulation (EEC)
    No 4253/88, a Standing Committee              No 4253/88, a Standing Committee
    for the Fishing Industry under the            for the Fishing Industry under the
    auspices of the Commission is                 auspices of the Commission is
   hereby established, consisting of              hereby established, consisting of
    representatives     of    the   Member        representatives     of    the   Member
    States, under the chairmanship of a           States, under the chairmanship of a
    representative of the Commission.             representative of the Commission.
   The     EIB     shall    designate    a       The     BIB     shall    designate    a
    representative who shall not vote.            representative who shall not vote.
   The Committee shall draw up its own            The Committee shall draw up its own
    rules of procedure.                           rules of procedure.
 ---pagebreak---                                             l'^^L-
2. Where the procedure laid down in          2. Where the procedure laid down in
   this Regulation is to be followed,           this Regulation is to be followed,
   the chairman shall refer the matter          the chairman shall refer the matter
   to the Committee either on his own           to the Committee either on his own
   initiative or at the request of the          initiative or at the request of the
   representative of a Member State.            representative of a Member State.
   The     representative        of     the     The     representative        of     the
   Commission shall submit to the               Commission shall submit to the
   Committee a draft of the measures            Committee a draft of the measures
   to be taken. The Committee shall             to be taken. The Committee shall
   deliver its opinion on the said              deliver its opinion on the said
   draft within a time limit which the          draft within a time limit which the
   chairman may lay down according to           chairman may lay down according to
   the urgency of the matter under              the urgency of the matter under
   consideration. The opinion shall             consideration. The opinion shall
   be delivered by the majority laid            be delivered by the majority laid
   down   in Article 148(2) of the              down   in Article 148(2) of the
   Treaty in the case of decisions              Treaty in the case of decisions
   which the Council is required to             which the Council is required to
   adopt on a proposal           from the       adopt on a proposal           from the
   Commission. The       votes    of    the     Commission. The       votes    of    the
   representatives      of    the    Member     representatives      of    the    Member
   States within the Committee shall            States within the Committee shall
   be weighted in the manner set out            be weighted in the manner set out
   in   that    Article. The      chairman      in   that    Article. The      chairman
   shall not vote.                              shall not vote.
   The Commission shall adopt measures          The Commission shall adopt measures
   which    shall    apply    immediately.      which    shall    apply    immediately.
   However, if these measures are not           However, if these measures are not
   in accordance with the opinion of            in accordance with the opinion of
   the   Committee,      they   shall    be     the   Committee,      they   shall    be
   communicated by the Commission to            communicated by the Commission to
   the Council      forthwith. In that          the Council      forthwith. In that
   event, the Commission may defer              event, the Commission may defer
   application of the measures which            application of the measures which
   it has decided for a period of not           it has decided for a period of not
   more than one month from the date            more than one month from the date
   of      such       communication. The        of      such       communication. The
   Council, acting by a qualified               Council, acting by a qualified
   majority, may take a different               majority, may take a different
   decision within a time limit of one          decision within a time limit of one
   month.                                       month.
   The opinions of the Committee shall          The opinions of the Committee shall
   be communicated to the committees            be communicated to the committees
   referred to in Articles 27, 28 and           referred to in Articles 27, 28 and
   29(1)      of     Regulation       (EEC)     29(1)      of     Regulation       (EEC)
   No 4253/88.                                  No 4253/88.
3. The committee provided for in this        3. The committee provided for in this
   Article shall replace the committee          Article shall replace the committee
   established     in     Article 11     of     established     in     Article 11     of
   Council Regulation (EEC) No 101/76           Council Regulation (EEC) No 101/76
   of 19 January 1976 in all functions          of 19 January 1976 in all functions
   conferred upon it pursuant to that           conferred upon it pursuant to that
   Regulation.                                  Regulation.
 ---pagebreak---                                      w.y\:sv
              Article 11                                Article 11
The provisions on information and         (    )
publicity referred to in Article 32 of
Regulation (BBC) No 4253/88 concerning
FIFO assistance shall be adopted by
the Commission and published in the
Official Journal of the European
Communities.
              Article 12                              Article [ ) 11
1. With effect from 1 January 1994,       1. With effect from 1 January 1994,
   Regulations (BBC) No 4028/86 and          Regulations (BBC) No 4028/86 and
   No 4042/89   and   the provisions         No 4042/89    and  the   provisions
   establishing the detailed rules of        establishing the detailed rules of
   their implementation, with the            their implementation, with the
   exception of Commission Regulation        exception of Commission Regulation
   (BBC) No 163/89      and  decisions       (BBC) No 163/89      and  decisions
   adopting the multiannual guidance         adopting the multiannual guidance
   programmas for fishing fleets for         programmes for fishing fleets for
   the period 1993-96, are hereby            the period 1993-96, are hereby
   repealed.                                 repealed.
However s                                 However s
- they remain valid for applications      - they remain valid for applications
   introduced before this date;              introduced before this date;
-  decisions on grant aid relating to     -  decisions on grant aid relating to
   projects introduced in 1993 under         projects introduced in 1993 under
   Regulation (BBC) No 4028/86 but           Regulation (BBC) No 4028/86 but
   which do not fall within a plan           which do not fall within a plan
   referred to in Article 6 of this          referred to in Article 6 of this
   Regulation, can only be taken until       Regulation, can only be taken until
   1 July 1994.                              1 July 1994.
Applications under Regulation (BBC) No    Applications under Regulation (BBC) No
4028/86 for which no aid decision has     4028/86 for which no aid decision has
been taken by 1 July 1994 shall be        been taken by 1 July 1994 shall be
considered null and void. However,        considered null and void. However,
the measures and projects provided for    the measures and projects provided for
in    such    applications   may    be    in     such   applications   may    be
incorporated into the sectoral plans      incorporated into the sectoral plans
provided for in Article 5 of this         provided for in Article 5 of this
Regulation.                               Regulation.
 ---pagebreak---                                          _ AS-H-
2. Commitments and/or the balances of       2. Commitments and/or the balances of
   commitments entered as aid for              commitments entered as aid for
   projects adopted by the Commission          projects adopted by the Commission
   before      1 January 1989        under     before      1 January 1989        under
   Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86, and            Regulation (BBC) No 4028/86, and
   for which no final application for          for which no final application for
   payment has been submitted to the           payment has been submitted to the
   Commission before 31 December 1994,         Commission before 31 December 1994,
   shall      be       cancelled       and     shall      be       cancelled       and
   automatically     released    by    the     automatically     released    by the
   Commission on 30 June 1995 at the           Commission on 30 June 1995 at the
   latest.                                     latest.
   Commitments and/or the balances of          Commitments and/or the balances of
   commitments entered as aid for              commitments entered as aid for
   projects adopted by the Commission          projects adopted by the Commission
   between       1 January 1989        and     between       1 January 1989        and
   30 June 1994 under Regulation (EEC)         30 June 1994 under Regulation (EEC)
   No 4028/86 and for which no final           No 4028/86 and for which no final
   application for payment has been            application for payment has been
   submitted to the Commission within          submitted to the Commission within
   six years from the date of decision         six years from the date of decision
   granting    the     aid,    shall    be     granting    the     aid,    shall    be
   cancelled      and       automatically      cancelled      and       automatically
   released by the Commission not              released by the Commission not
   later than six years and six months         later than six years and six months
   after the date of aid grant.                after the date of aid grant.
   Cancellations      and     automatical      Cancellations      and     automatical
   releases referred to in this                releases referred       to in this
   paragraph shall not apply in the            paragraph shall not apply in the
   case of events beyond the control           case of events beyond the control
   of           the beneficiaries, nor         of           the beneficiaries, nor
   if the beneficiaries shall have             if the beneficiaries shall have
   exceptionnally        obtained       an     exceptionnally        obtained       an
   extension of the deadline for the           extension of the deadline for the
   implementat ion.                            implementation.
               Article 13                               Article [ J 12
This Regulation shall enter into force      This Regulation shall enter into force
on the third day following its              on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of      publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.                   the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in         This Regulation shall be binding in
its entirety and directly applicable        its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.                       in all Member States.
Done at                                     Done at
For the Council                             For the Council
The President                               The President
 ---pagebreak---                                                                       ISSN 0254-1475
                                                               COM(93) 303 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                               01
                                 Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-339-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-57402-X
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
L-2985 Luxembourg