CELEX: 51995PC0428
Language: en
Date: 1995-09-08
Title: Re-examined proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                      Brussels, 08.09.1995
                                      COM(95) 428 final
                                      94/0065 (SYN)
                Re-examined proposal for a
              COUNCIL REGULATION Œ O
        laying down general rules for the granting of
             Community financial aid in the field
                 of trans-European networks
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 c (d)
                      of the EC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                  Explanatory memorandum
                                              I.
 Context
 On 2 March 1994 the Commission submitted to the Council and Parliament a proposal
 for a Council Regulation (liC) laying down general rules for the granting of Community
 financial aid in the field of trans-Huropean networks (COM(94)62 final SYN 94/0065).
 Parliament gave its opinion on first reading on 30 November 1994.
 In the light of Parliament's opinion, on 17 March 1995 the Commission submitted to the
Council an amended proposal for a Council Regulation (COM(95)32 final).
  The Council adopted its common position on 31 March 1995.
On 12 July 1995 Parliament approved this common position, to which it proposed
21 amendments.
A summary of the re-examined proposal and of the amendments not included by the
Commission is set out below. The amendments not included are set out in the Annex.
                                             II.
A.       Rc-cxamined proposal
The Commission has re-examined its proposal on the basis of the amendments proposed
by Parliament and has included the following amendments, in letter or spirit:
8th recital (amendment 3)
 The inclusion of a reference to extension of the partnership between the public and
private sectors emphasizes one of the essential objectives of the Regulation.
Article 2 (amendment 8)
 This addition makes it clear that not only enterprises which run services in the public
interest but also enterprises which undertake projects considered to be in the public
interest may submit projects.
Article 4(1 a) (amendment 22)
Here Parliament takes up the idea in the Commission's original proposal that, with the
consent of the Member States concerned, the Commission could propose feasibility studies
in exceptional cases, for example for transfrontier interconnections. The Community
contribution to such studies could, on a proposal from the Commission or the States
concerned, be extended to 100% of the total cost of the study if necessary.
 ---pagebreak---   Article 5 (second part of amendment 23)
  Addition of this paragraph makes it possible to raise the upper limit for the Community
 contribution from 10% to 30% of the total cost of the project in exceptional cases,
  particularly for major projects entailing low investment.
 Article 18 (amendment 19)
 At the time of adoption of the declaration of 6 March 1995 by the three institutions on
 the incorporation of financial provisions into legislative acts, the Commission stated that
 it would not include financial provisions in its proposals for legislative acts concerning
 multiannual programmes not subject to the co-decision procedure.
 B.       Amendments not included
 The following amendments have not been included:
 Amendment 1
 Article 189c of the I'reaty provides for the cooperation procedure with Parliament; this
 repetition would be tautological.
Amendments 2 and 24
 The wording in the common position highlights the transitional nature of this provision
by clearly stating the extent and duration of the transition period.
Amendments 4. 10 and first part of 22
The term "feasibility study" covers all forms of preparatory study prior to implementation
of a project. There is no need for these additions.
Amendments 5 and J 2
The direct and indirect socio-economic effects of projects include the consequences for
regional planning. There is no need for this addition.
Amendment 6
The evaluation of the potential economic viability with the help of cost/benefit analyses
includes the economic and social aspects. There is no need to mention them explicitly.
 The "capacity of existing infrastructures" criterion is covered by the guidelines proposed
for trans-European networks.
Amendments 7 and 13
An explicit list of Community policies is not essential in this context. In the case of
energy and telecommunications policies, the Treaty provides no legal basis for these
policies at the moment.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 8 (first part)
IV-.
  reparatory  studies are "parts of projects", within the meaning of the second subparagraph
of Article 2(1). This detail is not essential.
Amendment 11 (second part)
Article 5(4) reflects the "philosophy" of the Regulation, i.e. that the Community support
provided for in this Regulation is intended to start up projects and to stimulate funding
from the public or private sectors.
Amendment 12
 The criteria "consistency with Community regional planning", "trans-frontier nature" and
"ability |of the project | to fill gaps in the network" arc covered by the guidelines referred
to in Article 6(1). There is no need to mention them here.
Amendment 14
It is not essential in this context to specify the "public or private" nature of the body.
Amendment 15
"Social profitability" and "overall physical planning" are too imprecise to serve as
assessment criteria.
Amendment 16
Many of the projects are too complex to keep fully within a time limit of six months
between receipt of the application and the decision whether to grant aid.
Amendment 17
As is standard practice when implementing internal policies and in line with the Financial
Regulation, commitments and payments under this Regulation will be expressed in ECU.
Amendment 18
A consultative committee (procedure I) would be inappropriate given that the action taken
by the Community in this field complements the action taken by the Member States.
Amendment 20
In the common position the Commission accepted the revision clause as a compromise,
considering that the regulations on Community funding commonly provide for a
live-yearly review.
Amendment 21
 The Commission has been advocating deletion of financial provisions from this
Regulation (Article 18). Consequently, this renders the recital on this subject superfluous.
 ---pagebreak--- Amendment 22 (third part, final part)
In the spirit of the Regulation the financial aid from the Community may not exceed the
minimum amount deemed necessary to launch a project. Also, given the limited
resources available, there is good reason to place the time limit on the duration of any
interest rate subsidy.
Legally, the wording "any other type" of financial aid is too imprecise to serve as a legal
basis.
 ---pagebreak---                                 Re-examined proposal for a
                                COUNCIL REGULATION
                      laying down general rules for the granting of
                           Community financial aid in the field
                                of trans-European networks
                          (Submitted by the Commission pursuant
                            to Article I89c(d) of the EC Treaty)
Common position                                    Re-examined proposal
8th recital                                        8th recital
Whereas involvement of private capital             Whereas involvement of private capital
in funding trans-European networks                 in funding trans-European networks
should be increased;                               should be increased and the partnership
                                                   between the public and private sectors
                                                   extended;
Article 2                                          Article 2
 eligibility                                       Eligibility
    Projects shall be eligible if they are         2. Projects shall be eligible if they are
    financed by the Member Slates or by                financed by the Member States or by
    regional or local authorities or by                regional or local authorities or by
    bodies working within an                           bodies working within an
    administrative or legal framework                  administrative or legal framework
    which makes them equivalent to                     which makes them equivalent to
    public entities, in particular public or           public entities, in particular public or
    private enterprises which run public               private enterprises which run public
    services or services in the public                 services or services in the public
    interest.                                          interest or undertake projects
                                                       considered to be in the public interest.
 Article 4(1 a)                                     Article 4(1 a)
 (a) co-financing of studies related to             (a) co-financing of studies related to
       projects, including preparatory,                   projects, including preparatory,
       feasibility and evaluation studies,                feasibility and evaluation studies,
       and other technical support                        and other technical support
       measures for these studies.                        measures for these studies.
       Community participation may in                     Community participation may in
       general not exceed 50% of the total                general not exceed 50% of the total
       cost of a study.                                   cost of a study.
       In exceptional, duly substantiated                 In exceptional, duly substantiated
       cases, at the initiative of the                    cases, and with the consent of the
 ---pagebreak---      Commission and with the consent         Member States concerned, the
     of the Member Stales concerned.         Commission may propose studies.
     Community       participation  may      Community participation in such
     exceed the limit of 50%;                studies may, if necessary, be
                                             extended to 100% of the total cost.
Article 5(3)                            Article 5(3)
     Regardless of the form of          3.   Regardless of the form of
     intervention chosen, the total          intervention chosen, the total
     amount of Community aid under           amount of Community aid under
     this Regulation shall not exceed        this Regulation shall not exceed
      10% of the total investment cost.       10% of the total investment cost.
                                             Where projects are of modest scope
                                             and/or entail low investment, the
                                             Community financial contribution
                                             may exceed the abovementioned
                                              10% limit, if proposed by the
                                             Commission and agreed by the
                                              Member States concerned, although
                                              in such cases it must not exceed an
                                              upper limit of 30%.
Article 18                              Article 18
Budgetary resources
The financial reference amount for the  Deleted
implementation of this Regulation is
ECU 2 345 million for the period
1995-1999.
 ---pagebreak---                                     ANNEX
European Parliament amendments not included by the Commission
 ---pagebreak---      Common position of the Council1                  Amendments by Parliament
                                      (Amendment 1)
                                       Citation 5
  Acting    in   accordance    with    the     Acting    in   accordance   with   the
  procedure laid down in Article 189c          procedure laid down in Article 189c
  of the Treaty,                               of the Treaty and in cooperation with
                                               the European Parliament.
                                    (Amendment 2)
                                      Recital 7
 Whereas the guidelines referred to in        Whereas until such time as the
 Article    129c(1) of     the   Treaty,      Council and the European Parliament
 proposed bv the Commission, are under        have   decided   on    the guidelines
 consideration     by   the     European      referred to in Article 129c(1) of the
 Parliament and the Council; whereas,        Treaty, infrastructure projects which
 should the decisions adopting these         contribute to the achievement of the
 guidelines not have entered into            objectives of Article 129b of the
 force when this Regulation enters           Treaty concerning the establishment
 into force, provision should be made        and development of trans-European
on a transitional        basis   for a       networks may be supported;
possible Community contribution to
specific priority projects within the
 limits    of     the    appropriations
available for the financial year 1995
and at the latest until 31 December
                                    (Amendment 4)
                                      Recital 9
Whereas Community aid may take the           Whereas Community aid may take the
form in particular of feasibility            form in particular of preparatory,
studies, loan guarantees or interest         feasibility and technical studies,
rate     subsidies;    whereas     these     loan guarantees or interest rate
subsidies and guarantees relate in           subsidies; whereas these subsidies
particular to financial support from         and guarantees relate in particular
the European Investment Bank or other        to    financial    support  from   the
public or private financial bodies;          European Investment Bank or other
whereas in certain duly justified            public or private financial bodies;
cases direct grants to investments           whereas in certain cases direct
may be considered;                           grants    to    investments   may   be
                                             considered;
                                           3
 ---pagebreak---                                       (Amendment 5)
                                        Recital 13
  Whereas Community aid is to be                Whereas Community aid is to be
  granted to projects on the basis of           granted to projects on the basis of
  how much they contribute to the               how much they contribute to the
  objectives of Article 129b of the             objectives of Article 129b of the
  Treaty and the other objectives and           Treaty and the other objectives and
  priorities covered by the guidelines          priorities covered by the guidelines
  referred to in Article 129c of the            referred to in Article 129c of the
 Treaty; whereas account should also            Treaty; whereas account should also
 be taken of other aspects such as the          be taken of other aspects such as the
 stimulative effect on public and               stimulative effect on public and
 private    finance, , the direct and           private finance, the direct and
 indirect socio-economic effects of             indirect socio-economic effects of
 projects,       in     particular      on      projects,      in     particular      on
 employment, and the consequences for           employment, and the consequences for
 the environment;                               the    environment      and     regional
                                                planning;
                                      ;Amendment 6)
                                       Recital 14
 Whereas the Commission must carefully         Whereas the Commission must carefully
 evaluate    the     potential   economic      evaluate    the     potential   economic
 viability of the projects, with the           viability of the projects, with the
 help of cost/benefit analyses and             help    of     cost/benefit     analyses
 other appropriate criteria, as well           involving financial, economic and
 as their financial profitability;             social perspectives, analyses of the
                                               capacity of existing infrastructures
                                               and other appropriate criteria;
                                     (Amendment 7)
                                       Recital 15
Whereas Community financial support            Whereas Community financial support
under Article 129c(1) of the Treaty            under Article 129c(1) of the Treaty
must be compatible with Community              must be compatible with Community
policies, in particular on networks            policies,    in particular      with    a
and     as     regards      environmental      sustainable common transport policy
protection, competition and the award          and     as      regards        energy ,
of     public     contracts;      whereas      telecommunications.        environmental
environmental protection includes an           protection, competition and the award
environmental impact assessment;               of    public     contracts;      whereas
                                               environmental protection includes an
                                               environmental impact assessment of
                                              projects;
                                     (Amendment 8)
          Article 2(1     second subparagraph and (2), first subparagraph
Parts of projects within the meaning          Parts of projects within the meaning
of the first subparagraph shall also          of the first.subparagraph shall also
be eligible insofar as they form              be eligible insofar as they form
technically         and     financially       technically         and     financially
independent units.                            independent     units, in particular
                                              preparatory,         feasibility      and
                                              technical studies.
                                             /yO
 ---pagebreak---  2. Projects shall also be eligible if         2.      Projects    shall    also     be
 they are financed by the Member              eligible if they are financed by the
 States or by regional or local               Member States or by regional or local
 authorities or by bodies working             authorities or by bodies acting
within an administrative or legal             within an administrative or legal
 framework which makes them equivalent         framework which makes them equivalent
 to public entities, in particular-            to public entities, in particular
public or private enterprises which           public or private enterprises which
run public services or services in            run public services or services in
the public interest.                          the public interest or undertake
                                              projects considered to be in the
                                              public interest.
                                    (Amendment 24)
                             Article 3, first paragraph
Should the dec ions adopting the              Should the decisions adopting the
guidelines refe red to in Article             guidelines referred to in Article
129c(1) of the Treaty not yet have            129c(1) of the Treaty not yet have
entered     into    force   when     this     entered     into   force    when    this
Regulation     enters     into    force,      Regulation     enters    into    force,
specific projects, the financing of           transport infrastructure projects in
which is of a priority nature and             particular, which contribute to the
which    relate    in   particular     to     achievement of the objectives of the"
transport    infrastructure, may be           creation and development of trans-
regarded as eligible within the               European networks as set out in
meaning of this Regulation.                   Article 129b of the Treaty may be
                                              regarded as eligible within the
                                              meaning of this Regulation until that
                                              date.
                                    (Amendment 22)
                               Article 4(1)(a) to (d)
(a)   co-financing of studies related         (a)   co-financing of studies related
      to     projects,       including              to     projects,       including
      preparatory,    feasibility     and          preparatory,        feasibility^
      evaluation studies and other                  evaluation and technical studies
      technical support measures for               and    other   technical   support
      these studies.                               measures for these studies.
      Community participation may in               Community participation may in
      general not exceed 50% of the                general not exceed 50% of the
      total cost of a study.                        total cost of a study.
      In     exceptional,          duly            For studies undertaken at the
      substantiated    cases, at the                initiative of the Commission and
      initiative of the Commission and              in     exceptional,          duly
     with the consent of the Member                substantiated    cases, at      the
      States    concerned,     Community            initiative of the Commission and
     participation may exceed the                  with the consent of the Member
      Umit of 5Q%;                                 States     concerned,    Community
                                                   participation may be extended to
                                                    100% of the total cost:
                                            ^
 ---pagebreak---      (b)  subsidies of the interest on
                                                   (b)   subsidies of the interest on
          loans granted by the European
                                                         loans granted by the European
          Investment Bank or other public
                                                         Investment Bank or other public
          or private financial bodies,. As
                                                         or private financial bodies;
          a general rule, the duration of
          a subsidy shall not exceed fivo
          Ye?rs.;
    (c)  contributions towards fees for
                                                  (c)    contributions towards, fees for
         guarantees for loans from the
                                                        guarantees for loans from the
         European    Investment     Fund or
                                                        European     Investment    Fund    or
         other financial institutions;
                                                        other financial institutions;
    (d)  direct grants to investments in          (d) direct grants to investments and
         duly justified cases;                          any other tyre of financial aid
                                                        found      suitable      for     the
                                                        achievement      of     the     same
                                                        objectives in duly justified
                                                        cases, in particular in island,
                                                        landlocked      and     peripheral
                                                        regions where the trans-European
                                                       networks     are    essential     for
                                                       development;
                                   (Amendments 23 and 11)
                                    Article 5(3) and (4)
  4, The financial resources provided            Deleted
  for under this Regulation shall not,
  in principle, be assigned to projects
  or stages of projects which benefit
  from other sources of Community
  funding.
                                       (Amendment 12)
                                    Article 6(2) and (3)
  2. Community aid shall be assigned to          2.    Community aid shall be assigned
  projects      that    are     potentially      to projects that are potentially
  economically viable and for which the          economically and socio-economically
  financial profitability at the time            viable. taking account of their
  of      application        is      deemed      direct     or   indirect    effects.     in
  insufficient.                                  particular on employment.
3. The decision to grant Community            3.    The decision to grant Community
assistance should also take account           assistance should also take account
of:                                           of:
    the maturity of the project;                    the maturity of the project;
    the     stimulative     effect     of           the     stimulative     effect    of
   Community intervention on public                 Community intervention on public
   and private finance;                             and private finance; .
                                             yfc
 ---pagebreak---     the soundness    of  the   financial            the soundness of the financial
    package;                                        package;
    direct or indirect socio-economic
    effects.     in    particular     on,
    employment ;
    the environmental consequences^.                the environmental'consequences!
                                                   consistency       with     Community
                                                   regional planning;
                                                    the trans-fropu^r nature ?f the
                                                   project and its ability to fill
                                                   gaps in the network.
                                   (Amendment 13)
                                      Article 7
The projects financed under this             The projects financed under this
Regulation     shall     comply     with     Regulation       shall      comply    with
Community law and Community policies,        Community law and Community policies,
in    particular    in    relation    to     in particular with the provisions
environmental protection, competition        concerning      the    common    transport^
and the award of public contracts.           poli-ÇYi energy. telecomwucsUogs,
                                             environmental protection, competition
                                             and the award of public contracts.
                                   (Amendment 14)
                                      Article 8
Applications for financial aid shall         Applications for financial aid shall
be submitted to the Commission by the        be submitted to the Commission by the
Member State concerned or by the body        Member State concerned or by the
directly concerned with the agreement        public or private body directly
of the Member State.                         concerned with the agreement of the
                                             Member State.
                                   (Amendment 15)
                         Article 9(1)(a), indents 3 to 5
   the results of the cost/benefit             -   the results of the cost/benefit
   analyses, including the results of              analyses, including the results
   the potential economic viability                of    the     potential     economic
   analysis and of the financial                   viability analysis and of the
   profitability analysis;                         financial          and       social
                                                   profitability analysis;
     the position of the project,                    the position of the project,
     according to the guidelines, in                 according to the guidelines, in
     the field of transport, on the                  the field of transport, on the
     axes and nodes;                                 axes and nodes;
     consistency      with      regional             consistency       with     regional
     planning;                                       planning and     overall   physical
                                                     planning;
                                              13
 ---pagebreak---                                  (Amendment 16)
                                   Article 10
 The Commission shall decide to grant        The Commission shall decide to grant
 financial aid under this Regulation         financial aid under this Regulation
 according to its assessment of the          according to its assessment of the
 applications in accordance with the         applications in accordance with the
 selection criteria and the procedure        selection criteria and the procedure
specified in Article 17. It shall           specified in Article 17, as far as is
notify its decision directly to the         possible within six months of receipt
beneficiaries and to the Member             of the application. It shall notify
States.                                      its   decision    directly   to   the
                                            beneficiaries and to the - Member
                                            States.
                                 (Amendment 17)
                          Article 11(2a) (new) to (4)
                                            2a. Commitments and payments shall
                                            be expressed and made in ECUs.
3. Decisions to grant financial aid         3.    Decisions to grant financial aid
taken by the Commission under Article       taken by the Commission under Article
10 shall be binding as commitments to       10 shall be binding as commitments to
incur expenditure authorized by the         incur expenditure authorized by th~e
Budget.                                     Budget.
4. As a general rule, payments shall        4.    As a general rule, payments
be made in the form of advances,            shall be made in the form of
intermediate payments and a final           advances, intermediate payments and a
payment. The advance, which shall not       final payment. The advance, which
normally exceed 50% of the first            shall not normally exceed 50% of the
annual tranche, shall be paid once          first annual tranche, shall be paid
the application for aid has been            once the application for aid has been
approved. Intermediate payments shall       approved. Intermediate payments shall
be made on the basis of requests for        be made on the basis of requests for
payment,   taking   account  of   the       payment,    taking   account  of   the
progress made in implementing the           progress made in implementing the
project or study and, if necessary,         project or study and, if necessary,
taking account of revised financial         taking account of revised financial
plans in a rigorous and transparent         plans in a rigorous and transparent
manner.                                     manner, provided at least two-thirds
                                            of the expenditure related to the
                                            earlier payment has been effected.
                                        /</
 ---pagebreak---                                     (Amendment 18)
                                 Article 17(2) to (4)
  2. In implementing this Regulation,         2.    In implementing this Regulation,
  the Commission shall be assisted by         the Commission shall be assisted by
  one Committee that will meet in the         one Committee. of a consultative
  appropriate composition according to        nature,    that will meet      in the
  the sectors treated:                        appropriate composition according to
                                              the sectors treated:
     trans-European networks in       the          trans-European networks in the
     field of transport;                            field of transport;
     trans-European networks in      the           trans-European networks in the
     field of telecommunications;                  field of telecommunications;
     trans-European networks in      the           trans-European networks in the
     field of energy.                              field of energy.
 The Committee shall be composed of          The Committee shall be composed of
 representatives of the Member States        representatives of the Member States
 and chaired by a representative of          and chaired by a representative of
 the Commission.                             the Commission.
 The European Investment Bank shall          The European Investment Bank shall
 appoint a representative        to the      appoint a representative to the*
 Committee who shall not vote.               Committee who shall not vote.
 3. The     representative     of    the     3.    The    representative   of    the
Commission     shall   submit   to   the     Commission     shall  submit   to   the
Committee a draft of the measures to         Committee a draft of the measures to
be adopted. The Committee shall              be adopted. The Committee shall
deliver its Opinion on the draft             deliver its Opinion on the draft
within     a time    limit which     the     within a time limit which          the
Chairman may lay down according to           Chairman may lay down according to
the urgency of the matter. The               the urgency      of  the matter.     if
Opinion shall be delivered by the            necessary by taking a vote.
majority laid down in Article 148(2)
of    the Treaty     in the case of
decisions     which   the   Council   is
required to adopt on a proposal from
the Commission. When votes are taken
within the Committee, the votes of
the representatives of the Member
States within the Committee shall be
weighted as defined in that Article.
The Chairman shall not vote.
4. (a 1   The Commission shall adopt        4.    The Opinion shall be recorded in
         the measures envisaged if          the minutes; each Member State shall
         they are in accordance with        have the riaht to request that its
         the opinion of the Committee.      position be included in the minutes.
                                          If
 ---pagebreak---      (b)  If the mj^Q:;.nrej,^_onyisaqed are     4â^- The Commission shall take full
         not in accordance with the              account of the Committee's Qpin^9^
         opinion of the Committee, or            It Shall inform the Committee of t^a
         if no opinion is delivered,             way in which it has done so.
         the Commission shall, without
         delay, submit to the Council
         a proposal relating to, the
         measures to be taken. The
         Council    shall     act     bv a
         qualified majority.
 If, on the exoirv of a period of
 three months     from    the date of
referral to the Council, the Council
has not acted, the proposed measures
shall be adopted by the Commission.
                                       (Amendment 20)
                                         Article 19
               Article 19                       Deleted
            Revision clause
Before the end of 1999. acting in
accordance with the procedure laid
down in the third paragraph of
Article 129d of the Treaty, the
Council shall examine whether and
under which conditions the measures
provided for in this Regulation will
be continued after the end of the
period referred to in Article 18.
                                            J*
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(95) 428 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                        01 07
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                                                              ISBN 92-77-93369-0
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