CELEX: 51987PC0724
Language: en
Date: 1988-01-05
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON FINANCING MAJOR COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

12. 2. 88                             Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 40/7
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Amended proposal for a Council Decision on financing major Community infrastructure
                                                         projects (')
                                                    COM(87)     724 final
              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 149 of the
                                              EEC Treaty on 7 January 1988)
                                                       (88/C 40/10)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas the Treaty does not provide the necessary
                                                                  specific powers,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235
thereof,                                                          HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                                          Article 1
Having regard       to  the   opinion  of   the   European        Provision shall be made for Community action to assist
Parliament,                                                       large-scale infrastructure projects of European interest
                                                                  located in whole or in part in the Community. The
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  purpose of such action shall be to facilitate the
Social Committee,                                                 emergence and launching of such projects by mobilizing
                                                                  new sources of capital and channelling the proceeds
Whereas large-scale infrastructure projects a r c a               towards them.
powerful factor for integration and help t o unify the
internal market, thereby making European industry more                                      Article 2
competitive;
                                                                   1.    Large-scale infrastructure projects of European
Whereas the emergence and launching of such projects              interest shall aim to provide a link which does not exist,
encounter a variety of obstacles, including financial             to offer substantially improved services or to provide new
obstacles, that stem from their characteristics and from          services.
the different types of risk associated with them;
                                                                  2.     The projects may concern various sectors of
Whereas their financing will, from now on, have to rely           activity, focusing primarily on transport, telecommuni-
more than in the past on private capital, which is not            cations, energy, the environment and the preservation or
necessarily attracted by this type of project;                    restoration of the cultural heritage.
Whereas the interest and European dimension of such
                                                                   3.    The projects and their implementation shall comply
projects justify assistance being provided by the
                                                                  with the provisions of the Treaty and of secondary legis-
Community;
                                                                   lation, notably in competition matters, and with
                                                                   Community rules and policies applicable in the fields
Whereas the purpose of such assistance must be to
                                                                   concerned.
mobilize private capital and channel it towards large-
 scale projects of European interest;
                                                                                             Article 3
Whereas specific Community action is, therefore, needed
                                                                   In order to facilitate the emergence and launching of
 to promote the emergence and financial launching of
                                                                   large-scale infrastructure projects of European interest,
 infrastructure projects of European interest;
                                                                   the following means of financing may be drawn on:
Whereas the European Investment Bank has stated its                — specific budgetary resources,
 willingness to participate in such action;
                                                                   — resources available under Community policies and
                                                                       measures whose objectives the projects are designed
 0) OJ No C 80, 27. 3. 1987, p. 7.                                     to achieve,
 ---pagebreak--- No C 40/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  12. 2. 88
— specific loans from the own resources of the                       consulting Parliament, and the Economic Policy
    European Investment Bank (EIB) and, should the                   Committee,
    need arise, from resources raised by the European
    Economic Community on capital markets.                       — receive a grant from the Community budget and
                                                                     qualify for specific loans as referred to" in Article 3.
                         Article 4                               4. For planning and implementation purposes, tenders
The preparatory work and studies necessary to demon-             for projects declared to be of European interest shall be
strate the technical, financial and economic viability of        invited on a Community-wide basis, the invitations being
projects may qualify for a contribution from the                 published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the
Community in the form of a grant or repayable advance.           European Communities.
                                                                 5. As far as technically possible, invitations to tender
                         Article 5                               shall be for lots so as to enable small and medium-sized
1. The large-scale projects referred to in Article 2 may         enterprises to participate in the execution of infra-
be declared to be of European interest. In order to have         structure projects declared to be of European interest.
such a declaration conferred on them, the projects shall
be submitted to the Commission either directly or                                          Article 6
through the intermediary of a Member State.
                                                                 1. The financial packaging necessary for the start-up
Such projects must draw to a large extent on private             of the work involved in projects declared to be of
savings and comply with the objectives and criteria laid         European interest may qualify for Community assistance
down by the Community programmes relating to the                 in the form of repayable advances.
sectors to which they belong. The Commission shall:
                                                                 2. The repayment date of any repayable advance shall
— determine whether or not they comply with this                 be agreed between the Commission and the beneficiary:
    Decision,
                                                                — either when the work is started, or
— identify the advantages they bring in the light of not
    only technical and financial but also socio-economic         — on completion of the work, or
    criteria. Account shall be taken among other things
    of the impact the projects have on Community                — during the operational phase, provided a profit-
    competitiveness and of their effects, including in               sharing clause is included.
    terms of employment and incomes, on the countries
    and regions most directly concerned.                                                   Article 7
2. In the case of projects relating to sectors covered           1. Loans made by the EIB out of its own resources for
by Community programmes, the declaration of European             projects declared to be of European interest may be
interest shall be made by the Commission after                   covered by a guarantee under the Community budget.
agreement has been reached with the Member States                The budget guarantee may be granted in respect of EIB
directly concerned by the projects. The Commission shall         loans that are not likely to qualify either for a guarantee
inform the Council and Parliament thereof.                       from the Member State or States involved in the project
                                                                 or for any other adequate guarantees.
In the case of projects relating to sectors not covered by
Community programmes, the declaration of European
                                                                 2. The guarantee under the Community budget shall
interest shall be made by the Council acting by a
                                                                 be conditional and partial. The Commission shall decide
qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission
                                                                 on a case-by-case basis whether to grant it and on the
and after consulting Parliament.
                                                                 operational arrangements. Its decision shall be laid down
The Commission's decision declaring projects to be of            in an agreement concluded with the EIB.
European interest shall be published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.                             3. Decisions to grant guarantees taken by the
                                                                 Commission shall be limited to 1 000 million ECU. If
3. Large-scale infrastructure projects declared to be of         necessary, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on
European interest may:                                           a proposal from the Commission and after consulting
                                                                 Parliament, shall raise the ceiling.
— depending on their nature, be covered by provisions
    designed to facilitate the raising of private funds,                                   Article 8
    provisions which shall be submitted on a case-by-case
    basis by the Commission to the Council, after                This Decision is addressed to the Member States.