CELEX: 51993PC0124(02)
Language: en
Date: 1993-04-07
Title: 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

No C 121 / 8                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                       1 . 5 . 93
          establishment and development of trans­                     9. in the third subparagraph of Article 3 (2) 'to
          European networks in the areas of transport,                     establish operational programmes ' is replaced by 'to
          telecommunications and energy infrastructures ;';                establish requests for assistance';
 2 . points (d) and (e) of Article 1 become points (g) and          10 . the last subparagraph of Article 3 (2) is deleted .
     (H);
                                                                    11 . the following paragraph 3 is added to Article 6 :
 3 . the following new point (d) is added to Article 1 :
     '(d) in the regions designated under Objective 1 ,                    ' 3 . In accordance with the third subparagraph of
           and particularly in areas where the need is                     Article 5 ( 5) of Regulation ( EEC) No 2052 / 88 ,
           demonstrated, investment in the field of health                 global grants may be undertaken on the initiative of
           and education contributing to their structural                  the Member States or of the Commission , in
           adjustment ;';                                                  agreement with the Member State concerned .
                                                                           Commission initiatives in the framework of the tasks
 4. the following new point (e) is added to Article 1 :                    assigned to the ERDF by Article 3 ( 1 ) of the said
                                                                           Regulation shall concern the objectives referred to in
     '(e) measures in the field of research and techno­                    Article 3 (2) of this Regulation .';
           logical development, including those contri­
           buting to the implementation of the                      12 . in Article 9 ' the Member State concerned and the
           Community's        multiannual        framework                 competent authorities designated by the latter,' is
           programmes ; apart from, however, measures                      replaced by ' the Member State concerned and the
           linked to the labour market and the devel­                      competent authorities and bodies, including the
           opment of human resources ;';                                   economic and social partners, designated by the
 5 . the second subparagraph of Article 2 (2) is deleted ;                 Member State,';
 6. in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2 (2) 'for a              13 . Article 13 is deleted .
     period of five years' is replaced by 'for a period of
     six years';                                                                                 Article 2
 7 . in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2 (2) the last
     sentence is deleted,                                          This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
                                                                   following its publication in the Official Journal of the
 8 . the second subparagraph of Article 2 (3) is deleted ;         European Communities.
               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
                                                       (93 / C 121 /08 )
                                              COM(93) 124 final — SYN 457
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 7 April 1993)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                             1 . Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No . . ./93 of
                                                                          . . . 1993 has amended Regulation (EEC) No
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                     2052 / 88 of 24 June 1988 on the tasks of the
                                                                          Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on coor­
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 126 and
                                                                          dination of their activities between themselves and
127 thereof,
                                                                          with the operations of the European Investment
                                                                          Bank and the other existing financial instruments (');
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,                       whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No . . ./93 of
                                                                          . . . 1993 has amended Regulation (EEC) No
Having regard to the opinion of the European                              4253 / 88 laying down provisions for implementing
Parliament,                                                               Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 as regards coordi­
                                                                          nation of the activities of the different Structural
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                  <'> °J N° L l85. < 5- 7- l988 ' P 9
 ---pagebreak---  1 . 5 . 93                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 121 / 9
        Funds , on the one hand , between themselves and                   use and development of new or improved production
        with the operations of the European Investment                     methods, in particular new organizational tech­
        Bank and the other existing financial instruments (1),             niques, new technologies and changing market and
        on the other ; whereas it is necessary also to amend               societal requirements , particularly with regard to the
        Council Regulation (EEC ) No 4255 / 88 (2);                        protection of the environment, and training related
                                                                           to the necessary adaptation of workers in small and
                                                                           medium-sized enterprises as a result of the changes
                                                                           in production systems and the trend towards less
   2 . Whereas Article 3 ( 2) of Regulation (EEC) No                       vertical integration as well as the need to demon­
        2052 / 88 lays down that the ESF shall have the task               strate the qualitative and environmental soundness of
        of improving the workings of the labour market and                 products and processes ;
        developing human resources ; whereas it is therefore
        necessary to extend the scope of the Fund , in
        particular following the redefinition of Objectives 3         6. Whereas it is necessary to define eligible expenditure
        and 4 , as well as the definition of a new Objective 4 ;           for Fund assistance within the framework of the
        whereas it is necessary to provide for the explicit                partnership ;
        inclusion of persons exposed to social exclusion and
        to render more flexible the eligibility criteria for          7 . Whereas it is necessary to ensure that the support of
        categories that are already eligible ; whereas it is               the Fund is concentrated under each Objective on
        necessary to redefine eligible actions in order to                 the most important needs and the most effective
        increase the effectiveness of the implementation of                actions ;
        policy aims in the context of all Objectives under
        which the Fund takes action ; whereas it is necessary
        that the actions taken by the Fund under the                  8 . Whereas it is necessary to complete and to specify
        different Objectives form a coherent approach so as               the content of plans and forms of assistance
        to improve the workings of the labour market and to                especially as a result of the redefinition of Objectives
        develop human resources ;                                          3 and 4 ;
                                                                      9 . Whereas it is necessary, in application of Article 13
   3 . Whereas it is necessary to ensure that Objective 4                  (5 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 , that firms
        strengthens employment and job qualifications                     shall finance an appropriate portion of the cost of
        through anticipation , counselling, networking and                actions to promote the training of employees ;
        training operations throughout the Community and
        therefore that it must be horizontal , covering the          10 . Whereas the Fund shall contribute in addition to
        economy as a whole , without a priori reference to
        industries or specific sectors ; aim at workers in                support for technical assistance and for pilot and
                                                                          demonstration projects in accordance with Article 5
       employment and at improving their qualifications
                                                                          (2) ( e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 ;
        and employment opportunities ; be targetted as far as
       the type of actions is concerned and complement not
        substitute for efforts that firms undertake them­            11 . Whereas it is necessary, in application of Article 14
       selves ;                                                           (2) of Regulation ( EEC) No 2052 / 88 , that the Fund
                                                                          may finance under more than one Objective actions
                                                                          concerning in particular the development of
                                                                          employment, training and other similar structures ,
  4 . Whereas it is necessary to ensure that the actions in               including the training of teachers, trainers and other
       relation to Objective 4 address the underlying causes              categories of staff of those structures ;
       of problems relating to industrial adaptation and do
       not deal with short-term market- related symptoms ;
       that the actions meet the general needs of workers            12 . Whereas it is necessary to establish provisions for
       resulting from industrial change and changes in                    information and publicity concerning assistance from
       production systems identified or predicted and are                 the Fund ;
       not conceived to benefit a single firm or a particular
       industry ; that particular attention is devoted to small
       and medium-sized enterprises and that special                 13 . Whereas it is necessary to delete all reference to the
       attention is devoted to enhancing access to training ;             guidelines regarding Fund support as their function
                                                                          is henceforth ensured by the definition of policy aims
                                                                          and by the obligation to concentrate Fund action on
                                                                          the most important needs and the most effective
  5 . Whereas Objective 4 should concentrate on actions                   actions ;
       in the areas of training related to the introduction ,
                                                                     14 . Whereas the Fund will be subject to the measures for
(') OJ No L 374 , 31 . 12 . 1988 , p. 1 .                                 financial control set out in Article 23 of Regulation
o OJ No L 374 , 31 . 12 . 1988 , p . 21 .                                 (EEC) No 4253 / 88 ,
 ---pagebreak--- No C 121 / 10                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                      1 . 5 . 93
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                                qualification requirements ; (ii) the provision of
                                                                            vocational training, retraining guidance and coun­
                                                                             selling ; (iii) assistance for the improvement and
                               Article 1
                                                                             development of appropriate training systems . The
                                                                             actions should take into account, in particular, the
Regulation (EEC) No 4255 / 88 is amended as follows :                       specific needs of small and medium-sized enter­
                                                                            prises ;
1 . Article 1 is replaced as follows :
     'Article 1                                                         3 . under Objectives 1 , 2 and 5b , in the regions
                                                                            concerned , actions aiming to :
     Scope
    Within the framework of the task entrusted to it by
                                                                            (a) support employment growth and stability in
    Article 123 of the Treaty and in accordance with
                                                                                  particular through continuing training, vo­
                                                                                  cational guidance and counselling of workers ,
    Article 3 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 the                            especially those in small and medium-sized
     Fund shall support :                                                         enterprises and of people who have lost their
                                                                                  jobs, as well as by the development of appro­
     1 . under Objective 3 , throughout the Community,                            priate training systems including the training of
         actions aiming to :                                                      trainers and by the improvement of
                                                                                  employment services ;
          in the first place :
         (a) facilitate the occupational integration of unem­               (b) boost human potential in research , science and
               ployed persons exposed to long-term unem­                          technology, particularly through the provision
               ployment in particular through (i) training,                       of post-graduate training, the training of
               pre-training including upgrading of basic skills ,                 managers , technicians and other personnel of
               guidance and counselling and (ii) employment                       research establishments and through the
                                                                                  transfer of know-how in         relation  to     the
               aids ;
                                                                                  workings of the labour market and the devel­
                                                                                  opment of human resources ;
         (b) facilitate the occupational integration of young
               people in search of employment through
               actions desribed in ( a) including the provision
               of vocational training opportunities to enable           4 . under Objective 1 , in the regions concerned ,
               them to receive up to two years of initial                   actions aiming to :
               training leading to a vocational qualification ;
                                                                            (a) strengthen and improve education and training
               and also :
                                                                                  systems , particularly through the training of
                                                                                 teachers , trainers and other categories of staff,
         (c) promote integration into the labour market of                        through encouraging links between training
              persons exposed to social exclusion through                        centres or higher education establishments and
              actions described in (a) and through the devel­                    firms and by financing training provision
              opment of appropriate training, employment                         within the national secondary or equivalent
              and support structures including the training of                   and higher education systems which has a clear
              necessary staff and provision for childminding                      link to the labour market, new technology or
              arrangements ;                                                     economic development ;
         (d) promote equal opportunities for men and
              women in respect of employment, especially in                 (b) contribute to development through the training
              non-traditional areas of work and particularly                     of public officials in particular where this is
              for women without vocational qualifications or                     necessary for the effective implementation of
              returning to the labour market after a period                      policies promoting development and structural
              of absence , through actions described in ( a)                     adjustment.
              and by provision for childminding arrange­
              ments and other accompanying actions ;                   The Member States and the Commission shall ensure
                                                                       that action under the different objectives forms a
    2 . under Objective 4 , throughout the Community,                  coherent approach to improving the workings of the
         actions aiming to facilitate the adaptation of                labour market and developing human resources ,
         workers to industrial change and to changes in                taking into account the development, reconversion or
         production systems in particular through : (i) the            structural adjustment objectives in the Member States
         anticipation of labour market trends and vocational           or regions concerned .
 ---pagebreak--- 1 . 5 . 93                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 121 / 11
    In addition the Fund may also support throughout the                the tasks of the Fund as set out in Articles 1 and 3 (2)
    Community actions in accordance with Article 5 (2)                  of (EEC) Regulation No 2052/ 88 .';
     (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 .';
                                                                     4. Article 4 is replaced as follows :
2. Article 2 is replaced as follows :
                                                                         !Article 4
       !Article 2
                                                                        Plans
     Eligible expenditure                                                1.    The plans referred to in Articles 8 , 9, 10 and 11a
                                                                        of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/ 88 shall provide,
     1.      Fund assistance may be granted towards expen­              particularly for that part relating to the Fund, the
     diture to cover :
                                                                        description, including figures where these are appro­
                                                                        priate, of :
    — the income and related costs as well as subsistance
           and travel costs of people participating in actions          — the imbalance between demand and supply in
           foreseen in Article 1 of this Regulation,                         employment including female employment,
    — the cost of employment aids granted under                         — the       nature   and    characteristics    of   unfilled
           arrangements for such aids provided for in the                    vacancies ,
           Member States,
                                                                        — the occupational opportunities which appear on
    — the net administrative costs relating to the actions                   labour markets ,
           described in Article 1 of this Regulation .
                                                                        — the types of actions to be implemented, the
    The nature and amounts of these costs will be defined                    categories and the number of persons involved ,
     and agreed within the framework of the partnership                      taking account of the need for concentration
     at the programming stage .                                              stipulated in Article 3 of this Regulation ,
                                                                        — the expected contribution of the actions concerned
    The Commission shall ensure that Fund expenditure                        to the promotion of equal opportunities between
    for training actions of the same type does not develop                   men and women in the labour market.
     in different ways . To this end, after the committee
    referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EEC) No                    The plans should indicate the manner in which the
     4253 / 88 has delivered its opinion , it shall determine           obligation referred to in Article 4 of Regulation
    for each Member State , cooperation with that State                 (EEC) No 2052 / 88 to include the economic and
    and progressively, the indicative average amounts for               social partners in the partnership has been taken into
    expenditure according to the type of training                       account .
    involved .
                                                                        2.     The plans referred to in Article 10 ( 1 ) of Regu­
    Without prejudice to control by the Commission the                  lation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 shall in addition to the
     Member States shall ensure that costs of individual
                                                                        items of paragraph 1 of the present Article indicate :
    actions are kept within limits appropriate to each type
    of action .
                                                                        — the way in which the Member State will, where
                                                                             appropriate , secure the participation of
    2.       Fund assistance may also be granted towards                     non-governmental         organizations       providing
    expenditure to cover the cost of actions under Article                   services in the areas concerned for the preparation
    5 (2) (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 including                       and management of actions in favour of persons
    actions under Articles 6 and 8 of this Regulation .';                    described in Article 1 ( 1 ) of this Regulation .
                                                                        3.     The plans referred to in Article 10 (2) of Regu­
3 . Article 3 is replaced as follows :                                  lation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 shall in addition to the
                                                                        items of paragraph 1 of the present Article indicate :
      !Article 3
                                                                        — the imbalance between the qualifications which are
    Concentration of action                                                  available and those which are in demand on the
                                                                             employment market with particular reference to
    The Member States and the Commission shall ensure                        the workers affected by industrial change and
    within the partnership at the planning and                               changes in production systems ,
    programming stage that Community support to be
    provided under each Objective is concentrated on the                — the way in which the Member States will secure
    most important needs and the most effective actions                      the participation of the economic and social
    relating to the aims defined in Article 1 of this Regu­                  partners and of vocational training bodies , at the
    lation, so as to contribute to the Objectives and fulfil                 appropriate level , when preparing actions ,
 ---pagebreak---  No C 121 / 12                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                   1 . 5 . 93
            particularly as regards anticipating the effects of           (a) actions of an innovatory nature which are
            industrial change and changes in production                       intended to test new approaches to the content,
            systems ,                                                         methods and organization of vocational training
                                                                              including the integration of the Community
      — the links of the actions to other Community                           dimension of vocational training and more
            policies relating to industrial change and changes                generally the development of employment
            in production systems including to vocational                     including the integration of persons exposed to
            training policy.';                                                exclusion from the labour market, with a view to
                                                                              establishing a basis for subsequent Fund assistance
                                                                              in a number of Member States ;
 5 . Article 5 is replaced as follows :
        !Article 5
                                                                         (b) studies, technical assistance and the exchange of
      Forms of assistance
                                                                              experience which has a multiplier effect, and
                                                                              follow-up to, detailed evaluation of, and control
                                                                              of actions financed by the Fund ;
       1 . Applications for Fund assistance shall be
      presented in the form of :
                                                                         (c) actions aimed , within the framework of social
      (a) operational programmes ;                                            dialogue, at staff from undertakings in two or
                                                                              more Member States, concerning the transfer of
      (b) global grant schemes ;                                              special knowledge relating to the modernization
                                                                              of the production apparatus ;
      (c) technical assistance , pilot and demonstration
            projects
                                                                         (d) information of the various partners involved, the
      within the meaning of Article 5 (2) of Regulation                       final recipients of aid from the Fund and the
      (EEC) No 2052 / 88 .                                                    general public.
      2.      The Member States shall communicate the infor­
      mation needed to examine, manage, monitor, control                 2 . In accordance with the last subparagraph of
      and evaluate actions . More specifically, this infor­             Article 3 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 , on
      mation relates to that described in Article 14 (2) of              the initiative of the Commission the Fund may also
      Regulation No 4253 / 88 , including indicators such as             contribute up to a limit of 1 % of its annual allocation
      the geographical concentration, the target groups, the             to the financing of :
      number of persons involved and the duration of the
      actions .
                                                                         (a) studies ;
      3 . Pursuant to Article 13 ( 5) of Regulation (EEC )
      No 2052 / 88 , the recipient firms shall finance an                (b) pilot projects including exchanges of experience
      appropriate portion of the cost of actions to promote                   and transfers of know-how
     the training of employees
     4 . The applications for assistance shall be ac­                   relating to the labour market at Community level or
     companied by a form drawn up, within the                           contributing to the implementation of Community
     framework of the partnership, using computerized                   vocational training policy.
     means listing the actions under each form of
     assistance so that it can be followed through from                 These should concern in particular : the design and
     budgetary commitment to final payment.';                           development of job search systems, job supply and
                                                                        demand       mechanisms     and  methods   for   forward
6 . Article 6 is replaced as follows :                                  looking labour force management, for the anticipation
                                                                        of skill needs, and for the integration into
      !Article 6                                                        employment of persons exposed to social exclusion ;
                                                                        the improvement of training structures ; the estab­
     Technical assistance, pilot and demonstration projects             lishment or development of a national system of
                                                                        validation and accreditation of qualifications ; or
      1.      The Fund may finance outside the Community                should complement specific Community programmes .
     support frameworks up to a limit of 1 % of its annual
     allocation preparatory, accompanying and assessment
     actions in Member States or at Community level                     3.     Actions   carried   out   on   the  Commission 's
     necessary for the implementation of the actions set                initiative may, in exceptional circumstances, be
     out in Article 1 of this Regulation and carried out on             financed by the Fund at a rate of 100 % , it being
     the Commission 's initiative or by the Commission.                 understood that those carried out by the Commission
     They include :                                                     itself are financed at a rate of 100 % .';
 ---pagebreak---  1 . 5 . 93                               Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 121 / 13
 7 . Article 7 is replaced as follows :                                8 . Article 8 is replaced as follows :
                                                                            'Article 8
                                                                           Information and publicity
      !'Article 7
                                                                           The provisions on information and publicity referred
                                                                           to in Article 32 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/ 88
                                                                           concerning assistance from the Fund shall be adopted
                                                                           by the Commission and published in the Official
     Combination and overlapping of assistance                             Journal ofthe European Communities ' ;
                                                                      9 . Article 9 is deleted .
     Pursuant to Article 14 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No                                            Article 2
     2052 / 88 , the Fund may finance under more than one
     of the objectives set out in Article 1 of the said Regu­         This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
     lation actions concerning in particular the devel­               following its publication in the Official Journal of the
     opment of employment, training and other similar                  European Communities.
     structures, including the training of teachers, trainers
     and other categories of staff of those structures as             This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
     well as actions of technical assistance .';                      directly applicable in all Member States .
                  Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 4256/88 laying down
                  provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the EAGGF Guidance
                                                               Section
                                                          (93 /C 121 /09)
                                                  COM(93) 124 final — SYN 457
                                         (Submitted by the Commission on 7 April 1993)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                             Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                      . . ./93 of . . . amending Regulation (EEC) No 4253 / 88
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions for
Economic Community , and in particular Article 43                     implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052 / 88 as regards
                                                                      coordination of the activities of the different Structural
thereof,
                                                                      Funds between themselves and with the operations of the
                                                                      European Investment Bank and the other existing
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                    financial instruments (2);
Having regard to the opinion of the European                          Whereas, as a result of the amendments to the
Parliament,
                                                                      abovementioned Regulations and to take account of the
                                                                      experience acquired, Council Regulation (EEC) No
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                      4256/ 88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions
Social Committee ,                                                    for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/ 88 as
                                                                      regards the EAGGF Guidance Section (3) should be
Whereas the Council has adopted Regulation (EEC) No                   amended ;
. . ./ 93 of . . . amending 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           Whereas Objective 5a horizontal measures should be
between themselves and with the operations of the                     better integrated in development plans and Community
European Investment Bank and the other existing                       support frameworks ;
financial instruments (');
                                                                      (2) OJ No L 374 , 31 . 12 . 1988 , p. 1 .
(') OJ No L 185 , 15 . 7 . 1988 , p. 9 .                              O OJ No L 374 , 31 . 12 . 1988 , p . 25 .