CELEX: 51980PC0742
Language: en
Date: 1980-11-17
Title: PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL MODIFYING REGULATION (EEC) N° 2895/77 CONCERNING OPERATIONS QUALIFYING FOR A HIGHER RATE OF INTERVENTION BY THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND (presented by the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (80) 742
Vol. 1980/0233
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                          COM(80)742 final
                                          Brussels - 17th November 1980
                  PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL
        MODIFYING REGULATI0^€EC^N°«^895/77 CONCERNING OPERATIONS
QUALIFYING FOR A HIGHER<$A\i Of" INTERVENTION BY THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
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 COM ( 80 ) 742 final
 ---pagebreak---    Proposal . of the 'Commiss ion • to the Council modifying Regulation
   (EEC ) N° 2895 /77 concerning operations qualifying for a higher
   rate of intervention by the European Social Fund .
   Explanatory memorandum
   1 . This proposal for a Regulation intends to extend to Greece, as from
       1 January 1981 ,       the higher rate system applicable to interventions
       by the European Social vFund in regions noted for a particularly
       serious and prolonged imbalance of employment . Introduced with the
       aim of focussing ESF interventions on employment problems ; the
       solution of which is generally coloured by a regional context of
        weak economic structure , the higher rate makes it possible to grant
        financial aid to the aforementioned regions to an amount 10 % above
        that granted to other regions ( 1 ). Since 1 January 1978 , the higher
        rate has been applicable to operations in Greenland , France 's overseas
      'departments , Ireland, Northern Ireland and Mezzogiorno ( 2 ).
   2 . The extension of the higher rate system to Greece - which means the
        creation of an additional financial- stimulus for the promotion of
        employment and vocational training in that country when it enters
        the Community - appears fully justified in view of the fundamental
        imbalances which characterize Greece 's economic and social situation .
 .                   .                                                           ./.
( 1 ) Article 8(3 ) of Council Decision 71 / 66 / EEC of 1 February 1971 as amended
        by Decision 77 /801 / EEC of 20 December 1977 , 0J nO L 337 , 27.12.1977 , p. 9 .
(2 ) Council Regulation (EEC ) No 2895 /77 of 20 December 1977 , 0J No L 337 ,
        27.12.1977 , p. 7 .
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 2 -
3 . As regards economic development , the gap between Greece and the Community
     as a whole is shown up by the per capita GDP which , in 1978 , was 43.3 %
     of the Community average ( as compared with 48.5 % for Ireland and 58.9 '/.
   f for Italy ). Despite an annual GDP growth rate above that recorded for the
     Community during the 1967-1977 period ( 5.9 % was compared with 3.6 % for
     the Community ) and a relatively high industrial production index ( 183 for
     1978 ), Greece 's economic development has been dogged by stagnation due
     mainly to a deterioriation in price levels caused by inflation of the
     order of 15 % between 1974 and 1978 and 25 % in 1979 . This means that ,
     overall , the development disparities between Greece and the Community
     have not diminished .
4 . In the employment sector , this economic backwardness goes hand in hand
     with a high level of unemployment and , above all , of underemployment .
     The unemployment rate , as recorded by the Greek Employment Office ( non-
     self-employed population only ) was under 3 % in 1978 , but this figure
     does not reflect unemployment of longer duration or unemployment among
     young people ( unemployment rate estimated at 5 Z or 6 % ) or unemployment
     in rural districts . At the same time , despite the absence of relevant
     figures , it is generally admitted that there is a large degree of under­
     employment or disguised unemployment , more particularly among self-
     employed persons , who make up 50 % of the working population . According
     to studies published in 1975 and 1976 ,( total unemployment in Greece may
     be estimated at a rate between 15 and 17.8 % at a time when recorded
     unemployment was at a level comparable with that for the last few
     years (3 ).
     It must , at the same time , be pointed out that the pressure exerted on
     the labour market by the potential surplus labour force has likewise
     a tendency to increase as a result of major return movement of migrant
     workers to Greece in the last few years and the elimination of jobs
        '      '                                                            ./.
(3 ) See : the labour market in Greece . Study carried out by ^ School of
             Political Science of Athens .
 ---pagebreak---       in the agricultural sector , where productivity is on the increase , and
      small commercial undertakings , which are being put out of business by
      the growing number of supermarkets .
      Finally , efforts to speed up the provision of jobs for the available
      labour force are coming up against certain shortcomings in the training
      system , particularly as regards the equipping of training centres ,
      opportunities for specialized and highly qualified training for adults
      and the training of teachers .
5 . As regards the area to which the higher rate should be applied , the
      question arises as to whether it should be applied to the whole of
      Greece or whether some parts of the country , particularly those with a more
      industrialized economic structure , should be excluded .
      In the past , the European Social Fund has kept to the rule that the
      regions benefiting from the higher rate should be the least favoured
      ones among the priority regions eligible for the Fund 's regional
      interventions (4).'The latter are the geographical areas in which the
      European Regional Development Fund is active .
      Pending a Community-level definition of those parts of Greece which may
      be considered as priority regions , it is proposed to accept the entire
      territory of 'Greece with the exception of the areas ( nomos ) of Athens ( 5 )
      and Thessalonika for . the application of the higher rate of intervention
      from the European Social Fund .
                                                                               ./.
 (4 ) Interventions referred to in Article 5 (1 ) ( a ) of Council Decision 71 / 66 / EEC
      - amended by Decision 77 /801 / EEC , OJ N° L 28 , 4.2.1971 , p. 15 and
        OJ N° L 337 , 27.12.1977 , p. 8 .
 ( 5 ) The Greater Athens area < Peripheria ") .
 ---pagebreak---                        - 4 -
 These two areas can pnly be considered with great difficulty , as
 being the object of Community intervention on a regional basis .
 Consequently , it is feared that the higher rate of intervention
 from the Social Fund in favour of Athens and Thessaloni ka ,
 characterized as they are , by a heavy concentration of both
 economic activity and of population would add to the regional
 dis-equi Librium in Greece .
 However , the Commission acknowledges the fact that an important
 part of the training facilities in which the activities benefitting
 from Social Fund aid will take place , are in fact located in the
 two areas for which it is proposed to exclude the benefit of the
 increased rate of intervention . The Commission will ensure the use
 of all the means at its disposal , in the context of the other
 Community financial instruments , with a view to accelerating the
 development of the vocational training facilities in the other
 areas of Greece , particularly by financing the necassary
"infrastructure ".
 ---pagebreak---              PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION AMENDING COUNCIL REGULATION
             ( EEC ) No 2895 / 77 concerning operations qualifying for
             a higher rate of intervention by the European Social
                                      Fund  ,
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES .
  Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
  Community ,
  Having regard to the Act of accession of Greece and particularly
  Article 146 ( 1 )/
  Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,
  Whereas following the Act of accession of Greece to the Community ,
  the regions -listed in Council Regulation ( EEC ) N° 2895 / 77 of
  20 December 1977 concerning operations qualifying for a higher
  rate of intervention by the European Social Fund ( 2 ) need to be amended ;
  Whereas pending definition of priority regions in Greece that would
  qualify for assistance from the Fund under Article 5(1)(a ) of
  Council Decision 71 / 66/ EEC of 1 February 1971 concerning the reform
  of the European Social Fund (3 ), as amended by Decision 77 / 801 / EEC (4 ),
  the higher rate of intervention should be applied provisionally to the
  whole : of Greece ; with the exception of the areas of Athens and
    Thessalonika ;
( 1 ) OJ N° L 291 of 19.11.1979, p. 17
(2 ) Article 1 of Regulation ( EEC ) 2895 / 77 , OJ N° L 337 of 27.12.1977 , p. 7
( 3 ) OJ N° L 28 of 4.2.1971 , p. 15
( 4 ) OJ N° L 337 of 27.12.1977, p. 8
          (r
 ---pagebreak--- HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION
Article 1
Article 1 of Regulation ( EEC ) 2895 / 77 is replaced by the following :
" Operations carried out in Greenland , the French overseas department
Greece with the exception of the areas of Athens and Thessaloni ka ,
Ireland , Northern Ireland and the Mezzogiorno shall qualify for the
higher rate of intervention provided for in Article 8(3 ) of
Council Decision 71 / 66 / EEC ".
Article 2                                         V     ,
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1981 .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States .
                                                     Done at Brussels ,
                                                     For the Council