CELEX: 51993PC0130
Language: en
Date: 1993-03-22
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ESTABLISHING A COHESION FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT

QMMISSIOW OF THE EUROPEAN COMVIUNITIES
                                          COM(93)130 final
                                          Brussels,22  March 1993
                      Amended proposal for a
                     mtlNCIL REGIHATION (EEC)
            ESTABLISHING A COHESION FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT
     (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3)
                         of the EEC-Treaty)
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                           EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On 11 March 1993 Parliament gave its opinion on the Commission proposal in
the document.
This amended proposal takes account of the amendments proposed by
Parliament which the Commission is able to accept.
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                       AMENDMENT TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A
                           COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)
                ESTABLISHING A COHESION FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT
                   (COM(92) 599 final of 22 December 1992)
In response to Parliament's opinion on the proposal for a Regulation
establishing a cohesion financial instrument transmitted by the Commission
to the Council and pursuant to Article 149(2J of the Treaty establishing
the European Economic Community, the Commission has decided to amend that
proposal as follows.
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1.      The following recital is inserted before the first recital in the
Commission text:
        "Whereas one of the Community's fundamental tasks is to encourage
        economic and social cohesion and solidarity between the Member
        States as essential goals so far as its development and success are
        concerned;".
2.      The following recital is inserted after the second recital in the
Commission text:
        "Whereas on 10 June 1992 the European Parliament adopted a
        resolution on the Commission communication 'From the Single Act to
        Maastricht and beyond: the means to match our ambitions';1".
3.      A further recital is added to that recital:
        "whereas the European Councils of Lisbon on 26 and 27 June 1992 and
        Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992 adopted conclusions concerning
        the establishment of the Cohesion Fund;".
4.      The third recital in the Commission text is replaced by:
        "Whereas the European Council, at its meeting in Edinburgh on 11
        and 12 December 1992, proposed creating an interim financial
        instrument pending the establishment of the Cohesion Fund and named
        the eligible States, the criteria and indicative allocation
        brackets in such a way as to ensure the immediate provision of
        financial aid to Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain in the areas
        to be covered by the Cohesion Fund;".
        O J M o C 176, 13.7.1992, p. 74.
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5.      A further recital is added to that recital:
        "whereas the purpose of the financial instrument is to support the
        efforts required of the recipient States with a view to
        convergence;".
6.      In the fourth recital in the Commission text "before 31 December
1993" is deleted.
7.      The following recital is inserted between the seventh and eighth
recitals:
        "Whereas account must be taken of the major unavoidable development
        efforts required of certain Member States with a view to the
        necessary convergence of their respective economies;".
8.      The tenth recital is replaced by:
        "Whereas, in the light of an undertaking by the Member States
        concerned not to decrease their investment efforts in the fields of
        environmental protection and transport infrastructure and in the
        light of the budgetary demands which the convergence programmes
        place on the beneficiary countries, additionality in the sense of
        Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December
        1988 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No
        2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different
        Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the
        European Investment Bank and the other existing financial
        instruments will not apply to the cohesion financial instrument;".
9.      The following recital is added to the tenth recital:
        "whereas the Commission's Green Paper on the Impact of Transport on
        the Environment (COM(92) 46) stressed the need to develop a
        transport network which better respected the environment;".
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10. The thirteenth recital is replaced by:
    "Whereas the operations of the cohesion financial instrument must
    be consistent with Community policies, inter alia those regarding
    environmental protection, transport, competition and the award of
    public contracts and whereas adequate information must be provided
    to ensure this;".
11. The following recital is added to the fourteenth recital:
    "whereas an appropriate balance must be ensured between financing
    for environmental projects and for transport infrastructure
    projects;".
12. The fifteenth recital is replaced by:
    "Whereas economic and social cohesion actions together with the
    objective of controlling public deficits will mean that a high rate
    of assistance is necessary;".
13. The sixteenth recital is replaced by:
    "Whereas, in the interests of the proper management of the cohesion
    financial instrument, it is necessary to ensure effective methods
    of monitoring, assessing and carrying out checks in respect of
    Community operations ;".
14. A new recital is added after the sixteenth recital:
    "Whereas adequate information should be provided, in particular
    through the annual report referred to in Article 10 of this
    Regulation and in Annex II hereto;".
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15. The second indent of Article 2 is replaced by:
    "-    transport infrastructure projects of common interest financed
          by the Member States which promote the interconnection and
          interoperability of national networks and access to such
          networks, taking account in particular of the need to link
          insular, landlocked or peripheral regions with each other and
          with the central regions of the Community, in particular the
          projects which are provided for in trans-European network
          schemes which have been adopted by the Council or proposed by
          the Commission pursuant to Part Two, Title IV of the
          Treaty;".
16. Article 3 is replaced by:
    "1.   The commitment appropriations considered necessary for the
    financial instrument shall be ECU 1 500 million in 1993 and ECU
    1 750 million in 1994, expressed in 1992 prices.
    2.    The budgetary authority shall decide, as part of the budget
    procedure, what appropriations are to be made available for each
    financial year."
17. Article 5(2) is replaced by:
    "2.   Preliminary studies and technical support measures necessary
    for the implementation of eligible projects may be financed at 100%
    of their total cost."
18. The following paragraph 2a is added to Article 5:
    "2a. The effective rate of assistance shall be established in
    accordance with the nature of the operations to be undertaken."
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19. Article 9 is replaced by:
    "      Financial provisions, monitoring and assessment
    1.     The Commission may, in agreement with the beneficiary Member
    State concerned, identify within a project stages regarded as
    technically and financially independent for the purposes of
    granting assistance from the financial instrument.
    2.     Expenditure shall not be eligible for assistance under the
    financial instrument if it had been committed before the Commission
    received the relevant application. However, in the case of
    applications submitted to the Commission before 1 September 1993,
    expenditure committed after 1 January 1993 may be taken into
    cons ideration.
    3.     For the purpose of implementing this Regulation, the
    following provisions of Titles VI and VII of Regulation (EEC) No
    4253/88 shall apply mutatis mutandis: Article 19(1), Article 20(1),
    Article 21(1) with the exception of the last sentence, Article
    21(5) and (7), Articles 22, 23 and 24 and Article 25 with the
    exception of the last sentence of paragraph 4 and paragraph 7.
    4.     The total amount of assistance granted by the instrument for
    each operation (project, stage of a project, study or technical
    support measure) shall be committed when the Commission adopts the
    decision approving the operation.
    5.     Assistance granted to a project or stage of a project shall
    be paid according to the following procedure:
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(a)   The advance made following each commitment may be up to 50%
      of the amount of assistance relating to expenditure in the
      first year as it appears in the financing plan approved by
      the Commission. However, exceptionally for 1993, this
      advance may be up to two thirds of that amount for projects
      submitted before 1 September 1993.
(b)   Intermediate payments may be made provided that the project
      is progressing satisfactorily towards completion and that two
      thirds of the expenditure relating to the previous payment
      and all expenditure relating to earlier payments have been
      made. Intermediate payments may amount to up to 50% of
      assistance relating to expenditure planned for the year in
      question as shown in the financing plan approved by the
      Commission, adapted, if necessary to take account of the
      state of progress of the project.
(c)   The balance of assistance shall be paid provided that:
      -     the project or stage of the project has been carried
            out according to the objectives laid down;
            the beneficiary Member State or designated authority
            submits an application for payment to the Commission
            within six months of physical completion of the project
            or stage of the project, and
            the final report referred to in Article 25(4) of
            Regulation No 4253/88 has been submitted to the
            Commission.
      The balance may not be less than 20% of the total assistance
      granted.
6.    Payment shall be made to the authority or body designated by
the Member State, as a general rule within two months of receipt of
a valid application.
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7.    Beneficiary Member States shall provide the Commission with a
description of the management and control systems established to
ensure the efficient implementation of projects.
The Commission shall examine applications to verify in particular
that the administrative and financial mechanisms are appropriate
for effective implementation.
The beneficiary Member States shall regularly inform the Commission
of all cases of irregularities detected by an administrative
authority or which have resulted in judicial proceedings. The
beneficiary Member States and the Commission shall take the
necessary steps to ensure that the information exchanged between
 them remains confidential.
 8.    In order to ensure the effectiveness of Community assistance,
 the Commission and the beneficiary Member States concerned, in
 cooperation where appropriate with the EIB, shall undertake a
 systematic assessment of projects.
 On receipt of an application for assistance and before the projects
 are approved, the Commission shall thoroughly examine the
 application to establish that it meets the criteria in Article 8(5)
 of this Regulation and to determine the impact expected in terms of
 the objectives of the financial instrument, quantified using
 appropriate indicators. The beneficiary Member States concerned
 shall provide all necessary information, including the results of
 feasibility studies and ex-ante assessments, to make this
 assessment as effective as possible.
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    During the implementation of projects and after their completion,
    the Commission and the beneficiary Member States shall assess the
    way in which the projects are or were implemented and the potent i::-. I
    and actual impact of their implementation in order to assess
    whether the original objectives may be or have been achieved.
    9.    The details of this monitoring and assessment shall be
    specified in the decisions approving the projects."
20. Article 10(1) is replaced by:
    "1.   The Commission shall present an annual report on the
    activities of the financial instrument to the Council, the European
    Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. The report shall
    set out in an annex the list and content of the projects selected
    by Member State.
    The European Parliament shall deliver an opinion on the report as
    rapidly as possible. The Commission shall give details of measures
    taken in response to the comments made in Parliament's opinion."
21. Article 10(2) of the Commission text is replaced by:
    "2.   Member States shall ensure that adequate publicity is given
    to the operations of the financial instrument with a view to making
    the general public aware of the role played by the Community in
    relation to projects. They shall consult the Commission on, and
    inform it about, the initiatives taken for this purpose. In
    particular, Member States shall ensure the placement of clearly
    visible signs indicating the percentage of the cost of a particular
    project being financed by the Cohesion Fund."
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                                     - 10 -
22.     Articles 11 and 12 of the Commission text are replaced by:
        "                       Entry into force
  v     This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 April 1993.
      :s It shall remain in force until the entry into force of a regulation
        establishing a Cohesion Fund and in any case no later than 1 April
              X.
         If no fîvquiation establishing the Cohesion Fund has come into force
        by 1 ApriX1994, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
        proposal ftSm the Commission, shall decide on the extension of the
         financial inscynment for a limited period in order to ensure
         continuity between the financial instrument and the Cohesion Fund.
         This Regulation shall J^B binding in its entirety and directly
         applicable in all Member\Rtates. "
Done at Brussels,                      \
                                                 For the Council
                                                  The President
 ---pagebreak---                                                                        ISSN 0254-1475
                                                               COM (93) 130 final
                                                                 H HwBm ft^ 9 « l •
EN                                                                                  01
                                Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-155-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-54015-X
        • • • « — »
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