CELEX: 51983PC0696
Language: en
Date: 1983-12-01
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ESTABLISHING SPECIAL MEASURES OF COMMUNITY INTEREST IN THE FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT

23.12.83                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 348/9
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing special measures of Community interest in
                                                 the field of employment
                                                    COM(83) 696 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 2 December 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                      HAD ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                                             Article 1
European Economic Community, and in particular                   Special measures of Community interest relating to
Article 235 thereof,                                             the field of employment are hereby established in
                                                                 1984 in the United Kingdom.
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,                                                                              Article 2
                                                                 1.    The special measures of Community interest
Whereas conditions incompatible with the proper                  shall be implemented by means of financial assistance
functioning of the Community could arise when a                  for the implementation of schemes which, in pursuit
Member State's economy, whilst in a special situation,           of     employment      policy     objectives    reflecting
is forced to bear a disproportionate burden in the               Community priorities as agreed by the Council, par-
financing of the Community budget;                               ticularly in respect of those most affected by the
                                                                 exceptionally high level of unemployment, create
Whereas the European Council has declared that high
                                                                 additional job opportunities for the currently
priority should be given to employment policy, in
                                                                 unemployed. These schemes shall include, in
particular concerning young people;
                                                                 particular, those which encourage early retirement for
Whereas it is necessary to establish special measures            older workers and lead to the creation of job oppor-
of Community interest relating to the field of                   tunities for the persons most seriously affected by
employment and involving financial contributions                 high levels of unemployment.
from the Community to employment measures in the
United Kingdom;                                                  2.    The schemes shall be submitted to the
                                                                 Commission together with all the information
Whereas it is necessary to pursue an employment                  necessary in order to assess:
policy of which a major feature should be the
                                                                 — their conformity with the terms of paragraph 1,
improvement of the employment prospects of those
most     severely    affected   by    high     levels of         — their conformity with the eligibility criteria laid
unemployment;                                                         down in Article 3,
                                                                 — their Community interest taking account of
Whereas the schemes specified in the Regulation are                   employment strategy and the field under
 designed to promote additional job opportunities for                 consideration,
 the unemployed;
                                                                 — the possibilities of verifying the execution of each
Whereas the schemes must be specified and supported                   scheme and of auditing expenditure.
 by the information required in order to retain only
 those which are of Community interest in the field to            3.    The Commission may request any additional
 which they relate;                                               information necessary for the examination of the said
                                                                  schemes.
 Whereas the Commission should be in a position to
 check the implementation of the schemes provided for
 in the Regulation;                                                                      Article 3
 Whereas the Treaty has not provided for the specific             1.    The schemes shall be eligible for a financial
 powers of action required for this purpose,                      contribution by the Community provided they are
 ---pagebreak--- NoC348/10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              23.12.83
financed by public authorities and fulfil the following          with the Regulations adopted pursuant to Article 209
criteria:                                                        of the Treaty.
(a) they must serve to bring about the objectives of
      the Community's employment policy;                         To this end, the United Kingdom shall supply the
                                                                 Commission with all information requested by it and
(b) they must not be           incompatible    with  other       shall take all steps with regard to Community-assisted
      Community policies;                                        schemes to facilitate such supervision as the
(c) they must not         give   rise  to  distortions   of      Commission may consider appropriate, including on-
      competition.                                               the-spot checks made at its request with the approval
                                                                 of the United Kingdom by its competent authorities,
                                                                 in which Commission officials may participate.
                          Article 4
1.      The Commission shall examine the schemes                 The United Kingdom shall make available to the
submitted to it under this Regulation and shall refer            Commission, for a period of three years from the
them for information to the Committee referred to in             transfer of the balance referred to in Article 5 (3), all
Article 7.                                                       supporting documents or certified copies thereof
                                                                 relating to expenditure.
2.      In accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 8, the Commission shall decide on:                       2.      Where a scheme is not implemented in
                                                                 conformity with this Regulation or departs sub-
(a) the schemes meriting Community assistance, in
                                                                 stantially from decisions taken for its application, the
      the light of the terms of Article 2 (1) and the
                                                                 Commission may suspend payments still due. In this
      criteria laid down in Article 3;
                                                                 case, it may also decide that sums already paid or still
(b) the amount of the Community's financial contri-              due are to be allocated, in accordance with the
      bution, within the limits of the appropriations            procedure laid down in Article 8, to other schemes
       available.                                                submitted under this Regulation. If, in the opinion of
                                                                 the Commission, no other scheme is available, it shall
 3.     The Community's overall financial contribution           recover the payments made.
 may not exceed for each scheme 70 % of the annual
 public expenditure provided for its execution.
                                                                                          Article 7
 4.     No financial contribution shall be made in
 respect of expenditure implemented more than 12                  1.     A Management Committee (hereinafter called
 months before the entry into force of this Regulation.           'the Committee') is hereby established, composed of
                                                                  representatives of the Member States and chaired by a
 5.     The Commission's decisions referred to in                 representative of the Commission.
 paragraph 2 shall be published in the Official Journal
 of the European Communities.                                     2.     Within the Committee, the votes of the Member
                                                                  States shall be weighted in accordance with Article
                                                                   148 (2) of the Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
                          Article 5
  1.     Appropriations relating to the special measures                                   Article 8
 referred to by this Regulation shall be entered in the
 budget of the European Communities.                               1.    Where the procedure laid down in this Article is
                                                                  to be followed, the chairman shall refer the matter to
 2.      As soon as a decision has been taken pursuant             the Committee either on his own initiative or at the
 to Article 4 (2), the Commission shall make a                     request of the representative of a Member State.
 payment of 90 % of the amount of the Community
  contribution provided for.                                       2.    The representative of the Commission shall
                                                                   submit drafts of decisions to be taken. The
  3.     Payment of the 10 % balance shall be effected             Committee shall deliver its opinion on the drafts
  immediately after the sum referred to in paragraph 2             within a time limit which the chairman may fix
  has been used up, as certified by the Government of              according to the urgency of the questions under
  the United Kingdom, provided that implementation                 consideration. An opinion shall be adopted by
  of the scheme proceeds as planned and that on-the-                qualified majority in accordance with Article 148 (2)
  spot checks have been carried out in accordance with              of the Treaty.
  the procedure provided for in Article 6.
                                                                    3.    The Commission shall adopt decisions which
                                                                    shall apply immediately. However, if these decisions
                           Article 6                                are not in accordance with the opinion of the
   1.    The Commission shall ensure that each scheme               Committee, they shall be communicated to the
  is implemented in accordance with this Regulation,                Council as soon as possible and at the latest within
  with the provisions adopted for its application and               one month. In that event, the Commission shall defer
 ---pagebreak--- 23.12. 83                            Official Journal of the European Communities                          N o C 348/11
application of the decisions it has adopted for not                                     Article 10
more than two months from the date of such
communication. The Council, acting by a qualified               The Commission shall report to the Council and to
majority, may take a different decision within two              the European Parliament on the application of this
months.                                                         Regulation.
                                                                                        Article 11
                         Article 9
                                                                This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of
The United Kingdom shall, in agreement with the                 its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Commission, take the necessary steps to ensure that             Communities.
suitable publicity is given to the assistance granted           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
under this Regulation.                                          directly applicable in all Member States.
             Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 72/464/EEC on taxes other than
             turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco: fifth extension of
                                            the second stage of harmonization
                                                    COM(83) 734 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 7 December 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     Whereas the special criteria applicable during the
COMMUNITIES,                                                    third stage are dealt with in a proposal for a Directive
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                    presented by the Commission ( 4 ); the Council has not
European Economic Community, and in particular                  yet acted on this proposal;
Articles 99 and 100 thereof,
                                                                Whereas, in these l circumstances, an additional
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              extension of the second stage is necessary; whereas a
Having regard to the opinion of the European                    period of one year would seem sufficient to allow the
Parliament,                                                     Council to decide on further harmonization,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                               HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Whereas, under Council Directive 72/464/EEC (*),
as last amended by Directive 82/877/EEC (2), the                                         Article 1
transition from one stage of harmonization to the
                                                                In Article 10a (1) of Directive 72/464/EEC, l 31
next shall be decided on by the Council on a proposal
                                                                December 1983' is hereby replaced by '31 December
from the Commission;
                                                                 1984'.
Whereas the second stage of harmonization,
introduced by Council Directive 77/805/EEC (3),
                                                                                         Article 2
expires on 31 December 1983;
                                                                This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
(l) OJ No L 303, 31. 12. 1972, p. 1.
O OJ No L 369, 29. 12. 1983, p. 36.
O OJ No L 338, 20. 12. 1977, p. 22.                              (4) OJ No C 264, 11. i0. 1980, p. 6.