CELEX: 51988PC0396
Language: en
Date: 1988-07-05
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION CONCERNING A COMMUNITY MEASURE FOR THE CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS AND INNOVATION CENTRES AND THEIR NETWORK

16. 8. 88                              Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 214/65
             Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1307/85 authorizing the
                                     Member States to grant a consumption aid for butter
                                                     COM(88) 379 final
                                       (Submitted by the Commission on 7 July 1988)
                                                        (88/C 214/15)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          arrangement introduced by Regulation (EEC) No 1307/85
                                                                  should be prolonged,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
                                                                  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                                            Article 1
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
                                                                  In Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 1307/88 '1987/1988' is
Whereas the arrangement introduced by Council Regu-               replaced by '1988/1989'.
lation (EEC) No 1307/85 0) expires at the end of the
1987/1988 milk year; whereas termination of the aid
carries the risk of a rise in consumer prices in certain                                    Article 2
Member States at a time when butter supplies continue to
be in surplus; whereas, in order to prevent a drop in butter      This Regulation shall enter into force at the beginning of
consumption following an abrupt rise in its price, the aid        the 1988/1989 milk year.
                                                                  This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
(!) OJ No L 137, 27. 5. 1985, p. 15.                              applicable in all Member States.
             Amended proposal for a Council Decision concerning a Community measure for the creation and
                           development of business and innovation centres and their network (J)
                                                     COM(88) 396 final
               (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty on 7 July 1988)
                                                        (88/C 214/16)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas Article 130 of the Treaty provides for the
                                                                  Community to develop and pursue its actions leading to the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             strengthening of its economic and social cohesion, and in
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                 particular for it to aim at reducing disparities between the
thereof,                                                          various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured
                                                                  regions;
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social           Whereas the Commission has presented a communication
Committee,                                                        on reform of the structural Funds [COM(87) 376 final];
Whereas, in accordance with Article 2 of the EEC Treaty,
the Community has as its task inter alia to promote a             Whereas the Council recently approved the main lines of
harmonious development of economic activities and                 the policy followed and the strategy in the action
continuous and balanced expansion throughout the                  programme for small and medium-sized enterprises, which
Community;                                                        recognizes that the development of a stable and innovative
                                                                  small and medium-sized business sector is an essential
                                                                  element in the strengthening of the Community's economy
(!) OJ No C 33, 11. 2. 1987, p. 5.                                and is of prime importance for the effective development of
 ---pagebreak---  No C 214/66                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  16. 8. 88
 industrial areas in decline or lagging behind and for the          — detecting and selecting potential entrepreneurs and
creation of additional jobs;                                            innovative ventures,
Whereas it has been recognized that the accelerated                 — providing potential entrepreneurs and existing small
development of small and medium-sized enterprises                       and medium-sized enterprises, including cooperatives,
requires the combined and organized use of the factors                  which are capable of diversification and/or modern-
contributing to business creation;                                      ization with a comprehensive programme of services
                                                                        necessary for the preparation, start-up and success of
Whereas, to that effect, one of the essential objectives of             their new activities, including in particular: en-
Community regional policy is to strengthen and exploit the              trepreneurial training and counselling as an auto-
regions' potential for internally generated development;                selective process; technical assessment; technology
whereas business and innovation centres are a major                     search, assessment, development and transfer; business
instrument for making optimum use of that potential in                  management; marketing; finance; and preparation of
areas with an industrial basis;                                         business plans,
Whereas each business and innovation centre is a locally
                                                                    — supplying equipped premises to new businesses in their
based organization with entrepreneurial management
                                                                        start-up phase.
whose purpose is the deliberate creation of innovative new
SMEs with growth potential and the modernization and
strengthening of existing SMEs;                                     2. The capital of BICs may be held by local and regional
                                                                    authorities, local or regional interest groups, banks, firms
Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary specific          and private individuals. No party may hold a percentage
powers,                                                             high enough to give it potential control.
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
                                                                                               Article 3
                          Article 1
                                                                    BICs shall establish formal relations with the various local
                                                                    and regional, public and private development and financial
 1. With a view to contributing to the strengthening of             organizations, capable of performing some of the functions
small and medium-sized enterprises and to the exploitation          mentioned in Article 2 above.
of the regions' potential for internally generated develop-
ment, the Commission shall promote the creation and
development of Business and Innovation Centres, here-
inafter referred to as 'BICs', which shall have the task of                                    Article 4
creating and developing independent small and medium-
sized enterprises, including cooperatives. The measures
shall include support for cooperation between BICs, in              The Commission may grant financial contributions to the
particular through the European Business and Innovation             following operations, a description of which is given in
Centre Network (EBN).                                               Annex 2:
2. This measure shall be implemented in areas with an
industrial basis which are situated in regions covered by the      — the preparation and launching of BICs up to a ceiling of
European Regional Development Fund or an integrated                     50 % of the cost of the work and for a maximum of two
Mediterranean programme, or which are situated in ECSC                  years,
employment areas.
                                                                   — the development of methods, models and procedures for
Criteria for the selection of these areas are set out in                the improvement of BICs management and services,
Annex 1.
                                                                   — measures to promote the creation of BICs.
3. The Commission shall ensure a balanced geographical
distribution of the appropriations, taking into account the
socio-economic situation of the regions referred to in
paragraph 2.                                                                                  Article 5
                          Article 2                                 1. Local sponsoring organizations may submit to the
                                                                   Commission a request for a Community contribution to
                                                                   the financing of the work on preparing and launching BICs.
1. BICs shall be locally based, publicly-privately owned,
professionally managed and ultimately self-financing
organizations, whose object is to organize and operate a           2. These organizations shall inform the competent
fully comprehensive system for:                                    authorities in the Member States of their request. The
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 8. 88                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                      No C 214/67
Commission shall establish, through contact with the                                                    Article 8
competent authorities of the Member States, that the
assistance it provides is consistent with any measures taken                The Commission shall be responsible for the implemen-
and finance provided by them in respect of the same                         tation of this Decision. It shall report to the Council and to
operations.                                                                 the European Parliament on the progress and results of the
                                                                            measure every second year from the date of this Decision.
                             Article 6
                                                                            In the light of the results achieved, the Commission shall, if
For six years from the date of their creation, BICs shall be                appropriate, draw up at the beginning of the fourth year a
required to submit to the Commission each year a report on                  proposal for the continuation of this measure and for
the results achieved.                                                       possible amendments and to adapt it to the requirements of
                                                                            other less-favoured regions, together with appropriate
                                                                            resources.
                             Article 7
This measure shall initially be for a period of four years                                              Article 9
(1988 to 1991). The amount necessary to carry it out during
this period is estimated at 15 500 000 ECU, to be provided                  This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication
out of the general budget of the European Communities.                      in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
                                                                  ANNEX 1
                 INDICATIVE LIST OF CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF AREAS FOR THE LOCATION OF
                                         BUSINESS AND INNOVATION CENTRES [Article 1(2)]
               Business and innovation centres are promoted in areas eligible for assistance under the ERDF and IMPs and in
               ECSC employment areas. Nevertheless, the BICs are designed for areas with an industrial basis which meet
               particular conditions as regards development or industrial redevelopment. In outline, the factors which should
               be taken into consideration when identifying these areas are:
               — Is it a zone or employment area with industrial activities?
              — Does it have a development structure, such as chambers of commerce, banks, development agencies ?
               — Is there a source of technical expertise e.g. a university, college of technology, research centre ?
              — What are the training and counselling possibilities ?
              — What is the labour force ?
              — Are there good communications ?
                                                                 ANNEX 2
                                                     LIST OF OPERATIONS (Article 4)
              A. Preparatory work for the organization and launching of BICs
                  Preparatory work includes:
                  — the organization and testing of the functions and services of a Business and Innovation Centre, in
                      particular: detection, screening and training of candidate entrepreneurs and SMEs wishing to diversify
                      or modernize; preparation of business plans; technical assessment; local and international technology
                      search; advisory services in managerial, legal, taxation, commercial and financial matters; provision of
                      common premises,
 ---pagebreak--- No C 214/68                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                         16. 8. 88
              — the hiring of consultants with expertise in the setting-up of BICs,
              — the preparation of business plans for BICs,
              — the setting-up and launching of BICs.
           B. The development     of methods, models and procedures for the improvement        of BICs management       and
              services
              This includes the search for and testing of methods, models and procedures related to the effective operation
              of BICs; in particular: business planning methods, procedures for technology search and assessment,
              international marketing for SMEs and BICs.
           C. The promotion of Business and Innovation Centres in specified areas
              Operations include:
              — the organization of technical seminars in areas of particular interest for Community regional policy,
                  where BICs are to be promoted,
              — the hiring of consultants with expertise in the setting-up of BICs.