RECOMMENDATION on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund, in respect of certain revenue-generating projects

4.12.2008 - (13874/2008 – C6‑0387/2008 – 2008/0186(AVC)) - ***

Committee on Regional Development
Rapporteur: Stavros Arnaoutakis

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund, in respect of certain revenue-generating projects

(13874/2008 – C6‑0387/2008 – 2008/0186(AVC))

(Assent procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal for a Council regulation (COM(2008)0558 - 13874/2008),

–   having regard to the request for assent submitted by the Council pursuant to Article 161, first paragraph, of the EC Treaty (C6‑0387/2008),

–   having regard to Rule 75(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Regional Development and the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A6‑0477/2008),

1.  Gives its assent to the proposal for a Council regulation;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The provisions of article 55 of Regulation No 1083/2006 refer to ‘revenue-generating project’ and its application revealed difficulties in an efficient implementation.

In fact, in the case of small operations co-financed by of those provisions in the case of small projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund or operations co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) or, the follow-up procedures to be complied with — revenue may be taken into account for up to three years after winding-up of the operational programme — would seem to be a disproportionate administrative burden compared with the amounts concerned, and an important risk factor in programme implementation.

The Commission had to exclude the possibility of resolving the difficulties expressed by the Member States by way of interpretation of the provisions of the art. 55, as this resulted to be legally impossible.

Therefore, following consultations with Member States, the Commission considers it necessary to adopt an amendment to Regulation No 1083/2006 limited to Article 55(5) and comprising only two points: exclusion of operations co-financed by the ESF from the scope of Article 55, and establishing of a threshold below which projects co-financed by the ERDF or Cohesion Fund would be similarly be excluded from the scope of Article 55, both for the purposes of calculating maximum eligible expenditure and for monitoring. The other provisions of Article 55 remain unchanged.

Furthermore, as it is essential to guarantee common implementation rules for the projects concerned during the whole programming period, a retroactive clause has been included in order for the revised article to enter into force from 1 August 2006.

This technical revision would simplify as much as possible the management of revenue-generating projects by lowering the administrative burden in the spirit of proportionality.

Moreover, the so amended article 55 will undoubtedly facilitate both the implementation and the monitoring of significant medium-sized operations in sensible policy fields such as the environment, social inclusion, research, competitiveness, innovation and energy, thus improving the use and the effectiveness of Structural Funds.

The absence of budgetary implications should lead to a rapid decision, so as to shorten as much as possible the period of legal uncertainty and uneven interpretation by Member States and final beneficiaries, which might delay the submission of projects and thus the implementation of Operational Programmes.

Finally, the present positive practice of good interinstitutional co-operation represents a good example of how efficient simplification can be introduced in existing Structural Funds Regulations in the interest of European citizens. This new provision will definitely contribute to a better compliance with the priorities set for present and future programming periods.

OPINION of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (2.12.2008)

for the Committee on Regional Development

on the proposal for a Council regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund, in respect of certain revenue-generating projects
(13874/2008 – C6‑0387/2008 – 2008/0186(AVC))

Rapporteur: Jan Andersson

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

On 15 September 2008 the Commission adopted a proposal to revise Article 55 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.

The financial management rules introduced by Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, in Article 55, include provisions on financial contributions from the funds and in particular on revenue-generating projects. The provision defines how grants for these projects are calculated and regulates follow up.

The Member States have suggested that Article 55 is inappropriate for European Social Fund (ESF) operations. In fact the method introduced by Article 55 is based on infrastructure projects that cannot be financed by the ESF.

The purpose of this Commission proposal is to simplify as far as possible the management of revenue-generating projects by reducing the administrative burden, in the spirit of proportionality.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is in favour of this revision of Article 55 in order to facilitate the implementation of ESF programmes.

It considers that Commission proposal aims to exclude the application of Article 55 from all operations co-financed by the ESF as well as from small projects co-financed by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund.

In practice this revision of Article 55 will facilitate the implementation of some eligible operations, such as social inclusion projects and support for care services, which can, in some circumstances, generate revenue.

The proposal also contains a retroactive clause, applying the new Article 55 from August 2006 onwards.

******

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Regional Development, as the committee responsible, to propose that Parliament gives its assent.

PROCEDURE

Title	European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund and Cohesion Fund: revenue-generating projects (modification to Regulation (EC) no 1083/2006)
References	13874/2008 – C6-0387/2008 – COM(2008)0558 – 2008/0186(AVC)
Date of request for Parliament’s assent	4.11.2008
Committee responsible	REGI
Opinion by        Date announced in plenary	EMPL 17.11.2008
Drafts(wo)man        Date appointed	Jan Andersson 6.10.2008
Discussed in committee	4.11.2008
Date adopted	2.12.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	35 1 0
Members present for the final vote	Jan Andersson, Edit Bauer, Iles Braghetto, Philip Bushill-Matthews, Alejandro Cercas, Ole Christensen, Derek Roland Clark, Luigi Cocilovo, Jean Louis Cottigny, Jan Cremers, Proinsias De Rossa, Harald Ettl, Carlo Fatuzzo, Ilda Figueiredo, Stephen Hughes, Ona Juknevičienė, Thomas Mann, Jan Tadeusz Masiel, Maria Matsouka, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Csaba Őry, Siiri Oviir, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Rovana Plumb, Bilyana Ilieva Raeva, José Albino Silva Peneda, Jean Spautz, Gabriele Stauner, Ewa Tomaszewska
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Petru Filip, Donata Gottardi, Marian Harkin, Sepp Kusstatscher, Jamila Madeira, Viktória Mohácsi, Anja Weisgerber

PROCEDURE

Title	European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund and Cohesion Fund: revenue-generating projects (modification to Regulation (EC) no 1083/2006)
References	13874/2008 – C6-0387/2008 – COM(2008)0558 – 2008/0186(AVC)
Date of request for Parliament’s assent	4.11.2008
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	REGI 17.11.2008
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	BUDG 17.11.2008		EMPL 17.11.2008
Not delivering opinions        Date of decision	BUDG 20.10.2008
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Stavros Arnaoutakis 10.9.2008
Discussed in committee	7.10.2008
Date adopted	2.12.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	40 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Emmanouil Angelakas, Stavros Arnaoutakis, Jana Bobošíková, Wolfgang Bulfon, Giorgio Carollo, Antonio De Blasio, Bairbre de Brún, Petru Filip, Gerardo Galeote, Eugenijus Gentvilas, Monica Giuntini, Ambroise Guellec, Marian Harkin, Jim Higgins, Filiz Hakaeva Hyusmenova, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Gisela Kallenbach, Tunne Kelam, Evgeni Kirilov, Miloš Koterec, Constanze Angela Krehl, Florencio Luque Aguilar, Jamila Madeira, James Nicholson, Jan Olbrycht, Maria Petre, Wojciech Roszkowski, Grażyna Staniszewska, Catherine Stihler, Margie Sudre, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Oldřich Vlasák
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Brigitte Douay, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Samuli Pohjamo, Jürgen Schröder, Bart Staes, László Surján, Iuliu Winkler