Activites

• 1999/08/13 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 1999/1783
  • OJ L 213 13.08.1999, p. 0001-0004
• 1999/07/12 Final act signed
• 1999/07/12 End of procedure in Parliament
• #2192
• 1999/06/21 Council Meeting
• 1999/05/06 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T4-0428/1999 summary

    Under codecision procedure, the European Parliament adopted the recommendation by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE,ES) for second reading of the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Parliament accepts the Council's common position, but requests that account should be taken of the need to link regions suffering from a structural handicap because of their insular, landlocked or peripheral status to the Community's central regions. It also requests that the Fund's field of application should be extended to include the development of tourism and cultural investment (including the protection of cultural and natural heritage) and that the Fund also contribute to the implementation of 2 Community initiatives, namely INTERREG and URBAN.�

• 1999/05/05 Debate in Parliament
• 1999/05/04 Debate in Parliament
  • T4-0357/1999 summary

    Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam on 01/05/99, the European Parliament confirmed (without debate) as its first reading under codecision procedure its vote of 19/11/98 on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on the European Regional Development Fund. The Parliament's rapporteur is Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (ES,PPE).�

• 1999/04/21 Committee report tabled for plenary confirming Parliament's position
  • A4-0256/1999
• 1999/04/21 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0246/1999
• 1999/04/15 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• 1999/04/14 Council position published
  • 06405/1/1999 summary

    Apart from a very small number of specific amendments, the Council's common position follows the Commission's amended proposal in its entirety. The Council thus accepted all the amendments arising from the European Parliament's opinion that were incorporated in the Commission's amended proposal. The Council partially accepted two EP amendments that had been rejected by the Commission, one of which brings 'the creation and maintenance of sustainable jobs in the regions' into Article 2 on the scope of the Regulation and the other makes reference to the possibility of funding for 'joint organisation between enterprises and research establishments'.�

• 1999/01/20 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1999)0018 summary

    This amended Commission proposal takes account of the amendments approved by the European Parliament on 19 November 1998 to the Commission's initial proposal. When Parliament's amendments were voted upon, the Commission noted that the vast majority of them did not differ substantially from its proposal. The Commission is able to accept, in full or in part, a number of amendments on the following lines : - they follow the general logic of the reform of the Structural Funds since they simplify the common rules for implementing the Structural Funds and restrict the Regulations governing each Fund to its specific provisions, essentially its scope; - in general, they continue the tried and tested provisions governing the ERDF, adding clarifications where required. In that sense, the Commission does not consider it helpful to select amendments which are acceptable in substance but which seek to specify particular areas or sectors for ERDF assistance which are already covered in more general terms or those which seek to introduce fresh areas of assistance outside the scope of the ERDF. Also included in this revised proposal are the changes made so far in the course of examining this proposal. - In the first recital of the proposed Regulation, reference is now made to the contribution of the ERDF to reducing 'the gap between the levels of development of the various regions and the extent to which the least-favoured regions and islands, including rural areas are lagging behind. - A new recital 4a states that the ERDF should provide assistance within the framework of a comprehensive and integrated strategy for sustainable development and ensure synergy with assistance from other Structural Funds; - Specific reference is also made to the important role of culture and tourism in job creation; - In several instances in the revised proposal, reference is made to the creation and/or maintenance of permanent jobs; - The importance of the diversification of economic sites is also cited as falling within the scope of ERDF funding in Objective 1 and 2 areas; - Also falling within the scope of ERDF funding for equality between men and women, in addition to the establishment of firms, are measures to fund infrastructure and services enabling the reconciliation of family and working life; - The aims of Interreg and Innovative measures are clarified as being the 'harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of the whole of the Community's territory.�

• 1998/11/19 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0675/1998 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Daniel VARELA SUANZES-CARPEGNA (EPP, E) Parliament called for the ERDF to contribute in particular to: - compensating for the disadvantages of remote and island regions and improving the situation of regions on the Union's external borders; - the creation of jobs, social integration and equality of opportunity, protection and improvement of the environment and promotion of sustainable and balanced development throughout the Union. In this context Parliament called on the ERDF to intervene with a view to: - creating productive investments allowing the creation and safeguarding of permanent jobs and the adoption of production methods which make economical use of resources; - developing European networks in the area of transport, including maritime transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures, taking account of the need to create links between island, landlocked and remote regions and between those regions and the Community's central regions; - preserving biodiversity; - supporting local development and employment initiatives and other activities of small and medium-sized enterprises and craft industries; - assisting towards services for enterprises, in particular in the fields of management, new forms of work organisation, eco-auditing and advisory services; - financing the transfer of technology, including the collection and dissemination of information, cooperation between research institutes and enterprises, financing the adaptation of enterprises to new technology, quality procedures and technical and environmental standards; - aid for structures providing neighbourhood services to create new jobs, including the development of the social economy; - supporting regional interinstitutional cooperation and measures to encourage cooperation; - supporting business initiatives in new types of employment; - supporting cultural investment of a job-creating nature, including the protection of the cultural and natural heritage; - developing sustainable tourism, preserving or restoring a region's industrial base, promoting the conversion of military sites, supporting activities to promote urban areas facing problems; - conserving and improving natural habitats; - encouraging local development supporting the organisation of new forms of economic activity, job creation and the improvement of infrastructures. Parliament wished the ERDF to contribute to the development of the Community's urban policy initiative in order to be able to react to future unexpected and severe economic crises at European level. �

• 1998/11/18 Debate in Parliament
• 1998/10/27 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0393/1998
• 1998/06/15 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1998/03/18 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1998)0131 summary

    OBJECTIVE: in connection with the revision of the Structural Funds, to present the specific Regulation governing the ERDF for the period 2000-2006, taking account of the implications of AGENDA 2000 (COS0590). SUBSTANCE: the proposal concerns only the field of application of the ERDF, the overall logic being described in depth in the general proposal on the Structural Funds (AVC98090). The proposal does not radically alter the existing Regulation (Regulation (EEC) No 4254/88), as the latter has proved effective. However, it does spell out certain details: - the fund's task is defined more clearly: the ERDF has the objective of promoting economic and social cohesion by correcting regional imbalances and participating in the development and conversion of regions. It is also to contribute to promoting sustainable development and the creation of jobs. -financing: the ERDF partcipates in 4 types of financing: (a) productive investment, (b) investment in infrastructure, differentiated according to the region concerned, (c) support for the development of endogenous potential (assistance to services for enterprises, technology transfer, etc.), (d) innovative and technical measures. Special attention will be accorded to access to new financing techniques and neighbourhood services. - fields of action: the proposal identifies the fields in which the ERDF is to provide funding: the productive environment, research and technological development, the development of the information society, the protection and improvement of the environment, equality between men and women, European cooperation on regional development. The new Regulation also states the specific field of action of the innovative measures.�

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1998)0131
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0393/1998
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0675/1998
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1999)0018
• Council position published: 06405/1/1999
• Committee report tabled for plenary confirming Parliament's position: A4-0256/1999
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A4-0246/1999
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0357/1999
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T4-0428/1999
• : Regulation 1999/1783
• : OJ L 213 13.08.1999, p. 0001-0004

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)