Community initiatives: allocation for the reserve for the period up to the end of 1999

OBJECTIVE: allocation for the reserve for Community initiatives for the period up to the end of 1999. CONTENT: in June 1994, the Commission approved an initial series of guidelines for 13 Community Initiatives. It then decided that the sum of 1.6 billion ecus would be kept in reserve, in order to strengthen existing Initiatives. The Initiatives reserve currently contains the sum of 1,665 billion ecus (690 million ecus of which are earmarked for Objective 1 regions and 975 million ecus are for other regions). The Commission proposes using the Initiatives reserve to highlight the following priorities: - the contribution of the Structural Funds to employment (actions in favour of human resources, vocational training and job creation); - the dissemination of innovative approaches and solutions explored in partnership with beneficiaries on the ground; - the transnational dimension of the Initiatives, which should be strengthened from two perspectives: regional planning and increased support for cooperation between beneficiaries in the various Member States, exchanges of experience and the dissemination of good practices. On the basis of these priorities, the Commission proposes that the reserve be distributed as follows: - the four Initiatives for regions undergoing industrial conversion, which should have stopped in 1997, will receive an extra 380 million ecus, viz. 245 million ecus for KONVER and 45 million ecus each for RECHAR, RESIDER and RETEX. These Initiatives will therefore be extended until the end of 1999; - LEADER II will receive an extra 230 million ecus in order to strengthen local rural development initiatives; - PESCA will receive an additional 30 million ecus; - the EMPLOI Initiative will be strengthened as regards the issues of equal opportunity and youth unemployment and will include a new section on social inclusion and the fight against racism and xenophobia. It will receive an extra allocation of 300 million ecus (of which 100 million ecus for YOUTHSTART, 100 million ecus for NOW and 100 million for the new EMPLOI-Inclusion section); - in order to anticipate and support the long-term process of structural adaptation, an additional set of actions, called ADAPT-BIS (Building the Information Society) needs to be integrated into the current ADAPT Initiative, with an extra 170 million ecus; - regional planning, including from the point of view of international cooperation to manage water issues, will be taken into account by adding a new INTERREG C section. This new priority will have three lines of approach: international cooperation (100 million ecus), the fight against floods (165 million ecus) and the fight against droughts (150 million ecus); - the URBAN Initiative will be strengthened by 140 million ecus and will emphasize average-sized towns. One part will be used to support European cooperation and experience exchange networks.�