A3-0312/94

Resolution on a draft notice from the Commission to the Member States laying down guidelines for the RETEX initiative (COM(94)0046 - C3-0133/94)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Commission's draft notice to the Member States (COM(94)0046 - C3-0133/94),

-having regard to Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2082/93, which is the legal basis for Community Initiatives, and the provisions stating that the measures financed should be 'of significant interest to the Community' and permitting 'for a limited part of the appropriations available' that the forms of assistance may cover areas outside those that are eligible under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b,

-having regard to the code of conduct on the implementation of structural policies by the Commission, where it is stated that 'the Commission will take Parliament's requests in to consideration whenever possible in order to take them in to account when deciding on each initiative',

-having regard to the notice to the Member States (issued in 1992) laying down guidelines for operational programmes which Member States are invited to establish within the framework of a Community initiative for regions heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector,

-having regard to its resolution of 22 October 1991 on restructuring the textile and clothing industry in the Community,

-having regard to its resolution of 10 April 1992 on a Community initiative for regions heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector (RETEX),

-having regard to the annual Commission report on the situation of the textile and clothing industry (COM(93)0525),

-having regard to the interinstitutional agreement on budgetary discipline of 29 October 1993 and the financial perspective annexed thereto,

-having regard to its resolution of 28 October 1993 on the general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1994, section III - Commission, in particular paragraph 8 thereof,

-having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1994, in particular Article B2-140 and Chapter B0-40 thereof,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Regional Planning and Relations with Regional and Local Authorities and to the opinions of the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the Committee on Social Affairs and the Working Environment (A3-0312/94),

A.whereas in its above-mentioned resolution of 10 April 1992 it called for the new Länder to be brought into the RETEX initiative from 1994 with a proportionate increase in financing,

B.whereas the regions that became eligible for aid under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b on the adoption of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/93 (the Framework Regulation) should benefit from the RETEX programme if they satisfy the conditions set out in the notice,

C.whereas the fifth subparagraph of paragraph 4 of the Commission communication to the Member States of 4 June 1992 states that other areas heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector may also become eligible under RETEX - even if on a limited basis - from 1 January 1994,

D.whereas the budget for the first RETEX initiative was extremely limited in view of the needs to be met,

E.having regard to the experience gained in implementing RETEX and, in particular, the criticism and suggestions made by the Association of European Textile Cooperatives with regard to the Green Paper on Community initiatives,

F.whereas the introduction of new regions into RETEX should not prejudice the position of regions eligible under the present programmes, for which reason the financial allocation must be increased,

G.whereas the provisions of the RETEX initiative do not restrict aid to diversifying economic activity in the regions in decline as is the case for similar initiatives such as RESIDER, RENAVAL and RECHAR, but allow it to be used for the modernization of the textile industry itself,

H.whereas RETEX was nevertheless intended to be a regional development measure and not a programme covering a specific sector, and was primarily aimed at making textile regions less dependent on textiles and clothing by encouraging diversification and modernization in SMEs in other sectors,

I.whereas the RETEX initiative is designed to complement measures for the eligible regions contained in the relevant CSFs and does not cover for example, the financing of infrastructure and production equipment,

J.whereas the GATT agreement is likely to have implications for the economic development of a number of the European Union's textile-producing regions, especially where their competitiveness depends on low labour costs,

General comments

1.Approves the draft notice despite the inadequacy of the financial allocations proposed for the RETEX initiative and subject to the modifications which it is proposing; welcomes the inclusion of the newly eligible areas and of the new Länder and notes with satisfaction that this is a further step in the complete integration of the new Länder into Community regional policies; stresses the desirability of rapid approval of the Community support framework for the new Länder;

2.Underscores the fact that the industrial structures that developed under the former Communist regime raise specific problems that much Community legislation, devised to respond to quite different industrial patterns, fails to address; notes that the Commission did not see fit to modify either the criteria for eligibility or the range of measures to take account of the characteristics of the new Länder and trusts that this is not an omission but results from a thorough analysis of the textile and clothing industry in the newly-qualified regions;

3.Points out, for example, that the most drastic reduction in employment in the textile industry of the new Länder occurred shortly after unification in 1990 and 1991, and that consequently job losses in these years should be taken into account in determining whether the regions in question are regarded as heavily dependent on the textile and clothing sector and therefore eligible for RETEX aid;

4.Demands that priorities be made for women's programmes under this initiative and calls upon the Commission to earmark resources for programmes, proposals and actions targeting women and to report regularly to the European Parliament in this regard;

5.Expresses its reservations on whether the RETEX initiative as initially conceived could continue to be applied without major modifications stemming from Articles 130 and 123 of the EC Treaty, the need to address the specific problems associated with the new Länder, the implications of the GATT agreement for the EU's textile-producing regions and the economic transformations taking place in the global market of textiles;

6.Underlines the fact that RETEX should be regarded as a broad-based set of measures entailing a clear regional dimension endowed with a chain of the networking of services rendered to producers, new ones as well as the so-called traditional ones, within the regions, having in mind the needs derived from a Community commercial policy and corresponding economic and social consequences, and stresses that RETEX help should be extended to a limited extent to cover areas other than those covered by Objectives 1, 2 and 5b which are heavily dependent upon the textile and clothing sector;

7.Is of the opinion that there is enough experience from RETEX to assess the content of the measures taken and its primary objective of restructuring the textile and clothing industry at a regional level by encouraging diversification of production processes and of products and by helping modernization in SMEs in this and other sectors;

8.Calls upon the Commission, therefore, to reconsider its draft notice in the context of the specific policies and measures set out in its above-mentioned resolution of 22 October 1991 and, in particular,

(a)the application of the four principles of Article 130 of the EC Treaty on industry to establish management and operational initiatives with regard to technology, logistics, marketing and production,

(b)the development of closer links between producers and organized distribution chains,

(c)a new strategy for delocalization,

(d)the dissemination of technical and administrative expertise,

(e)an effective action on vocational and management training,

(f)the evolving production structures which initially were labour intensive, then became capital intensive but are now technology intensive,

(g)the establishment of multi-disciplinary consortia in the form of European Economic Interest Groupings,

(h)the participation of social and regional partners in pursuing a Community policy of modernization accompanied by a Community commercial policy with respect to third countries;

Financing

9.Recalls that in 1992 the Commission estimated that the budget for RETEX in the period 1994-1997 would be ECU 500 m (for those regions eligible in 1993), of which ECU 100 m was to be made available in 1993; notes that the Commission now estimates that the financial envelope for the period 1994 to 1997 should be the slightly higher figure of ECU 430 m for the regions already eligible and some ECU 70 m for the newly eligible regions including the German Länder; considers these figures to be totally inadequate and proposes that the allocation be increased by ECU 150 m;

10.Regrets that the explanatory memorandum does not contain information on the economic situation of the textile industry in the newly eligible regions and on their likely requests for aid under the initiative;

The need for flexibility

11.Believes that a certain degree of flexibility in determining the zones eligible for aid may be necessary to ensure that the initiative operates with maximum efficiency;

12.Considers it essential to respect the provisions of the fifth subparagraph of paragraph 4 of the Commission communication of 4 July 1992, even in the case of regions not eligible under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b;

13.Considers, in particular, that care must be taken when determining the eligible areas to avoid creating imbalances within a particular region which is heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector where only a limited part of that region is eligible under Objectives 1, 2 and 5b;

Consultation

14.Recalls that the RETEX programme requires that regional and local authorities and the social partners should be involved in the preparation and implementation of operational programmes in the manner appropriate to each Member State;

15.Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to ensure that adequate publicity and information is made available to the general public concerning the Community co-funding opportunities afforded by this initiative; in this connection, recalls its resolution of 11 March 1994 on information and publicity measures to be carried out by the Member States concerning assistance from the Structural Funds and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Evidence (FIFG), and especially paragraph 5 thereof on setting up 'information networks' of the 'Euro Info Centre' type;

Reports

16.Calls on the Commission to report regularly to it on the implementation of this initiative, including a breakdown of the amounts earmarked for each objective;

17.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the Committee of the Regions.