Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 (repealed)Show full title

Article 4 U.K. Objective 2

1. The regions covered by Objective 2 shall be those with structural problems whose socio-economic conversion is to be supported in accordance with Article 1(2) and whose population or area is sufficiently substantial. They shall include in particular areas undergoing socio-economic change in the industrial and service sectors, declining rural areas, urban areas in difficulty and depressed areas dependent on fisheries.

2. The Commission and the Member States shall seek to ensure that assistance is genuinely concentrated on the areas most seriously affected and at the most appropriate geographical level. The population of the areas referred to in paragraph 1 shall not exceed 18 % of the total population of the Community. Accordingly, the Commission shall lay down a population ceiling for each Member State on the basis of the following factors:

(a) the total population in the NUTS III areas of each Member State which meet the criteria referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6;

(b) the severity of the structural problems at national level in each Member State as compared with the other Member States concerned. Such severity shall be assessed on the basis of total unemployment and long-term unemployment outside the regions eligible under Objective 1;

(c) the need to ensure that each Member State makes a fair contribution to the overall concentration effort as defined in this subparagraph; the maximum reduction in the population covered by Objective 2 shall not exceed one third compared to the population covered by Objectives 2 and 5b as set out in Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, in 1999.[F1 For the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, the population ceiling for Objective 2 support shall be 31 % of the population of all NUTS II regions covered by Objective 2 in each of these countries.]

The Commission shall provide the Member States with all the information it has available about the criteria set out in paragraphs 5 and 6.

3. Subject to the ceilings referred to in paragraph 2, the Member States shall propose to the Commission a list of significant areas representing:

(a) the NUTS level III regions, or the most seriously affected areas within those regions, which satisfy either the criteria set out in paragraph 5 or those set out in paragraph 6;

(b) the areas satisfying the criteria referred to in paragraph 7 or paragraph 8 or Member States' specific criteria referred to in paragraph 9.

The Member States shall provide the statistics and other information, at the most appropriate geographical level, which the Commission requires to evaluate these proposals.

4. On the basis of the information referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission, in close concertation with the Member State concerned, shall draw up the list of areas eligible under Objective 2 with due regard to national priorities, without prejudice to Article 6(2).

The areas meeting the criteria in paragraphs 5 and 6 must contain at least 50 % of the population covered by Objective 2 in each Member State, except where duly justified by objective circumstances.

5. The areas undergoing socio-economic change referred to in paragraph 1 shall represent or belong to a NUTS level III territorial unit which satisfies the following criteria:

(a) an average rate of unemployment over the last three years above the Community average;

(b) a percentage share of industrial employment in total employment equal to or greater than the Community average in any reference year from 1985 onwards;

(c) an observable fall in industrial employment compared with the reference year chosen in accordance with (b).

6. The rural areas referred to in paragraph 1 must represent or belong to a NUTS level III territorial unit which satisfies the following criteria:

(a) either a population density of less than 100 people per km², or a percentage share of agricultural employment in total employment which is equal to, or higher than, twice the Community average in any reference year from 1985;

(b) either an average unemployment rate over the last three years above the Community average, or a decline in population since 1985.

7. The urban areas referred to in paragraph 1 shall mean densely populated areas which also meet at least one of the following criteria:

(a) a rate of long-term unemployment higher than the Community average;

(b) a high level of poverty, including precarious housing conditions;

(c) a particularly damaged environment;

(d) a high crime and delinquency rate;

(e) a low level of education among the population.

8. The areas dependent on fisheries referred to in paragraph 1 shall mean coastal areas in which the number of jobs in the fisheries industry as a percentage of total employment is significant and which are facing structural socio-economic problems relating to the restructuring of the fisheries sector which result in a significant reduction in the number of jobs in that sector.

9. Community assistance may extend to areas whose population or area is significant which fall into one of the following categories:

(a) areas meeting the criteria set out in paragraph 5 which are adjacent to an industrial area, areas meeting the criteria set out in paragraph 6 which are adjacent to a rural area, areas which meet either the criteria set out in paragraph 5 or those set out in paragraph 6 which are adjacent to a region covered by Objective 1;

(b) rural areas with socio-economic problems arising either from the ageing or decline of the agricultural working population;

(c) areas facing or threatened by serious structural problems on account of relevant, verifiable characteristics, or a high level of unemployment arising from an ongoing or planned restructuring of one or more activities in the agricultural, industrial or service sector.

10. Any one area may be eligible for assistance under only one of Objectives 1 or 2.

11. The list of areas shall be valid for seven years from 1 January 2000.

Where there is a serious crisis in a region, the Commission, acting on a proposal from a Member State, may amend the list of areas during 2003 in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 10 without increasing the proportion of the population within each region referred to in Article 13(2).

[F1 For the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia the list of areas shall be valid from the date of accession until 31 December 2006 .]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.