The proposal for a regulation sought to lay down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid to infrastructure projects in the fields of transport, telecommunications and energy, as identified under the Council guidelines for trans-European Networks. The proposal defined the different forms of aid, the rules of financial participation and the common and specific criteria for project selection and described the procedures for identifying, assessing and monitoring the applications for aid. The proposal laid down common provisions for the three sectors (transport, telecommunications and energy) together with a specific procedure for the implementation of the regulation (Management Committee), the only difference being in the project selection criteria. The regulation did not cover guidelines relating to trans-European data-communications networks between administrations (IDA). As regards forms of aid, the Commission made it possible for investment projects to be cofinanced under exceptional circumstances in which the other types of intervention available (feasibility studies, guarantees and interest rate subsidies) would be inappropriate. The rules on financial participation laid down a maximum amount of interest rate subsidy of 10 % of the total cost of the investment in equivalent net subsidy, which represented a subsidy of 2 to 3 points. As far as guarantees were concerned, Community aid would cover all or part of the fees for guarantees for loans granted by the European Investment Fund or other similar financial organizations. With a view to facilitating the implementation of the projects, the Commission would be able to organize round-table meetings of all the representatives and officials from the public and private financial sectors involved in the execution of the proposed projects.
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