No L 79/74 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 4. 93 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 792/93 of 30 March 1993 establishing a cohesion financial instrument THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and ‘in particular Article 235 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liament (3), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (), Whereas Article 130a of the Treaty provides for the Community to develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic and social cohesion and in particular for it to aim at reducing disparities between the various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured regions ; Whereas promoting economic and social cohesion calls for Community action to supplement the activities of the Structural Funds, the European Investment Bank and other financial instruments in the fields of the environ- ment and of transport infrastructure of common interest ; Whereas the European Parliament adopted a resolution (%) on 10 June 1992 regarding the Commission’s communi- cation of 11 February 1992 (%); Whereas the European Council, pursuant to its meeting in Lisbon on 26 and 27 June 1992, invited, at its meeting in Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992, the Commission to propose and the Council to adopt, before 1 April 1993, a regulation for an interim financial instru- ment pending the establishment of the Cohesion Fund and determined, for this interim financial instrument, the recipient States, the criteria and indicative allocation brackets in such a way as to ensure the provision of finan- cial aid to Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain; Whereas, given the conclusions of the European Council and given the impossibility of implementing, on the basis of Article 235 of the EEC Treaty, the set of conditions which are linked to Article 104c of the Treaty on Euro- - pean Union, signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992, the financial instrumeént should be of a temporary nature; whereas it should be replaced as soon as possible by the Cohesion Fund as envisaged in Article 130d of the said Treaty ; Whereas the finacial resources of the financial instrument should be those provided for the Cohesion Fund in the (') OJ No C 38, 12, 2. 1993, p. 18 and amended proposal trans- mitted on 22 March 1993. (9 Opinion delivered on 11 March 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) Opinion delivered on 25 February 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ No C 176, 13. 7. 1992, p. 74. (9 COM(92) 2000. financial perspectives for the general budget of the Euro- pean Communities for the years for which the financial instrument applies ; whereas in 1994 the commitments must be proportionate to the duration of the financial instrument for that year and must comply with the requi- rement of continuity from the financial instrument to the Cohesion Fund; Whereas the promotion of economic and social cohesion calls for a concentration of the funds available to the cohesion financial instrument on projects concerning the environment and transport infrastructure of common interest in Member States with a per capita GNP of less than 90 % of the Community average ; Whereas each beneficiary Member State should have a convergence programme examined by the Council, designed to avoid excessive government deficits ; Whereas Title IV of Part Two of the Treaty provides that ' " the Council shall lay down any appropriate provisions to implement a common transport policy; whereas the Community should make a contribution, through the cohesion financial instrument, to trans-European networks in the area of transport infrastructure ; whereas projects financed by the financial instrument should form part, as far as possible, of trans-European network guide- lines which have been adopted by the Council or proposed by the Commission ; ' Whereas Article 130r of the Treaty defines the objectives of the Community in the field of the environment; whereas the Community should contribute, through the cohesion financial instrument, to actions targeted to achieve these objectives including actions taken pursuant to Article 130s of the Treaty; Whereas an appropriate balance must be ensured between financing for transport infrastructure projects and for environmental projects ; Whereas in the light of an undertaking by the Member States concerned not t6 decrease their investment efforts in the field of environmental protection and transport infrastructure, additionality within the meaning of Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions for implemen- ting Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordina- tion of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the Euro- pean Investment Bank and other existing financial instru- ments () will not apply to the cohesion financial instru- ment ; Whereas it is necessary to coordinate action taken in the fields of the environment and trans-European transport networks through the cohesion financial instrument, the Structural Funds, the European Investment Bank and the () OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1.