§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the President of theBoard of Trade if she will make a statement on European Commission proposals to reduce the maximum coverage of structural funds eligibility to 40 per cent. of European Union population. [27310]
§ Mrs. Roche[holding answer 3 February 1998]: In the Commission's communication "Agenda 2000" published on 16 July 1997, it was suggested that the proportion of EU population covered by the geographically targeted Objectives of the Structural Funds should be reduced from 51 per cent. to between 35 per cent. and 40 per cent. The Government are still considering this proposal. While geographic concentration of some kind may be one way of containing the overall cost of the Funds and thus assist EU enlargement, the Government have suggested that this should not increase the average per capita Structural Funds allocations of regions retaining eligibility for the same Objective, particularly if other regions lose eligibility.