§ Lord O'Haganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they accept that Yorkshire, Humberside and the South West should be excluded from the regions eligible for assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Viscount Trenchard)The Commission have proposed, in the context of a proposal for a regulation amending Regulation No. 724/75 (establishing a European Regional Development Fund) that these regions, along with all regions in Germany, Mainland France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg, should no longer be eligible for aid from the quota section of the fund. They would continue to be eligible for aid from the non-quota section, which the Commission proposed should be enlarged. The proposal for the exclusion of these English regions is nevertheless unwelcome, and the Government will wish to examine the justification for it carefully in the forthcoming Council discussion of the Commission's proposed regulation.
§ Lord O'Haganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they accept the statistical basis of the first periodic report on the social and economic situation of the regions of the Community (CON)(80)(816 Final).
§ Viscount TrenchardThe periodic report, including its statistical basis, is the responsibility of the Commission748WA after consultation with the Community's Regional Policy Committee, whose membership is drawn from the member states.
There are inevitably considerable difficulties in producing comparable relevant statistics for the great variety of regions comprised in the Community. The Government are satisfied that, within these important constraints, the best generally available statistics have been used. We shall continue to work with other member states towards the improvement of the statistical basis for future periodic reports.