§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the 50 poorest regions in the European Economic Community as defined by the European Commission.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Commission's second periodic report on the social and economic situation and development of the regions of the Community, published in March 1984, lists the following 50 regions as having the most serious regional problems in the Community. The regions of Greece are not included because detailed statistics are still being compiled by the Commission and the Greek authorities. Greece is the member state with the lowest GDP per head in the present Community.
- Calabria*
- Northern Ireland
728 - Sardinia
- Ireland
- Merseyside
- Campania
- Basilicata
- Sicily
- Dumfries and Galloway, Strathclyde
- Northumberland, Tyne and Wear
- Corsica
- Cleveland, Durham
- Puglia
- Abruzzi
- Molise
- Hainaut
- Lazio
- Limburg (Belgium)
- Gwent, West, Mid and South Glamorgan
- Cornwall, Devon
- West Midlands
- Umbria
- Clwyd, Gwynedd, Dyfed, Powys
- Limburg (Netherlands)
- Humberside
- Liége
- Languedoc-Roussillon
- South Yorkshire
- Borders, Central Scotland, Fife, Lothian, Tayside
- West Yorkshire
- Lancashire
- Greater Manchester
- Ost for Storebaelt
- Lincolnshire
- Cumbria
- Salop, Staffordshire
- Vest for Storebaelt
- Poitou-Charentes
- Britanny
- Hereford and Worcester, Warwickshire
- Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Midi-Pyrénées
- Basse-Normandie
- Namur
- Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire
- Aquitaine
- Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire
- Leicestershire, Northamptonshire
- Provence-Alper-Côte d'Azur
- Marche
* Regions with the most serious problems are at the beginning of the list.