HC Deb 30 November 1988 vol 142 cc287-8W
14. Mr. McTaggart

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government will take to ensure that the European Community carries out its duty to promote social cohesion among its member countries.

Mrs. Chalker

The objectives of economic and social cohesion are set out in articles 130A and 130C of the treaty of Rome. To this end we have agreed to double the structural funds by 1993. Provision has been made for spending of 52 billion ecu (£34 billion at current prices) up to 1992 to be concentrated in the less developed regions of the Community.