§ Mr. PikeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade which areas of the country his Department proposes should benefit from the Retex initiative.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe European Commission has decided that grants under the Retex initiative should be available only within areas designated for objective 1, 2 and 5(b) of the structural funds. Many of the United Kingdom's textile-dependent areas are not objective 1, 2 or 5(b) areas.
We intend that applications for grants will be invited from textile areas in all eligible regions. Because of the limited funds available, only the best projects can expect to be successful.