§ Mr. StrawTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the target population set by the European Commission for objective 2 status for areas in the United Kingdom; and by what percentage of the population the list submitted by Her Majesty's Government either exceeds or falls short of their target.
§ Mr. SainsburyThere is no target population set by the Commission for United Kingdom objective 2 areas. The procedure is governed by article 9 of Council Regulation 2081/93 which, among other things, sets out various statistical criteria, requires member states to propose areas, and requires the Commission to establish the list taking into account national priorities in consultation with the member state concerned.
One of the recitals to the regulation, which is not legally binding, states that objective 2
could cover up to 15 per cent. of the Community population".The Government's proposals for the United Kingdom amount to approximately 23.5 million population. I understand that the proposals of all member states together amount to 22.5 per cent. of the Community population. I am discussing our proposals with the Commissioner responsible. Our consultation will be governed by article 9 of the Council regulation.
§ Mr. StrawTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether Her Majesty's Government are differentiating between areas which had first obtained assisted area status before 1993 from those areas which have recently acquired this status, in their representations for objective 2 status.
§ Mr. SainsburyNo. The Government's proposals for objective 2 are based on the criteria in article 9 of Council regulation 2081/93.