§ Ms Janet AndersonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will re-examine the instruction currently being given by regional offices of his Department that funds under the EC Konver programme are only available to small and medium-sized enterprises.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe Commission's list of the types of measures which Konver may part-finance includes
diversification of the region's economic structure, particularly through aid for the development of small and medium-sized firms".Assistance from European structural funds community initiatives, such as Konver, is allocated in each member state in accordance with a national "programme" which may stipulate narrower priorities.
The United Kingdom is one of those member states in which Konver grants to companies will be limited to small and medium sized enterprises. This accords with the Government's priorities for the use of the sums of grant available from the funds generally.