§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the President of the Board of Trade which areas he has proposed to the European Commission should be designated under objectives 2 and 5(b) of the European structural funds.
§ Mr. SainsburyI placed in the Library of the House on 11 October a detailed list of the areas that have been proposed. In summary, the population coverage of the proposals is as follows:
'000s Objective 2 Objective 5(b) Scotland and Wales 5,211 1,087 Northern England 9,866 409 English Midlands 4,822 415 Southern England 3,525 909 Gibraltar 30 — The Government have taken careful account of the many representations received, a list of which I have also placed in the Library. Most of the current objective 2 and 5(b) areas, with the exception of the highlands and islands of Scotland and Merseyside, are included. These two areas, like Northern Ireland, have already been designated as objective 1 areas.
A number of urban areas not previously designated, including parts of London, are included under the objective 2 criteria, which allow for the designation of urban areas with very high unemployment or industrial dereliction.
The areas proposed under objective 5(b) represent a significant increase in the coverage of British rural areas. This is made possible both by the promotion of the highlands and islands to objective 1 and the increase in financial allocations agreed at the Edinburgh Council last December. A number of areas dependent on fishing have also been proposed under both objectives, as specifically provided for in the regulations agreed by the Council in July.
Further detailed information about the extent of the proposed areas may be obtained from Mr. G. Roach in my Department—telephone 071–215 2659 or 2556.
There will now be consultation between the Commission and the Government before the Commission 724W publish its decision probably in early December. The Commission may want to reduce the coverage of the United Kingdom's and other member states' proposals to keep allocations across the Community as a whole to a reasonable limit.
The Government's proposals are however realistic arid I look forward to the structural funds continuing to make a significant contribution to the economic development of the United Kingdom's priority industrial, urban and rural areas.
The Government sent their proposals to Brussels on 6 October in order to meet the deadline set by the European Commission.