§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What areas of the United Kingdom might qualify for: (a) Objective One; (b) new Objective Two; and (c) new Objective Three status, assuming that the European Commission's "Agenda 2000" proposals of July 1997 remain unaltered. [HL1243]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyAs part of the Agenda 2000 package, the Commission published their proposed draft regulations for the Structural and Cohesion Fund policies for the years 2000–2006 on 18 March 1998.
On the basis of the Commission's draft regulations and Eurostat's latest statistics, it is likely that Merseyside and South Yorkshire would be eligible for Objective 1. For Objective 2, the complexity of the proposals means that it is not possible at this early stage to make an informed statement on individual areas. All areas outside Objective 1 and 2 would be eligible for Objective 3.
There is a long negotiation ahead. The proposals will have to be agreed by the Council of Ministers and approved by the European Parliament before we are in a position to state positively which areas are eligible for Structural Funds.