§ Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the maps of United Kingdom assisted area status and Objective 2 status have to be submitted by the Government to the European Commission. [HL1574]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Simon of Highbury)Under the European guidelines a new assisted areas map for the UK must operate from 1 January 2000. Changes to the assisted areas map must be agreed with the Commission, and it has asked for proposals from member states by 31 March.
The Commission has not yet set a deadline for the submission of proposed areas for Objective 2 status. It has indicated provisionally that it is likely to be June. The proposed areas would have to be agreed by the Commission; this is unlikely to be before September.