Brussels, 28/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 28 October, the European Commission authorised the creation of urban freeports (UFPs) in a number of regions of Italy. The measures aim to encourage the regeneration of especially deprived areas. In the 22 UFP areas, micro- and small companies creating a new business will be granted tax exemptions. They will be exempted from income tax, the regional tax on production activities, local property tax and employers' labour costs. The Commission concluded that the measures envisaged would not alter trade conditions in a way contrary to common interest and that their effects would be very limited because: - the aim of the measures is essentially to tackle social exclusion in particularly difficult districts; - the scheme affects only micro- and small businesses; - the geographic spread of the measures is limited (only 0.58% of the population will be covered); - the districts have been selected on the basis of objective criteria, such as unemployment levels, the percentage of young people below the age of 24 in the population as a whole, and the level of training; - the Italian authorities have undertaken to provide the Comitato Interministeriale per la Programmazione Economica with annual reports on the implementation of the UFPs. The Commission says, too, in a press release, that it considers that rehabilitation of deprived urban areas to be one of the initiatives that works towards the Community objective of economic and social cohesion. (O.L./transl.rt)