15/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 15 November, the European Commission announced that it had agreed to the request from the Belgian authorities to amend the 2014-20 Brussels cohesion policy programme for a social integration project helping newly arrived migrants. €1 million has therefore been earmarked from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to finance the activities of two health care centres managed by Médecins du monde. The Commission explained that one centre is in Molenbeek and the other in Anderlecht but both of them seek to help integrate marginalised sections of the population, such as migrants. Urban poverty and the integration of marginalised groups is the focus of a partnership coordinated by Belgium and France as part of an urban programme for the EU (see EUROPE 11648). This is not the first amendment of this kind. Italy received a similar approval a few weeks ago to finance two maritime patrol ships as a means of ensuring more efficient rescue operations of migrants and refugees at sea (see EUROPE 11656). (PH)