Brussels, 30/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - Commission Barnier signed of Thursday in Helsinki the two "Objective 2" regional programmes (industrial areas in decline) for Finland. The programmes for southern Finland (EUR 111 million) and Western Finland (EUR 284 million) are the two first "Objective 2" programmes to be adopted by the European Commission for the new 2000-2006 programming period. They define the priorities of Community intervention in these regions in "structural difficulty." "Development of companies and competitiveness," development of the use of new technologies," "modernisation of regional infrastructure and improvement of the environment" will be the three main targets for intervention by Community aid. These programmes "will bring a significant contribution to the eEurope initiative," underlined Commission Barnier.