Brussels, 25/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared six of the eleven Objective 2 support programmes for German regions for the period 2000-2006. The Single Programming Documents determine the sectors and types of projects that will receive Community financial support. The list of beneficiary regions, eligible under Objective 2 as they are considered as being under economic and social reconversion, had been finalised last year at the same time as the amount to be granted to each of them. The main aims of these programmes are job creation, the diversification and modernisation of the economy, sustainable economic development, rural development and continuous training. The projects will be funded by the various Structural Funds, namely the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Agricultural Guarantee and Guidance Fund (EAGGF).
The programmes will be definitively adopted after being examined by the ad hoc advisory committees composed of Member State representatives. We give below a list of the regions, the amount of aid they will receive and the Commission's priorities:
Baden-Württemberg: EUR 1,160 million, including 98 million in Community aid; i) creation, mainly in the rural areas, of around 5,200 jobs in SMEs; ii) fight against social problems (unemployment, crime, social exclusion) in the centre of the town of Mannheim.
Sarre: EUR 982 million, including 171 million in Community aid: i) strengthening of the services sector, mainly through aid for facilitating the adjustment of SMEs to new technologies; ii) aid to urban areas in difficulty (Völklingen, Neunkirchen, Sarrebruck).
Rhineland-Palatinate: EUR 1,400 million, including 170 million in Community aid: i) creation of around 5,700 jobs and the safeguarding of 750 others thanks to the promotion of new technologies; ii) training of 2,100 persons, mainly in the new information and communication technologies.
Land of Bremen: EUR 355 million, including 113 million in Community aid: i) strengthening of the services sector, mainly SMEs, with a view to creating some 600 new jobs and keeping 2,200 others; ii) aid to urban areas in difficulty (Hemelingen-Bremen and Geestedorf-Bremerhaven);
Lower Saxony: EUR 1,500 million, including 734 million in Community aid: i) development of companies through the promotion of technologies and innovation; ii) development of the tourist sector; iii) fight against the socio-economic problems of certain urban areas; iv) development of combined transport, training and key structures for the business sector.
Rhineland-North Westphalia: EUR 3,600 million, including 970 million in Community aid: i) aid to the creation of enterprises; ii) support to innovation (new technologies, etc.); iii) development of infrastructures linked to innovation (technology centres, for example); iv) aid to groups in difficulty (the young, inhabitants of disadvantaged urban areas and/or rural area, working women, etc.).