Brussels, 29/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission approved, on Thursday, as we previously indicated, the regional development programmes 2000-2006 for four Flemish regions in Belgium (Antwerp, East Flanders, West Flanders and Limburg). The total budget is EUR 551.9 million, the Community shares being EUR 223.9 million. The EU's financial participation will be granted by the Structural Funds under Objective 2 (regions in socio-economic change, rural areas in decline, tributary areas in decline for fishing and neighbourhoods in difficulty). Two "horizontal themes" are taken into account in the selection of projects: the promotion of equal opportunities between men and women and sustainable development.
The programme in favour for the Limburg province (EUR 240.4 million) benefits from a Community contribution (ERDF and ESF) for 92.1 million, completed by investments for a total of 119 million for the Flemish public sector and for 28.7 million from the private sector. These priority axes are as follows: - initiatives in favour of private investment and employment; - optimisation of local conditions in terms of infrastructure, environment and accessibility; - integrated rural development of Hesbaye.
The programme in favour of the Antwerp province (EUR 135 million) will benefit from a Community contribution (ERDF and ESF) of 47 million, completed by public investments for a total of 82.5 million from the Flemish public sector and a total of 7.3 million from the private sector. These priority axes are as follows: - in Campine, create and rehabilitation of enterprise sites, support to SMEs, information technology, innovation and tourism (CC: 26.6 million); - in North Eastern Antwerp, training, rehabilitation and reconstruction of public spaces, improvement of provision of local services, promotion of "agglomerates" in the sectors with a local importance (food, drinks, fashion, design).
The programme in favour of Western Flanders (EUR 117.4 million) will benefit from an EU aid (ERDF and ESF) above 33 million, completed by public investments (70.6 million) and private (13.7 million). Centred of the Belgian coast, it aims to noticeable reduce unemployment and revitalise the region and is centred on the following priority axes: - tourism; - improvement of infrastructures; - sustainable development and improvement of living and working conditions; - training.
The programme in favour of Eastern Flanders (EUR 59.1 million) foresees a financial aid from the EU (ERDF) totalling EUR 13.6 million, completed by public investments (32 million) and private (13.5 million). For the urban part (some neighbourhoods in the city of Ghent) will concentrate on the rehabilitation of sites and industrial buildings to the benefit of local SMEs. For the rural part (an area located in the north of the province, Meetjesland), it concentrates in tourism and measures to improve the quality of life to avoid that the region looses its population. The main axes of the programme are: - the development of economic and employment initiatives; - improvement of quality of life in the urban centres and rural areas; - promotion of the development of tourism in the rural area.
Additional information on these programmes may be obtained by consulting the following web sites: http: //http://www.inforegio.cec.eu.int (general). http: //http://www.limburg.be/europeseteun/index.html (Limburg), http: //provant.be and http: //http://www.antwerpen.be/MIDA (Antwerp), http: //www.west-vlaanderen.be (Western Flanders), http: //http://www.oost-vlaanderen.be and http: //http://www.gent.be (Eastern Flanders)