Brussels, 04/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the Commission approved the Regional Development Programmes for the Abruzzi, Lazio, Liguria, Umbria, Piedmont, Tuscany and Venetia regions for 2000-2006. The EU will be providing EUR 1.997 billion in aid, which should mobilise around EUR 7.527 billion in public and private sector investment. EUROPE will be returning to the details later.
The Regional Policy Commissioner, Michel Barnier, went to Rome on 5 July to meet the new Italian government. A press release signalled that before he left, Mr Barnier had indicated that he was looking forward to meeting the Economics and Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti and the Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Roberto Antonione. Mr Barnier was quoted as saying that we were at the dawning of a debate on the future policy of solidarity in an enlarged Europe and that this policy had proven its value in the past and he counted on the Italian government to contribute to demonstrating the role played by the policy.