Brussels, 13/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has just adopted the second of three cross-border cooperation programmes between Germany and the neighbouring border regions of the Czech Republic, under the Community Interreg IIIA programme. The programme concerns the Land of Bavaria and, until 2006, comprises a financial envelope of 127.6 million euro, some 63.8 million of which funded by the EU. Announcing the decision, the Commissioner responsible for regional policy, Michel Barnier stressed that this programme "focuses on the economic development of small and medium-sized enterprises of the border regions and reinforces the EU-funding of Bavaria by adding a cross-border spatial development dimension".
The programme has four priorities: - economic development and enterprise cooperation, notably regarding tourism and environmentally-friendly leisure activities (Community contribution, 15 million euro); transport infrastructure, and, notably, connection of the region concerned with the Trans-European Networks (Community contribution, 16 million euro); - spatial development and environment, including the protection of natural resources and the quality of water, and waste treatment systems (Community contribution, 18.8 million euro); - human resources and networks, notably the development of regional cooperation in the field of education, training and culture (Community contribution, 11.5 million euro).