Brussels, 27/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to modify the guidelines for the Community initiative Interreg III in order to provide Community financial support to the Balkans region through this instrument (see Commission Communication published on this in OJ C239 of 25 August, p.4). It is not a matter of finding fresh funding but solely of allowing the allocation of part of the Interreg funds attributed to Italy (i.e. EUR 426 million in total over the 2000/2006 period) to cooperation initiatives with the authorities of the Adriatic countries.
This change has made it possible for the Council to adopt the 5 December 2000 Regulation establishing a new Community instrument (CARD) for aid to Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. "Given the creation of this new financial instrument and the positive political developments in the region, the Commission considers that Interreg III should be able to assist cross-border cooperation in the Adriatic", explains the Commission in its Communication. "I am convinced that the new possibilities for cooperation between the Italian Adriatic regions and the Balkan States have the potential of creating deep and sustainable links between the different communities", said Commissioner Michel Barnier in approval.