Brussels, 28/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - A group off German MEPs from different parliamentary groups has been set up to plead with the EU's budgetary authorities (Council of Ministers and European Parliament) for a substantial increase in Community funds in the 2002 budget to support the EU's 23 border regions in the perspective of enlargement. The funds should help border areas, most of which are in Germany and Austria (these two countries have common borders with no less than five of the ten applicant Central and Eastern European countries) to prepare for the forthcoming opening of the borders and increased competition from the other side of the current EU's external borders. In July of this year, the Commission adopted an action programme in favour of the border regions, with a budget of 245 million euro. For Joachim Wuermeling MEP (CSU), who heads the group, this sum is "ridiculously low". According to him, provision should be made for doubling that amount (thus close to 500 million euro) as, "one must not forget that the success of enlargement will also depend on its acceptance by 30 million citizens living in the border regions".