Brussels, 12/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday the European Commission approved a transnational Karelia cross-border co-operation programme for 2000-2006 for the central part of the Finnish-Russian border. Funded by FEDER as part of the Interreg III programme, this EUR 70 million project (EU funding will make up some EUR 28 million) aims for finance the business cooperation between Finland and Russia (EUR contribution EUR 10.4 mil); cultural exchanges (EU to provide EUR 6.6 mil); and the development and improvement of border crossings (EUR 9.8 mil in EU funding). Additional funding of EUR 1.42 mil is being provided for technical assistance. Regional Policy Commissioner Michel Barnier said that the "Finnish border with Russia has some of the widest disparities in living standards in the world" and said he was convinced the programme had "a key role to play both in improving co-operation across this border and in furthering European Union-Russia relations".