Brussels, 22/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission adopted a crossborder cooperation programme between Greece and Bulgaria, with funding of EUR 170 million (2000-2006) through the Community initiative Interreg III. The programme covers the Greek regions of Eastern Macedonia, Thrace and Western Macedonia, and the South-West and South-Central regions of Bulgaria). In addition to the EUR 170 million, EUR 56.7 million will be provided by the national and regional budgets of Greece and EUR 20.5 million will come from the private sector. On the Bulgarian side, the sum of EUR 120 million will be made available in the context of the Phare programme.
The beneficiary countries have defined three priority actions with a view to strengthening economic, social and cultural integration, and stimulating the regional development of the border regions concerned: - crossborder infrastructure (Community aid of EUR 105.4 million); - economic development and employment (EUR 22.1 million, mainly for strengthening cooperation between universities and research centres and promoting new employment opportunities); - and the quality of life/environment/culture (EUR 39.4 million from Community funding). The Community will also contribute EUR 3.1 million for technical assistance.