Brussels, 27/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - Democratici di sinistra MEPs Claudio Fava, Vincenzo Lavarra and Gianni Pittella have welcomed the European Commission's go-ahead for Leader+ rural development programmes in Italy to the value of EUR 223.7 million (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.13), but voiced disappointment that the programmes had been authorised so late, hoping this would not have any repercussions in terms of the funding capacity of the regions, which will be put to the guillotine on 31 December 2002. They added that this would require a genuine effort on the part of the regions, without sacrificing quality to urgency. The MEPs point out that if rather than being innovative, rural and agri-tourism projects simply provide a sprinkling of assistance, they will not meet the objective of creating a more sustainable society, economy and environment in rural zones.