12/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved the Memorandum of Understanding on the participation of the Republics of Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania in the Community Action Programme to encourage co-operation between Member States to combat social exclusion (see EUROPE 20 September 2001). For the candidate countries, the participation in the action programme is essential for supporting the gradual involvement in the open method of co-ordination in the field of social inclusion, as agreed at the European Councils of Lisbon and Nice.