Brussels, 26/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting last Friday with Commissioner Danuta Hübner, MEPs originating from extremely remote regions, Margie Sudre (EPP-ED, France), Emmanuel Jardim Fernandez (PES, Portugal), Duarte Freitas (EPP-ED, Portugal), Manuel Medina Ortega (PES, Spain), Sergio Marques (EPP-ED, Portugal) and Paulo Casaca (PES, Portugal) pleaded in favour of keeping the increased part-financing rates in place for extremely remote regions. The also spoke out for the promotion and support of projects to boost their integration into their geographical area as part of the new objective of “European territorial cooperation”. They also stressed that the creation of a specific allocation to compensate for their handicap is a major step forward for them. Ms Hübner promised the MEPs that the Commission would continue to take account of the specific nature of these regions when making its legislative proposals and would step up meetings with their representatives in order to get a clear and accurate idea of their situation.