29/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Eberhard Sinner, Bavarian European affairs minister, has sharply criticised Chancellor Schröder in a press statement for having done nothing for the eastern Bavarian border regions, whereas, Austria, he claims, has negotiated special funding for its border regions to the tune of EUR 150 million. Sinner insists that border regions in the older EU Member States still have to get targeted structural funds after 2006. He considers that, “in order to mitigate the competitiveness disadvantages that these regions with borders with the new Member States, suffer from, sufficient margins of manoeuvre as needed for national policies”. Sinner highlighted the threshold the EU examines for state aids, which he believes should be increased from EUR 100,000 to 200,000, which would help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.