Brussels, 23/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 22 May, Danuta Hübner inaugurated the second phase of the Combined Universities in Cornwell (United Kingdom) project and visited the Eden Project, which has been co-financed by the EU regional development fund. On 23 May, she took part in the launch of South West England's Regional Economic Strategy and visited projects that have been co-financed by European structural funds: the Royal William Yard and the Peninsula Medical School.
Ms Hübner said the South West was an excellent example of successful implementation of structural fund programmes. “This is a solid basis on which we can build the new generation of programmes for 2007-2013,” she said. She pointed out that during the current programming period, 2000-2006, the contribution of the structural funds was 523 million euro to the Cornwall and Scilly Isles programme and 200 million euro to the South West of England programme. In the new programming period, Cornwall and the Scilly Isles are eligible for funding under the Convergence objective, and the South West is eligible for funding under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective.