10/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Italian PES MEP Gianni Pittella has again urged Italy to improve its use of EU Structural Funds. In a press release, the Democratici di sinistra MEP says that in order not to waste the opportunity being provided by the EU for the next five years (around EUR 18 bn for Southern Italy alone), it is essential to take advantage of the innovations in the new EU regulations and avoid repeating the mistakes made in the past. Pittella points out that in recent years, the countries that have made the best use of Structural Fund monies are those which concentrated funding on specific projects, like the UK, which spent nearly all its EU funding on research and human resources, or Ireland, which focussed on transport. Pittella wants Italy to avoid scattering a fine dusting of funding too thinly but says he detects encouraging signs in the first documents drawn up by various regions of Italy. (mg)