Brussels, 20/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - In Düsseldorf last week, Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner announced that the European Commission and the North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) had reached agreement on a new programme, under objective 2 (regional competitiveness, jobs) of the structural programme, for the period 2007-2013. It is one of Germany's largest programmes in financial terms, with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributing €1.28 billion. With German Economic Affairs and Energy Minister Christa Thoben at her side, Ms Hübner welcomed the innovative approach of the programme, which will allocate a large proportion of its resources through competitions and support the region's cluster strategy. Formal adoption of the programmes by the Commission will follow in the next few weeks (see among others EUROPE 9446).
Structural development in North Rhine-Westphalia will, in future, be based on innovation and the knowledge-based economy, in which almost exactly 50% of the available ERDF resources will be invested. A large part of the resources will also be used to improve sustainable urban and regional development in structurally weak areas. 20% of total ERDF resources will be earmarked for supporting small and medium-sized businesses in order to strengthen the entrepreneurial basis.
EU structural fund assistance will continue to play an important role in Germany during the funding period 2007-2013. Under the “convergence” objective, the European Union is supporting the process of economic catch-up in the poorest regions, which include most of the eastern Länder and the administrative district of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. These areas alone, the Commission points out, will receive €11.4 billion from the ERDF. The western Länder are also entitled to structural aid under the “regional competitiveness and employment” objective, amounting to around €4.7 billion, and more than a quarter of this will be invested in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Commission adds. (gb)