Brussels, 13/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 13 September, the European Commission reached an agreement with Finnish authorities on their National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and on their priorities for cohesion policy for the period 2007-2013. In its NSRF, Finland sets out the broad lines of investment it plans to make with Community funding of €1.6 billion over the next seven years. Finland's priorities as set out in the NSRF are to promote regional economies' competitiveness and innovation, making Finnish regions more attractive by improving the quality of life and enabling the workforce to become more adaptable and better qualified.
NSRF priorities will come under seven operational programmes: (1) five regional programmes co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in favour of Eastern Finland (phasing-in status), Northern Finland, Western Finland, Southern Finland and for the Alan Islands; and (2) two thematic programmes for mainland Finland and Alan Islands co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF).
In a press release, the Commission states that, due to their remoteness, Eastern and Northern Finland will benefit from a special allocation from the European Regional Development Fund amounting to €35 per inhabitant per year, totalling €359 million during the programming period. (gb)