Brussels, 30/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner will be visiting Sicily on 29-30 October to assess what has been achieved in the region in implementing regional policy from 2000-2006, and to discuss the development strategy chosen to implement cohesion policy in 2007-2013, explained a spokesperson for the commissioner in a press release. The EU will be contributing €3.27 billion to Sicily for the new regional Operational Programme (OP) for 2007-2013. Danuta Hubner held meetings with the president of the region of Sicily, Salvatore Cuffaro, representatives of the regional parliament and local authorities, and members of civil society.
The Sicilian programme, which was the first Italian 'convergence' programme to be adopted by the Commission (on 7 September 2007), aims to significantly contribute to the Lisbon strategy objective on growth and jobs with considerable support for research, technological transfer and innovation. Investment related to Lisbon strategy issues is expected to amount to 59%, a substantial increase on the previous programming period, explains the press release. Another important area of the programme for Sicily is 'security of development', together with a specific national programme intended to strengthen security for inhabitants and entrepreneurs to enhance the attractiveness of a region where crime rates are high. The Commission points out that Sicily is planning to invest €6.54bn in total in the 2007-2013 programme, of which €3.27bn will come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Italy as a whole will receive €28.8 billion in EU investment from the cohesion policy in 2007-2013, notes the Commission, explaining that the cohesion policy is implemented through OPs. There are 19 OPs under the convergence objective, including Sicily's (12 from the ERDF and 7 from the European Social Fund, ESF); 33 OPs under the regional competitiveness and employment objective (16 from the ERDF and 17 from the ESF); and 14 OPs under the European territorial cooperation objective. In addition, 21 Rural Development Programmes and a national OP on networks are planned for a total of €8.3 billion. (G.B.)