European Commission adopts Green Paper on the future of initiatives under the structural funds
The European Commission has adopted a new Green Paper (COM(93) 282) on the future of Community initiatives under the structural funds. The Paper seeks to stimulate comments and contributions from a wide range of interested parties, notably from regional and local authorities, economic and social partners, and other interested bodies so that the selection of initiatives and their content reflect a broad consensus on priorities. The Commission suggests the following themes as a possible framework for future initiatives: - Cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation and networks; - Rural development; - Outermost regions; - Employment and the development of human resources; - The management of industrial change. The Commission also confirmed its wish to introduce a limited degree of geographical flexibility for initiatives in the next phase, so as to be able to tackle some of the problems arising outside the normally eligible areas, for example, in border areas or in areas heavily dependent on defence-related industries.