Commission approves INTERREG II programme for Benelux-Middengebied region
On a proposal from European Commissioner Mrs. Wulf-Mathies, the Commission has approved an INTERREG II-programme, totalling ECU 66.3 million, for the Benelux-Middengebied region, an area along the border between Flanders (Belgium) and The Netherlands. The area covered by the programme includes the Flemish provinces of Antwerp and Limburg and the Leuven district, and the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg. The EU contribution to the programme is ECU 32.4 million of which the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supplies ECU 29.2 million and the European Social Fund (ESF) ECU 3.2 million. The national and regional authorities will contribute ECU 24.5 million, while private funding is estimated at ECU 9.5 million. The main development objectives of the programme are to strengthening the economic structure in the border-area and to stimulate cross-border cooperation. The programme will include the following specific measures: - Improving infrastructure; - Stimulating innovation, technology and the economy; - Protection of the environment; - Development and use of human potential; - Stimulating social integration; - Technical assistance. In particular, funding will be provided to: - Five new cross-border projects in the area of environment technology; - Four new cross-border information networks; - Two new tourism products; - Twenty-five cross-border protected landscapes; - Ten new cross-border business-oriented courses; - Two new cross-border cooperation projects in public health. The programme has been agreed within the framework of the partnership between the Commission and the Flemish and Dutch national and regional authorities.
Countries
Belgium, Netherlands