Commission to support conversion of Spanish coal-mining regions Under the Community RECHAR II initiative, the European Commission is to provide ECU 34.214 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the conversion of coal-mining areas in Spain. The RECHAR II initiative now covers several coal communities in Andalusia, A... Under the Community RECHAR II initiative, the European Commission is to provide ECU 34.214 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the conversion of coal-mining areas in Spain. The RECHAR II initiative now covers several coal communities in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturia, Catalonia, Castile-Leon and Galicia, which are areas lagging behind in their development (Objective 1), suffering industrial decline (Objective 2) and in need of rural development (Objective 5b). The total public and private investment planned under this programme, which is to run until the end of 1997, comes to ECU 60 million. Its main goals are to: - Improve the environment in areas seriously affected by mining activities; - Restore and modernize the social and economic infrastructures in the mining villages in the relevant areas; - Promote new economic activities, including tourism, and encourage the creation and development of small businesses. The authority responsible for this project is the Planning Directorate-General of the Spanish Ministry of Finance, which will coordinate the schemes run by the regional and local authorities, the main beneficiaries of this programme. Countries Spain
