Commission awards ECU 805 million for German regions
The Commission has earmarked ECU 805.6 million from the Structural Funds to help industrial areas in Germany adapt to structural change. The Commission has approved, in principle, Objective 2 programmes (converting regions seriously affected by industrial decline) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Saarland, Bremen, Hesse and Bavaria. EU aid will be complemented by German funding of ECU 1.851 billion, of which ECU 839.1 million will be provided by the German Government and ECU 1.012 billion is set to come from private sources. The programmes will help create and safeguard more than 100,000 jobs in these six Länder between now and the end of 1999. The main aim of the programmes is to create new jobs and safeguard existing jobs in a competitive business environment. Environmental measures also form an important part of the programmes. Their main priorities are: - Diversifying and modernizing the industrial sector, and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises; - Commercially-linked infrastructure, including redevelopment of industrial sites; - Research and development, and technology cooperation; - Environmental protection and environment technologies; - Supporting the tertiary sector, including tourism; - Accompanying training and retraining measures. The Land authorities are responsible for implementing the programmes in the individual Länder.
Countries
Germany