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Structural Funds boost employment in the EU

The European Commission has published a survey which shows that some 880,000 jobs will be created or maintained, in the period up to 1999, in Europe's declining industrial regions, thanks to the Structural Funds. A total of ECU 9,000 million is being spent in these regions, w...

The European Commission has published a survey which shows that some 880,000 jobs will be created or maintained, in the period up to 1999, in Europe's declining industrial regions, thanks to the Structural Funds. A total of ECU 9,000 million is being spent in these regions, with around half of this going to measures to improve the growth and competitiveness of industry and business, especially SMEs. One-third of the funding will be allocated to accompanying human resources development activities, particularly training. Mrs. Monika Wulf-Mathies, Commissioner responsible for regional affairs explained that, "the immediate priority for Community assistance is - and will be - job creation. We are helping achieve this by reducing dependence on outdated activities, through a process of restructuring and diversification aimed at developing a modern indigenous business culture." The programmes for these regions for the 1997-1999 period include more incentives for investments to promote employment-intensive growth and sustainable development. In order to improve innovative skills, expenditure on RTD and innovation has increased from 10% to 13% of the Structural Funds allocated to Objective 2 areas in the 1997-1999 period. The survey contains specific information on each Member State, as well as concrete examples of job creation measures in different regions.