EU support for regional cooperation in the Baltic region
European Commission President Jacques Santer confirmed the European Union's (EU) support for regional cooperation in the Baltic region at the Summit Meeting of Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States in Riga, Latvia on 22-23 January 1998. "Regional cooperation in the Baltic has helped to promote good neighbourly relations, peace and prosperity among the countries of the region", commented the President. The EU has given over ECU 1,244 million to the Baltic region of which ECU 909 million are grants. The EU's financial contributions to programmes and projects in the region are provided by PHARE, TACIS, and other EU grant programmes as well as loans from the European Investment Bank. These cover a wide range of areas including: economic cooperation, EU enlargement, loans by international financial institutions, integration of energy markets, higher education, strengthening administrative capacity and combating organized crime. The Presidency of the Council of the EU was represented at the Riga Summit by Mr John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK.
Countries
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia