Using to the best the opportunities provided by the structural funds of the European Union to improve cohesion, foster growth and create better quality jobs: that’s the objective of the new Eu initiative “Regions for economic growth” inaugurated by the Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner and by the chairman of the Committee of the Regions Michel Delebarre in Brussels on 7-8 March. The over 500 representative of national governments and regional and local authorities of all member states gave rise to a score of debates devoted, on the one hand, to the presentation of the best practices for the use of Eu funds and for cooperation between agencies in various countries, and, on the other, to proposals for increasing collaboration and competitiveness at the regional level in the framework of programmes linked to the Lisbon Strategy for the period 2007-2013. Almost 200 of the 350 billion euros of Eu regional policy for the next seven years are in fact allocated to investments that form part of the Lisbon Strategy: policies and programmes for innovation and research and technological development will benefit from some 40 billion, while 375 million euros will go to inter-regional cooperation.
