The Committee has adopted a report on Agenda on the ERFD (European Regional Development Fund). The rapporteur, Daniel VARELA SUANZES CARPEGNA (EPP, E), stressed the need to adopt a resolution to confirm, under the codecision procedure to be used following the Amsterdam Treaty, the first reading of Parliament (which took place on 19th November 1998) before proceeding to the vote at second reading. He then tabled four compromise amendments, drawn up in conjunction with the Council, and drew attention to the fact that any other changes would result in a third reading in Parliament's next term of office, thereby blocking the entire Structural Fund package and the programming of the measures. For this reason he requested that the other amendments tabled in committee be withdrawn. This request was accepted.
The four compromise amendments adopted commit the Council to taking into account the need to link island, landlocked and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Community, to widen the scope of the ERDF to include tourism and cultural investment and to ensure that the fund contributes to INTERREG and URBAN.
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