Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon said yesterday they received a positive response from the German government to their appeal for continued EU support for the peace process.
Speaking after a meeting in Bonn with Germany's junior foreign minister, Mr Gunther Verheugen, and other ministers, Mr Mallon, the North's Deputy First Minister, said the German government understood the importance of financial help.
Mr Trimble, the North's First Minister, and Mr Mallon, want the EU to continue funding at its present level for the next six years.
The North has received more than £1.7 billion since 1994 from structural funds, agricultural subsidies and a special peace and reconciliation fund.
The EU Commission and the German government, which holds the EU presidency, are sympathetic to the North's special needs. But they are reluctant to make exceptions to eligibility for funds in advance of next month's negotiations on Agenda 2000 - a package of financial changes.
