Additional funding for the EU peace programme is on the cards following a meeting in Durrow, Co Laois, between the Minister of State, Mr Tom Parlon, and the EU Commissioner for Regional Affairs, Mr Michel Barnier, yesterday.
The current peace programme, which funds cross-Border and other peace initiatives in Northern Ireland, is due to run out at the end of the year. The next round of European funding in which a peace programme might be included will not take place before 2007.
Mr Barnier, who has already made known his support for the programme, told Mr Parlon the Irish presidency was in an ideal position to raise the subject with the European Commission.
Commenting on their discussions, Mr Parlon said while an extension was not guaranteed, the Commissioner had given the idea a good reception.
The meeting between Mr Parlon and Commissioner Barnier came on the second day of the Commissioner's visit to the midlands, where Mr Parlon is hosting a conference of European regional affairs ministers.
The meeting, under the auspices of the Irish EU presidency, marked the start of negotiations between the commission and member-states on regional and structural funding post-2007.
Mr Parlon also told The Irish Times that the Government would hold a seminar on maximising the potential of structural and regional funding, at the request of the 10 accession states, in the Irish College in Louvain, Belgium, later this year.
Some of these states yesterday expressed reservations about Commissioner Barnier's proposals for regional and structural funding post-2007. Mr Barnier is trying to persuade existing member and accession states to accept a cap on development aid, pitched at about 4 per cent of Gross National Product.
He told ministers that policy should concentrate on assisting in three areas: convergence efforts by least-developed member-states and regions; competitiveness and employment in the more developed areas; and cross-border co-operation.
He is also proposing special aid for island communities, regions hampered by physical difficulties such as certain Alpine areas, and regions where low population densities are a barrier to economic prosperity. However, the British and the Germans are understood to be keen to end regional and structural support for all developed states.
Malta yesterday raised concerns about the criteria for Objective One status, required to qualify for the highest level of regional funding. The Maltese said the likelihood of Malta joining the Union and losing Objective One status almost immediately "is not acceptable".
Meanwhile, the Latvian delegation expressed opposition to the 4 per cent aid cap. Latvia argued that too strict an application would result in the poorest states getting the least aid.