A North West MEP says the EU should invest extra structural funds of 345 million euro in the BMW region to reflect the extent to which the region has been hit by the economic downturn.
Pat The Cope Gallagher says unless there is a change in the way funds are administered, the region will see its funding drop by almost 200 million between next year and 2020. That would be a fall of 43.5%.
He says the base years being used for funding eligibility are 2007 and 2008, when income per capita was 90% of the European average.
He says if the base years were more recent, it would be a different story…………
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