Objective 1: eligible regions

The eligible regions are:

• regions where the GDP per head is at or below 75% of the Community average;
  
• the thinly populated regions of Finland and Sweden (fewer than 8 people per sq.km);
  
• the outermost regions (French Overseas Departments, Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira).
  
• Germany: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia
  
• Greece: East Macedonia, Thrace, Central Macedonia, West Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus, Ionian Islands, Western Greece, Continental Greece, Peloponnese, Attica, North Aegean, South Aegean, Crete (the whole of the Greek territory)
  
• Spain: Galicia, Asturias Principality, Castile-Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, Valencia, Andalusia, region of Murcia, Ceuta-Melilla, Canary Islands
  
• France: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion
  
• Italy: Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia
• Ireland: Border, Midlands and Western
  
• Austria: Burgenland
  
• Portugal: North, Centre, Alentejo, Algarve, Azores, Madeira
  
• Finland: East Finland, Central Finland (in part), North Finland (in part)
  
• Sweden: North-Central Sweden (in part), Central Norrland (in part), Upper Norrland (in part)
  
• Czech Republic : Strědní Cěchy, Jihozápad, Severozápad, Severovýhod, Jihovýchod, Strědní Morava, Moravskoslezsko
  
• Estonia : Eesti
  
• Latvia : Latvija
  
• Lithuania : Lietuva
  
• Hungary : Közép-Magyarország, Közép-Dunántúl, Nyugat-Dunántúl, Dél-Dunántúl, Észak-Magyarország,Észak-Alföld, Dél-Alföld
  
• Malta : Malta
  
• Poland : Dolnośląskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Śląskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie
  
• Slovenia : Slovenija
  
• United Kingdom: South Yorkshire, West Wales & The Valleys, Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly, Merseyside
  
• Slovakia : Západné Slovensko, Stredné Slovensko, Východné Slovensko
  

Population covered by Objective 1 between 2000 and 2006 (millions of inhabitants)

D		14,153	IRL		0,965	FIN		1,076
EL		10,476	I		19,302	SV		0, 452
E		23,219	A		0,275	UK		5,079
F		1,644	P		0,275	CZ		9,095
EE		1,379	HU		10,238	LT		3,531
LV		2,391	MT		0,387	PL		38,654
SI		1,986	SK		4,779		EU 25	155,697

Transitional support

The new rules provide for transitional support in the regions which were eligible for Objective 1 during the period 1994-99 but ceased to be so in 2000. This decreasing aid system can avoid sudden termination of Community support and consolidate the gains from structural aid in the previous period.

The following must be distinguished:

• areas meeting the basic eligibility criteria of Objective 2. These have the transitional support of the four Structural Funds until 31 December 2006;
  
• other areas in which ERDF aid will stop on 31 December 2005. They will have transitional support from the ESF, the EAGGF Guidance Section and the FIFG until 31 December 2006.

Areas receiving Objective 1 transitional support (Commission Decision of 1 July 1999):

• Germany: East Berlin
  
• Belgium: Hainaut
  
• Spain: Cantabria
  
• France: Corsica, and the districts of Valenciennes, Douai and Avesnes
  
• Italy: Molise
  
• Ireland: Southern and Eastern
  
• The Netherlands: Flevoland
  
• Portugal: Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
  
• United Kingdom: Northern Ireland, Highlands and Islands

Special programmes

Two special programmes will also be financed with Objective 1 resources:

• the PEACE Programme, which supports the peace process in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland (period 2000-04);
• the special assistance programme for certain NUTS II level Swedish regions which meet the criteria of low population density stipulated in Protocol No 6 to the Swedish Act of Accession (period 2000-06).