Government Office for Yorkshire & The Humber

European Structural Funds 2000-2006

A Brief Background to the current programmes

The European Commission makes funds available to the British Government to support the different regions in England. Government Offices manage and distribute European Structural Funds. European Structural Funds are designed to assist areas of the European Union that compare unfavourably with the Union's average levels of prosperity. Their purpose is to create a united Europe, which is competitive and balances economic efficiency with social justice.

There are many different types of Structural Funds programmes. Four of the chief ones that aim to have an economic benefit to Yorkshire and The Humber are:

Objective 1 - funding regions that are lagging behind in economic development;

Objective 2 - funding to support the economic and social conversion of regions suffering from the decline of particular industries and services;

Objective 3 - funding for improvement in education, training and work experience and to tackle employability issues;

Community Initiatives (including Urban II) - small scale European funding programmes focusing on particular themes and sectors.

Objective 1 is available in South Yorkshire and Objective 2 in eligible areas in the rest of the Yorkshire and The Humber region and focuses on those parts of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and The Humber that are most deprived and need to restructure traditional industries and services. Everywhere in North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and The Humber is eligible for Objective 3 funding. Urban II seeks to promote economic and social regeneration and sustainable urban development within the Illingworth, Mixenden, Ovenden, St. John's and Town wards of Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The two main funding streams managed by the Government Offices are the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

• ERDF finances projects that add to the economic development of the region to create local jobs, help communities to help themselves and to increase the wealth of the region.
• ESF finances training and employment opportunities to improve job prospects and help encourage small and medium sized companies to adopt new ways of working and new markets.

Euronet - Online Electronic Newsletter We will provide case studies of individual projects which have received grants from the Objective 2, 3 and Urban II European Structural Funds programmes, which are administered by the Government Office in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Our aims are as follows: To raise awareness and publicise the availability of European funding throughout the region; To share and celebrate projects that are making a positive impact in our region in the areas of Business Support, Community Economic Development and Capital and infrastructure; To acknowledge and publicise how European funding is contributing to sustainable economic development in our region, in line with the Regional Economic Strategy.