Vol. 421 No. 4
89 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement regarding the recent European Community meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal to discuss regional policy; and if he will outline the agreements reached at that meeting.
EC Ministers responsible for Regional Policy and Territorial Planning met in Lisbon on 15 and 16 May 1992. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr. Noel Treacy, TD, represented Ireland. This was the fourth meeting of this group of Ministers, the first having taken place in 1989.
As regards regional policy, the Ministers reviewed the implementation since 1989 of the reform of the structural funds and considered issues related to the future operation of the structural funds and the new Cohesion Fund. The discussion concentrated mainly on the methods of operation of the funds rather than on the budgetary aspects although these were touched on. The Ministers took a generally favourable view of the implementation of the reform of the funds and had a useful exchange of views on how the operation of the funds can be streamlined and made more efficient in the future. As this was an informal meeting, no formal decisions were taken.
The Ministers also discussed territorial planning issues, with particular reference to trans European networks.
