Euro-MP Welcomes extra funding for West Midlands.

12.40.25pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 27th Apr 2004

West Midlands Euro-MP Liz Lynne has welcomed the extra £16m of European funding for objective 3 projects in the region.

Speaking following the announcement by the European Commission, the Liberal Democrat MEP said that without the money from the European Union many projects in the West Midlands would not have gone ahead.

She said:

"In all £900m of European funding has been allocated to the West Midlands for the period 2000-2006. The extra £16m is for objective 3 projects, which helps to tackle long-term unemployment.

"Already under European funding 28,000 new jobs have been created and a further 16,000 have been safeguarded in the West Midlands. An estimated 1800 new business will also have been created by 2006.

"2000 peoples lives in Staffordshire alone were transformed when European Funding allowed them to retrain and find other work, while Objective 3 funding has directly increased the number of people passing NVQ level 2 in the West Midlands.

"If you listened to the Euro-sceptics you would never know how much we in the West Midlands rely on European Funding. Many people will go in to buildings, use facilities, and go on courses and never realise that it has been funded directly from the European Union."

ENDS