Press Release: Biggest ever EU investment kick-off at European week of regions and cities in Brussels

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, addressed in Brussels the opening session of the 4th OPEN DAYS European Week of Regions and Cities. Between 9 and 12 October 2006, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Mrs Danuta Hübner, and the President of the Committee of the Regions, Michel Delebarre, will welcome close to 4,000 participants from 30 European countries. Under the headline "Investing in Europe's Regions and Cities-Public and Private Partners for Growth and Jobs" they will discuss modern regional development strategies. The event kicks off the preparation of about 300 regional development programmes for the period 2007-2013, worth €500 billion from EU, national, regional and private sources. This represents the biggest investment ever made by the EU budget.

European Commission: DG Communication: SPEECH/06/573 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/06/573&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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