Strasbourg (F), 2 June 2003

The current system of managing structural funds is too complicated and excessively centralised, from the planning phase to the payment, monitoring and control phases. A decentralisation of procedures and a new definition of objectives and programmes are thus needed.

Well aware of these challenges the Assembly of European Regions (AER) is organising a conference titled “What future for regional policy? Regional proposals for the simplification, the decentralisation and the creation of new partnerships”. Within the context of an enlarged Europe, conference participants will debate needed reforms and ways to put them in place.

Furthermore, the experiences of regions will be presented in order to learn from the problems they have encountered, how they have dealt with them, and the solutions they have found. The AER will introduce the new edition of the Centurio programme for the training and the exchange of experiences in the area of the management of regional policy, as a concrete action for new regional partnerships.

The regional representatives will also look at the position of interregional and trans-national co-operation in the new European regional policy and the opportunities provided by the Interreg III programme.

The conference will bring together approximately 150 people including experts as well as regional, national and European political representatives.

The Italian region of Calabria will be hosting this AER conference on the 5th and 6th of June 2003.

For more information: [email protected]