News Article

Following the launch event at St James’ Park, the agency is now the managing authority for the £255m fund and main point of contact for regional organisations seeking support from it.

Investment in innovation, enterprise and stronger support for business start ups are the cornerstones of the programme, which is worth £36m additional European funding per year to boost economic development activity up to 2013.

European Union Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner has given us a strong message of support to kickstart the new fund. She said:

"This is an ambitious programme, providing a real opportunity to continue creating jobs, deliver growth and strengthen the economy to bring a lasting legacy to the North East.

"I am pleased to see a targeted partnership approach concentrating ERDF funding to generate additional value, complement the investment of domestic resources and deliver a distinctive European contribution."

To watch Commissiomer Hubner's speech in full, again this is available for regional partners to view via the filmclip at the top of our webpage.

As part of our launch for the new European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2007-13, and to promote the fund during the programme, we have put together an exciting, short filmclip about its priorities.

The promotional film is available on the agency's dedicated ERDF webpage www.onenortheast.co.uk/erdf