Meeting Objectives

West Midland eCommerce programme fits into a neatly broadly-based strategy for IT

Areas which qualify for EU assistance fall into one or more 'Objective' categories. Objective 1 relates both to member states and regions within those states where the GDP per head of population at the date of inception was less than 75% of the average for the EU as a whole. Three complete countries (Greece, Ireland and Portugal) and parts of eight other states were below the threshold. One quarter of the total EU population (92 million inhabitants) are within the scope of Objective 1.

Objective 2 is directed at relieving unemployment which has resulted from changes to the industrial infrastructure of regions, although several urban districts qualify simply on the grounds of their inherent state of decay. Greece, Ireland and Portugal are excluded from consideration under this objective, which provides support for about 16.5% of the total EU population.