Hübner freezes aid to English regions

Danuta Hübner, the European commissioner in charge of regional policy, has suspended funds to five regional authorities in England because of a lack of proper controls over paying agencies, UK government officials have confirmed. The Commission is withholding funds for three months, starting in March, until the UK can allay the Commission’s concerns about the agencies.

The five regions are north-east England, north-west England, Yorkshire and Humberside, London and West Midlands.

A UK government spokeswoman said: "We are disappointed that they have taken action as an update [we provided] by the end of March showed we had met some of the targets set by the Commission."

The spokeswoman stressed that the funds would not be lost as the money was being suspended while the UK was working to address the Commission’s concerns and that the programmes being financed from EU structural funds would not be affected.

"It is about the Commission not reimbursing [the UK]," the spokeswoman said, adding, "we are fully confident that we will allay the Commission’s concerns."

The Commission infor-med the UK authorities that it was suspending the funds in March and has given the UK three months to reply.

A spokeswoman for Hübner said that the Commission had audited paying agencies in nine regions and decided to suspend funds to five although three regions were "almost OK".

Danuta Hübner, the European commissioner in charge of regional policy, has suspended funds to five regional authorities in England because of a lack of proper controls over paying agencies, UK government officials have confirmed. The Commission is withholding funds for three months, starting in March, until the UK can allay the Commission’s concerns about the agencies.