Following agreement by the European Council of the overall financial perspectives for the 2007-2013 period, the European Commission adopted on 4 August 2006 the fixed annual breakdowns of the financial commitments for each Member State for 2007 to 2013. The overall allocation for Ireland for the period is €901.4 million. This allocation is then sub-divided regionally and between the ERDF and the ESF. The financial allocations to the BMW region under the ‘phasing-in’ strand of the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective provide for a total investment of almost €458m over the seven years. Of the total investment, 50% (c. €229m) is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) The ERDF is specifically designed to reduce the gap between the levels of development of European Regions through support for the development and structural adjustment of regional economies.
