EU and OPEC Strengthen Exchange of Energy Decisions

The European Commission released a report on Wednesday saying that the EU's regional integration policies are showing results. Some less prosperous regions have benefited from EU funding, and the gap with rich regions has further narrowed. According to the EU regional integration policy, the EU arranges tens of billions of euros in funds every year to help economically backward areas accelerate economic and social development. In the report on the EU's economic and social integration published that day, the European Commission made a preliminary assessment of the implementation of the EU's regional integration policy from 2000 to 2006. The report believes that with the help of integration policies, the income and employment conditions of some less prosperous regions are increasingly improving, and the gap between rich and poor within the EU is narrowing. For example, from 2000 to 2006, EU regional integration policies drove the economies of Greece and Portugal to grow by 2.8% and 2.0% respectively. Preliminary forecasts show that between 2007 and 2013, integration policies will drive the economic growth of new members such as Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic by 8.5%.