Barbara - that's really useful information, thanks so much for picking that up.

I will pass this on to our press people as they have had some enquiries in the last week or so on the subject.

And thanks to everyone else on Eurotalk who has provided me with so much information about islands. I have bookmarked the websites you have told me about and will keep them for future reference, as I am sure this one will run and run!!

regards

avis

Avis Furness

Librarian

European Parliament UK Office

>>> SLOAN Barbara <[log in to unmask]> 01/23/03 03:40 >>>

Regarding the recent exchange about the definition of an island, here is a summary of the statement made today in the Commission's midday press briefing:

"Item 8: Definition of Island
Pierre-Jérôme Henin with reference to reports in the British press informs that EUROSTAT in 1994 for statistical purposes established criteria to define an island. The future regional policy will foresee something for islands and DG REGIO is currently studying how to define an island respecting the overall variety of islands in Europe. Results of this study might be available in April."

Barbara Sloan
Manager, Public Inquiries and Library
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M St, NW
Washington DC 20037
Tel. (202) 862-9542
Fax (202) 429-1766
www.eurunion.org