To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that countries which fulfil Maastricht criteria should lose cohesion funding. [33289]

The Government believe that continuing Cohesion Fund receipts for Member States joining the single currency is difficult to reconcile with the original objectives of the Fund, particularly in view of the requirement on beneficiaries to submit a convergence programme, showing how they are to meet the Maastricht criteria.