Pursuant to point (b) of Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, the Regional competitiveness and employment objective aims at strengthening the competitiveness and attractiveness of regions.

Pursuant to point (b) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund contribute towards achieving the objectives referred to in point (b) of Article 3(2) of that Regulation. Pursuant to Article 4(2), the Cohesion Fund also intervenes in those regions not eligible for support under the Convergence objective which belong to Member States eligible for support under that Fund.

Pursuant to Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, 15,95 % of the resources available for commitment from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund (hereinafter the Funds) for the period 2007 to 2013 are to be allocated to the Regional competitiveness and employment objective, including 21,14 % for the transitional and specific support referred to in Article 8(2) of that Regulation.

It is necessary to make indicative breakdowns by Member States of the resources to be allocated to the Regional competitiveness and employment objective. Pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, this should be done in accordance with the criteria and methodology set out in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.

The fourth point of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 establishes the method for allocating available resources to the Member States and regions eligible for funding pursuant to Article 6 of that Regulation.

Point 6(b) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 establishes the method for determining the allocations under the transitional supports referred to in Article 8(2) of that Regulation.

Point 7 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 determines the maximum level of transfer from the Funds to each individual Member State.

Points 12 to 31 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 fix the amounts pertaining to certain specific cases for the period 2007 to 2013.

Pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, 0,25 % of the resources available for commitment from the Funds for the period 2007 to 2013 shall be devoted to finance technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission; the indicative allocation by Member States should therefore be exclusive of the amount corresponding to technical assistance,