need to consider support to food security objectives through budgetary assistance as the counterpart to foreign exchange support in the context of a food gap and also as a stand-alone instrument to support sectoral programmes.

* Inter-professional and sectoral social dialogue: Following a call for proposals at the beginning of 1999 addressed to the European social partner organisations, support is being provided to nine projects in the areas of new forms of work organisation, new training methodologies and new forms of dialogue.

10. Consider support to food security objectives through budgetary assistance both as the counterpart to foreign exchange support in the context of a food gap, and also as a stand-alone instrument to support sectoral programmes.

The ECU 70 million Community contribution in support of this sectoral adjustment takes the form of a sectoral import programme for the building materials required to complete approximately 100 000 units of public- sector housing.

Perspectives for Future Assistance Although it is not possible, at this stage, to define with precision the orientations and allocations pertaining to the total of assistance likely to be available to the Baltic Sea Region for the period 1995-99, this future assistance can be tentatively characterised as follows: . the total assistance is not likely to smaller than it was in the period 1990-94 and shows a tendency to grow both in absolute amounts and scope; . the volume of technical assistance (including sector aid for economic reform) is likely to be reduced in favour of both loan- and grant-based investment (including export credits, ...[+++]private investment support and sector aid for public investment in infrastructure); . in addition to public investment in the infrastructure sectors, investment resources are likely to be increasingly dedicated to economic investment for private sector development including: SME development, agricultural restructuring (including the agro-processing industry and fisheries) and regional development; and . in as far as assistance from the EU and the Member States (the latter on a bi-lateral basis) is concerned the share of technical assistance specifically dedicated to the support of the process of European Integration (implementation of the Free Trade and Europe Agreements, adoption of the internal market acquis, and the related pre-accession activities) is expected to grow substantially vis-à-vis other forms of technical assistance.

The Community aid takes the form of financing for general or sectoral import programmes and technical assistance with the support programmes at the macro-economic and sectorial levels.