ALUN Davies, AM for Blaenau Gwent and Deputy Minister for Agriculture and European Programmes has announced plans for a formal public consultation on future EU Programmes in Wales.

In a recent statement he said a formal public consultation, Wales and the EU: Partnership for Jobs and Growth, will begin on January 14 with the publication of the Structural Funds consultation documents for West Wales and the Valleys and East Wales.

The Minister said: "There remains considerable uncertainty over the amount of future funding we are likely to receive in Wales. Across Europe - and within the UK - there remain differences of opinion, particularly the size of the EU budget and the fairness of the arrangements for distributing this between Member States.

"I have been pressing the case for Wales to reinforce the message that priority needs to be given to the less developed regions of the EU, including regions in richer member states, like West Wales and the Valleys.

"I am determined to negotiate a fair deal for our region, so our specific needs are recognised by the UK in its EU budget negotiations for 2014-2020."

The exact funding allocations are likely to be confirmed in the next few months.

For more information visit www.wefo.wales.gov.uk. The deadline for responses to the public consultation is April 23 2013.