The forum consists of 18 politicians, whose election periods differ as they comply with the functional period for the various authorities they represent. The committee is legally a member organization funded by its members and by the Nordic Council through external project funding. The European Union cross-border projects have supported the region through Interreg II (1994–1999) and Interreg IIIA, operative since the end of 2000. In 1997, an EU-funded EURORES project was launched in the region in order to promote a common labor market. Problems One deterrent to closer economic integration is the lack of a single currency, as both Sweden and Denmark maintain their own currencies, the Danish krone and Swedish krona, although both are accepted in some areas of the other country. Another problem has been a lack of transparency of the rules for taxes, social security, pension and unemployment benefits. While specific tax treaties exist for the region, there are still problems with administrating them. People commuting to work over the border (, ) had a problem receiving information of rules affecting them and sometimes risked paying double taxes. They also risked losing the right to unemployment benefits because foreign employment did not contribute to entitlements in their home state, losing the right to kindergarten for their small children for the same reason etc. Some of these problems have been solved after the recent years of political coordination between the countries, but the local tax authorities have difficulties implementing the complex rules for cross-border taxation. An imbalance in the municipal budgets is also a problem, since the flow of commuters move mostly in one direction: from the residential side in Sweden to the labor market side in Denmark. Rules of taxation have left the Scanian municipalities with increased costs not covered by increased tax revenues from the growing commuter population mainly taxed in the country of employment. A fourth problem is voting privileges; Danes living in the Swedish part of the Øresund Region, but working in the Danish part, lose their right to vote in general elections in Denmark even if they work in Denmark. Universities Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen Lund University, Lund Malmö University, Malmö World Maritime University, Malmö Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Malmö Roskilde University, Roskilde Statistics Data as of January 1, 2018 <div style="clear:left"> Statistical areas The region is