EU Update – October 2005
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Policy Issues
The latest on structural funds
Cumbria County Council continues to lobby hard for a fair deal for Cumbria in the next structural fund programme period. The principal focus of activity is to apply pressure to UK government to encourage them to press for a dedicated programme for Cumbria to address the issues of economic decline in the county; a full explanation of what is happening and where can be provided by Ian at the RST.
Meanwhile, our colleagues in Tees Valley and Durham, who are similarly agitated about the unfair treatment of UK regions because of the addition of North Sea oil GDP, have secure an adjournment debate led by their MPs in commons. The full text of the debate makes fairly entertaining reading:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2005-10-11a.23.0&s=speaker%3A11362
State aids – the reform of regional aid
The European Commission’s Competition directorate has produced some new (and generally viewed as more sensible) proposals for the designation of Assisted Areas for 2007-13. These were trailed in the September EU update – a full copy of the Commission’s proposals can be found by going to:
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/competition/state_aid/regional/
The proposals were discussed at a meeting between the commission and member states in mid-September. The DTI, on behalf of the UK government, provided a full response after the meeting – in essence, they like most of the commission’s proposals, apart from a few bits of detail. The full text of the DTI’s response to the Commission can be found at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/stateaid/pdfs/saregionalukresp.pdf
The next step is that the commission will take into consideration and produce a final set of proposals – possibly later this year, possibly in the New Year. Our attention now will fall on the UK government, who will be considering the methodology for designating assisted areas over the next few months.
Funding Programmes
Apart from mists and mellow fruitfulness, autumn is also a time for calls for proposals (although Keats found it tricky getting a rhyme for that). Here are some interesting new project ideas for all you euro-junkies:
Sixth Framework
The EU’s R&D programme continues to spawn numerous calls for proposals. A group of interesting calls have been released on the theme of Improving Innovation In Regions. One focuses on research around benchmarking innovation policies in EU regions, others on the development of innovation policy. For more details, see: http://fp6.cordis.lu/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP6ActivityCallsPage&id_activity=577
There are also a number of calls issued under the ‘Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems’ theme. For a full list of calls see:
http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/calls_activity.cfm?ID_ACTIVITY=315
Meanwhile, the Commission are gearing up for the new Seventh Framework programme, due to begin on 1 January 2007 (and unlike structural fund programmes, there is a chance this date will be met). The new FP7 programme centres around 4 thematic programmes:
- Co-operation
- Ideas
- People
- Capacities
Full details are available on http://www.cordis.lu/fp7/faq.htm
Intelligent Energy
Outside of FP6, the Commission also has a programme called Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE), aimed at projects on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Full details of the programme are available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/intelligent/index_en.html
If any partners are interested in this theme, we have been approached by colleagues in a Swedish Local authority in east Central Sweden, who are interested in developing a project for the current IEE call, which closes on 31 January 2006. if anyone is interested in getting involved in this project, call Ian at RST, and I’ll pass on full details of the partner and their ideas.
Culture
Enough of all that science, let’s get back to Johan Keats and the arts. Or Culture 2000, to be precise. This is from the organisation EUCLID: “EUCLID, the UK's official Cultural Contact Point will be visiting:
Carlisle ( The Fratry, Carlisle Cathedral ) on 26 th October and
Newcastle (Arts Council England, North East) on 24 th November.
The half day seminars will highlight not only current and future EU funding opportunities but also ways in which cultural organisations can build partnerships, access other European sources of funding and deal with the challenges of EU rules and regulations. The seminars will run from 13:30 – 16:45 and all participants will receive a full information pack with notes on the presentations and extensive contact details. The cost to attend is £70 (plus VAT). For further details and access to the online booking forms please visit www.euclid.info/uk/seminars”
Other Issues
Open Days 2005
The Regeneration Support Team were represented at the Open Days seminars – the huge programme of workshops and seminars held across Brussels over 4 dys in October each year. Ian Hill from RST spoke at a seminar on ‘The Challenges of Inter-regional Co-operation’. A full report of all seminars and presentations can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/opendays/documentation.cfm#
Tourism and regeneration conference
Our colleagues in NW House in Brussels are organising a conference on 23 November on the theme of tourism and regeneration. The conference will be an interesting mix of tourism policy and a chance to see interesting project examples and meet possible project partners from other EU regions. If anyone is interested in receiving the details for this conference, please contact Ian at RST
Leonardo project: Study visits to EU regions.
The RST are currently managing a project financed by the EU’s Leonardo programme. The programme covers all aspects of vocational training, and our project will finance study visits of up to one week for people working in regeneration and development in Cumbria. We have places available for study visits to the following places, looking at these suggested themes:
- Netherlands (urban and rural regeneration)
- Finland (urban regeneration, business development, delivery of EU funding)
- Tenerife (rural regeneration and tourism)
- Bulgaria (economic transition, family and young people projects)
- Northern France (social economy, advice and guidance, micro-business development)
If anyone is interested in any of these study visits, please contact Louisa at the RST, stating in which regions you are interested and why.