PAPER B
|
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE – 8 JANUARY 2003 UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES OF THE HAMPSHIRE, ISLE OF WIGHT, WEST SUSSEX BRUSSELS OFFICE REPORT OF THE HEAD OF
CORPORATE POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS |
To
inform Members of the activities of the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West
Sussex Brussels office for the period June 2003 to December 2003.
Members
continue to support the work of the Brussels office.
BACKGROUND
Daniella Terruso, European Liaison Officer based in our Brussels office, presented her last report to this Committee in June 2003. This followed a request from Members that she report back to the Committee on a regular basis on the activities of the Brussels office. Her report is attached as Appendix 1.
The focus for this report is the regional agenda from a European perspective, including post 2006 funding and issues related to the role of Local and Regional authorities in the future, and the progress we are making towards that. In addition there are sections on environment, health and Social care, and agriculture and rural development, which are the main topics that the Partnership has chosen to focus on for joint activity. The report provides information on both Brussels and UK based activities as the 3 authorities work towards closer co-operation whenever this is practical and appropriate.
The lobbying work and activity carried out by the Brussels Office Partnership both in Brussels and the UK complements that which is carried out through:
- the Isle of Wight Council’s membership of the Islands Commission of the CPMR (Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions)
- the work of the Portfolio Holder through his membership of the SEEDA / SEERA Joint Europe Committee and the Local Government Association European and International Affairs Committee
- the Leader’s position on the Committee of the Regions Economic and Social Committee
-
RELEVANT
PLANS, POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
The work of the Brussels office links in to the Regeneration Strategy for the Isle of Wight, which is being reviewed as part of the Local Strategic Partnership process.
CONSULTATION
PROCESS
Not
Applicable
FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
The
Council is committed to contributing £20,000 per year to the Hampshire, Isle of
Wight, West Sussex Brussels Office until March 2005. This is covered by
existing budget.
LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS
None
The report on Brussels office activities is
attached at Appendix 1.
Weekly
“Euroflash” and monthly Policy Update papers from the Brussels office. These summarise the main relevant issues
from a plethora of papers and documents which are produced by a range of EU and
UK departments and organisations.
Contact
Point : , F Lesley Williams
Principal
Policy Officer
Ext 3797
APPENDIX 1
BRUSSELS OFFICE report to Partnership Members
june - Dec
2003
This report is the first in
a new series of reports for partners to the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West
Sussex Brussels Office. Its purpose is
to review partnership activities and provide an indication of priorities for
the coming months. The next report is due in June 2004.
Over the past six months, both the partnership and
cooperation with the other partners to South East England House has progressed
well, allowing the Brussels Officers to produce regular information on all
aspects of EU policy, predominately through the weekly ‘Euroflash’, monthly
‘Policy Updates’ and regular emails direct to colleagues across the
partnership, as well as prioritisation on areas of particular importance to the
partnership. They are:
1. The reform of EU regional policy
3. Governance and regionalisation
5. Agriculture and rural development
Here follows a brief review
of major activities undertaken under each priority, and prospective activities
for the next six months:
The EU’s regional policy has
a large impact on Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West Sussex, especially through
the structural funds such as the European Social Fund (ESF), Interreg, Equal
and Leader+. The policy and its various
funding instruments run until 2006, and talks on their reform kicked off in
Rome in October. Ahead of the Rome
talks, great deal of work was invested by the partners and their counterparts in
the rest of south east England, to ensure that a view from the south east was
prepared, discussed with other ‘prosperous regions’, the Commission, national
government, MEPs and the Committee of the Regions so that there is a better
chance the new funds will be set up to suit our needs, and that organisations
around the southeast will continue to benefit from funding in the future. Of all the priorities for this year, this
work deserves to be given primary status.
Activities to
date:
The last six months was dominated by organisation of a major
conference in South East England House, for partners, other southeast guests,
and selected regions from around Europe.
The meeting took place on 16th October. The event was supported by Commissioner
Barnier’s senior advisor, the Secretary-General of the Committee of the
Regions, and an unusually high number of officials from around the Commission
Directorates-General. This was an
excellent opportunity to exchange views with Commission officials at the
earliest stage, and build alliances with other European regions that share many
of our interests. The event provided a
useful start to the debate within and between the 15 regions concerned. Work centred around four themes: urban and
rural regeneration; inclusion; environment and finally knowledge, innovation
and entrepreneurship.
At the end of the day 10 priority points were agreed on, and
immediately sent to the Rome talks to inform the government representatives
present. They are:
1)
An EU
regional policy for all regions and all citizens
2)
A thematic
rather than spatial approach, recognising the interdependence between urban and
rural areas
3)
Wider
partnerships both between regions and between the different levels of
government
4)
Greater
stability and predictability, addressing long term issues with long term
commitment
5)
A bottom up
focus driven by local need and engaging local communities
6)
Strengthened
social inclusion. Regional policy will
fail successful regions if it is not able to address pockets of deprivation
7)
Improved and
new sources of data – benchmarking outcomes and processes against the best in
the world
These seven points should be
underpinned by three crosscutting themes:
8)
Simplification
9)
Innovation
10) Sustainable development
-
Cllr. Mrs. Shirley Smart and Cllr. Harry Rees (Isle of
Wight) visited Brussels in November for talks with the Director-General and
senior officials from Directorate-General Regional Policy on the implications
of the reform for the Island.
Future
Activities
-
Working together with like-minded regions will be the key
for successful influencing. As the
reform develops, it will be necessary to input into the thinking behind the UK
government and the EU institutions negotiating position. To this end, further activities are planned
this year, starting with efforts to involve as many colleagues from the
partnership as are affected by the proposals so that a well-rounded viewpoint
is expressed. It will be a very busy
year and a clear position from the partnership will be essential if we are to
play a useful part in the debate. As an
indication of the level of activity, a meeting is planned in February for the
‘prosperous regions’ following the release of Commission spending plans for
2007-2013, and structural fund programme proposals that are expected late
January. The Commission will hold its own event, the Cohesion Forum in May, and
in addition, the Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional Policy and the
Committee of the Regions plan to run a series of events in Brussels and in the
European regions on this matter in September during the joint COR- European
Parliament plenary session. It is
important that the partnership makes an input to these events
European environmental
legislation and policies shape the services delivered by local
authorities. Around 70% of EU
environmental legislation falls on local government to implement. Early warning of upcoming policies should
allow partners to take actions to either inform the decision-makers of the
issues involved and to take steps locally to be ready for implementation. Decisions on local infrastructure projects
such as waste management facilities need to be taken knowing what sort of
legislative environment the facility will operate in. In addition, all partners have effectively used EU funding to
access support for innovative management practices acting either as lead
partner in funding applications, or as supporting partners. The Brussels Office has supported the
partners by accessing advance information on upcoming legislation and funding
through regular contact with Commission officials and other European local
authorities.
Activities to
date:
-
EPRO - The Directorate-General for the Environment is one of
the most open DGs in the Commission and regularly offers local authorities the
opportunity to input into its work. As a result, the Brussels Office is part of
a group of local authorities that regularly meets the DG to discuss upcoming
legislation and how it will affect us.
Being part of this group (the Environment Platform for Regional Offices
or EPRO) has helped to build up contacts with Commission officials and other
European regions, which in turn has helped in the organisation of partners’
activities.
-
In June 2003, a major conference was organised by
Directorate-General Environment called ‘Green Week’. Hampshire raised its
environmental profile during this event by holding the opening meeting of the
European Natural Resource Initiative (ENRI), in South East England House,
promoting both the Hampshire and the European Natural Resource Initiatives by
giving a presentation and taking part in an exhibition at the Green Week venue,
and holding a networking reception in South East England House, hosted by the
Leader, Cllr. Ken Thornber, and attended by H.E Gavin Hewitt, the then British
Ambassador to Belgium and over 90 guests.
-
In addition, during Green Week 2003, the Brussels Office
co-organised with the Commission, and EPRO, a seminar for practitioners on the
implementation issues surrounding a major EU law: the water framework
directive. Senior officers from
Hampshire, West Sussex and Surrey attended from the southeast, with Hampshire
presenting its work on getting the public involved in local environmental
policy making. The conference outcomes
uploaded onto the Commission website ‘Circa’ to ensure access by a wider
audience.
-
The Office attended a number of stakeholder consultations on
emerging policies such as waste minimization and developing markets for
recycled products. The Brussels Office
held talks with representatives from the partner authorities on priority
setting and joint activities in September, and welcomed staff from the Isle of
Wight Coastal Centre to Brussels in December.
Future Activities
- The group
of European natural resource regions has expanded and developed since June,
with a meeting in the Brussels Office in November, and plans to hold another in
the spring. Hampshire staff visited
Brussels in December to promote ENRI at a meeting for regions organised by the
Scottish Office. Work is underway to
initiate joint projects and to launch ENRI formally during Green Week 2004.
-
The Isle of Wight Coastal Centre is considering organising a
seminar in Brussels on an upcoming Commission policy document on natural risks,
with specific reference to the coast. This could take place in Brussels in the
spring.
-
The Bretagne and Loire French Regions plan to organise a
seminar in the spring on soil protection and have asked for input from
Hampshire staff currently providing input to a major piece of work in the Commission
on soils.
-
There is interest following the 16th October
conference on the reform of regional policy, to look in more depth at the
implications for environment departments and projects. English Nature and the Environment Agency
are also following this closely and there should be opportunities to work
together on this issue.
-
Other items of interest that will come up in 2004 include
new work on recycling, soil protection, climate change, biodiversity and
sustainable development. Activities in
preparation and response to these initiatives will be developed during January.
It is
important that local government continues to be recognised as a legitimate
actor in European affairs. It is the
level that delivers key services to residents, business and the voluntary
sector and as such is in a favourable position to provide input to the EU
institutions on how European policies and legislation work on the ground.
Activities to
date:
-
Hampshire and West Sussex have been working with a group of
regions from across Europe, through the Assembly of European Regions (AER) to
produce a report on the role and definition of regions that supports the
position of County Councils. The group
was chaired by Cllr David Kirk (Hampshire) and supported by Cllr. Brad Watson
(West Sussex). The report formed the
baseline from which local authorities through the AER made a contribution to
the European Convention that prepared the draft European Constitution now up
for debate between Heads of Government.
Future
activities:
During the next six months the Irish will chair
inter-governmental talks on the new European Constitution. They hope to broker agreement among the
member states so that the newly enlarged European Union has structures and working
practices that are fit for a 27-member Union.
Hampshire and West Sussex will continue to work through the AER to
promote the role of local authorities.
Local authorities have an
important role to play in service delivery to local communities and in
promoting local employment initiatives.
EU policy on employment and social inclusion is developed using a
mechanism that allows for input from local authorities through the Committee of
the Regions and national governments.
Current Activities
-
Hampshire is an active member of a group of regions that are
working together on social inclusion issues.
The network, known as RETIS, is funded by the Directorate-General for
Employment to regularly exchange views on social inclusion policies at the
local, national and European levels. As
a result, the network is invited to get involved in annual meetings (round
tables) between the Commission, national governments and non-governmental
organisations on this matter. Cllr.
David Kirk (Hampshire) is a vice-President of RETIS and represented the network
at the last round table in October.
-
West Sussex Social Services visited the Brussels Office in
June to discuss the funding opportunities under the Daphne programme for
projects on domestic violence and the Agis for projects to assist asylum
seekers. They met Commission officials
and potential project partners. They
also helped develop guidance on partner searching which has been shared with
the rest of the partnership.
-
Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West Sussex set up a working
group 18 months ago to follow policies and funds that relate to the social and
caring services, and to discuss opportunities to work together. Hampshire currently coordinates the
group. Work is underway to refocus the
group towards a programme of activities that relate to local priorities and
issues that will come up this year on the Commission’s agenda.
-
Cllr. Mrs. Shirley Smart, Leader of Isle of Wight Council,
is a member of the Committee of the Regions, the EU body that represents local
authority views. As such, Cllr. Mrs.
Smart is able to directly input into the work that goes on in the Committee to
give the local authority viewpoint on upcoming legislation and funds. With a particular interest in social and health
issues, she takes every opportunity to promote good practice from the partners,
and relay local views on new legislation.
During 2004 her committee, ECOS (Economic and Social), will deal with a
number of important issues for local authorities including plans to change the
European Social Fund, which all partners currently have access to.
With the
Common Agricultural Policy representing the largest European funding stream
coming into the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West Sussex area, it is clearly of
great importance to local farmers as the main beneficiaries of such funds. On-going plans for reform post 2006 are of
concern to the agricultural sector and the wider rural community that currently
accesses rural development funding and Leader+. Monies.
Current Activities
- Talks were
held between the Brussels Office and partners on rural development issues in
September. This has been helpful in
tailoring information to partners and as a result, several briefings have been
sent to partners on the reform of the CAP.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the last six
months have been a very busy period for the partnership and this looks set to
continue into the New Year. Members are
invited to comment on the priorities chosen for the next months, and to share
their views on progress made in giving staff the opportunities they need to
play an active role in European affairs.
Daniella Terruso
European Liaison Officer
16th
December 2003