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In 2003 when the Regional European Framework for Action was first established, the two regional groups overseeing European activity in the region set a vision: “By 2008, the Northwest of England will be recognised as a leading European region, a significant influencer of EU policies and a region actively engaging its stakeholders in the EU agenda.” As Chair and Vice-Chair of the Northwest Regional European Partnership (NWREP) we are delighted to introduce this report which highlights some of the successes which have helped in moving towards our collective vision. England’s Northwest has played an active role in the European agenda over the past five years and included in this report are some examples of how we have worked to influence policy, maximise opportunities for engagement and promote the Northwest in Europe. The European Union has made a significant contribution to the development of the Northwest in the last 20 years. The value of the contribution is not simply financial. It provides links to a wider world, to new partners and exciting possibilities. It’s about being an outward looking region that looks for the best and works with others. NWREP was established in 2005 to be an advisory group to both the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and 4NW – Regional Leaders Board. It brings together members of the Committee of the Regions and European Parliament with representatives from NWDA, 4NW, Government Office for the North West, universities, business, trade union and non-governmental organisations. NWREP is charged with overseeing the implementation of the region’s priorities for European engagement, acting as the voice of the region when dealing with European affairs. Looking back over this period of European engagement would not be complete without a reference to Liverpool which held the realm of European Capital of Culture in 2008. The hard work and dedication of the city, and all the Capital of Culture partners, really put the city and the region on the European map. The final page sets out our priorities for 2009-2013. The next five years will see a growing engagement of and participation of by our region in Europe. Long may it continue!
Flo Clucas Chair NWREP
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Professor Maureen Williams Vice Chair NWREP
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Did you know that 80% of the environmental legislation which is implemented in the Northwest originates in the EU? The same can be said for many other areas of policy which touch our lives daily as citizens and consumers. One of the most important facets of our European engagement is to influence key policies when they are being made, in order to get the maximum benefit for the region. Here are a few examples.
Influencing Structural Funds Programmes for 2007-13 England’s Northwest was active in revisions to regulations underpinning the funds, such as the Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion. We argued strongly for further simplification of the regulations and the continuation of structural funds support for the region.
Thinking Beyond 2013 In 2007, the North West Regional European Partnership (NWREP) submitted a response to the Fourth Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, calling for the Programme to focus on helping the regions to face the major challenges of climate change, demographic change and globalisation.
Funding the EU Questions around the EU budget are always controversial, and in the NWREP response to public consultation on Reforming the Budget, the region advocated the importance of highlighting to citizens the added value of contributing to Europe, to improve their understanding of the competencies of the EU and the value of working together on common issues.
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) In February 2008, 40 regions across the EU met together in Brussels to look at the potential impacts of the CAP Health Check. The Head of Rural Development at NWDA spoke at the event. A second event took place in December 2008 looking at the future of CAP and this work is set to continue.
Demographic Change EU citizens are increasingly living longer, healthier lives, having fewer children - at a later stage in life - and working and moving around Europe and beyond. For these reasons the issue of demographic change has moved up the EU agenda. The Northwest joined with other regions to respond to the Commission Green Paper on Demographic Change in 2007.
Social Policy Cllr Dave Quayle, from Trafford Council, is a leading voice on social policy in the Committee of the Regions, having written two important reports during this mandate on flexicurity - balancing flexible work practices with security for employees, and on mobility of workers across Europe.
EU Maritime Policy Cllr Flo Clucas, Chair of the NWREP, wrote the Committee of the Regions’ response to the EU Maritime Safety and Security proposals and called for enhanced training and annual ship inspections for all ships using EU ports, to improve the safety of maritime transport.
Health Issues The Northwest’s health community has responded to consultations on issues such as urban mobility, school fruit scheme, adapting to climate change, EU health strategy, cross border healthcare, patient safety and mental health.
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Working within the European Union (EU) means working with other regions across the 27 EU Member States. For the majority of EU funding opportunities, the region must engage with others to share good practice and achieve agreed goals and objectives. England's Northwest has a wealth of experience in doing this well and is committed to working with organisations across the region and networks in Europe to get the best results.
EU Structural Funds The Structural Funds are a fundamental part of the region’s engagement with Europe and provide resources for many priority projects. The figures below give a few highlights from the 20002006 programme. Objectives 1 and 2 - The Objective 1 and 2 programmes (2000 – 2006) saw c. £3.1 billion invested in the Northwest economy, with c. £1.5 billion provided by the EU. This led to the creation of 94,601 jobs, helped support 30,190 business start ups, and 79,009 SMEs. It also provided 900,481 square metres of refurbished premises and 986 hectares of improved land. Objective 3 - The European Social Fund (ESF) programme (20002006) saw the EU supply £276 million towards a total of c. £613 million invested in the Northwest region. This enabled 148,318 people to gain qualifications; 130,907 people to access employment and 493,381 people to access ESF provision. England’s Northwest successfully agreed the new programmes for the period 2007-2013 for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ESF and Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), collectively bringing over £2 billion, including over £1 billion from the EU, into the region.
EU Framework Programme The EU Framework Programme is the main European mechanism for funding collaborative research and development to support the Knowledge Economy and the European Research Area.
FrameworksNW - The last Framework Programme (FP6), from 2000-2006, supported more than 574 projects and benefited participants from 443 different Northwest organisations or research groups. Clients of FrameworksNW have been involved as partners in collaborative research worth over £75 million. Of this, the equivalent of £7.8 million went directly to support activity in the region. In the first 18 months of FP7, Northwest participants have been supported in more than 70 projects, which are already bringing £4 million directly to participants in the region.
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Regional Successes - North West Health Brussels Office (NWHBO) Since 2004 the NWHBO has acted as a regional voice for health priorities in the Northwest at European level. It is now the longest established regional office focusing specifically on public health and health systems in the EU context. The NWHBO has demonstrated its success in funding and advocacy, having created and continued work on successful EU Public Health Programme project submissions. It is now involved in the FP7 funded EURO-URHIS 2 project, which is worth over £1.4 million to the region. www.northwesthealth.eu
Regional Successes – Europe Direct Europe Direct centres have been set up in Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire to bring Europe closer to local people. In Cumbria and Cheshire the service is delivered via the counties libraries. To date the centres have forged links with local schools, provided books for polish-speaking children and Cumbria have developed a new partnership with Sweden’s Malmö culture and library service.
Regional Successes – Enterprise Europe Network The Enterprise Europe Network offers a “one-stop shop” to meet all the information needs of SMEs and companies in Europe and brings together 600 organisations in over 40 countries. EENW is the region’s branch of the network and is delivered via Business Link Northwest. SMEs are guided to the EENW service for assistance in identifying potential commercial partners across Europe and beyond; accessing new markets & getting information about EU activities and opportunities.
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Building Regional Capacity and Expertise – The European Co-operation Group The European Co-operation Group (ECG) was established in 2007 and encourages the involvement of Northwest organisations in projects and programmes which involve co-operation with, or activity across, regions in other Member States. The ECG has helped to initiate and develop a wide range of international partnerships that explore and deliver innovative solutions to common problems on a wide range of themes. The ECG also provides support through organising training and surgeries to help develop these projects and regional events to help people identify opportunities. The structure, composition and outcomes from this group have been raised as an example of best practice for other regions.
Territorial Co-operation Interreg
Regional Successes - European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) The Northwest is actively involved in ERRIN, a network spanning over 70 member regions with an interest in research and innovation. ERRIN provides a platform to better influence the European Commission. This will become increasingly important as we start to build future Framework Programmes. www.errin.eu
Regional Successes - Mini Europe
A wide range of inter-regional projects have been successfully carried out in the Northwest, such as ITISS (Intermodal Traveller Information System), ARTERY (Restoring and redeveloping riverside landscapes), ERIH (European Route of Industrial Heritage) and ICREW (Improved Coastal and Recreational Waters).
The Northwest is a partner in Mini Europe, one of 41 projects selected in the first round of Interreg IVC funding, from 492 submitted. The project will enable exchange of good practice on the transfer of knowledge from universities to SMEs, provide innovation structures for SMEs and encourage entrepreneurship in hard to reach groups. 4NW is coordinating this for the Northwest in collaboration with Tameside Council.
Funding has already been secured for an additional 13 projects in the latest programme. The Northwest is the most active UK region in terms of funds requested and number of partners participating in the North West Europe Programme.
The European Chemical Regions Network (ECRN) dates back to the 1990’s, when regions with a chemical industry faced challenges from new European chemicals legislation (REACH) and the massive restructuring of chemical sites.
Sharing Best Practice The region has played host to a number of delegations from Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Poland, to name but a few. In 2005-06, the NWDA supported the North East Romanian RDA in developing their new Structural Funds programme.
Regional Successes - European Chemical Regions Network (ECRN)
The ‘added value’ of collaboration became clear and, in 2005, the 13 active regions secured INTERREG IIIC support for the ECRN network. The ECRN now has 20 members representing over one million employees. The Cheshire Brussels office leads on this for the Northwest. www.ecrn.net
Regional Successes – CLUNET CLUNET is a three-year European project, led by the NWDA, to exchange best practice on cluster development amongst the 14 partner regions and develop collaborative projects. The CLUNET partners have produced a ‘Cluster Policy Guidelines’ report, which brings together best practice from across the partner regions to inform future cluster development policies in the CLUNET partner regions and other regions across Europe. The report is available on www.proinno-europe.eu The partners are now collaborating on a number of pilot projects covering topics such as environmental technologies, aerospace, the internationalisation of clusters and cluster support environments.
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The Northwest has a wealth of experience to share with other European regions. The Committee of the Regions (CoR) Open Days provide the main annual forum for promoting the region to European decision makers and other European regions. Other opportunities to showcase our successes include events, projects and awards. Committee of the Regions Open Days The Committee of the Regions Open Days in Brussels happen in October each year and are attended by over 5,000 representatives of regional and local organisations. Through Open Days we showcase the Northwest and build networks with other regions to enable information exchange and future engagement. Representatives from the region have spoken at over 30 seminars over the 5 year period. They have highlighted the region’s work on renewable energy and climate change, promoted successful regional initiatives such as ENWORKS, celebrated the success of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture, and built links and learnt from others to inform key future initiatives, such as the Irish Sea Region Partnership. Through our active engagement the region has built a strong partnership with ten other European regions around sustainable energy and climate change. One of the results has been a best practice guide showcasing initiatives from across the regions, including energy efficient schools in Austria, Denmark's renewable energy island of Samsø, and solar thermal installations in a factory in Spain.
Showcasing our Successes to the European Commission In July 2007, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, addressed the North West Regional Assembly Annual Conference and visited several projects in Merseyside which had received funding through ERDF and ESF. These included Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the Arena and Convention Centre, Estuary and Boulevard Business Parks, the Liverpool Science Park and the Greenbank College and Sports Academy. This was followed up by a visit from Dirk Ahner, Director General of Regional Policy, in June 2008, for which the NWDA organised a series of site visits to successful projects.
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Highlighting Climate Change best practice from the Northwest The European Parliament set up a Temporary Committee on Climate Change to provide recommendations to the EU on best ways to move on the issue. English regions organised an event to showcase the work already happening at regional level and the Northwest Climate Change Unit presented the Northwest’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory to MEPs and other participants in March 2008.
Project Access - Project Access is a groundbreaking £20 million scheme to supply broadband and fast Internet connections across Cumbria, with 99.8% of businesses and citizens across the sub-region now enjoying access. Launched in 2004 by the NWDA, Project ACCESS was developed to promote the business benefits of broadband and increase its take-up across the area. The project was named among the top five best European broadband projects in 2007. Celebr8 (Don’t Discrimin8) - Celebr8 (Don’t Discrimin8) is an annual celebration of diversity as an economic as well as social and cultural asset in the Northwest. Focusing on generating positive messages in the media, 4NW initiated the campaign in 2006, when it succeeded in achieving more than 60 “hits” in the press and on the radio. In 2007 it was short listed for a European Regional Champions award.
Highlighting Best Practice in Demographic Change – Senior Citizens and Enterprise The Northwest leads part of a Senior Enterprise project focused on increasing the number of over 50’s engaged in entrepreneurial activity. The region joined the Silver Economy Network in 2007, a group of other EU regions active in getting the most out of senior citizens, and utilises the Network to showcase our work in this area.
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The vast majority of regions from across Europe have a representation in Brussels, and England’s Northwest is no exception. Boundaries and distances are greatly reduced as all offices are within a few square kilometres, enabling networking, sharing of expertise, and engagement with the European institutions to take place. Managed by the NWDA, in partnership with 4NW, England’s Northwest in Brussels is the region’s eyes and ears on policy changes and new opportunities in Europe. The Brussels office also works with other European regions to build partnerships to promote the region and it’s strategies in Europe. Northwest House in Brussels is an exemplar for its energy efficiency, use of resources and mobility and was the first regional office in Brussels to be awarded a 2-star (maximum 3-star) rating by the Brussels Capital Region. www.englandsnorthwestinbrussels.eu
The region’s European Priorities for 2009 – 2013 concentrate on a small number of thematic issues.
Thematic Priorities
Sub Themes
Economy
Enterprise and SMEs Research, Development, Technology and Innovation (RDTI) Internationalisation
Environment
Climate Change Energy Resource Efficiency & Eco-Innovation
People
Education / Skills Demographic Change and Economic Inclusion Health
Future of the European Union
Lisbon Agenda post 2010 Territorial Cohesion EU Budget Common Agricultural Policy reform Europe in 2020
In addition to these thematic priorities, England's Northwest will work to assist partners in the region to access and participate in European Territorial Cooperation programmes We will also further develop our strategic relationships with the regional Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) representatives.
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For further information Please contact the NWREP Secretariat: NWDA Europe Team 00 44 1925 400 544 info@nwda.co.uk
4NW Europe Team 00 44 1942 737 913
England’s Northwest in Brussels 00 32 2 229 5370
Printed on revive 50:50 Silk, a recycled paper containing 50% recovered waste and 50% virgin fibre and manufactured at a mill accredited with ISO 14001 environmental management standard. The pulp used in this product is bleached using an Elemental Chlorine Free process. (ECF)
NWDA j4-08