In 2010 the WLGA European Office lobbied for the continuation of EU Competitiveness Funding for East Wales post-2013. The Competitiveness Objective promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in EU regions that do not qualify for full Convergence (formerly Objective 1) funding. Financed through the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, the Competitiveness Objective supports 172 regions in 19 EU Member States, including East Wales. With match funding from the private, public and voluntary sectors, the Objective is worth around £280 million to the East Wales region and is vital to job creation, economic development and regeneration.
Throughout 2010 the WLGA European Office played an active role in the Competitiveness Regions Lobbying Initiative, led by the Lower Austria Regional Office. Katie Cavell, former WLGA European Affairs Manager, established and led a UK Competitiveness Regions Lobby Group. The pan-European lobby had the support of 83% of affected regions (143 regions), representing 87% of the population of these regions and 58% of the whole EU population, for the continuation of Competitiveness funding.
On 7 October 2010 the WLGA participated in a high-level summit and 'March of the Regions' in Brussels with local and regional representatives from across Europe to lobby for the continuation of EU Competitiveness Funding post 2013. Cllr Wynne Jones (Powys County Council) represented East Wales in the summit, where political declarations signed by representatives from the Competitiveness regions in support of the continuation of Competitiveness funding post-2013 were presented to the key EU decision-makers, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, European Parliament Regional Development Committee Chairperson, Danuta Hübner, and Committee of the Regions President, Mercedes Bresso. The 'March of the Regions' included some 40 regional flags and a number of the regional representatives and other politicians took part. The march attracted significant media interest, with some 50 journalists and media teams from across Europe covering the event.
Further information about the lobbying initiative and Cllr Jones' role as East Wales representative may be found in the following WLGA press release, the UK section of the CoR website and Western Mail article. Photos from the Summit and 'March of the Regions' may be found below:
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For more information contact: Iwan Williams