The European Union affects every individual, family, business and organisation in Wales. It affects the standards of goods and services that we buy; it influences the quality of the environment, and is a major trading partner for Welsh businesses.
The European Union has a growing influence over all aspects of local government activity. Local Authorities have a major role in ensuring that the European Union delivers practical benefits for Welsh citizens. WLGA has had its own office in Brussels since April 2003 to provide a dedicated resource to its member authorities on European issues. The WLGA EU Office is collocated in Wales House at the heart of Brussels with Welsh Assembly Government, the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Higher Education Brussels.
The WLGA supports and promotes the role of Welsh local government in European Affairs, engaging with Europe’s key institutions at a crucial time, over important issues such as regional policies, agriculture and rural development, transport, the environment and the internal market.
Welsh Local government has a strategic interest in European policies for the following reasons:
Implementation: local authorities can contribute to the quality of EU initiatives by identifying ways to make them more workable on the ground.
Funding: for many local authorities EU funding, whether from the structural fund programmes, or other EU programmes, is a very important resource.
Delivery: Local authorities play a key role in delivering EU funded projects locally across Wales.
Legislation: as much as 70% of domestic law impacting on local authorities has its origins in EU legislation making critical to engage at an early stage in Brussels when the European Commission is initiating new proposals or amending existing texts with implications for local authorities.
Profile: Welsh local Government has a high profile in Brussels through the local and regional networks that the Brussels Office participates in.
Learning from others: local authorities have much to gain from exchanging good practice with other counterparts in other European countries.
Bringing Europe closer to our communities: the way in which EU legislation is implemented by local authorities is vital to the effective government of Europe and to people’s perception of the EU.
Cllr Chris Holley (Swansea)
Spokesperson for EU affairs and Leader of Swansea City and County Council
To view information regarding the forthcoming major conference - UDiTE, Cardiff - click here
For more information contact: Simon Pascoe