31 January 2011
Cllr Chris Holley, WLGA Spokesperson on Regeneration and Europe has pressed UK Government and European Commission officials and Members of the European Parliament on greater flexibility in EU procurement and internal market rules at a time of extreme austerity.
Speaking at a UK local government EU working Summit in Brussels, Cllr. Holley (Swansea) said:
“In these difficult economic times, local authorities can no longer only assess EU policy on the basis of whether it is good legislation, but rather on the potential cost to local councils. Current EU procurement and competition rules are acting as barriers to local government attempts to cut back on costs through increased efficiency and joint working. This includes major regional collaboration initiatives in areas where local authorities have statutory responsibility. Clarification and simplification of EU procurement legislation is urgently required. This needs to include a reassessment of current thresholds, and an exemption to State Aid rules for local authorities to collaborate.
We welcome the European Commission’s consultation on public procurement rules launched on 27th January which aims to reduce costs and administrative burdens. We will be pressing the Commission to recognise that local government simply cannot continue to provide adequate services to local communities in the current economic climate if such restrictive rules are not made more flexible.”
Whilst in Brussels, Cllr Holley also met with Welsh MEPs to present them with the key messages from local government on the future of EU funding to Wales, including agriculture and rural development funding and the Structural Funds. He also discussed the overall EU Budget principles and where the priorities of the future budget should lie.
For further information please contact: Natasha Weeks on 029 2046 8673 or natasha.weeks@wlga.gov.uk
Notes to Editors
UK Local Government – EU Working Summit
• The UK Local Government-EU Working Summit took place on Tuesday 25 January in Brussels. The Working Summit was an informal roundtable aimed at continuing and strengthening the dialogue between EU Institutions and UK local government established during the previous two Local Government-EU Summits held in June 2010 and November 2008.
• Welsh local Government was represented by Cllr Chris Holley, Leader of the City & County of Swansea and WLGA Spokesperson on Europe and Regeneration. There were also representatives from the local government associations of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
• Others involved in the discussions were officials from the Regional Policy Directorate and the Secretariat General of the European Commission, the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, and three key MEPs, including Derek Vaughan MEP, one of Wales’ 4 MEPs.
Key messages
• The key messages from local government included the need for greater flexibility in EU procurement rules which are currently acting as barriers to local government work and to cost cutting; that further moves towards collaboration in the UK must be outside the framework of EU competition rules in order to allow these efficiencies to be made; and that some Commission proposals for the coming year are of significant concern to the local level due to the potential excessive costs they will incur to local authorities at a time when councils just do not have the resources, including proposals on energy conservation in public buildings.
• From the EU level the big preoccupations for the moment are managing the sovereign debt crisis, how to boost economic regeneration and job creation, and the next financial framework.
European Commission Procurement consultation
• Further details regarding the European Commission’s consultation on public procurement policy launched on 27th January is available via the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/modernising_rules/consultations/index_en.htm
• The WLGA will be coordinating a response to this consultation over the next few months and submitting a formal response to the Commission in April.
For more information contact: Lucy Sweet
