Goodbye Lisbon Regions Network – Welcome EU2020 Regions Network

With the launch of “Europe 2020” – the new Lisbon Strategy to set the economic and social agenda of the EU for the next ten years – this was perfect timing for the Lisbon Regions Network to meet in Amsterdam to discuss its future programme. Cllr Ken Taylor, leader of Coventry City Council and chair of the West Midlands Leaders Board, represented the West Midlands.

Introduced by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Mr Job Cohen, the conference focused on the future of the network and agreed the change of name to “EU2020 Regions Network” to reflect the new EU strategy.

The new Europe 2020 strategy has three priorities – Smart growth; Inclusive growth; and Greener growth – and the event was a timely opportunity to present and discuss the European Commission’s plans and the 1500 consultation responses including those from the Lisbon Regions Network and the West Midlands.

The debate then continued with expert speakers from the European Commission, the Lisbon Council and the Hessen region from Germany, followed by a panel discussion with other invited speakers from industry, academia and the Committee of the Regions, focusing on key issues relating to the regional dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy and how regions need to be key players both in the policy dialogue at European level as well as implementing the policies on the ground.

“These priorities are very much linked to the West Midlands region’s priorities”, remarked Cllr Taylor. “This meeting was an excellent opportunity to get first hand thinking on the Europe 2020 strategy and work with the other regions in the network in order to learn how they will incorporate the Europe 2020 policies in their regional strategies and regional architectures.”

The network’s new name and logo is unveiled at the conference

Launched in March 2004, the Lisbon Regions Network was established as a network of 15 ambitious European regions, with a shared interest in the delivery of the Lisbon Strategy at regional and local level and the aim of contributing to its future development at European, national, regional and local level, in order to stimulate jobs and growth.

Lisbon Regions Network holds discussions with Commissioner for Regional Policy

West Midlands in Europe hosts high level political discussions on the future of EU cohesion policy

The Extraordinary General Meeting of the Lisbon Regions Network, held at West Midlands in Europe in December, was an opportunity for the network to meet Commissioner Paweł Samecki who was able to give the regions a first-hand account of his orientation paper for the future of Cohesion Policy.

Commissioner Samecki speaking at the LRN meeting

The LRN meeting opened with the formal election of the new vice-chair from the Wielkopolska region and a discussion on the AGM to be held in Amsterdam in February 2010. This may be the occasion at which the network will both change its name and reflect on its future role, size and objectives.

Changing the name of the network, of which the West Midlands is a member along with 14 other EU regions, to the EU2020 Regions will enable the network to be ready for the new EU strategy to be unveiled at the Spring European Council Meeting in Brussels, likely to held in March 2010.

With Councillor Allan Andrews from Coventry representing the West Midlands region, the meeting then welcomed Commissioner Samecki, who outlined the main points of his orientation paper on the future of Cohesion Policy, and then entered into a dialogue with the participants on issues such as future priorities, performance and results and delivery mechanisms.

Commissioner Samecki was at pains to point out that future Cohesion Policy should be aligned to the EU2020 Strategy but not subordinated to it – cohesion is just one part of EU2020. The network expressed its strong desire for regions and local authorities to be more involved both in the delivery of the future EU2020 goals and in the shaping of the policy via a better dialogue at the national and EU level thus helping align policy and implementation from the local to the EU level.

LRN political representatives at the meeting - Cllr Allan Andrews, second left, with colleagues from Riga, Randstadt, Emilia Romagna and Wielkopolska

The discussions with the Commissioner also touched upon future funding and here the Commissioner made the point that if the EU Budget Review in 2010 reduced funding for Cohesion Policy then, in his opinion, funding would first go to Convergence Regions such as those in central and eastern Europe. Any extra funding would then be used for territorial cooperation, and then anything left would go towards the competitiveness objective – which currently benefits the West Midlands.

Further information on the Lisbon Regions Network: http://www.lisbonregionsnetwork.eu/