The Highland Council (Scotland) has today welcomed the Political Bureau of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime regions (CPMR) to Inverness. This is the first time that the Political Bureau has met in the Highlands.
The Conference is being attended by the Minister for Gozo Dr Anton Refalo.
The CPMR is thought of as the pre-eminent lobbying network in the E.U. and one of the most effective for regional/local government. The Commission regularly uses the Conference to gauge the views of the regions on new initiatives and to help develop same.
The Conference currently comprises 150 member regions across 28 countries and represents in the region of 200 million people. Members work together to ensure that EU institutions and national governments take account of the common interests of its members. The Conference also facilitates co-operation on practical projects in order to enhance their assets.
The Highland Council Leader, Councillor Drew Hendry is the current UK representative on the ruling Political Bureau and is a vice President of the CPMR, He is also the host for the event.
The Council, along with its member partners in the Highlands &Islands, is currently using the CPMR to help with supporting transport needs including ferry networks and supporting Highlands and Islands air links. Many of these issues are common among member regions and consideration of our unique needs helps all of those with similar challenges, such as those in Gozo.
Just a few months after the start of the new programming period, CPMR delegates will have been looking at Cohesion Policy and the EU Budget, Maritime Policies, Accessibility, Maritime Transport and Macro- Regions. Discussions will focus in particular on the implementation of these EU policies.
The CPMR Regions want to be involved in their delivery and assist the European Commission and the European Parliament in this process.
On Cohesion Policy, considering the complexity of the negotiations and the number of issues at stake, the CPMR said that it “is satisfied overall with the final text on the new regulation, but the link between the new Economic Governance framework and Cohesion Policy should be clarified. Cohesion Policy, as the main EU investment policy, should better complement EU economic governance to stimulate growth and jobs.”
This particular issue is well developed in the CPMR Policy Position on refocusing Cohesion Policy on addressing Territorial Cohesion that will be distributed during the meeting.
During the Political Bureau meeting, the CPMR Secretariat will also present a Technical Paper on the achievements made in the Cohesion Policy negotiations. In this document, the CPMR also focuses on the remaining concerns of the past negotiations and highlights the opportunity offered by the review clause that has been introduced to re-allocate part of the funds in 2016 up to €4 billion.