During his two day visit, which took place on Monday and Tuesday, Minister Kelly met with Commissioner Pawel Samecki, who is responsible for Regional Development, as well as senior officials to discuss progress on the taskforce goals of maximising engagement with Europe and ensuring we take full advantage of European funding.
Also discussed was the ongoing development of proposals for a Peace Building and Conflict Resolution Centre, how to maximise benefit from the Structural Funds and the benefits of trans-national co-operation.
Minister Kelly said: “I was happy to share with officials, here in Brussels, some of the proposals that we are looking at as well as exploring further opportunities for EU funding for the centre outside the PEACE 111 programme.”
Presenting the Executive’s 2008/09 End of Year Report on European Engagement, Junior Minister Kelly said: “We recognise the vital contribution the European Union makes to the economy and wellbeing of our island. This visit is further evidence of the Executive’s serious intention to engage with the EU and to build on the work of the Task Force set up by Commission President Barroso.
“There remains a high level of interest within Europe in learning from our experience of building peace and conflict resolution within a divided society.
“As evidence of this we have presented our report on additional actions taken last year which saw enhanced engagement in key policy areas, such as:
- Cohesion Policy, the EU Budget Review, Trans-European Networks, and the Common Agricultural Policy Health Check;
- Fast-tracking approval of 4 Structural Funds programmes worth €1.1 billion;
- Increased applications and approvals for projects in INTERREG IV trans-national and interregional funding programmes;
- Securing €4.5 million of research and development funding from the 7th Framework Programme; and
- Increasing civil service secondments to European institutions to learn at first hand how they function.
“During the course of this visit my officials will work with their Commission counterparts on policy and programme content for the 2009/10 Action Plan,” added Minister Kelly.
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