East of England Brussels Office

The East of England has been named an "Innovation leader" according to a comparative assessment published by the European Commission in their recent Regional Innovation Scoreboard.

The assessment looks at how European regions perform with regard to innovation. Regions' performance depends not only on that of businesses and research institutes but also on interactions between different stakeholders, enterprises and organisations, whose knowledge and know-how build up over time. The most innovative regions in the EU are typically in the most innovative countries: Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland. In Germany, 12 out of 16 regions are innovation leaders. In Finland 3 out of 5 regions and in Sweden 5 out of 8 regions are innovation leaders.

Innovation is considered by many, the future strategy for overcoming the current economic crisis. Growth is increasingly related to the capacity of regional economies to change and innovate. The Scoreboard allows for the exchange of best practises so that innovative initiatives can be duplicated throughout Europe.

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EU Connects Seminar: Eco-Innovation and Intelligent Energy Europe EU Funding Opportunities

EU Connects is the East of England LGA’s new resource for local authorities, the voluntary sector and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to improve access to and the take up of EU funds in the East of England.

EU Connects next free seminar will focus on the forthcoming Eco-Innovation and Intelligent Energy Europe EU funding opportunities; and is taking place from 10am -4pm on 22 November 2012 at the East of England LGA Offices, Flempton House, Flempton, Bury St Edmunds IP28 6EG.

Experts from the UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) will be attending and, along with the EU Connects Associates, will be available to provide guidance as to how best to access these funds.

The Eco-Innovation Programme provides funding for projects in various sectors that mitigate environmental impacts or promote a more efficient use of resources. Priority areas include material recycling, buildings, the food and drink sector as well as greener business. Projects must be environmentally beneficial, innovative and economically viable in the medium to long-term.

The Intelligent Energy Europe Programme funds projects which tackle blockages preventing technologies which improve energy efficiency and turn renewables into viable energy sources from maximising their potential.

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The East of England Brussels Office has joined EuroHealthNet as a partner and will work with its members to promote health and equity by addressing the factors that determine health directly or indirectly.

EuroHealthNet is a Brussels based not-for-profit network of regional and national agencies responsible for health promotion, public health and disease prevention in Europe.

The network - comprising 35 member organisations from 27 European countries - works to:

Monitor relevant policy developments at EU level and in member countries
Disseminate, share and transfer information and expertise
Coordinate projects between members and with the European Commission
Maintain an effective dialogue with EU institutions and other international organisations

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University of East Anglia’s (UEA) InCrops Project Reaches 2013 Final of the Regiostars Award

The InCrops project (Innovation in Crops) project, funded over 5 years by the ERDF and based at UEA, is one of 13 elite plant science institutions which have been selected to contest the final of the prestigious 2013 RegioStars Award.

stimulate new business activity through the commercialisation of new biorenewable and low carbon products, from alternative and non-food crop feedstock
promote the East of England as world class researchers in plant and crop science
stimulate sustainable economic growth through supply chain development, market integration and product innovation
accelerate the rate of successful technology transfer into the business and commercial environment

The 2013 final of the Regiostars Award, which showcases innovative, sustainable and self-financing projects that enhance regional and interregional partnerships, will take place in Brussels on 9th October 2012.

Additional information about the project is available here with detail about the Regiostars accessible here.

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On Monday 9th July, the European Commission published their recommendation for funding of a TEN-T project at Ely station in Cambridgeshire. The Commission recommendation has been formally approved by Member States and now needs to be agreed by the European Parliament - this is expected to happen in the coming weeks. The project has been awarded €4 million, which represents a co-financing rate of 20%.

The project involves the construction of two 775m freight loops to the east of Ely station and will permit the regulation of freight trains towards Peterborough over Ely North junction and towards Ipswich over the single line section to Soham. The European Commission praised the project for its strong positive local and European impact on rail freight traffic and for removing a critical infrastructure bottleneck. The project will also indirectly contribute to improving passenger traffic movements.

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PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE: Transnational Conference: ‘The Healthy Ageing of your Workforce. Why is it important and what can be done?’

As part of the PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE project - which secured €375,000 of EU funding in 2011 - Healthy Ambitions Suffolk and Suffolk County Council co-hosted an international conference on July 3rd at Trinity Park in Ipswich.

The international conference, which was attended by over 100 delegates, placed a special emphasis on the role of workplace health in ensuring that individuals age healthily. The event saw several senior figures from the business, health and public authority sectors in Suffolk discuss the subject with national and global experts as well as organisations from across Europe with a particular interest in healthy ageing.

The event was just one component of the ‘Progress’ project that will seek to capitalise on the learning from the event and help to deliver real improvements in the health of older people across Europe. An evaluation of the event is being undertaken by University Campus Suffolk, another project partner.

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The VETPRO project is an exciting new project managed by the Association of Colleges in the Eastern Region (ACER) which aims to support colleges in the East of England to build links with providers of training and vocational education in Europe. As part of an overall strategy to support ACER member colleges to build strong partnerships in Europe towards the ambition of future collaboration, joint project working and the sharing of best practice.

The project is funded under the EU Leonardo Programme (part of the Lifelong Learning Programme) and enables tutors from colleges in the East of England to visit institutions in Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden for up to a week to see how their European counterparts manage and deliver programmes across targeted vocational areas e.g. engineering, construction, agriculture, animal care, horticulture.

More information about the project is available on ACER's website: http://www.acer.ac.uk/vetpro.html

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The East of England is hosting 2 events – the mountain biking at Hadleigh Farm, Essex and the canoe slalom at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, Hertfordshire - in the 2012 Olympic Games.

With the support of Vicky Ford MEP, the East of England Brussels Office hosted an event -The East of England: Delivering an Olympic Legacy - in the European Parliament on June 20th 2012 to demonstrate how the 2012 Olympics will leave a hugely positive socio-economic legacy to the people of the East of England.

Councillor Stephen Castle, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for the 2012 Games & Chairman of Nations & Regions, and Stephen Bromberg, Head of Communications at the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, provided an overview of the impact that each venue is having upon its respective locality. Helen Reeves, Canoe Slalom Bronze Medallist at the 2004 Olympic Games, spoke about her career and the power of sport in delivering socio-economic goals.

In addition to providing a powerful demonstration of how the East of England is delivering a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games, the event showcased the region as a key player in the growing EU funded sports project arena.

Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), official supplier of anti-doping facilities to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, kindly sponsored the event.

Video footage - 1minute and 30 seconds into the clip - from the event is available here.

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On the eve of the 2012 Regions for Economic Change conference, the East of England Brussels Office presented the East of England’s low carbon focused ERDF competitiveness programme, at the ERDF for Low Carbon Economic Growth: Investing in the future seminar in Brussels.

The seminar, which took place on Thursday 14th June, showcased projects and SME from the East of England which have benefited from the ERDF investment in innovation and knowledge transfer, sustainable development andstimulating entrepreneurship.

The seminar featured nine speakers including Agnes Lindemans, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG REGIO, and testimonies from ERDF-funded projects as well as SME beneficiaries, producing a lively discussion amongst speakers and guests to share and promote issues around the issue of low carbon economic growth.

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As part of EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012, the East of England Brussels Office hosted the seminar “Energy Efficiency in the Logistics Chain” on June 18th.The event highlighted how improving energy efficiency in transport logistics is essential to business growth and competitiveness, as this sector needs to make great efforts in the near future to reduce its carbon output.

The event featured HMA Jonathan Brenton, British Ambassador to Belgium and Maud Skaringer from DG REGIO at the European Commission. Good practice and ideas were shared by partners from the EU ‘Dryport` project, funded under the INTERREG IVB North Sea Programme, and from the East of England ERDF-funded ‘Low Carbon Freight Dividend’project. Additionally, SME beneficiaries presented how they had been able to green their logistics chain with help from both EU funded projects.

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Congratulations to ACER who have just learnt that they have been successful in a bid to the EU’s Leonardo programme (Vocational Education and Training). ACER will be receiving €55,521 to allow 30 individuals from colleges across the region to travel to five different EU countries to meet counterparts and share experiences and knowledge. The visits will focus on four areas: health and social care, hospitality and catering, travel and tourism and sport and leisure.

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Conference: “ERDF for Low Carbon Economic Growth; Investing in the future”

With the future of ERDF under discussion, you are invited to hear from the East of England, a more developed region, already focused on the investment priorities for 2014-2020. Come and hear from projects and SME beneficiaries of the East of England’s low carbon focused ERDF competitiveness programme, which is investing in innovation and knowledge transfer, sustainable development and stimulating entrepreneurship, at the seminar:

The seminar features Jan Olbrycht MEP, rapporteur for the report on the ERDF regulation, Agnes Lindemans, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG REGIO, testimonies from ERDF-funded projects as well as SME beneficiaries. The seminar will be followed by a networking ‘afternoon tea’.

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Haven Gateway Partnership to be Showcased at EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012

‘Energy Efficiency in the Logistics Chain’, an event bringing together good practice from an INTERREG project and a regional ERDF funded projects involving the Haven Gateway Partnership, will take place on Tuesday 18th June in Brussels. SME beneficiaries will speak about how they have been able to green their logistics chain with help from both EU funded projects.

The event tells of the transfer of good ideas from a North Sea Region INTERREG-funded project and how that inspired the Haven Gateway Partnership to apply for ERDF. The audience will also learn about the carbon calculator, which was developed out of the Dryports project, and how that is now helping businesses in the East of England calculate the cost savings – and carbon reductions – of transporting freight by rail.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week takes place between 18-22 June with events in Brussels and across the EU. Activities in Brussels will range from a three-day high-level conference focusing on sustainable energy policy issues to dozens of engaging events, projects and exhibits open to the public. Attendees benefit from exchanging ideas with other players in the sustainable energy sector, meeting EU staff and pursuing business opportunities. In 2012, the conference is expected to attract at least 4,000 participants from 50+ countries. The central conference venue will be the Charlemagne building of the European Commission.

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Students from University Centre Peterborough and Peterborough Regional College (UK) have worked together to contribute a short documentary film for the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.

Jessamy Hudson (21), a third-year Journalism student at University Centre Peterborough (UCP), and Aaron Leverton-Ferrar (19), a Media Production student at Peterborough Regional College, scripted, filmed, edited and produced the film.

The students filmed on location around the UK, featuring active ageing initiatives in Peterborough such as the Vivacity’s Young at Heart project, where they are trying to get older people moving, and a tea-dance at the Manor Leisure Centre in Whittlesey.

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The Port of Felixstowe has held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the formal commencement of the new EU part-funded North Rail Terminal project. Performed by Mike Penning MP, Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the ceremony was attended by a range of rail freight and local dignitaries, as well as representatives of Volker Fitzpatrick, the contractors for the development.

The new rail terminal will be the third at the UK's largest container port and is the first in the UK designed to handle 30-wagon long freight trains, capable of carrying 90 twenty foot equivalent containers (TEU). It is part of the port's on-going programme of expansion which will further consolidate the port's position as the leading gateway in the UK for deep-sea container traffic, which already moves 750,000 TEU per year by rail. The new terminal will eventually more than double Felixstowe's capacity for intermodal traffic.

The scheme, co-financed by the EU Trans-European Transport Network Programme (TEN-T), follows the successful opening of the first phase of the port's latest expansion last autumn. The two new deep-water berths, Berths 8&9, have significantly increased the port's capacity to handle the world's largest container ships.

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As the Commission prepares to revise its rules on state aid in support of regional development, the East of England gives its views on how the rules can work better to benefit the most deprived parts of the region. The review of the regional Aid Guidelines is underway which will set the rules for the designation by the UK government of ‘Assisted Areas’ which can benefit from higher levels of public sector investment. Currently only parts of Luton and Dunstable are designated ‘Assisted Areas’. The Brussels Office sought input from local authorities and LEPs to form the final position which was signed off by the Europe and International Forum and sent to the European Commission on April 26th. The East of England position particularly asks for;

better use of statistics to designate the assisted areas
flexibility to ensure that assisted areas can extend to adjacent areas with growth potential
higher thresholds of aid to incentivize business investment

The East of England position has also been sent to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills who will ultimately be responsible for selecting the areas to have AAS coverage.

This contribution is part of ongoing work to support some of the most deprived parts of the East of England grow and develop.

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The department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) is leading the negotiations and planning for the EU structural funds programmes in England for 2014-2020. The Brussels Office organized a first round table of East of England stakeholders with Sue Baxter, Deputy Director for EU programmes on April 18th. There was a strong turnout and participation from local authorities, LEPs, the voluntary sector, further and higher education representatives. This first exchange of views and ideas took place during an informal consultation carried out by BIS.

The Europe and International Forum with input from stakeholders, including LEP officers and the Local Management Committee (ERDF) has finalized and communicated its contribution to the BIS consultation on the future of structural funds. Key elements of the contribution relate to;

a strong local input to the programme; design, delivery, and governance
alignment to LEP priorities and functional economic areas
joint investment using ERDF, ESF, rural and fisheries funds
a balance between a large strategic sub-national programme and localized place-based initiatives, including options for local ESF co-financed programmes and better involvement of the voluntary sector
a call for use of technical assistance to support local partners establish an evidence base to prepare for the 2014-2020 programmes
greater simplification and less bureaucracy

BIS will issue a further consultation on the ‘Partnership Contract’ which marks the next step in the preparation of operation programmes for the 2014-2020 period. The Brussels Office will once again lead the preparation of an East of England position and continue to facilitate the ongoing dialogue between stakeholders and relevant government departments to ensure the best outcome for East of England partners.

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Basildon Council Hosting European New Towns and Pilot Cities General Assembly 2012

Basilson Borough Council is hosting the European New Towns and Pilot Cities (ENTP) General Assembly on 17th, 18th & 19th October 2012 which, working in partnership with the private sector, aims to regenerate New Towns and Pilot Cities.

The ENTP General Assembly provides the opportunity for elected Members and officers alike to exchange knowledge and best practice in the pursuit of innovative solutions to the comparable challenges facing New Towns across Europe.

Participation to this event is also open to the members’ twin towns to increase interaction across Europe. By bringing their twin towns, members would enhance long term cooperation and strengthen the ENTP by welcoming new potential members.

New Towns were developed to accommodate post-war growth, mostly in the fifties, sixties and seventies. They are forty to sixty years old by now and are beginning to need more than just cosmetic maintenance. New Towns are confronted with their own specific challenges for urban regeneration, due to their history as well as their tendency to grow faster than other cities. Their population growth needs to be accompanied by economic infrastructure and housing growth to render it sustainable.

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The University of Essex – founded in 1964 and now with 11,000 students, including over 3,000 postgraduates – has joined the East of England European Partnership to further its worldwide reputation for top quality teaching and research at the EU level.

Academics and students from the University of Essex will work with EU policy specialists from the East of England Brussels Office to identify and access EU research and funding opportunities.

Please contact for additional information about the East of England European Partnership.

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On Monday 6th February, the European Commission presented the European Parliament’s Transport Committee with a list of selected projects to be funded under the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme. One of the proposals selected for funding from the 2011 Multi-Annual call was a Motorways of the Sea project lead by the Port of Tilbury.

The proposed project aims at improving capacity along the shipping corridor between the UK and Iberian Peninsula (Port of Bilbao). It’s main objective is to provide infrastructure at the Port of Tilbury to ensure efficient handling of freight, the development of an innovative information technology system (Intermodal Corridor Community System) and to increase modal shift from road onto the Spanish hinterland rail network.

The Commission commended the project proposal for its good quality and relevance to achieving modal shift by replacing long road journeys with rail and sea routes. The Commission is recommending a financial contribution of over €7 million to the project, this represents a co-financing rate of 22.8%.

The Commission will now seek final clarifications on the proposed project and is expected to recommend final approval for funding in the next month.

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East of England joins the European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA) Network

The East of England officially joined the EUREGHA network at an inauguration ceremony in Brussels on 27th January 2012. The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) was represented by Cllr Colin Noble, Suffolk County Council Portfolio Holder for Adult and Community Services who is chairman of EELGA’s Adult Services and Health Portfolio-Holder Network. Cllr Noble was also elected by the EUREGHA General Assembly to be one of its Vice-Chairs.

EUREGHA is a Brussels based, fee-paying association – 10 members from 7 different EU member states - representing the interests of local and regional health organisations at the EU level. It also facilitates the exchange of best practice between members and will support them in accessing the broad range of EU funding programmes available to support health related initiatives.

Whilst health policy is decided at national level, public health is determined by many elements, recognised by the EU through its Health in all Policies (HIAP) approach, i.e. obliging all policy makers to carry out a health impact assessment when designing policy. Therefore the EU is open to the input of local and regional authorities during the policy making process to ensure that its policies have the most positive impact at the local and regional level.

EUREGHA, which has been operating informally since 2006, will continue to work with the EU institutions to ensure that its members’ views are represented in future EU health policy and funding initiatives. Since the East of England Brussels Office will be hosting the secretariat, there is no fee payable by East of England partners and they will benefit from the full range of membership advantages.

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PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE: Suffolk secures €375k of EU funding to promote healthy and active ageing.

A Suffolk County Council led consortium – including partners from Spain, Denmark, Germany and Italy –has been awarded €375k from the EU’s PROGRESS Programme to improve understanding of how best to help 45 – 65 year olds maintain their good health.

The consortium was supported throughout the bidding process by the East of England Brussels Office and the EU Connects service.

The PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE project will involve universities, public authorities & health services from across Suffolk working with international partners to develop and uncover innovative approaches to healthy ageing.

The project has already begun to identify businesses to help deliver the project goals through the promotion of workplace based health initiatives. Planning is also underway for a transnational conference to be hosted in Suffolk in 2012.

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The East of England Brussels Office has recently presented its activities to EELGA, EESAL and the East of England Europe and International Forum. It highlights key successes and achievements in EU funding and policy over the past year, as well as the major adaptations that took place as a consequences of the abolition of regional structures in 2010. Looking forward for 2011 and beyond, the Brussels Office looks to continue to support East of England partners’ ambitions in the fields of transport, lifelong learning, social policy, innovation and health. In particular, work in 2011/12 will be focussed on ensuring key funding streams such as Structural Funds, TEN-T and the Framework Programme will be available and oriented towards the needs of East of England partners. The report is available here.

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