Eddie McVeigh, the head of the European Commission’s office in Belfast, looks at how the Commission plans to help Northern Ireland build its economy and closer links with Europe.
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| Credit © European Community, 2007 Eddie McVeigh, Head of the European Commission's Office in Belast. |
The European Commission has pledged to help the new Northern Ireland Executive to identify opportunities to develop the economy and to make more of the region’s membership of the European Union.
When President José Manuel Barroso visited Belfast for the first time in May for talks with First Minister Ian Paisley and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, he announced the setting up of a special European Commission task force for Northern Ireland. Emphasising the need to boost the economy and create new jobs, the President said the task force would “help finalise programming of EU funds so that Northern Ireland can benefit from experience across the European Union in creating growth, innovation and opportunity.”
While the President recognised that Northern Ireland had benefited from substantial EU support over the last twenty years, he signalled the need to shift the focus towards the development of a more entrepreneurial economy. In particular, he spelt out the importance of strengthening investment in innovation, in line with the Lisbon growth and jobs strategy, if the Northern Ireland economy was to continue to grow and compete globally.
Leadership of the task force has been given to EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner who visited Belfast in June for discussions with Peter Robinson, Minister for Finance and Personnel. According to the Commissioner, the aim is to see how the administration, business, research bodies and other interests can avail more fully of EU programmes and policies. An initial review of available EU programmes is to be undertaken by the end of 2007.
However, the task force will also be looking to see how Northern Ireland can become more deeply involved in all EU initiatives and policy developments. This is a key challenge, particularly since Northern Ireland no longer qualifies as a top priority for EU structural fund support.
Since joining in 1973, Northern Ireland’s involvement with the EU has mainly revolved around a number of key policy interests, notably farming, fishing and support for regional and social development through the structural funds.
The Common Agricultural Policy and its support mechanisms have been central to the Northern Ireland’s rural economy while the Common Fisheries Policy has set the parameters for fishing in the Irish Sea. Both will remain important policy areas for Northern Ireland.
EU structural funds have contributed to the development of infrastructure and modernisation of the economy. Some £2billion has been invested over the last twenty years. Europe has also given generous support to the drive for peace in Northern Ireland, contributing more than £900million through the Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and the International Fund for Ireland.
Although Northern Ireland no longer qualifies for the top rates of EU structural fund support because of its better economic performance, EU support is not about to dry up entirely. An additional EU funding package worth £325million to support economic development, innovation and employment from 2007 till 2013 is already in the pipeline. The EU will also provide a further round of support for rural development, cross-border cooperation and peace building worth some £440million in total.
Northern Ireland has also actively participated over the years in other EU initiatives, such as the European education programmes and EU framework programme for research and development. It is hoped that participation in these can be stepped up along with the identification of other hitherto untapped European opportunities.
Another important challenge will be to develop constructive engagement on all EU issues impacting on Northern Ireland. The environment, food safety and state aids are just a few of the areas in question, underlining the need for the new Executive and Assembly to take a comprehensive view of the region’s links with the European Union.
The creation of the European Commission task force signals the need for Northern Ireland to have an ongoing and developing relationship with the EU. The return of devolved government provides a real opportunity to do this. As well as benefiting the region, it should also enhance Northern Ireland’s standing and image across Europe. The bottom line is that insularity is not an option in today’s world.
