MEP's visit Marine South East
Marine South East recently played host to no fewer than 7 MEPs (Member of the European Parliament) who were representing the European Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development.
The MEP's were keen to hear details of Marine South East's regional initiatives and European projects, and to gauge opinions on strategic and operational aspects of European funding, as the Committee are charged with examining the developing European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the next Framework Programme.
The European Commission is keen to achieve key change in the following areas:
* Simplification of Bureaucracy
* Involvement of SMEs
* Greater Regional Determination
* Reduction of Waste / Duplication
* Improvement of Project Administration
* Simplification of Payment Process
The group comprised: Delegation Chair Ms Constanze Angela Krehl (Germany), Mr Sean Kelly (Ireland), Mr Joachim Zeller (Germany), Mr Peter Simon (Germany), Mr Oldrich Vlasak (Czech Republic), Ms Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, (Estonia) and Ms Catherine Bearder (Sponsor and MEP for South East England).
Iain Shepherd, Chairman of Marine South East, and the MEP's later met with Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) and Portsmouth City Council members. The meeting was extremely productive with the MEPs showing considerable interest in the prospect of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)-wide bids, possibly encompassing adjacent LEPs. This arrangement would allow major projects to be presented as a complete partnership project rather than multiple small bids.
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