ESEC actively engages with decision-makers in the policy-making processes at national and EU level, and we regularly respond to consultation requests on areas of key importance for our region. Please see below for responses to recent consultations.
Our member councils have been fully engaged with the current EU Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) programmes, and of the previous programmes, and we therefore welcomed the opportunity to respond to the consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, launched by the All- Party Parliamentary Group on Post-Brexit Funding for Nations, Regions and Local Areas.
We were pleased with the subsequent APPG report and we hope the UK Government takes the recommendations on board, ahead of the launch of their own consultation.
Please see here for our submission to the APPG consultation.
ESEC’s local authority members are fully engaged with European funding and policy programmes, and the impact of Brexit is already having an impact on day-to-day operations. We require assurances on the financial frameworks which will replace EU funding such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Scottish Rural Development Programme. We all seek clarity on the role of Scottish organisations in transnational programmes such as Horizon 2020, INTERREG and Erasmus+.
Please see here for our response to the Scottish Parliament’s inquiry on European Structural and Investment funds and here for our response to the Finance Committee’s inquiry on the funding of EU competences.
In 2015, ESEC was requested by the Scottish Parliament to submit written and oral evidence to the European and External Relations Committee on their inquiry ‘Connecting Scotland: How Scottish organisations engage internationally.’
The evidence submitted demonstrated that ESEC and its members are highly active in international engagement, both within the European Union and globally. Our members are engaged in EU transnational funding programmes, town-twinning activities, and educational and cultural exchanges.
For more information, please see:
- ESEC’s written evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Connecting Scotland’s inquiry
- The Scottish Parliament’s official report on the Connecting Scotland inquiry