Assembly Committee holds St David’s Day talks over Wales’s future in the EU

18 February 2010

The European and External Affairs Committee will be discussing future EU funding with the four Welsh MEPs and one of Brussels’ top politicians on St David’s Day (Monday, 1 March).

The Committee, led by Rhodri Morgan AM, will meet the Chair of the European Parliament’s Regional Development Committee, Professor Danuta Hübner, as part of its whistle-stop tour. The tour also includes talks with the Cabinet of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and all four Welsh MEPs.

At present Wales benefits from two billion pounds in funding from Europe to revive areas lagging behind in economic performance, but that funding is due to end in 2013, with uncertainty surrounding its future.

The meetings come at a crucial stage for Wales as the EU sets out its priorities for growth and job creation over the next ten years under its EU2020 strategy.

Chair of the Committee Rhodri Morgan AM said: “The visit to Brussels on St David’s Day marks a series of firsts for the Committee.

“It will be the first time we have formally met all four Welsh MEPs and it is important to work with our European counterparts to push Wales’s case over funding priorities and put forward any concerns raised by people back home.

“I am especially pleased to have an opportunity to talk directly with the Chair of the European Parliament’s Regional Development Committee, Danuta Hübner, at such an important time with Europe discussing the way forward for the next decade. We already know Professor Hübner well from her period as European Commissioner for Regional Policy, and she knows Wales well.

“The Committee of the Regions, which represents regional and local authorities in Europe, has been very helpful in hosting the meeting and making the technical arrangements, and we look forward to discussing the organisation’s new mandate and powers under the Lisbon Treaty.”

The European and External Affairs Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the future of European cohesion policy and its implications for Wales. An interim report released in December 2009 warned against repatriating future funding back to the UK Member State, meaning officials in Whitehall would decide how much funding Wales would get.

At the time the Committee wrote to President Barroso, calling for the National Assembly for Wales’s role as a regional legislature to be recognised, and for EU-wide cohesion policy to be maintained.

The European and External Affairs Committee

The interim report on cohesion policy can be read and downloaded here