Assembly Committee launches inquiry on up take of EU funding in Wales
7 October 2010
The National Assembly for Wales’s European and External Affairs Committee has today (7 October) launched an inquiry intohow well Wales participates in EU funding programmes and is calling for evidence from individuals, groups and organisations with an interest in the area.
The Committee’s inquiry will focus on the uptakein Walesof three EU funding streams - theseventhFramework Research Programme for Research & Development, the Lifelong Learning Programmes and the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.
It seeks to understand the extent of Welsh organisations’ involvement in the programmes; identify exemplar success stories in Wales; highlight positive or negative aspects of participation and provide policy recommendations to the Welsh Government toraise the level of future participation in thesekinds of programme.
Chair of the European and External Affairs Committee, Rhodri Morgan AM, said: “There are a number of EU programmesthat organisationsin Walesare eligible to apply for,across a range of subject areas.This inquiry will focus on the three largest outside Structural Funds and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“The Committee wants to get a sense ofwhat determines whetherorganisations from Walesdo or don't participatein those programmes.We then want tobenchmark this with other parts of the UK and EU and understand the extent to which such participation is helping to deliverWales's strategic priorities.
“We would encourage any individuals, groups and organisations with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence to inform this important inquiry.”
You should submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee, to arrive no later than Friday 12 November 2010 to Europe.comm@wales.gov.uk.
If this is not possible, please send your written submission to:
Clerk, European and External Affairs Committee, National Assembly for Wales, CF99 1NA.
The list of the consultation questions is available here.