Draft Minutes of the Europe and International Panel Held on Friday 8 June 2018, 10:00-12:00 Cambridge City Council, Guildhall, Cambridge

Transcription

1 Draft Minutes of the Europe and International Panel Held on Friday 8 June 2018, 10:00-12:00 Cambridge City Council, Guildhall, Cambridge Members Present Group Cllr Kevin Bentley Essex County Council Conservative Cllr Robert Bucke Tendring District Council Independent Cllr Graham Butland Braintree District Council Conservative Cllr Roy Davis Luton Borough Council Labour Subscribing Partners Present Frances Bedding Suffolk County Council Ian Beggs University of East Anglia Jenny Carson East of England European Partnership Karen Gibson Norfolk County Council Lawrence Hardy University of East Anglia Graeme Hodgson Anglia Ruskin University Dr Michael Millan Anglia Ruskin University Jonathan Millins East of England European Partnership Graham Saint Cambridge City Council Cecilia Tredget East of England LGA Observers Present Stuart Agnew MEP European Parliament Ian Sherwood Office of John Flack MEP Chris Parkhouse Deyton Bell / IoD Phil Lakin National Trust Peter Reeve Office of Patrick O Flynn MEP, Tim Aker MEP and Stuart Agnew MEP Apologies James Allen New Anglia LEP

2 David Campbell-Bannerman MEP Conservative Cllr Sue Carpendale Babergh District Council Sue Cook Suffolk County Council Juliet Craig University of Essex Cllr Nick Daubney Borough of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Iain Dunnett New Anglia LEP Harriet Fear Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority John Flack MEP European Parliament Sue Hanshaw University of Essex George Kieffer South East Local Enterprise Partnership Alex Mayer MEP Labour Mark Mitchell Community Action Dacorum Cllr Stephen Robinson Essex County Council Cllr Bryony Rudkin Ipswich Borough Council 1. Welcome The Chair, Cllr Kevin Bentley welcomed people to the meeting and invited introductions around the table. 2. Apologies and Substitutions Apologies were made. No substitutes were present. 3. Draft Minutes of the meeting of 8 December 2017 The minutes of the last meeting were approved. 4. Chair s Update Cllr Kevin Bentley gave an update on his work as Chair of the LGA s Brexit Taskforce. The issues that he has been focussing on include: Ensuring stability for EU workers in adult social care Ensuring a role for local government in the decision-making process post-brexit, replicating some of the opportunities given by the EU s Committee of the Region. Asking the government for certainty and clarity around the Shared Prosperity Fund. Asking the government for clarity on the future of the EIB what will replace it and what will happen to investments that have already been made? Sea ports and airports and the impact on trading standards In the discussion that followed, Karen Gibson asked Cllr Bentley to raise the issue of the Leader Programme being terminated early rather than continuing during the transition period. She will send information to Kevin. Ian Beggs mentioned that Oxford had been doing a lot of work on EIB and might be an interesting contact to make.

3 It was highlighted that in the context of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, it would be useful to bear in mind that Norfolk County Council had experience of managing programmes and that this should not be lost. 5. Brexit and the Brussels Office Jonathan Millins introduced the paper, highlighting the obligations of the various subscribing organisations and asking the panel to lead on developing a vision for the office. In the discussion that followed, Cllr Roy Davis felt the office should be continuing during the Brexit process and that we should be thinking about what we want afterwards and how to deliver it sustainably. Cecelia Tredget reported that there will be a review of EELGA finances. The Chief Executives Forum will come up with the scope for the review and some options for discussion. The scope will be published in September and the results will be put to member in December. Peter Reeve felt that it was too early to predict what the role of the office might be but felt that it would need to adapt to the future scenario and not stay the same. Michael Millan felt it boiled down to a need for a return on investment. He supported maintaining the office as is in the short term but in the medium term would need to look at the return on investment. Chris Parkhouse mentioned that he was considering opening an office in Brussels and proposed being involved in the debate, with the potential to share resources. Cllr Bentley suggested creating a task force involving representatives of the subscribing partners to discuss options for the future of the office. This Taskforce should meet virtually and anyone who wants to volunteer should contact Jonathan Millins. Action: Brussels Office to coordinate the setting up for Taskforce to examine the role of the Brussels Office in the light of Brexit. 6. Waste and Brexit Jenny Carson introduced the report telling the panel that new EU waste directives have been agreed, that include new recycling targets and limits to landfilling amongst other things. The Directives will have to be transposed into national law within two years, a deadline which will fall during our transition period. The draft withdrawal agreement published in March 2018 states that the UK will adopt EU laws during the transition. Assuming this remains the case in the final version, these Directives will become UK law. Karen Gibson mentioned that the France (Channel) England programme will shortly be launching a large project on plastics waste. Cllr Roy Davis felt that these new waste directives should be brought to the attention of Local Authorities and that the Local Government Association should be engaging in it.

4 Cllr Bentley suggested that a Member waste seminar should be organised to raise awareness of these new Directives Action: set up a Member waste seminar to report on the new EU waste directives. 7. Interreg and Brexit Jenny Carson introduced the report highlighting the fact that the EU s proposal for the future Interreg programme had been published and that it included a specific reference to the UK being able to participate. Karen Gibson stressed that she would have liked to have been the France Channel England programme, and Norfolk s role in managing that programme, better captured in the paper. Ian Beggs welcomed the news and reported that UEA was supportive of the Interreg programmes because they were often easier to access that Horizon Jonathan Millins added that while it was important to have the UK in the EU s proposals, the onus now was on the UK government to publicly support this type of collaboration and elaborate on how it might be made possible for UK organisations. Cllr Bentley suggested writing to government on this, to ask for clarity from their side on how UK organisations might be able to take part in future Interreg programmes. Action: the Brussels Office is to write to the government to seek clarity on how UK organisations might be able to participate in future Interreg programmes ( ) 8. ESIF Roundtable As no LEPs were represented at the meeting, Cllr Bentley requested a full report from them to panel in the future. Jonathan asked the panel to thank Mike Barnes, who recently left GCGP LEP for the work and support he has provided the panel over the years. 9. Universities Roundtable Ian Beggs reported that there has been some positive noises from government about future collaboration opportunities for the UK under Interreg, Erasmus and Horizon EU. However there remains a sense that the phone is ringing less often for the big, transnational bids and for this reason he would like to see the uncertainty around our eligibility lifted as soon as possible. Michael Millan confirmed that discussions he has had with EU delegates demonstrate that they are still confused about the eligibility of the UK to take part in EU programmes. 10. Committee of the Regions / Congress of Regional and Local Authorities Update

5 Cllr Bentley confirmed that he is still awaiting accreditation for his nomination to the Committee of the Regions. Action: Cllr Bentley to circulate reports from the Congress to the panel. 11. MEPs Update Stuart Agnew MEP reported that there was currently a real concern about the money in Brussels vis-à-vis Brexit. Proposals for a new Common Agricultural Policy were recently published but there are struggles between different policies, in particular Agriculture and Climate Change. 12. Date of the next meeting The next meeting will be held in Luton on 26 October from 14:00-16: Universities Roundtable 12. Committee of the Regions/Congress of Regional and Local Authorities Update 13. MEP roundtable 14. AOB There was no other business.