NORTH  SEA  COMMISSION

 Economic Development Group Meeting

Arendal, Norway

Friday 22 October 2004

 

MINUTES  AND  ACTION  POINTS

 

Present

 

Name                                                  Organisation, Country

Cllr Audrey Findlay (acting Chair)       Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland

Vivien Collie                                         North Sea Commission

Iain Dunnett                                         Suffolk County Council, England

Tomasz Jaroszek                               Noord-Holland, Netherlands   

James Knowles                                  Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland

Kevan Lim (proposed Vice Chair)      Suffolk County Council, England

Johan Pensgaard                                Vest-Agder Fylkeskommune, Norway

 

 

1.  Welcome

 

Members of the Economic Development Group (EDG) were welcomed by acting Chair Cllr Audrey Findlay (Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland).  She said that this meeting was arranged to take place at the end of the two day joint NSC conference organised in partnership with the NSC Environment Group on the theme of ‘Sustainable Innovation’.  This had been a very successful event.  The feedback and conclusions from the conference will be available on the NSC website.  This special short meeting of the EDG was held at the end of the event in order to update group members on current activities and proposals for the future.

 

 

2.   Apologies

Apologies were received from:

 

Name                                                  Organisation, Country

Richard Baty                                       East Lothian Council, Scotland

Eddie Craig                                         Napier University, Scotland

Christel Daesler-Lohmuller                 Stadt Emden, Germany

Johann Gelder                         Europaburo Wesermarsch, Germany

Enok Hansen                                      Aust-Agder County Council, Norway

Lars Haukvik                                       North Sea Commission

Jesper Jensen                                                Viborg County Council, Denmark

Thrond Kjellevold                                BTV Co-operation, Norway

Drs. Rinske Kruisinga (Chair)                        Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Arne Monrad Johnsen             Sogn og Fjordane Fylkekommune, Norway

Erik Lindboe                                        Rogaland County Council, Norway                

Susan Matheson                                 Aberdeen City Council, Scotland

Helena L Nilsson                                 Region Vastra Gotaland, Sweden

Neil Prentice                                        Angus Council, Scotland

Thomas Springbrunn                          Wilhelmshaven City Council, Germany

Thore Westermoen (Vice Chair)        Vest-Agder Fylkeskommune, Norway

 

3.  Agreement of Minutes

The minutes from the NSC EDG meeting in Ipswich, England on Friday 16 April 2004 were approved.

4.  Matters arising

All matters arising were covered during the meeting.

 

 

5.  North Sea Commission Executive Committee

 

Cllr Audrey Findlay advised the Group of her decision to step down as Chair of the EDG.  This decision followed discussions held in Skein in September between representatives from the NSC Executive Committee, and the agreements from the subsequent NSC Executive Committee meeting in Aberdeen in October.  It was agreed then that the NSC Vice Presidents would be given specific roles and that other additional politicians should be encouraged to take an active role in the work of the Thematic Groups (see separate paper and minutes of NSC Executive Committee).  The new Chair of the NSC EDG is Drs. Rinske Kruisinga (Noord-Holland, Netherlands).  Thore Westermoen (Vest-Agder Fylkeskommune, Norway) continues as a Vice Chair and Cllr Kevan Lim (Suffolk County Council, England) has expressed an interest in becoming a Vice Chair.

 

Cllr Audrey Findlay outlined the discussions held at the NSC Executive Committee meeting which included the future of the Thematic Groups and their Co-ordinators, the funding of the NSC and the CPMR, and the discussion over the proposals for the new Interreg programme.  (Full minutes of the meeting will be available on the NSC website www.northsea.org).

 

 

6.  The CPMR CAP Reform and Rural Development Group (Inter Commission Group). 

 

The group were given an update on the CPMR CAP Reform and Rural Development Group (Inter Commission Group) by James Knowles (Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland).  He outlined the continued consultation process being undertaken in Scotland on this subject.  This highlights cross-compliance issues, national reserves, land management schemes etc.  The most important issue, however, is what will be included in the final ‘Rural Development’ aspect of the CAP Reform.  James also highlighted concerns that many farmers lack awareness of the imminent implementation of the Single Farm Payment scheme.  The demise of the LEADER+ programme is also likely to disadvantage rural areas.

 

The group discussed the difficulties of delivering services in rural areas, and agreed that there were too many differences across the North Sea to form a common response to the impact of CAP Reform.

 

The group agreed that the aim should be to maintain a living countryside where people retained or created employment and were not disadvantaged because they lived in a rural area.  The Group agreed that this is an issue that requires a joint approach with the NSC Environment Group.

 

James Knowles highlighted a paper recently produced by Aberdeenshire Council on the likely impact of CAP Reform which may be of interest to other Group members.

 

Action:

NSC EDG Co-ordinator to liaise with NSC Environment Group Co-ordinator on possible joint involvement on rural development issues.

James Knowles (Aberdeenshire Council) to provide information on local CAP Reform issues for circulation to other Group members.

7.  NSC EDG Renewable Energy Subgroup. 

 

The EDG Co-ordinator updated the group on the Renewable Energy Subgroup meeting that was held in Husum, Germany on the 8th and 9th of October.  This was held as part of a major Renewable Energy conference and exhibition.  The meeting involved discussions on progress and projects involving Wind Energy, and participation in an International Seminar involving a number of Interreg projects on the theme of bio-mass and bio-energy.  The meeting resulted in requests for the NSC to ensure that Renewable Energy remains a priority in the revised NorVison document and the new Interreg Programme.  Full minutes from the meeting will be available on the NSC website. 

 

It is proposed that the next full meeting of the Renewable Energy Subgroup will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland during May 2005 as part of the World Renewable Energy Congress.

 

The EDG Co-ordinator also outlined the planned North Sea Houses of the Future Project Meeting that will take place in Wick, Scotland on 26-27 October.  The aim of this meeting is to discuss the development of a showcase project linking energy efficient house building expertise with renewable energy technology in the North Sea area.  It is hoped that the proposed project will provide a model combining the best in affordable modern wooden housing design and building practices with the latest technologies in renewable energy and energy efficiency.  This project will combine state of the art techniques from the countries within the North Sea Commission area in order to promote transfer of technologies and international co-operation.  It is intended that this project will result in the creation of at least one demonstration house, or group of houses, in Caithness, Scotland.  It is hoped, however, that similar projects can also be developed in other North Sea areas.  Full minutes from this meeting will be available on the NSC website.

 

The EDG Co-ordinator highlighted the fact that the topic of renewable energy had areas of interest for the NSC Environment Group and the NSC Education and Research Group and that it is hoped that there will be scope for more joint working in the future.

 

Action:

EDG Co-ordinator to liaise with NSC Environment Group Co-ordinator and the NSC Education and Research Group Co-ordinator to establish areas for future joint working.

 

 

8.  NSC EDG Business Centres Networking Subgroup. 

 

James Knowles (Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland) advised that he would be prepared to chair this subgroup if there was a demand from group members to maintain this topic as a priority activity.  The group agreed that there may be some advantage in maintaining this topic for benchmarking purposes.  The group agreed to retain this subgroup if it remains a priority activity for members during 2005.

 

 

9.  Update on current Interreg projects. 

 

Thrond Kjellvold, (BTV Co-operation, Norway) was unable to attend the meeting.  Update to be continued to the next EDG meeting.

10.  NSC EDG Events. 

 

The EDG Co-ordinator advised the group on a number of events, and proposed events, involving the EDG and its members.

 

NSC Joint conference on Sustainable Innovation

The EDG Co-ordinator outlined the group’s involvement in the joint NSC conference in Arendal, Norway on the theme of Sustainable Innovation – involving the EDG and the NSC Environment Group.  The EDG provided a speaker and assisted with two workshops on the theme of Sustainable Innovation for tourism businesses.

 

NSC Women in Business

The EDG Co-ordinator advised the group of the outcome from the NSC Women in Fisheries Conference held in Peterhead in June 2004.  One of the topics covered was Women in Business.  This is a theme that will be included in future discussions for the NSC Women’s Partnership.  The EDG Co-ordinator has provided the NSC Fisheries Co-ordinator with a briefing paper on Women in Business activities and best practice in Europe.  The Group will be advised if any further action is required.

 

Joint NSC ICT event

The EDG Co-ordinator advised that there may be a possibility of re-organising a NSC ICT event in the future.  The group agreed that, due to the broad nature of this topic, it is essential that a specific area of interest is identified.

 

Small Business Europe

The EDG Co-ordinator advised the group of recent discussions with the ‘Small Business Europe’ (SBE) organisation.  This is a Brussels based organisation that helps maximise the interest of UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) at EU level.  There may be opportunities for joint working between the NSC EDG and SBE in the future – and for a limited NSC EDG representation at the SBE annual event in Brussels during Spring 2005.

 

NSC General Assembly 2005

The EDG Co-ordinator advised the group that the Co-ordinator is to visit Middleburg in Zeeland during November to plan the EDG Study Tour at the 2005 NSC General Assembly.

 

Proposed joint SAIL event – 2005. 

The EDG Co-ordinator advised the group of an approach from the SAIL Partnership to host a joint event with the NSC EDG.  SAIL (Schema d’Amenagement Integre du Littoral) is a transnational partnership of coastal and maritime authorities and agencies bordering the Southern North Sea.  They are interested in hosting a joint event on the theme of ‘Selling Regeneration: an evaluation of the role of branding in delivering regeneration programmes’.  The group agreed that this should be included in the list of possible activities for inclusion in the EDG Action Plan for 2005.

 

Action:

The EDG Co-ordinator to include these activities during discussions on the EDG Action Plan for 2005.

 

 

11.  NSC Transportation Group

 

The EDG Co-ordinator updated the group on the two areas of proposed joint working with the NSC Transportation Group.

 

Ports and Water Transport Partnership
The Ports and Water Transport Partnership issue was discussed at the NSC Transportation Group meeting in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, on 7 and 8 October.  The group had been waiting from a report from one of their members who has recently met with the Dutch Presidency of the European Short Sea Network - ESN.  The meeting in Stonehaven was to clarify the commitment and structure of the partnership idea. The initial response from the stakeholders indicated that the Partnership idea should be developed in a more narrow ‘bottom-up’ approach (i.e. smaller, regional ports etc.) rather than by the broad ‘top-down’ approach applied so far. This has involved the ESN and all national SS Promotion centres.

 

The Co-ordinator of the NSC Transportation Group also felt that there was a need for meetings between the EDG and the Transportation Group once the Partnership idea has been more properly defined.

Business impacts and opportunities offered by air links.

The NSC Transportation Group has also indicated an interest in being more involved in the promotion of regional air transport.  Several of the Transportation group members/NSC regions are partners in the SEAPLANE-project.  It is understood that this project has already studied the significance of regional airports for the local economy, i.e. employment multipliers etc. (in particular the case of Highlands & Inverness), and is due to publish a study on the passenger market potential for new air routes in the North Sea region at a workshop in Hannover, Germany on 4 - 5 November.  For more information on this project visit the Seaplane web page at: http://www.seaplane-project.net/index.html 

 

The SEAPLANE-project is also working to promote a resolution adopted by the NSC General Assembly 2004 advocating the case for better access to hub airports from regional airports (the access of Inverness to LHR is used as an underlying case).

A link to the resolution flyer can be found at: http://www.seaplane-project.net/results/resolution-leaflet.pdf 

 

Kevan Lim (Suffolk County Council, England), advised the group that it is important that this project is not dominated by the larger airports, and that the needs of the smaller regional airports are recognised.

 

Action:

NSC EDG Co-ordinator to liaise with NSC Transport Co-ordinator on possible joint working.

 

 

12.  Economic Development Group Action Plan 2004. 

 

James Knowles (Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland) and the EDG Co-ordinator circulated a paper on the future of the EDG and the proposal to host a special, professionally facilitated ‘Strategic Planning Day’ to establish an agreed Action Plan for 2005.  (See copy of paper attached).  This meeting will be held at a date in November (Thursday 25th) in Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.  The agreed Action Plan will then be taken to the NSC meeting with the CPMR Secretariat on 2nd of December.

 

Action:

NSC EDG Co-ordinator to establish a date and circulate information about the Strategic Planning Day in November.

13.  Funding of Economic Development Thematic Group Secretariat. 

 

James Knowles (Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland) advised the group that there are sufficient funds to retain the Co-ordinator until the end of December 2004.  He stressed the importance of the proposed Strategic Planning Day in identifying the Group’s future priorities and how it will resource it’s activities. 

 

Johan Pensgaard (Vest-Agder Fylkeskommune, Norway) asked James to ensure that Vest-Agder Fylkeskommune had been invoiced for their contribution.

 

Action :

James Knowles to pursue any outstanding invoices for financial contributions.

 

 

14.  Any other business

 

Iain Dunnett (Suffolk County Council, England), on behalf of all members of the NSC EDG, thanked Cllr Audrey Findlay for all her help and support in the work of the Group.

 

 

15.  Date and venue of next meeting

 

To be confirmed following the Strategic Planning Day on Thursday 25th November in Haarlem, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands.