Economic Development Group

Minutes of meeting of the North Sea Commission Business Development Group

Ibis Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 16 November, 2001

Notes and action points

Present

1.  Welcome by the chair and introductions
The delegates at the meeting introduced themselves and at the chair’s invitation talked briefly about their roles.

2. Apologies
Were received from:

Angela Blake Hull City Council
Rolf Roland Lillesand Council
Ralf Wilken Bremen Council

3. Notes and action points from meeting held on 4 May 2001 in Scotland House, Brussels
The notes and action points from the previous meeting were agreed as accurate.

4. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.

5. Update on Interreg IIIB
Henrik Jensen, North Sea Commission Secretariat

The North Sea Programme (NSP) had passed eligibility checking in April 2001 but had not been approved yet. Approval and formal signing off by the EC was expected in the next 2 or 3 weeks (NB: this has since happened).

Once approved, it was expected that the first PMC would be held on 14 or 15 January 2002 and that a call for proposals would be issued the next day. The first deadline for applications would be 1 March 2002 and the first Steering Committee would meet in April 2002.

Applicants should discuss their projects with Mark Overmars in the NSP secretariat, and would also be advised to use their contacts on the Steering Committee as well as their national contacts.

It is expected that bidding into the first rounds will be easier than bidding later, as the process is likely to become increasingly competitive.

Priority 1 seems have the most potential to support NSC BDG projects. Good projects would be:

• North Sea specific
• Ambitious – not just exchanges of best practice
• Carefully costed and with a detailed workplan
• Realistic in their planning and checked with the NSP secreatariat
• Integrated/cross sectoral
• Focused on spatial development issues
• Genuinely transnational with a broad range of partners
• Related to key strategies especially Norvision and the ESDP
• Completed by the end of 2008.

A large number of project ideas is on the internet and can be checked on: www.InterregNorthSea.org

6. North Sea Commission Political Visioning Document
Henrik Jensen, North Sea Commission Secretariat

The document that had been circulated was a draft of a document which once finalised was due to go to the NSC Executive Committee in Fife in December. Its roots go back to the 1999 General Assembly in Aberdeen but there was now a need for a more up-to-date strategic statement of the NSC’s aims and objectives. The NSC can this way make its voice heard on major political issues such as EU enlargement and Structural Fund reform.

Henrik introduced a more advanced draft of the document, which now covered vision, strategy and actions and was evolving to take account of the current political context through reference to, for example, the white paper on environment and transport.

Actions by the NSC Thematic Groups needed to be added and these needed to reflect political as well as practical priorities. Also a Group-by-Group summary needed to be added to the Annex at the end of the document.

The document needed to be robust enough to be used to influence other decision- makers and institutions such as the EC, MEPs and CPMR. The BDG agreed that it would be welcomed as a tool to strengthen the NSC’s political role – particularly with discussions around the reform of the Structural Funds about to start.

Henrik agreed to circulate the most up-to-date draft of document to the BDG and Philippa agreed to progress the input to the document on behalf of the BDG.

7. SME The North Sea – processes and progress
A meeting had taken place the previous afternoon of the Work Package leaders with a view to progressing and clarifying how SME – The North Sea would proceed. NB The most up-to-date versions of all the papers for SME –The North Sea are on www.SME365.com

Work Package 1 – Regional Development and Project Management
Nick Burfield, Suffolk and Thrond Kjellevold, Telemark

WP1 aimed to use the current resources of the BDG to underpin and add value to the work of the Group and to act as an ‘umbrella’ to the other work packages. Members already committed considerable time and expense to attend meetings and it was reasonable that this and the similar resources of other partners should be used as leverage in the Project. This would however need to be checked with the NSP secretariat. The basic principle however was that WP1 would provide the management framework for the whole of SME – The North Sea, and at the same time support the work of the BDG. It could give some flexibility to aid the development of further sector-specific initiatives whilst not ‘slowing down’ or restricting financially the other WPs that are already in the advanced planning stages.

Nick tabled and introduced a very tentative draft budget for WP1, and Thrond confirmed that Telemark County Council was still prepared to act as the lead partner for the project. It was vital that all partners intending to join the project should ‘sign up’ by contacting Thrond as soon as possible, as the aim was to put an application into the first bidding round. Lead partners under the other WPs, and all interested partners, would need to get their proposals to Thrond by 15 December 2001 in order for a finalised application to be prepared by 1 February 2002.

The Group agreed that this was a practical way of taking the project forward and of supporting the BDG in future.

However, there were concerns that the BDG Co-ordinator role should not become wholly subservient to the Project or to Interreg IIIB, and it would be necessary to keep these two functions separate and transparent. It would in particular be important to check this with the NSC Executive Committee.

Work Package 2 – E-Business
Richard Baty, East Lothian

Richard introduced the proposal for WP2 whilst stressing that all of the WPs in fact linked closely together. Two conference/seminars were proposed to focus on best practice in e-business and to establish networks of intermediaries and businesses, with the aim of ensuring that the commercial benefits of e-business are maximised by the partners. Benefits would include overcoming the isolation of SMEs and securing academic input to business development. Events are proposed for 2002 and 2003. East Lothian is prepared to lead on the first event and partners to participate in the whole project and to lead on the second event are invited. Full details of the project are on www.SME365.com

Work Package 3 – Business Gardens Network
Arne Svensen, Sogn og Fordane

Arne introduced the project by defining a business garden as a centre which amongst other things: focused on SME clusters; had an on-site business manager; offered scope for co-operation; and supported new business creation. There were 30 such centres in Norway, and the aim of WP3 is to form a transnational network of centres to spread best practice and create a network of business support professionals. Seminars – perhaps videoconferenced - could then be used to assist businesses to meet and trade together. Ultimately, a Partenariat-type event could be organised.

The project was generally supported by the BDG but there were concerns about the value it would add to existing structures, and also it was felt that the actual delivery details and budget needed to be clarified further. Full details of the project are on www.SME365.com

Work Package 4 – Bio-Technology
Thomas Springbrunn, Wilhelmshaven

Thomas reminded members that he had introduced WP4 at the last meeting in Brussels and there was no technical variation to the proposal so there was no need to repeat it. He reported, however, that although partners from his region were keen to progress the project, he had heard nothing from BDG members or any of their contacts and he therefore thought the project was unlikely to be able to proceed. Thomas also had reservations about how the project would fit within WP1. The BDG still felt that the project was a good one, and agreed to promote it within their regions. In the light of further responses, Thomas would update his proposal and send it to Telemark. Full details of the project are on www.SME365.com

Work Package 5 – Business Partner Network
Enok Hansen, Aust Agder and Philippa Simms, Fife

Like Thomas regarding WP4, Enok had presented WP5 before and did not feel it appropriate to go into detail again. He did draw attention to the fact that the project is well-developed and brings with it match funding from the Norwegian Government which could be used to match the overall budget, subject to the views of the NSP secretariat. It was also envisaged that WP5 would be self-financing after 3 years.

It was stressed by some of the Group that the project would need to differentiate itself from other business databases, but Enok felt that this could be achieved.

8. Culture and Tourism seminar/2002 NSC General Assembly
Geir Sor-Reime, co-ordinator, NSC Culture and Tourism Group

Geir addressed the note that had been previously circulated to the BDG. The NSC Culture and Tourism Group proposed to hold a seminar in Norwich, England, on Tuesday 18 June immediately prior to the NSP Directoria (19 June) and NSC General Assembly (20 + 21 June). The aim of the seminar would be to bring together key players in tourism development and to focus on issues such as maximising the economic benefits of tourism and addressing related topics such as training. Given the subject matter Geir was keen to have a joint planning group for the event involving say 3 members of the NSC Culture and Tourism Group and 3 members of the BDG. It was agreed that this should be supported and the following names were agreed from the BDG: Dr Matthias Huppauff-Jadober; Giles Goyder (actually on C + T Group but has a strong business development focus); and Gert Rietman (?). Geir agreed to progress this with the named members – probably through email correspondence only.

9. Rural Development Conference autumn 2002 proposal
Nick Burfield, co-ordinator, NSC Business Development Group

Nick drew attention to the recent conference that had been organised and run in Sweden by the NSC Environment Group. The conference had introduced a wide range of environmental topics and those who attended concluded afterwards that the NSC should consider drawing on all of the Thematic Groups to organise a rural development conference to run in late 2002. This would be considered at the next NSC Executive Committee. The BDG endorsed the idea, and James Knowles agreed to prepare a ‘first steps’ paper for circulation around the NSC and to set the context for discussions around the conference.

10. Date of next meeting and close
Anne thanked Nick for his work as the BDG co-ordinator and wished him well in his new job with the East of England Local Government Conference.

Members were reminded that a new co-ordinator is required for the Group, and Henrik agreed to circulate a copy of the co-ordinators’ agreement which summarises the duties.

The next meeting of the BDG will be held on 15 March 2002 in Bremen.