Transport and Communications Group

MINUTES of meeting in the NSC Transport & Communications group (TCG), Schleswig-Holstein region, Germany, 1 November 2002 

Present:

Jan Hallberg, Chair, Västra Götaland region (Swe)
Jon Halvard Eide, Co-ordinator, Vest-Agder fylkeskommune (Nor)
Dennis Freeman, Aberdeenshire Council (Sco)
Tommy Madsen, North-Jutland region (Den)
Flemming Wennike, Ringkøbing   (--"--)
Hanne Marie Sørensen, Viborg   (--"--)
Lars Dagnæs, South-Jutland region (--”--)
Bengt Wennerberg, Business Region Gothenburg (Swe)
Odd Moldestad, Sør-Trøndelag fylkeskommune (Nor)
Hans Jürgen Hett, Schleswig Holstein (Ger), Host
Christine Daesler-Lohmüller, EU Co-ordinator, City of Emden (Ger)
Marjolein Zwerver, Province of Groeningen/Sea Port (Holl)
Henrik M. Jensen, NSC Secretariat Viborg
Vivien Collie, Fife (Sco), Co-ordinator NSC Business Development group

Summary of attendance:  14 persons, representing 11 regions from 6 NSC member countries. 9 of the regular members present also attended the previous meeting in Aarhus on 17 April.

Apologies:

Gordon Flemming, Dundee City Council (Sco)
Brian Sørensen, Aarhus Amt (Den)
Maria A. Larsson, Västra Götaland region (Swe)
Leif Storsve, Vest-Agder fylkeskommune (Nor)
Wim Stubbe, Euregio Scheldemond (Belgium)
Chris Kutesko, Norfolk (UK)

18/02 Minutes of meeting in Aarhus, 17 April 2002
The minutes were approved.

19/02 Co-operation with the NSC Business Development group (BDG)

At the meeting in Aarhus in April, the group decided to explore the potential of a closer co-operation with the NSC Business Development Group (BDG), and it was also decided to invite the BDG Co-ordinator to attend this meeting.

On this background, the Chairman Mr. Jan Hallberg, was pleased to welcome the BDG Co-ordinator, Ms. Vivien Collie, to the meeting. Before the meeting, se had carried out a survey on the BD group’s preferences & interests within transport & communications.  The cover letter and questionnaire of this survey had been mailed out to the participants of the meeting in beforehand (see mail from the Co-ordinator of 25 October to the participants in the meeting).

11 regions had responded to the survey; 7 from Scottish regions, 2 from Norway, 2 from Holland and 1 from Germany.

The following transport related items were reported to be of most interest to the BDG:

• ICT solutions for businesses (7 resp)
• Sea transport and port issues (7 resp)
• Sustainable transport and the movement of goods in peripheral areas

The results of the survey show that there are areas of common interest between the two groups. Ms. Collie said that it would be interesting to apply an Interreg-framework for a business- transport co-operation in relation to the fact that the Interreg programme criteria are not regarded to be so open for pure business development projects. She also informed that the work of the BDG has traditionally been project-oriented, and that the group would like to focus more on policy influence in the future (like the Transport group).

It was suggested that concrete actions/projects should not be decided before the two groups  have had a joint meeting to explore the potential options in full depth, i.e. like the joint event with the NSC Environment group in Brugge 10 May 2001. It is anticipated that the co-operation could take the form of conferences, seminars and/or Interreg- or other projects. The NSC Rural Development Interreg 3B-bid should be considered as a relevant framework for the co-operation (Cf. also item 23/02).

Decisions & follow-up:

• The Co-ordinators of the two groups should draft a proposal for a joint “event” between the BDG and the TCG. The event should take place in the spring of 2003 – possibly in connection with Spring-meeting of the TCG.
  
• The survey on the BD group’s preferences & interests within transport & communications serves as a basis for the proposal referred to above. The NSC Rural Development Interreg 3B-bid is considered as a relevant framework for the co-operation.
  
•   The future course of co-operation between the two groups is to be decided by the above-mentioned “event”. It is anticipated that the co-operation could take the form of conferences, seminars and/or projects.

20/02 ICT and transport – follow-up of the presentations on 31 October

At the last meeting in Aarhus, it was decided to use this meeting to define how the group should approach and work with the issue of ICT. It was also anticipated that the issue of ICT could be a link to a closer co-operation with the NSC BDG.

Before the meeting, the Co-ordinator had circulated a paper titled “e-business – Big Bang of logistics?”, prepared by Lars Chr. Ragus, from the Institute of Transport Studies in Padborg, Denmark (the institute of Lars Dagnæs). The group also heard several interesting presentations on ICT and transport on 31 October by Morten Meyer from Institute of Transport Studies in Padborg, Denmark, and from Prof. Dr. Ing. Hans-Dieter Schütte, Fachhochschule Heide (the local college). It is assumed that Hans Jürgen Hett could provide a copy of this presentation for those who were not present at the meeting.

As an introduction to this item, Lars Dagnæs presented the main points of the “e-business paper”, prepared by a research fellow from “his” institute.

Essence of paper “e-business – Big Bang of logistics” ?

A precondition to e-Business is efficient logistics. E-Business establishes new co-operation relations, especially regarding flexible organisation of the firms' co-operation. E-Business adds new and extended demands to the logistics and freight transport trade - a challenge the firms will have to deal with.

Three challenges considered to be of great importance to the trade are discussed:

1) Handling of increased and changed transport need, dues to, among other things, e-Business and increasing world trade;

2) The demands in the trade regarding reduction of the environmental strain of transports;

3) Finally, and perhaps essential the need for development of competencies and qualifications in order to be able to manage and handle the changes in the logistics and freight transport market. This implies highly qualified employees who are able to adhere to and develop the core competencies of the firms.

Lars Dagnæs added to this that we have seen an unprecedented growth in freight transport (both road and sea) in the 90-ties, and that this growth is expected to continue. Another important trend was that transport & logistics costs would become more and more important – increasing the demands for time and accuracy. 

Lars then pointed to some crucial issues/questions with regard to the development and consequences of e-business:

-growth, when, in which commodities?
-consequences for the total transport work
-Will e-business lead to a more chaotic transport system, longer distances and more return goods?

Bengt Wennerberg maintained that logistics are more important for goods owners than for transport companies. He also pointed to a potential common interest with the BDG in this field.

Jan Hallberg stressed that our work with ICT should be demand-oriented and regarded as a rural development tool. Otherwise, we could easily get lost in all the “technicalities” involved in this area.

Decisions & follow-up:

• The group’s work on ICT should mainly be conducted within the framework of the co-operation with the BDG.
  
• The approach in this field should be demand-oriented – based on the needs (i.e. for development of digital infrastructure and availability /knowledge of corresponding applications) of the regions and the business community, particularly in rural areas
  
• The work with ICT should as far as feasible relate to & co-ordinated with the NSC Rural Development Interreg 3B-bid

21/02 Sustainable transport

The Co-ordinator informed about the progress being made in this field since the last meeting in Aarhus on 17 April (Cf.  follow-up sections on item 10 and 11/02).

Conference on Sustainable transport, Aarhus 18-19 April

• All plenary speeches and best practice examples from the Aarhus conference have been uploaded to the particular conference section of the NSC web site
  
• The Co-ordinator has written an article on the Aarhus conference for the NSC newsletter. There is a longer report on the conference under the special section of the NSC web page
  
• A report on the conference is also contained in the Transport & Communications group Annual report 2001-02, to be found at the NSC web page

Sustainable transport project (STP) as an Interreg IIIB-bid

• The NSC Environment group has confirmed its willingness to participate in the development of an Interreg-bid
  
• Members of the NSC Environment group (Per Hørberg and Gordon Summers) and Transport group (Dennis Freeman and Jon Halvard Eide) met to discuss the project in connection with the NSC General Assembly in Norwich on 19 June

This meeting decided to delay the start of the project, and consequently the submission of an Interreg application to 2003 in order to await the experiences from a similar Scottish project "Travelwise"

• The Co-ordinators of the NSC Environment and Transport groups made a joint presentation of the main points of the STP idea at the NSC General Assembly in Norwich on 21 June. In this presentation, partners were encouraged to join in.
  
• The STP idea was also mentioned in the speech that NSC President Mr. Bent Hansen delivered at the CPMR General Assembly in Greece on 19 September

The Co-ordinator noted that administrative structures for an Interreg-project, incl. the choice of Lead Partner, still remain to be established.

The Co-ordinator also distributed information on a Northamptonshire project idea/bid relating to sustainable transports (Demand Responsive Journey to Work Transport), as well as on a conference on ”Mobility Management” in Karlstad, Sweden, 21 - 23 May next year. See http://www.karlstad.se/

Dennis Freeman gave an update on the development of the STP idea/bid. He informed that a similar project is currently under way in Scotland. The essence of the project is contained in the presentation of Mr. Don Nutt at the Aarhus conference (available at the NSC web site). Aberdeenshire is looking for € 800.000 from the Scottish Executive this year,  € 1,5 million the next year, and € 2 mill. for the third year. The Scottish Executive has responded positively, but has surprisingly not provided Aberdeenshire with the first instalment of money yet. However, Aberdeenshire is still expecting the money. This means that the start up of the project will be at least 6 months delayed.  Dennis thought it would be very useful for a similar North Sea project bid to have a 6 months – 1 year ”lead” from the Scottish project, and suggested that we should postpone the submission of an Interreg application accordingly.

Although agreeing to a postponement of the North Sea STP in order to await the experiences of the Scottish project, the meeting at the same time stressed the need to keep up the momentum created by the Aarhus conference on sustainable transport. It was therefore suggested that the group should take concrete steps to follow up the possible implementation of best practice examples from the Aarhus conference in the different NSC regions. One should also respond to the EU Commission’s call for best practice examples in sustainable transport. Concerning the STP, the group should take action to set up the necessary administrative structures, incl. the identification of a Lead Partner Candidate. It was also suggested that the group should study related initiatives and projects, both in order to learn from these and in order to avoid duplication and overlap. 

Decisions & follow-up:

• It is regarded of utmost importance to maintain the positive momentum triggered by the Sustainable transport conference in Aarhus 18 – 19 April
  
• As a practical step to this effect, the Co-ordinator should draft a letter to all NSC regions, addressed to the top level and signed by the Chairman, asking them to provide information on their possible plans & actions to implement best practice examples presented at the Aarhus conference 18 – 19 April.

The letter should furthermore ask the participating regions about their opinions of the Aarhus conference, and of their willingness to participate in/contribute to a future Interreg 3B-project on sustainable transport. 

• It was regarded necessary to await the experiences of a similar Scottish project on Sustainable transport before submitting a formal Interreg 3B-application for a North Sea  STP. Due to an expected delay in the start-up of the Scottish project, the submission of application and start-up of the NSC project will have to be correspondingly delayed. Dennis Freeman provides the group with further info on the state and progress of the Scottish project. 

• Jan Hallberg explores whether the region of Västra Götaland would be willing to act as the Lead Partner in an Interreg 3B-bid for a STP
  
• In the process of developing a STP, it is important to be aware of and co-ordinate with related initiatives & projects, i.e. the project idea from Northampton and the Mobility Management conference in Sweden in May 2003 with corresponding networks. Cf. Papers distributed at the meeting
  
• Lars Dagnæs drafts a short version of the STP on the basis of the background paper distributed to the meeting, and circulates it within the group. It is envisaged to use such a short version in the efforts of recruiting partners to the STP.

22/02 EU Transport Policies

  The Co-ordinator referred the main conclusions from a meeting of the EU Transport Council (Transport ministers) on 3 October (a press release was enclosed with the meeting papers). He found it regrettable that the Council failed to reach an agreement on Marco Polo, a programme for promoting intermodal transport, and the new orientations for the Trans-European Networks of Transport (TEN-T). He also informed that the CPMR Secretariat had issued a press release in response to the Council meeting – a copy of which was distributed at the meeting. According to the press release, the CPMR has set itself the objective of working with the EU Commission in order to influence the Transport Council on these issues.

The Co-ordinator also referred to a Committee of Region (COR) seminar on intermodal transport solutions which took place in Brussels on 2 October 2002. The main conclusion from the seminar was a determination to promote a new "stock exchange" for intermodal transport platforms that could radically improve transport of goods and passengers – in which the regions were regarded to have major role to play.  

This seminar was the first in a series of Transport seminars organised by the CoR's Territorial Cohesion Commission.  The next - on transport pricing - will take place in early 2003.

The meeting found the mentioned seminar interesting, and recommended that the group should try to follow (obtain info and possibly participate) the series of COR transport seminars.

The Co-ordinator then informed about the actions & initiatives that had been carried out in this field since the last meeting in Aarhus on 17 April (Cf.  follow-up sections on item 12/02). These “actions “ are described in several of the papers distributed before the meeting.

• The Co-ordinator raised the group’s concerns over lack of transparency and co-determination in the CPMR process in his report to the NSC Executive Committee meeting in Norwich on 19 June, (Cf. item 12/02 in the minutes from 17 April)
  
• Aberdeenshire drafted a resolution for the NSC General Assembly in Norfolk 19-21 June with basis in the group’s response to the EU  transport White Paper. The resolution was adopted by the General Assembly.
  
• The Co-ordinator met with CPMR’s Transport Director in Paris on 2 July.

At the meeting, it was disclosed that the CPMR, with funding from the region of Midi Pyréneés, have hired a French consultant to draft the White Paper response and to produce studies on the TEN-T review, and other aspects of EU transport policy. His name is Christian Reynaud, Director of the research institute of NESTEAR. E-mail: christian.reynaud@neste.net Web site: http://www.neste.net/ Monsieur Reynaud has expressed an interest in presenting his ideas to the NSC.

For further info from this meeting, Cf. a note distributed to the group on 19 July

• Steve Taylor, Aberdeenshire and the Co-ordinator participated at a meeting of the CPMR Intercom group on transport, in Ioannina, Greece, on 18 September.

At the request of the CPMR, Taylor presented an idea for an Interreg 3C project among CPMR member commissions, based on a Scottish model for transport policy consultation.

The purpose of the project is to involve the regions more in the development of European transport policy and help the CPMR to produce transport policies more in tune with people’s wishes. The CPMR should in turn bring the consultation input before the EU. Such a project proposal could also serve to strengthen CPMR’s involvement in sustainable transport.

The Intercom group regarded the proposal as important and ambitious, and decided that it would be further discussed &developed at the next Intercom meeting

The next meeting of the Intercom group is scheduled for 12 and 13 December in the region of Midi Pyréneés in Toulouse, France. The Co-ordinator and Dennis Freeman are going to attend the meeting.

• Steve Taylor and the Co-ordinator drafted the speech (10 min) on transport that NSC President Bent Hansen delivered at CPMR’s General Assembly in Greece on 19 September.

The speech outlined the main points of the group’s White Paper response and highlighted our best practice approach to sustainable transport. The 3C-project idea on transport policy consultations was also mentioned in the speech.

• The Co-ordinator attended the transport session at the CPMR General Assembly (Cf. paper attached to the meeting papers).
  
• A resolution based on the group’s response to the White Paper, was adopted by the CPMR General Assembly with only minor/insignificant amendments

In summing up, the Co-ordinator maintained that several of the points above had demonstrated an openness on the part of the CPMR towards NSC perspectives and priorities. This impression was also confirmed at the meeting with CPMR’s Transport Director on 2 July. These points are:

• The fact that CPMR’s Transport Director on short notice had agreed to meet the Co-ordinator bilaterally, outside any regular meeting. 
  
• CPMR’s interest in developing the Scottish model on transport policy consultations into a 3C project
  
• That the NSC was invited to deliver a 10-min speech on transport at the CPMR General Assembly
  
• That the CPMR General Assembly (GA) adopted the resolution based on the White Paper response

 The GA also adopted an other transport resolution adopted by the NSC General Assembly.

NSC Executive Secretary, Henrik Jensen, said that the NSC Executive Committee is pleased with the group’s work on EU transport policy. Although there are signs that the CPMR is taking a more open & responsive attitude towards NSC concerns in this area, he stressed that the NSC should nevertheless monitor the CPMR process very closely in the time ahead in order to ascertain that our priorities are taken into consideration; this should not be taken for granted. We should therefore be prepared to intervene through the NSC and national representatives of the CPMR Political Bureau whenever necessary.  

The meeting agreed that the group should continue to work through the CPMR on EU transport policy and possibly be more active in responding to calls for concrete proposals. The CPMR Intercom group on transport was regarded as an appropriate channel in this respect. It was however regarded essential to pursue alternative routes & channels towards the EU system in order to bypass possible “blockages” in the CPMR channel. In addition to the Commission DGTREN, such channels could be national transport ministries and representatives from NSC regions in the EU Parliament and the COR. The Transport Council’s failure to reach agreement on the TEN-T and the Marco Polo programme, proves the case for also targeting national ministries and the EU Parliament.

The meeting also felt a need to have a better picture of where the White Paper is currently standing in the EU decision making system, and on the procedure forward. The Co-ordinator was asked to check up this matter.

Decisions & follow-up:

• It was still regarded necessary to monitor the transparency of the CPMR process in order to ensure that NSC perspectives & priorities are taken into account. The group should therefore be ready to intervene through the NSC and national representatives of the CPMR Political Bureau whenever necessary. The CPMR Intercom group on transport is an appropriate channel on the administrative level.

• The group should maintain and develop alternative channels to the CPMR in the efforts of influencing EU transport policies, i.e. direct channels to DGTREN, the European Parliament (EP) and the Committee of Regions (COR), as well as through respective national Transport Ministries.

• In order to implement the point above, group members from EU regions should start to identify and establish contacts with EP- and COR- members from their regions/countries.

• The group should respond to CPMR’s call (Cf. info distributed at the meeting) for concrete corridor proposals to the revision of TEN-T. Such proposals should be brought forward in the CPMR Intercom Transport group. Dennis Freeman of Aberdeenshire is requested to draft such proposals.  
  
• The Co-ordinator seeks to obtain info on the recent COR-seminar on intermodal transport (Cf. paper distributed to the meeting).   The group aims to be represented at the next seminar in this series, in early 2003
  
• The Co-ordinator should seek to clarify the current standing and future process for the Transport White Paper in the EU decision making system
  
• Dennis Freeman intensifies the efforts of having the group’s White Paper response published in a European wide journal, Cf. decision from previous meetings.
  
• Those who have not sent the White Paper response to their National government, should do that as soon as possible, (Cf. Decisions still pending from previous meetings), and promptly inform the Co-ordinator thereof.

23/02 General NSC information

NSC Executive Secretary, Henrik Jensen informed.

Rural development project as an Interreg 3B-bid
The NSC has decided that the issue of rural development should be developed as an Interreg 3B- project. The background of the project is the fact that many North Sea regions face the same kind of challenges when it comes to rural development. The principal aim of the project is to develop, test and implement solutions to some of the core problems facing rural areas in the North Sea Region and thereby to spur a positive development in these areas”.

Health care, transport and economic development have been identified as 3 areas of particular importance. The project is supposed to consist of testing and implementation phases and will not be a “paper project”.

The project application will be submitted to the NS Interreg IIIB Secretariat in February 2003, and decided upon in April. The project intends to run until 2006/7.

Viborg County is the lead partner. The structure of the project will consist of one partner from each NSC country. Behind these partners there will be established national networks where all interested regions can participate.

A first planning meeting took place in Viborg on the 10 October with participants from Scotland, England and Norway. Henrik M Jensen would also have a meeting with a Swedish representative later the same day. The Dutch are positive towards the project and so are the Germans, who will follow it up.

The transport dimension of the project will address the issue of alternative public transport solutions in rural areas, incl. a better co-ordination between buses and taxis. The meeting pointed to that such elements are contained in several of the best practice presentations from the Aarhus conference in April, and The Lead partner in Viborg was encouraged to study these presentations closer, in order not to “invent the wheel again”. There are similar elements also in the project bid from Northamptonshire.

The meeting also pointed to the importance of roads, regional airports and ICT for developing rural areas.

Henrik informed that the project paper, distributed to the group before the meeting, will be revised shortly and a new version will be sent to the NSC Co-ordinators. Jon Halvard will distribute the new version to the Transport group. There will also be distributed a list with the names of the national representatives in the project.

5th North Sea conference on environment, Bergen 21-22 March
Representatives of the NSC had the opportunity to give input to the ministerial declaration of the conference. The NSC was observer and got 2 minutes speaking time. More info on the conference is found at the NSC web site.

The Secretariat for the North Sea conferences has now passed from Norway to Sweden. The next conference will take place in Göteborg in 2005/06. This conference will be more narrow thematically, focusing on the prosecution of pollution offenders, environment (incl. ship pollution) and fishing. Per Hörberg (Environment group) and Ann Bell (Fisheries group) will follow the process up to the next conference on behalf of the NSC.

NSC General Assembly 2003
The General Assembly in 2003 will be held in Cuxhaven, in Germany, 18 – 20 June. This is the first time a NSC General Assembly is held in a German region.

A very broad theme has been selected for the General Assembly – Common strategies for a sustainable economic development – allowing for an involvement of all NSC thematic groups.

The NSC Co-ordinators will, according to standard procedure, go to Cuxhaven on 11 – 12 December to prepare the study tours in co-operation with the German hosts.

New NSC web page
The design and structure of the NSC web page have been changed this autumn. All NSC groups are requested to give feedback on the new web site – particularly if errors or missing elements are detected. Positive feedback is also welcome.

Interreg 3B
The next Steering Committee meeting in Viborg on 25 – 26 November will decide on 28 applications asking for € 52 millions. There is about 130 mill. Euro available in total and with 11 calls for projects, an average of 10-12 mill. Euro can be granted each time. This means there is fierce competition for the money, and it is predicted that only about one forth of the applications will be approved. (As the decisions on the applications already have been made at the time of writing, you are advised to consult the Interreg web page for the results).

The Interreg Secretariat had considered it was not in a position to evaluate the 5 projects dealing with SMEs and ICT, so a group of external experts nominated by the national governments has been called in. It is hoped that this process will not delay the decision process.

The next application deadline for Interreg 3B is 1st March 2003.

New Vice Chair of the Transport group appointed
At the Executive Committee meeting in Västra Götaland on 18 October, Cllr. Jim Wade from  Northamptonshire Council in England was unanimously accepted as vice-chair of the Transport & Communication Group. The NSC Secretariat is particularly pleased to have someone from EMRLGA  involved, as it is the direct result of a NSC meeting in Grantham in February.

Decisions & follow-up:

• The members of the group are encouraged to provide input to the transport part of the NSC Rural Development Project-bid (Cf. paper distributed to the meeting). There will also be an opportunity to provide input through the respective national representatives (one in each NSC country, names to be disclosed by the NSC Secretariat).
  
• The Rural Development Lead Partner in Viborg is advised to apply a positive approach to the project – focusing on the advantages/possibilities of rural areas, and on the positive consequences of rural development for urban areas (less congestion, reduced pressure & prices on the housing markets etc). The meeting also pointed to the importance of education and housing for rural development

24/02 Exchange of information on current Interreg projects
Descriptions of two Interreg 3B-projects on transport which Vest-Agder and some other NSC regions are partners to (Northern Maritime Corridor and SEAPLANE (regional air transport)) had been distributed before the meeting. The participants in the meeting had in advance been requested to prepare short presentations of or distribute info on relevant Interreg projects that their regions are partners to or otherwise know of.

The reason for introducing this item on the agenda is that the group should have a good overview over Interreg projects or bids relating to its work, Cf. item 21 and 22/02.  

The meeting agreed to the need of being up to date on relevant Interreg projects and found it useful to have been informed about projects/bids under the preceding items on the agenda. The time did not allow for any extensive exchange of info on concrete projects. The meeting suggested that practical steps should be taken to collect and disseminate information to the group on relevant projects, bids or ideas.

Decisions & follow-up:

• The members of the group provide the Co-ordinator by the end of the year with info on relevant Interreg-projects/bids that their regions are partners to or are otherwise acquainted with. The Co-ordinator then compiles and distributes an overview over the projects to the group. The next meeting should discuss how the group should relate to the different projects.

25/02 Date and venue for next meeting(s)

During this administration (since January 2001), the group has met in all NSC countries except England and Holland.

According to a principle of rotation, the Co-ordinator proposed that the group should explore the option of having the next meeting in January in the home region of the new Vice Chair, Jim Wade, in Northamptonshire, England.

The spring meeting should accordingly take place in Holland.

Decisions & follow-up:

• The Co-ordinator checks whether Northamptonshire in England is willing and able to host the next meeting of the group, on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 January 2003. 

Latest: Northamptonshire has now accepted to host the next meeting of the group on the above mentioned dates. Further details of the meeting will be distributed, as soon they are available.

• The representative of Groeningen Sea Port, indicated a willingness to host the spring meeting (April, May) in the Province of Groeningen. This meeting is targeted as the preferred time & venue for a joint event with the NSC Business Development group (BDG). The BDG Co-ordinator checks whether a joint event in Groeningen in April/May would be feasible for the BDG.
  
• The group should consider the option of having a video conference between the spring and autumn meeting in order to compensate for the relatively long interval between those meetings (April/May – October). The group should also consider having an even four month-interval between the meetings (January-May-September-January). The autumn meeting would thus be moved from October to September.

26/02 Any other business
No items.