Euclide says farewell

Elise – Euclide… For the past 15 years, the AEIDL has disseminated information and news about Europe, covering major developments as well as EU projects and calls for tender, conferences and other events, local initiatives in Member States, etc. Thus Euclide has met the need of many actors (including local and regional authorities, development agencies, training centres, bodies providing support for companies and cooperative businesses, consultants, study and research centres, and local development networks) for concise and prompt information.

Today, when all European information has become available in real time worldwide, this kind of information tool is no longer necessary.

We have therefore decided to reorganise our information services as a whole, integrating them into the AEIDL website and providing selected links to the sites of local and regional actors, Member States and the European Union.

We thank our subscribers for their loyalty over many years and look forward to welcoming them to: http://www.aeidl.be.

 

Klaus Werner, Member of the AEIDL Board of Directors

 

News from the institutions

UK takes over EU Presidency

On 1 July last, the UK took over the European Union’s six-month rotating Presidency. Addressing the European Parliament a few days earlier, on 23 June 2005, Prime Minister Tony Blair emphasised his commitment to the European project, telling MEPs that he was a “passionate European”. Outlining the programme of the incoming presidency, he announced that the UK would focus on the EU budget, certain difficult issues such as the directives on services and working time, and relations with Turkey and Croatia.

More specifically, the four priorities of the UK Presidency, as announced on its website, are as follows.

• Europe’s role in the world: Development policies and the fight against poverty, particularly in Africa, as well as acting on climate change, are top of the list of priorities announced by the UK Presidency of the EU.
• Economic reform and social justice: Better law-making, the “Services directive”, the environment and sustainable development, the implementation of the Financial Services Action Plan, progress in discussions on the Chemicals Regulation (REACH), and relations between the EU and the USA are also key priorities of the UK Presidency of the EU.
• Security and stability: This point includes (working towards the accession of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia).
• Future financing: The UK Presidency has announced that it “will take forward the discussions on future financing, drawing on progress made to date, and with a view to resolving all the elements necessary for an overall agreement as soon as possible. The Presidency will first consult all interested partners on the way forward.” 

The official website of the UK Presidency of the EU has been operational since 27 June: http://www.eu2005.gov.uk. After the UK, the Presidency of the European Union will be held in turn by Austria and Finland.

Adoption of Guidelines for Growth and Jobs 2005-2008

Within the framework of the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy, the European Council has decided to re-focus the priorities on growth and employment. On 17 June last, the Council adopted a set of Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (2005-2008). The guidelines identify three kinds of priorities, namely macroeconomic priorities, microeconomic priorities and employment priorities. On the basis of these new guidelines, Member States are to establish National Reform Programmes (NRPs) geared to each country’s specific situation and needs. For its part, the Commission will propose a Community Lisbon Programme (CLP). To find out more, read the summary of the integrated directives on: http://europa.eu.int/scadplu s/leg/e n/cha/c11323.htm or visit the European employment strategy website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/employment_strategy/index_en.htm

Improve the business environment in the EU

Unnecessary rules and red tape stand in the way of sustainable growth, deter business investment and hinder job creation. The European Commission has launched a public online consultation to ask businesses how they feel about how the business environment in the EU can be improved and the administrative burden reduced. The questionnaire is available in all EU languages. The consultation will remain open until 31 December 2005. http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/forms/dispatch?form=418&lang=EN

Maive Rute takes on job of European Commission SME Envoy

Maive Rute, from Estonia, has been appointed as the new “European Commission SME Envoy”. Taking over the position from Finnish national Timo Summa, Maive Rute aims to “serve as a bridge between the world of SMEs and the European Commission”. She will focus on the needs of the SME community, strengthen dialogue with the Commission, promote the cross-border networking of SMEs and foster the exchange of successful practices. For more information on the SME Envoy, see Press Release IP/05/715 or visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ entrepreneurship/sme_envoy/index.htm

 

 

News from the networks

Display

The Display campaign is the first European campaign aimed at encouraging municipalities to publicise the energy and environmental performance of their buildings (energy consumption, CO 2 emissions and water consumption). The Display campaign wishes to promote sustainable building. To this end, it encourages early implementation of European Directive 2002/91/EC on the Energy Performance of Buildings, which must be transposed by Member States by January 2006. This Directive establishes that Member States must take measures to display the energy performance of public buildings. The Display campaign gives municipalities the opportunity to plan ahead for this on a volunteer basis and to publicise their actions among citizens and local actors so as to encourage eco-friendly behaviour by setting an example. Since its launch in the autumn of 2004, more than 100 municipalities in 19 European countries have joined Display. The Display campaign is coordinated by Energie-Cités. For further information, visit: http://www.display-campaign.org

 

Coming events

11 - 15 July 2005, Genova (IT)

The goal of the First International Conference on Open Source Systems is to provide a holistic forum on OSS, bringing together people with various backgrounds. Discussions will cover theories, practices, experiences, and tools for development and applications of OSS systems, with a specific focus on two aspects: the development of open source systems and the underlying technical, social and economic issues; the adoption of OSS solutions and the implications of such adoption both in the public and private sector. http://oss2005.case.unibz.it/

29 September-2 October 2005, Berlin (DE)

The 14th Volonteurope Workshop will allow volunteers, researchers or public officials to share best practices and ideas associated with volunteering, through participation in workshops, presentations and round-table discussions. Conference fees: 364 euros. Registration before: 30 July 2005. For more information, contact: CSV European Office, 237 Pentonville Road, London N1 9NJ, United Kingdom, T: +44 (0) 20 7643 1327/9, F: +44 (0) 20 7278 1020, e-mail: sbreese@csv.org.uk, sturner@csv.org.uk, website: http://www.volonteurope.org.uk.

26-28 October 2005, Sofia (BG)

BISE is an initiative to promote “intelligent energy” in municipalities throughout the New Member States, the candidate countries and the Western Balkans. The 2 nd European BISE Forum, organised with the support of the European Commission, will bring together some 100 people from 20 different countries, including the 17 countries targeted by BISE. The guest speakers will be chosen for their expertise and involvement in the creation of town networks in their respective countries. To find out more, visit: http://www.energie-cites.org

 

Publications

Panorama of the European Union

A new 2005 edition of this colourful basic leaflet about the EU will be published in 20 languages.. It includes a map of Europe and presents the main policies and institutions in 3000 words. Available in EN and the other “old” languages, “new” languages expected in July. http://europa.eu.int/comm/publications/booklets/eu_glance/50/index_en.htm NA-62-04-228-**-D

News from SPAN

On 19 May 2005, the “Fondation Rurale de Wallonie” (Wallonia Rural Foundation – FRW), in partnership with the “Institut de Gestion de l’Environnement et de l’Aménagement du Territoire” (Institute for Environmental Management and Town and Country Planning – ULB-IGEAT), held a seminar on inter-municipal cooperation. A summary has been drawn up of the main conclusions of the event, organised as part of the transnational SPAN project (Strategic Planning Action Network).

Furthermore, the first newsletter of the SPAN project has just been published. This 24-page bilingual (EN/FR) publication, provides useful information on the strategic programming of regional development and the activities of the various project partners in Wallonia (Belgium), Champagne-Ardenne (France), the Irish Republic and Eire (UK). SPAN is financed by the EU under the INTERREG III B North-West Europe programme. Find out more on: http://www.span-eu.org

A new look for the AEIDL site

The European Association for Information on Local Development has launched a brand new website. The site gives an excellent idea of what AEIDL is all about and what services it can offer. There are five main sections.

• “About AEIDL”, introduces you to the raison d’être of the association which was established in 1988, its 28 strong team, board members and working partners. The annual reports since 2002 are also available.
• “Our activities” gives a good overview of all the contracts which AEIDL has conducted in the five key areas of interest: promoting employment, environment, regional development, rural development, citizenship and democracy. Here you will also find an impressive client list which shows the wide diversity of organisations which AEIDL has worked with over the years.
• “Our services” is where you will find out about what expertise AEIDL can offer in various fields: consultancy, evaluation, transnational cooperation, training, publishing, web publishing, event management and communication services.
• The “Publications” section introduces you to recent publications and work which has been produced by the association. Many of the publications are available in multiple languages.
• The “European information” section presents the latest news of interest to local development actors, funding opportunities, a partners search section with a noticeboard and web resources, links and archives to the “EUCLIDE” newsletter since January 2005. The newsletter will be discontinued now that the new site is up and running.

A comprehensive sitemap completes the site. Available in French and English at: http://www.aeidl.be.

 

Announcements

Anti-racism experts wanted

The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) is seeking experts in equality and anti-discrimination who can help produce studies, reports and policy recommendations for the EU institutions. The experts will also be asked to provide data analysis and evaluation in the anti-racism field. Applications are invited from those working in the fields of equality, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other related areas. The EUMC will draw up a list of successful candidates, who will be asked to tender whenever the need arises. Applications can be made at any time until 29 February 2008. Further information is available from the EUMC, T: +43 1 580 30 10, F: +43 1 580 30 92, E-mail: procurement@eumc.eu.int, Internet: http://eumc.eu.int

 

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Responsible at Law: William Van Dingenen - Editor in Chief: Isabelle Mirambet - Editors: Monique Braem, Maylis Campbell, Wendy Jones, Eirini Nikolaïdou.