Southern Regional Assembly Study – Visit to Brussels

Earlier this month the Irish Regions European Office hosted six Southern Regional Members and two Assembly officials. Beginning their two-day study visit in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU, Tadhg Browne, EU Support Officer of the Irish Regions European Office, delivered a presentation on the work of the Irish Regions European Office and the Irish Delegation to the EU Committee of the Regions. Mr. Browne also highlighted how the IREO has engaged with the local authority sector in Ireland.

The group next met Programme Manager for EU Cohesion Policy Post-2027, Stéphanie Gantzer-Houzel whom highlighted how regions can engage with EU Cohesion Policy as well as outlining various funding opportunities available to Irish local authorities including the European Regional Development Fund, Just Transition Fund and European Urban Initiative.

The final meeting of the morning was with Director of Institutional Affairs and EU staffing in the Irish Permanent Representation, Philip Grant, who outlined the role of the various EU institutions and how the EU Committee of the Regions interacts with them. He also discussed the opportunities for Ireland in the run up to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026.

The group transferred to the European Parliament to meet with four MEPs from the Ireland South constituency. Beginning with MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, they discussed challenges for rural areas, then met with MEP Billy Kelleher on the topic of energy, followed by MEP Sean Kelly to discuss current trade issues. The group then met with MEP Michael McNamara and discussed the future of Cohesion Policy.

The group, again, began day two in the Irish Permanent Representation  with a presentation from Karl-Filip Coenegrachts, Executive Director and Virginie Verstraete, Head of Communications from Open & Agile Smart Cities. They highlighted the progress being made on the European Smart Communities Programme, of which the Irish Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is a member.

A priority of the study-visit was exploring the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, to analyse this topic the group had a presentation from Aleksandra Olejnik, Policy Officer, at DG Research. Ms. Olejnik discussed the work being done at European level as well as showing how Ireland is progressing.

The group concluded their two-day visit with a presentation from Noel Regan, Counsellor in the Irish Permanent Representation with responsibility for Environment and Energy Policy. Mr. Regan tied the two-day visit together by walking the group through the European legislation process before discussing on-going European environmental and energy policy challenges.

EMRA Local Authority Chief Executives Study Visit to Brussels

In March the Irish Regions European Office played host to seven Chief Executives from local authorities in the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA) area, together with Clare Bannon, A/ Director of EMRA. Beginning their two-day study visit in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU, Teresa Lennon, Head of the Irish Regions European Office delivered a presentation on the work of the IREO and the Irish Delegation to the EU Committee of the Regions. Ms. Lennon also highlighted the work being done by the IREO to engage with local authorities across Ireland.

The group then met Director for Housing, Cities and Regions at the European Investment Bank (EIB), Tanguy Desrousseaux whom discussed funding opportunities for Local Authorities from the EIB and highlighted how the Bank is engaging with the Irish local government sector.

The final engagement of the morning was with Ambassador Cáit Moran, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the EU, whom outlined Ireland’s role within the EU and current priorities for Ireland ahead of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2026. This meeting provided an opportunity for the Chief Executives to explore potential areas of collaboration, as well as offer inputs on political priorities for the Presidency from a local and regional viewpoint.

The group subsequently transferred to the European Parliament to meet with nine of the Irish MEPs. This meeting gave the Chief Executives time to highlight issues in their region and how best to work with the MEPs to discuss potential solutions.

Following the meeting, the Chief Executives arrived at the Committee of the Regions and met Chiara Malagodi, Head of Cabinet of the President of the Committee of the Regions, Micheál Ó Conchúir, Secretary General, European Alliance Group, Sean O’Curneen, Secretary General, Renew Europe Group and Donal Kennedy, Political Adviser, European People’s Party Group. During this meeting Ms. Malagodi outlined the political priorities of the COR new mandate, as well as highlighting the important work being done by the Irish Delegation in the previous mandate. Following this, Mr.  Ó Conchúir, Mr. O’Curneen and Mr. Kennedy underlined the importance of the Irish Delegation for policy making in Europe and highlighted the work being done by the IREO in Brussels on behalf of the local government sector.

The group, again, began day two in the Permanent Representation with a presentation from Damien Flynn, Agriculture Counsellor. Mr. Flynn’s presentation showed the role of the Permanent Representation and the Legislative Process. This was followed by a meeting with Caoimhe Gavin, SME Counsellor, on competitiveness in the context of the Draghi Report and the Letta Report.

The group then turned their attention to EU Regional Policy Funding in Ireland with Kai Stryczynski, Programme Manager at the European Commission, whom discussed a myriad of funding opportunities including the European Regional Development Fund, Just Transition Fund, Interregional Innovation Investments and European Urban Initiative.

Concluding the morning’s meetings, Ludger Odenthal, Team Leader at the European Commission’s  Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs met the group to discuss job creation and SME policy and funding.

In the afternoon the group moved to the European Commission to meet European officials. They began with Fiona Knab-Lunny, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner McGrath. The group discussed ways in which local authorities can battle disinformation, the democracy shield and civic engagement.

The group then met Matthew Baldwin, Head of the European Commission’s Housing Task Force to discuss housing issues in their areas and where they feel Europe can contribute.

The group concluded their two day visit with a presentation from Aleksandra Klenke, Policy Officer, Sustainable Smart Mobility, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. Following her presentation, the group discussed the roll-out of electric vehicles across Ireland and how Ireland can transition to greener transport.

Cork County Council Study Visit to Brussels, January 2025

At the end of January, a delegation of fourteen Cork County Council staff and local representatives underwent a packed three day study visit to Brussels.

Starting in the Irish Permanent Representation’s new Cortenberg building, the delegation heard about the role of the Irish Regions European Office and the Irish Delegation to the EU Committee of the Regions from Head of Office Teresa Lennon.

Rounding out the first day of their visit, the group met Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP, Micheal O’Conchuir, Secretary General, European Alliance Group, and Nigel Hutson, General Affairs Attache, Irish Permanent Representation to the EU.

On day two the delegation visited the European Commission to first meet Paul Tuinder to discuss renewable energy, followed by meetings with Victoria Petrova to discuss tourism and Stephanie Gantzer-Houzel and Tsvyatko Velikov to discuss local and regional funding opportunities.

The highlight of the visit was a meeting with Commissioner Michael McGrath, where they learned about his new portfolio and discussed Europe’s impact on local and regional politics.

The group then visited the European Parliament to meet with Ireland South MEPs; Billy Kelleher, Sean Kelly, Kathleen Funchion, and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

Day three involved meetings at the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU to hear about the role of the the Representation in EU decision making as well as presentations from Lisa Underwood, Energy Attaché and Rob McGuinness, Environment Attache for Ireland.

URBACT Call for Good Practices Open Now!

The URBACT call for Good Practices is accepting applications until June 30th. The project is seeking existing local practices that are impactful, participatory, integrated, relevant for the European Union and transferable to other European cities.

Cities from European Union’s 27 Member States, Partner States (Norway, Switzerland), cities from countries benefiting from the Instrument for Pre-Accession to the EU (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), as well as from Ukraine and Moldova, are invited to submit their good practices. Selected practices will benefit from a variety of visibility and promotional actions with the URBACT City Festival on 8th-10th April 2025 in Wroclaw (PL) as one of the highlights.

In addition to the increased visibility for your town/city, the associated networking and communications opportunities on offer, those initiatives awarded the URBACT Good Practice label have the option of applying as Lead Partner to an URBACT transnational Transfer Network in 2025, giving you the opportunity to both impart your good practice on several other towns or cities around Europe and fine tune your own practice even further!

You can read more about the Good Practice call here where you will find the call’s Terms of Reference, an infographic, as well as other items including a link to the Secretariat’s first and second online info sessions in April and May, and a link to the upcoming June session.

Following the previous call for Good Practices, Cork, Kildare, Longford, and Monaghan were all awarded Good Practice labels in 2017. You can find all selected Good Practices here.

If you interested in applying or have any questions, the national contact point for URBACT is Karl Murphy, kmurphy@emra.ie.

Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly Visit

Coinciding with the 156th CoR plenary session, the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA) undertook a two-day study visit to Brussels. The delegation, consisting of eight councillors and Chief Executive Jim Conway embarked on a whirlwind tour of the EU in their two-days meeting MEPS, EU officials and Irish Permanent Representation staff.

Starting their visit in the European Parliament, the MEPs began by meeting Barry Andrews MEP, Colm Markey MEP, Ciaran Cuffe MEP, as well as Clare Daly MEP. Staff from both Frances Fitzgerald MEP and Maria Walsh MEP offices’ made themselves available to the delegation to speak about their work.

Following a packed morning, the delegation made their way to the European Parliament’s hemicycle to see the conclusion of the 156th CoR plenary session.

The afternoon found the delegation making their way to the Committee of the Regions for a meeting Michael Collins, Deputy Director of the CoR. During their meeting Michael gave the delegation an overview of the work of the CoR as well as outlining the role of the Regional Assembly in the CoR’s work.

The first day’s meetings were rounded out with a presentation from DG Regio Representatives Carmen Gonazalez and Miia Jouppi who spoke to the delegation about EU Regional Policy programmes including the Just Transition Programme, European Regional Development Funding and the New European Bauhaus programme.

The delegation visited the Irish Permanent Representation on the second day of their visit to meet Fionnuala Bourke. Fionnuala spoke to the delegation about her role as Cohesion Policy Attache as well as the need to increase the Irish presence in top jobs in EU institutions.

The visit concluded with a meeting with DG Regio official Tatiana Gouveia Coelho de Oliveira who spoke to the delegation about the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Register for Europe, Let’s Cooperate – Interreg Europe

Registration for the 8th edition of ‘Europe, let’s cooperate’ is now open!

The Interreg Europe programme will open its first call for proposals on the 5th of April. In order to prepare for the call the Europe Let’s Cooperate platform is available now.

The Europe Let’s Cooperate platform helps you get ready for the call on the 5th by offering you:

  • Insights and information about the call and the new programme
  • Networking opportunities to build new contacts and complete your project partnership
  • Tips and inspiration to build a successful project proposal

The Interreg Europe programme has six topics which contributes to EU policy objectives and these are:

  • Smarter Europe
  • Greener Europe
  • More Connected Europe
  • More Social Europe
  • Europe Closer to Citizens
  • Better Cooperation Governance

To see a detailed agenda and register click the link: Europe, let’s cooperate! 2022

Save the Date – LIFE Info Days 2022

The European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will be hosting a number of LIFE programme info days from Wednesday the 18th until Friday the 20th of May.

This year marks the LIFE programme’s thirtieth anniversary. The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. Created in 1992, it has co-financed thousands of projects. The new LIFE programme 2021-2027 has a budget of €5.4 billion and is divided into four sub-programmes:

  • Nature and biodiversity
  • Circular economy and quality of life
  • Climate change mitigation and adaptation
  • Clean energy transition

The info days, organised by CINEA, will play host to a number of webinars, which will guide applicants and potential applicants through the LIFE programme, Calls for Proposals, and Priority Topics for 2022. Each of these webinars will be followed by a series of Question and Answers sessions.

Those in attendance will also be able to avail of virtual networking opportunities, as well as holding bilateral meetings with CINEA project advisors.

For more information and updates click here: Save the date: #EULife22 Info Days (europa.eu)

The Irish contact point for the LIFE programme is LIFE@decc.gov.ie

Round up of 148th CoR Plenary

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) held a remote meeting for the first plenary of 2022 on 26-27 January 2022. It was a lively session with many contributions from Irish CoR Members. 

The session was formally opened by the Head of the Irish Delegation to the CoR Michael Murphy. In his opening address he paid tribute to the former President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, who he described as, ‘A true European who wanted to close the gap between institutions and citizens.’

In relation to EU matters for local and regional authorities Cllr Una Power stated that, ‘We must talk about a Europe that is protected from climate change, when it comes to strategic autonomy that is an incredibly important part of our work going forward.’

The second day included a debate on the EU Green Deal: Sustainable smart mobility in our regions, cities and villages. Cllr Declan McDonnell declared that, ‘Connectivity and accessibility are essential in ensuring social, economic and territorial cohesion, transport affordability must be taken into consideration when devising new policies.’

Henriette Reker, the Mayor of Cologne, was named as the first Laureate of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award created in honour of Mayor Paweł Adamowicz of Gdańsk. Cllr Kate Feeney reflected, ‘We are all reminded of the fragility of human life…our vulnerability pushes us to strive for better.’

In relation to the report on the impact of CoR opinions Cllr Kieran McCarthy commented, ‘I’m pleased to see that despite the challenges of the pandemic we did manage as an institution to strengthen our links with our institutions and increase our influence on processes.’

Further to the above, lively discussions took place on topics such as an EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027, local and regional authorities accelerating the implementation of the EU Pollinators Initiative, a long-term vision for rural areas, debate on cohesion implementation, towards zero emission road transport, debate on the Conference on the Future of Europe, gender equality and climate change, and the Action Plan: Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil.

Members will reconvene for the next plenary in April 2022.

 

Read more on this CoR page.

Recap of the 147th CoR Plenary

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) held its last plenary session of 2021 on 1-2 December. We reflect below on this very active session with engaging discussions and debates.

Kicking off proceedings on the first day of the 147th CoR Plenary session was a debate on Strengthening European democracy in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe with statements from Herman Van Rompuy. The debate focused on the future of democracy and highlighted how the conference can provide an opportunity to bring the EU closer to its citizens.

Cllr McCarthy makes a contribution following a statement from French President Macron during 147th CoR plenary session.

This was followed by a statement from French President Emmanuel Macron, who discussed European values and the renewal of democracy. (The statement can be viewed here.) Cllr Kieran McCarthy spoke about the relationship between the EU and the UK and the need for bottom-up smart inclusive development, calling for more subsidiarity and less centralisation of budgets and decision-making across the EU.

Eradicating homelessness in the European Union proved a popular opinion with many contributions from Irish Members. Cllr Kate Feeney spoke on the acute homelessness crisis in Ireland, the success of Housing First, the need for an EU wide definition of homelessness and homelessness in the LGBTIQ community. Cllr Declan McDonnell provided an overview of the homelessness crisis in Galway and the need for long term supports and a comprehensive winter response. Cllr Dan Boyle commented on economic policies where the cost of rental or purchase of a property is beyond many people. He highlighted the need for an integrated response to the homelessness crisis and that the CoR can identify and encourage best practice.

Cllr Feeney at 147th CoR Plenary, December 2021

Cllr Feeney makes a statement during the CoR plenary session, December 2021.

Nominees for the 2021 Mayor Pawel Adamowicz Award presented to the CoR, the award will be presented on the 27th of January 2022.

A draft resolution was presented on the 2022 work programme of the European Commission and the CoR political priorities for 2022. Cllr McCarthy highlighted the importance for local and regional authorities and the need to promote digital cohesion.

During the debate on the 2022 European Year of Youth Cllr McCarthy acknowledged the suffering of young people during the pandemic and the need to listen and speak with young people.

In relation to the debate on local and regional authorities and the refugees’ emergency Cllr Boyle highlighted the lack of an integrated and coordinate approach, and the need to be less reactive and more considered.

On the implementation of cohesion policy, Cllr McCarthy stressed the need for local and regional resilience scoreboards to see how regions are doing on a wide range of issues.

During the debate on the fight against disinformation, Cllr Boyle emphasised the need to put in place the highest standards of ethics ensuring the quality of the discourse improves.

Concerning the gender dimension of structural and cohesion funds in 2021-2027, Cllr Boyle welcomed the opinion and emphasised the lack of a comprehensive gender equality strategy.

Further to the above, lively discussions took place on topics such as:

  • Better Regulation
  • Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
  • Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility
  • European Approach to Artificial Intelligence
  • EU action plan for organic farming
  • Sustainable blue economy and aquaculture
  • Updating the new Industrial Strategy for Europe
  • The role of nuclear power in the clean energy transition
  • European Commission Report on Competition Policy in 2020

With this plenary session, the CoR wrapped up business for 2021. Members will reconvene for the next plenary in January 2022.

Further details on the 147th CoR Plenary sessions can be found on this CoR page.

The Wheel’s ‘Access Europe Showcase’ event

The Wheel is hosting an exciting event next week called ‘Access Europe Showcase’. The online event will take place on Monday,  to 

The occasion will celebrate The Wheel’s first year of their European funding support programme for Irish civil society organisations called Access Europe.  The event will explore EU project results and success stories as well as launch the new website, EU funding guide and partnership database.

This platform will connect Irish civil society organisations with organisations from across Europe for partnership in EU funded projects. Organisations will be able to create a profile on the database that The Wheel will promote around Europe to increase exposure and linkages to potential projects.

Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne TD will join the event!

About The Wheel

The Wheel is Ireland’s national association of community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises. This organisation represents, supports and connects nonprofit organisations in Ireland. It works to strengthen its member’s capacity and capabilities.

The organisation’s core work programmes focus on: public policy and advocacy, networking, training and development, and information services.

Find out more about their work on their website: www.wheel.ie.

More info and registration

It is free to attend this online event. Registration is required.

Date & time:  to 

For more information and to register, visit this page: www.wheel.ie/training/2021/12/access-europe-showcase-2021