Fight your corner, Blair aide tells North
Jan 30 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
A FORMER adviser to Tony Blair is calling on the North-East to shout louder in Europe to secure more cash.
As UK regions consider how best to use European handouts, Roger Liddle says North-East development bodies must be prepared to push their own case before EU spending bosses.
Mr Liddle, former European adviser to Tony Blair and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, said the maximum benefits of European Union membership would not be felt by regions which “just wait for central Government to take the lead”.
Mr Liddle said: “European money has a very important part to play in economic regeneration. And because of that, I think British regions should be playing a more active part in the debates going on now on the future of the European budget.
“The North cannot rely on the British Government to make that case for investment as strong as it could be doing.
“The regions have to get their act together and make the case for their future. The Government will not do this for you.”
Mr Liddle’s warning came as aid programmes channelling nearly £100m of EU cash to the South-East and East of England were signed yesterday by European Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner. And her calls have not gone unnoticed, with some of the region’s top spending experts taking notes during her talk.
The North-East already benefits from its own “embassy” at the heart of the EU.
The One NorthEast Brussels office allows the development agency a daily chance to influence EU spending bosses and decision makers.
Mr Liddle was speaking at Northumbria University on the future of the North in Europe.
He told The Journal that he agreed with ONE boss Alan Clarke’s call for the region to move away from London comparisons and look to Europe for inspiration. Mr Clarke said London’s huge economic success was always going to outshine the North-East’s achievements, despite a growing economy that “has much to be proud of”.
He said: “London’s success is greater even than many parts of Europe and it is an unfair comparison.
“If we compare like with like, we will see a North doing very well in growth terms.”
Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Fiona Hall said central Government could not just ignore the North-East.
She said some European money had to be applied for by the national Government and it was “absolutely not true” that the Government could afford just to leave the regions to look out for their own funding.
A spokeswoman for the Government Office North-East said the Government was in favour of regional development agencies leading their own EU funding bids.
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