Fight on to convince Treasury over £100m European jobs fund

Oct 15 2009 The Journal

A BATTLE is on to convince Treasury officials not to delay a £100m European jobs and energy fund for the North East.

Continuing worries over how much cash could be added on to national debt levels may threaten a fund designed to bring well-paid jobs to the North East.

When the region’s 12 councils signed up to a European pledge to reduce carbon emissions earlier this year they began to negotiate a fund worth around £100m.

Spending chiefs in the EU want to transform the North’s economy through green loans in exchange for more environmentally friendly policies.

The idea is to group a series of projects together into one region-wide initiative to develop such ventures as greener public transport schemes.

But ongoing talks in Brussels with the European Investment Bank (EIB), whose cash would create hundreds of jobs directly and many more further down the supply chain, will soon come under close scrutiny by Treasury officials.

The worry in the region is that the cash may now never make it to the 12 councils due to Treasury concerns over who is responsible for the debt.

Last night European MP Fiona Hall said the money could be lost if the region doesn’t get the go-ahead to put together its case before bank cash runs out.

She said: “This money will undoubtedly create jobs, and any delay would be a disaster. We miss out sometimes because we do not have a strong enough independent regional presence.

“Talks with the EIB show us we need to be free to make these decisions and my anxiety is that a lot of hard work will go into this from within our region but if we do not have the ability to run with this we will see other areas use up what funds there are and we lose out.