Agenda item

            (Mrs. C. Sullivan, Business, Research and Development Officer, attended in connection with this item)

            The Members were reminded that, at the meeting of Council on 3rd December, the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 23rd November, under the heading “Visit to Brussels”, was amended to provide that the visit take place to Brussels, as originally planned, but that it be postponed until the New Year.

            The Business, Research and Development Officer informed the Members that, the visit took place on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th January and the delegation consisted of the Lord Mayor, Councillors Walsh and Lyons, and two officers.  She informed the Members that, during the course of the visit, the delegation had met with the following:

·        Andrew Elliot, Head of Office, NI Executive Office in Brussels;

·        Nina Obermaier, Adviser to Taskforce 50;

·        Hermione Gough, Director for UK-EU Partnership at the UK’s Permanent Representation to the European Union;

·        Mr. Dieter Cavalleri Minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs and Brexit at the Mission of Switzerland to the EU;

·        Micheal Ó Conchuir, Secretary General European Alliance Group - European Committee of the Regions;

·        David Brück  & Amal Kaoua Deputy Directors Brexit Unit, Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU;

·        The 3 Northern Ireland MEPs - Diane Dodds MEP, Martina Anderson MEP and Jim Nicholson  MEP;

·        Mairead McGuiness MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament and an Irish MEP from Midlands-North-West Constituency;

·        Matt Carthy MEP, Irish MEP from Midlands-North-West Constituency;

·        Gabriele Zimmer MEP who sits on the European Parliament’s  Brexit Steering Group;

            She further advised that a meeting had been arranged with Mr. Elmar Brok, MEP and that, due to scheduling difficulties, it hadn’t been possible to meet in Brussels.  However, Mr. Brok had subsequently travelled to Belfast and had taken the opportunity to meet with the Lord Mayor.

            The Business, Research and Development Officer informed the Members of the key themes within all of the discussions that had taken place during the delegation, and highlighted that it had been important that views from all of the different perspectives with regard to Brexit, from Belfast and the wider region were presented and that ongoing engagement would be welcomed.

            She further informed the Committee that the key points that came out of the meetings which had occurred during the delegation were:

·        Cross border bodies will continue to operate and even under a ‘no deal’ scenario, Peace and Interreg funding has been agreed to the end of 2020;

·        A case will have to be made in relation to accessing future EU funding programmes and this is likely to be based on what is available for third party countries – there are current examples of  non-EU countries accessing funding programmes but this will be subject to UK government’s agreement to make the relevant levels of financial contributions to the relevant programmes;

·        Whilst there is a desire for an orderly exit and the avoidance of a ‘no deal’ scenario, ‘no deal’ planning needs to be taking place – and has increased over recent weeks;

·        Visits are important as they help inform both officials and MEPs in Brussels of what is happening on the ground – there was positive feedback about previous engagement with a range of political representatives and civic society in NI;

·        Switzerland’s relationship with the EU has been ongoing for 40 years and is constantly evolving – although Switzerland was obviously never a member of the EU to begin with.

            A Member indicated that he felt that the delegation to Brussels was a worthwhile visit and that the level of engagement and the broad spectrum of individuals who partook in meetings with the delegation demonstrated the success and value of the trip.

            The Committee noted the update.