Consultation begins on major EU programmes

Howard Lake | 9 June 2014 | News

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• Ireland

The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) in Northern Ireland has begun a consultation on two EU programmes which will give out over half a billion euro to projects in Ireland and Western Scotland over the next six years.
The Peace IV programme has a total value of €269 million and a number of aims have been set out:

• It will have a strong youth element, allocating “significant levels of financial support” to shared education projects and other initiatives for children and young people; specifically those not in employment, education or training
• It has a “shared spaces and services” objective to transform urban, rural and border areas in need of regeneration, designing spaces to “reduce sectarianism and racism by encouraging greater levels of positive cross-community interaction”
• It will fund projects with a “civil society” objective to “help create a more cohesive society, where different cultural identities can be celebrated, free from prejudice and intolerance”.

The latest Interreg programme is worth €282 million and has a number of key areas:

• Research and innovation support will focus on high value-added sectors including health and life sciences and renewable energy, with a “significant amount of support” to help firms innovate to enhance export capabilities
• Cross-border cooperation will be emphasised “for the more efficient delivery of services that will address health inequalities and support the move from institutional to community-based healthcare provision”
• Under the proposed environment objective, “support will be provided to the recovery and protection of native species and habitats, the more effective management of marine resources and investment in cross-border solutions to improve water quality”.

Five public meetings will be held at venues in Belfast and Derry in Northern Ireland, Dundalk and Cavan in the Republic of Ireland, as well as Glasgow in Scotland, which benefits from the Interreg programme.
SEUPB is a north-south body that oversees the management of both EU programmes.
 

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.