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Regions & Cities 2012: Economic Crisis & Austerity

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  • Euwrc
  • Donetsk
  • Europe
  • Culture
  • Growth
  • Silesia
  • Denmark
  • Cities
  • Catalan
  • Croatia
  • Economy
  • Crisis
  • Austerity
  • Regions
  • Cities
  • Brussels
  • Euobserver
The 2012 edition of EUobserver's Regions & Cities magazine looks at the impact of the economic crisis on Europe.

REGIONS jOIN army OF EU

REGIONS jOIN army OF EU lobbyISts The number of lobbyists in Brussels working for regions, cities and municipalities has grown to about 1,500 people. By: Philip Ebels Much lobbying goes on at events organised by the Brussels-based Committee of the Regions Photo: Comité des Régions / Committee of the Regions I n Brussels in Park Leopold, nestled between the European Parliament and the EU’s Committee of the Regions, there stands a baroque chateau built in 1903, tucked away behind a steel fence and surveillance cameras. Four different flags bring colour to the courtyard with its finely trimmed hedges: one represents the EU, one is for Belgium, one for Germany and the last has two horizontal stripes - white above, blue below. “Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union,” it says on a plaque at the entrance gate. Bavaria, Germany’s biggest and richest state, was one of the first as a subnational government to have a permanent representation in the EU capital. It has had a presence here since 1987, its deputy director, Gunnar Wiegand, told EUobserver, in order to “report about recent EU developments, promote Bavarian positions towards EU institutions, [and] present and represent Bavaria in Brussels.” The first, in 1985, was the German city of Hamburg, according to Ulla Sarin of what is now the joint office of the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. In December 2011, according to the latest information from the Committee of the Regions, an EU advisory body, there were in Brussels some 250 offices run by regions cities, and municipalities from across the Union and beyond. They are not all as prominent as that of the Bavarians, however, which it says employs 32 people. A survey by EUobserver shows that there are big differences between them. The Icelandic Association of Local Authorities, for example, employs only one person in Brussels, as does almost one in five of those who responded. Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia have none. The average number of employees is a little less than six, meaning that in theory, there could be up to 1,500 regional lobbyists working in the EU capital. There are also big differences in the size of the budgets. Some offices, like the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, have little more than €100,000 per year at their disposal. Others, like the one for South Denmark, have 10 times as much. The average budget is some €350,000, meaning - in the same non-scientific manner - that subnational governments could be spending more than €87 million per year on EU representation. But for many, that might be worth it, as they spend much of their time and money trying to get in on generous EU subsidies. A big chunk of the EU budget every year goes to projects aimed at reducing the difference between rich and poor regions. “Our office is acting as eyes and ears of our region as we actively search for information available only in Brussels, relevant to creating and running projects co-financed by the EU,” wrote Andrzej Siewierski of the central Polish region of Lodzkie. Half of those who responded explicitly mentioned EU funding as an important goal of their work in Brussels. The other half did so less explicitly. EUobserver sent out the survey on 17 September 2012. Of the 249 offices contacted, 34 partially or completely responded. 14 OCTOBER 2012 REGIONS & CITIES

CultURE INCREASINGly SEEN AS path to ECONOMIC GROwth Some regions are using EU money to metamorphose into cultural hotspots. But the next EU budget could put this at risk. By: Honor Mahony With a little IMAGINAtion and some creative interpretation of guidelines on how to spend EU aid, some cities and regions are pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and turning themselves into cultural - and money-making - hotspots. Nantes is one of them. Twentyodd years ago, the western French city had a huge industrial scar at its centre after the closure of its shipyard. The 15 hectare space on the Ile de Nantes was ugly, barren and a reminder of a busier past. Today, it is an artistic centre. Art projects, festivals and shows have put the city on the cultural map and boosted outside investment. The creative industry employs 5,600 people - a 200 percent increase since 1982. Visitor numbers have shot up, from 140,000 in 2006 to 220,000 last year. The city’s authorities got around €54 million from the European Regional Development Fund. An artist’s ‘photo marathon’ of Nantes They spent around €9 million of it just on culture-related investment in the city. Valentina Montalto of KEA - a consultancy specialised in culture - and co-author of a *report looking into the use of EU regional aid for cultural projects, says this reflects better appreciation by local authorities of the importance of creativity. “What is happening in European regional policies is that there is better understanding of culture. There is much less culture for culture’s sake but seeing it as a tool to promote activity and innovation,” she said. There are many examples. Dundee on the east coast of Scotland is another city that has set about transforming itself. “CitIES that have INvEStED IN CUltURE have hAD MORE ECONOMIC SUCCESS thAN thOSE that INvEStED ONly IN CARS AND AIRpORts” Photo: Eric Montfort The starting blocks were the same as those of Nantes - a city in decline after a more prosperous industrial past. In the early 1990s, city developers started to focus on culture and creativity. Now the city accounts for 10 percent of the UK’s digital entertainment industry. It is home to 17 games companies employing over 400 people. Arnhem in the Netherlands has focused on turning itself into a city that designers not only want to come and study in but also to stay afterwards, while Estonia’s Tartu is busy establishing itself as a cultural hub by encouraging cultural entrepreneurship. But, according to Montalto, even if some urban developers are enlightened about the role of culture as a force for economic growth, this does not mean that a profound change has taken place. The proposed new rules for cohesion policy (a bag of EU funds for regional development) give a less prominent position to culture. It is not mentioned in the 11 ‘thematic areas’ where the European Commission wants money to be spent - although it is mentioned in less important strategic guidelines for the spending of EU aid. “Even if the current reference is limited to cultural heritage, compared to the new one, it’s still better,” says Montalto of the proposed changes. Helga Truepel, a German Green MEP, says that the parliament’s culture committee will try to use the report to influence negotiations on the next budget. “It is not about abolishing the intrinsic values of culture but seeing that it is a new part of economic development. It’s a cross-over between culture and economic policies,” said Truepel. “Cities that have invested in culture have had more economic success than those that invested only in cars and airports. In the knowledge society, a lot of innovation - when you put it in economic terms - depends on creativity.” OCTOBER 2012 REGIONS & CITIES 15

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