The Merseyside Brussels Office

Maximising Merseyside's engagement with Europe

Welcome to the Merseyside Brussels Office web site, bringing you details of events in Europe, news from the Merseyside Brussels Office and how they relate to events in your area.

The Merseyside Brussels Office was established in September 1996 to represent the region of Merseyside at the heart of the European Union. The Merseyside Brussels Office has evolved from a small partnership to one comprising 14 organisations, spanning 6 local authorities (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) and 8 Merseyside wide bodies (The Mersey Partnership, Merseytravel, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Waste Authority, Merseyside Fire Service, Greater Merseyside Learning and Skills Council, Merseyside Objective 1 Executive and the Merseyside Network for Europe).

The Merseyside Brussels Office provides a vital link between partner organisations, the institutions of the European Union and other regional offices based in Brussels.

The Merseyside Brussels Office is staffed on a full time basis and represents Merseyside effectively across a wide range of areas including Structural Funds, sustainable development, community safety, social inclusion, culture and tourism to name but a few. The office works to ensure that the partners are aware of developments in European policy and legislation so that they are able to participate and input into the development and shaping of future policies.

The Merseyside Brussels Office also acts as a conduit for the establishment of partnerships with other European regions. The office itself is keen to play a full and active part in ensuring that Merseyside is actively involved in shaping the ‘Europe of the Regions’. In the past years, this has meant developing new relationships with regions and cities in Central and Eastern Europe and this is likely to continue and strengthen over the coming months and years.

Over the years, European policy has of course evolved and we are now nearing the end of our second Objective 1 programme which will last until 2006. Work in the office is now concentrating on monitoring, and engaging in the debate that will shape EU regional policy in an enlarged European Union of up to 28 even 30 Member States. Themes and areas that we are focusing on are urban policy, social inclusion and community economic development, environmental sustainability, as well as culture, arts and tourism.