The Merseyside Brussels Office

Overview

The Merseyside Brussels Office (MBO) was set up in 1996 to represent Merseyside at the heart of the European Union. It has fourteen partner organisations from the public and voluntary sectors in Merseyside. The MBO has two officers in Brussels, who provide a vital link between these partners and the EU institutions and other European regions.

The office helps Merseyside to influence policy, access funds and build European partnerships. The focus is on areas of joint EU-Merseyside interest including regional policy and state aids, transport, the environment, social inclusion, enterprise, entrepreneurship, governance, community safety, immigration, culture and tourism.

Brussels is where the major EU institutions are located and where most European regions and sectors are represented, so it is the ideal place for Merseyside to be making its voice heard. Much of the legislation that affects the UK public sector is formed in Brussels. There is also considerable EU funding available from Brussels that regions can compete for. The MBO has a good relationship with North West MEPs, the European Commission and the UK government’s representation to the EU. It is also active in various European regions networks, which lobby jointly, bid for funding together and share best practice.

The MBO keeps partners informed in a variety of ways: organising visits to Brussels; setting up meetings and seminars in Merseyside; sending out regular thematic bulletins… It works with partners bilaterally and through Merseyside-wide networks. Some of these networks have been set up specifically as a link with the MBO (such as the MBO Social Inclusion Policy Forum); others are existing networks (such as MSTEG and MEOG, on transport and the environment respectively). There is also an MBO web site, which promotes Merseyside in Brussels and beyond. The Merseyside Policy Unit helps with the management of the MBO and liaison with partners. The MBO is overseen by its Strategic Board, on which all MBO partners have a seat; the regular board meetings decide broad the direction of the MBO and are a forum for discussing EU developments of general interest.

The MBO is co-located in North West House with other North West Brussels offices (representing Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Cumbria and the NWRA/NWDA). It co-operates with the other offices on certain joint projects. The MBO also contributes to the North West European Framework, a strategy for European engagement for whole region.

The full MBO partnership consists of six local authorities (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) and seven Merseyside-wide bodies (The Mersey Partnership, Merseytravel, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Waste Authority, Merseyside Fire Service, Heart of Mersey and the Merseyside Network for Europe); the MBO also provides Brussels support to PTEG, the grouping of UK passenger transport executives.

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