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A recent visit to SWUKBO, the South West UK Brussels Office, saw Eleni Marianou hosting a wide ranging discussion around EU policy.
Dirk Ahner, Director General of Regional Policy, Mark Yeoman from the Convergence Partnership Office and Jeff Brown, Executive Director of HERDA-SW, joined delegates from France, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, Germany and Hungary to discuss business simplification procedures for EU funding, future EU regional policy post 2013 and the immediate responses required to support businesses and local economies through the recession.
Jeff Brown said “The debate was all about the need for a proactive approach to addressing the real issues of bureaucracy and red tape slowing the speed with which projects can get up and running and deliver on the ground. There was also a sense of real urgency which I found refreshing and I hope the momentum for such action informs the thinking of future regional strategy and procedures which has already delivered so many positive outcomes and as the potential to do so much more.”