The Border (Funding), Europe and Social Cohesion

Transcription

1 The Border (Funding), Europe and Social Cohesion European Union financial support has not only been crucial in addressing the particular circumstances arising from the political context on the island of Ireland, but also in mitigating against the disparities that arise from peripherality, which are all the more acute in the border regions themselves, and are disparities felt in other border regions throughout Europe. This paper provides a broad overview of EU assistance in working towards socio-economic cohesion and what implications that has for a cross-border or all-island perspective. It also points to how experience of cross-border work in the Irish border region has contributed towards the dissemination of best-practice at a European level, and ends by posing some questions as to future directions. Socio-Economic Cohesion A recent OECD report illustrates the economic divides that exist between parts of the island of Ireland and other European regions, as well as those within the island itself, and which may well have been exacerbated by the financial crisis. 1 Indeed, while the North West region of Northern Ireland and the bordering areas in the Republic of Ireland show significantly lower rates of GDP per capita (see figure 1), the OECD concludes that the economic crisis has increased the gap in GDP per capita between leading and lagging regions in half of [ ] OECD countries (OECD Regions at a Glance: 9). The European Commission s Eighth progress report on economic, social and territorial cohesion stresses how the overall impact of the crisis on GDP and employment has been highest in the three Baltic States, Ireland, Greece and Spain. 2 Significantly, the highest increase in the gap between the best 10% performing regions and the bottom 10% regions, more than 8 percentage points, occurred in Ireland, Slovak Republic and Denmark (66). Moreover, in the Irish case the increase of regional inequalities was due to a faster worsening of the poorest regions compared to richest ones (66). This trend is clear when considering regional GDP growth between 1995 and 2010 (see figure 2), and lower rates of growth bring together Northern Ireland and the border regions of the Republic of Ireland to form an area united under economic disparity in relation to other parts of Europe and of their own respective nation-states. 1 OECD, Regions at a Glance, European Commission, The Urban and Regional Dimension of the Crisis: Eighth progress report on economic, social and territorial cohesion (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2013), p.7.

2 The March 2013 Regional Economic Indicators produced by the UK Office of National Statistics highlight how Northern Ireland continues to exhibit negative indicators across a wide range of social and economic indices. 3 In terms of productivity, Northern Ireland shares the lowest rates with Wales (16% and 15.4% below the UK average respectively); it Fig. 1: Regional GDP per capita, Office for National Statistics, Regional Economic Indicators March 2013.

3 Fig. 2: Regional GDP growth, ranks among the lowest in relation to Gross Disposable Household Income, and has the lowest gross median weekly pay for males ( 479, compared to 651 in London). The creation of new businesses exceeded the closure of existing businesses in all regions of the UK, except

4 for Northern Ireland and Wales, whilst in 2011 Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of its population with no qualifications (21.7%). Moreover, as the most recent constituency profiles released by the Northern Ireland Assembly show (December 2013), these negative trends tend to be more keenly felt in the border counties, although North and West Belfast feature prominently as areas with the worst rates of socio-economic deprivation. According to European Commission figures the Irish Border, Midland and Western region suffered the effects of the financial crisis more acutely not only than the rest of Ireland, but than most other regions in Europe. Thus it appears at the bottom of the list of the ten European regions where GDP shrunk fastest between 2007 and 2010 (with an average annual 1.6% contraction), and comes third in the list of European regions with the most dramatic loss of employment (an average annual loss of 5.2%), coming above the Irish Southern & Eastern region, which also features in the list (with an average loss of 4.3%) (European Commission 2013: 32). Moreover, when analysing the current data gathered by the Central Statistics Office on each county within the Border, Midland and Western Region, it is largely those counties along the border that evidence the worst indices (such as unemployment and type of economic activity). In his introductory remarks to the EU report Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2013, the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor, makes clear what the Commission regards as the basis for overcoming the negative effects of the economic crisis: the fact is that employment and social conditions will not improve without sufficiently strong public policies, further integration in the euro zone and greater solidarity within and between states. 4 However, it is important to note that one of the tools identified by the Commissioner ( further integration in the euro zone ) is not readily available to Northern Ireland, and points to a structural divergence on the island of Ireland whose potential effects in terms of social cohesion need to be regularly assessed. Whilst the UK government is undertaking a wide-ranging review of EU competences and apparently questioning its relationship with the EU with the potential of undermining Northern Ireland s own relationship with Brussels divergences between countries have been growing, according to the Commission, especially in the euro area (European Commission 4 European Commission, Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2013 (Brussels: The European Union, 2014), p.3.

5 2014: 13). 5 It is important, therefore, that Ireland s membership of the euro zone and any repositioning by the UK government in terms of its membership of the European Union are considered in relation to their possible effects on social cohesion North and South of the island. This was underlined in evidence to the Joint Commission on Foreign Affairs and Trade on 15 January 2014, given by Mr Noel Dorr, former Irish Ambassador, in which he stated: There is the significant issue of what the UK will do regarding its membership of the EU. Even the lead-up to the proposed referendum could cause difficulties because of the need to negotiate and the question of how far we should go to accommodate the UK s remaining in the EU and worries that we might diminish the fabric we have created in the Union. That fabric, importantly, also includes the island of Ireland and how Northern Ireland benefits from European funds in terms of social cohesion. Ireland and Northern Ireland have undoubtedly been the focus of much attention from the European Union over the years in terms of its aim of reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions, as set out in Article 174 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union. Given that, as has been pointed out, the Irish border counties are generally where the greatest levels of developmental disparities are to be found in the Republic, and that similar economic disparities coupled with the immediate effects of its political context exist in the North, there is an understandable logic to a concentration of some European cross-border funds having been targeted at what is considered the eligible area in terms of the Programmes for Peace and Reconciliation. 5 For The Centre for Cross Border Studies response to the UK Government s review of EU competences in the area of cohesion policy, visit

6 Responses to a 2013 SEUPB consultation on the new INTERREG and PEACE programmes generally recognise the contribution European funding programmes have made to socioeconomic cohesion on the island. 6 In terms of the functioning of the INTERREG programme in the period , it was considered to have had a significant impact across the eligible region, 7 and to have created high skilled, well paid jobs in the local economy, as well as having facilitated excellent levels of cross-border cooperation (SEUPB 2013: 8). As for the importance of the PEACE III programme, the view was that without this funding it is questionable that there would be any public funding to support the wide range of local authority and civil society initiatives that have made a real difference to social cohesion on the island of Ireland (24). Given that it is unlikely that the situation regarding public funding in either the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland or, indeed, in the UK, will alter in terms of support for cross-border initiatives addressing social cohesion on the island of Ireland (a question that merits further attention), then our ability to access European funds in the next cycle will continue to be of prime importance. However, while it may be entirely legitimate for both jurisdictions to set targets in terms of each one s ambitions for drawing down European funds, it is paramount that a North-South dimension should be at the heart of policy in this area wherever possible. 6 Special EU Programmes Body, European Territorial Co-Operation : Preparing a new EU Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation (INTERREG V) and a new EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE IV) Summary of Consultation Responses (February 2013). 7 The eligible region for this period included Western Scotland, but did not include the Belfast area.

7 Only a concerted effort, with appropriate preparatory support, will bring about the securing of the European funds that have been essential to going some way to addressing the socioeconomic disparities that exist in Northern Ireland and the border regions of the island of Ireland. Cross-Border Work on the island of Ireland as an example of best practice for Europe It is important that we are properly conscious of the ways in which the outcomes of the use of European funds in cross-border work on the island of Ireland have also in many cases become examples of best practice promoted by the European Union. Indeed, the very methodologies employed in measuring the effectiveness of the employment of EU monies in supporting cross-border cooperation have been influenced by work undertaken in our own context. The Impact Assessment Toolkit for Cross-Border Cooperation, for example, produced by The Centre for Cross Border Studies in partnership with the Euro-Institute, now assists funding managers and policy makers in establishing the practical effect that past funding grants have achieved, and thus to plan more clinically in the future. The design and production of this toolkit was itself made possible by INTERREG funding, and has led to European-funded work by The Centre for Cross Border Studies on an Evaluation Toolkit and a Budget Toolkit for cross-border projects, as well as the design of a toolkit for cross-border project management as part of the TEIN network of European organisations with expertise in this area. 8 All of these initiatives have been made possible by the recognition gained at a European level by those involved in cross-border work on the island of Ireland, which have become models for those working in other European border regions. Knowledge of some of those examples has been further disseminated through their inclusion by The Centre for Cross Border Studies in its Toolkits. Thus, in terms of cross-border cooperation at the local administration level, we have highlighted the work of the All Island Local Authority Forum, whose membership is made up of chief executives from Northern Ireland and county managers from the Republic of Ireland, while an example of excellent work at the community level is the ConneXions project, led by Ireland s National Learning Network and Northern Ireland s Cedar Foundation, which aimed at establishing four crossborder social network infrastructures for people with disabilities. 9 Although recognising the 8 Transfrontier Euro-Institute Network; for details, visit 9 See Ruth Taillon, Joachim Beck and Sebastian Rihm, Impact Assessment Toolkit for Cross-Border Cooperation (Armagh: The Centre for Cross Border Studies, 2011), pp

8 fact that Promoting cross-border regional innovation policy is difficult given a number of barriers, including those created by policies themselves, a recent OECD report on innovation and the regions identifies our own border region as a site where exemplary cross-border innovation is taking place. 10 The report sees InterTradeIreland in particular as playing the key role in implementing cross-border innovation efforts, and helping to ensure that Crossborder economic cooperation has acquired a high level of legitimacy (OECD Regions and Innovation: 196). Nevertheless, the report s authors also point out that on the island of Ireland Cross-border flows are below their potential at present in terms of trade, commuting, business networks, access to public procurement, sales of design services, students and tourists, collaboration between research, technology and development (RTD) centres and between these centres and industry (196). Crucially, then, whilst the island of Ireland contains good examples of cross-border cooperation, there is still ample room for increased levels of activity in this area. The quality of the work undertaken to date and of the cross-border projects to which much of it contributes has been frequently recognised through the awarding of EU funding. However, given that many projects of this type may have reached the required quality threshold but were not ultimately successful in attracting European funding, and that others which were successful may not always be guaranteed continued EU funding, how is cross-border cooperation activity to be sustained? As the OECD report on regions and innovation makes abundantly clear, the need for initiatives aimed at supporting cross-border flows on the island of Ireland remains significant. The ability for people to trade, commute, study and explore across the border is vital to underpinning peace and stability on the island of Ireland. Consequently, governments in both jurisdictions need to be properly conscious of the need for sustainability of projects that make possible cross-border mobility and cooperation, and that European funding may not always be available to do this. 10 OECD, Regions and Innovation: Collaborating Across Borders (2013), p.3.