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Northern Ireland Report of the Task Force EN Northern Ireland Report of the Task Force Communication from the Commission Final, April 2008 Forewords It was on the first of May in 2007 that I had It has been a great pleasure for me to have the pleasure to visit Belfast and to meet the the opportunity to lead the work of the then incoming First Minister of Northern Commission’s Northern Ireland Task Force Ireland, Ian Paisley, and the Deputy First and to present this report. It is a region with Minister, Martin McGuinness. These which I have had close contacts over recent appointments were confirmed just days years and I have always been impressed by later when the devolved institutions were the resilience, and by the determination, of its re-established, a truly historic event that people in making a break with the past and confirmed the strong and sincere political in moving forward to an era of stability and commitment of the parties involved to renewed prosperity. create a new beginning for a region which, up until comparatively recently, had been Northern Ireland was a giant of the first know to the rest of the Europe for many of industrial revolution in Europe, and the home the wrong reasons. of world-beating enterprises in shipbuilding, textiles and engineering. With increasing global competition it has had to adapt The First Minister and Deputy First Minister were able to convince me then of their to change at the economic level, a process which was more difficult over recent determination to succeed, and everything that I have seen since has confirmed that, decades in the absence of consensus at a political level. indeed, this is a region with a new dynamic. I have been particularly pleased that the European Commission has been able to accompany the region in this process. Today, the new political context has created the basis for a major step forward in Indeed, in a Union that is founded on preserving and promoting the principles of economic terms. With peace and stability comes confidence, and with confidence peace and prosperity in Europe, I feel that the Commission is performing its natural comes new investment and new jobs. I am delighted that the political leadership role. in the region was quick to draw the conclusion that there is an important European dimension to building prosperity. Indeed, European regional aid programmes have Following my Belfast visit, I immediately asked my colleague, Commissioner Danuta contributed over many years to promoting growth and jobs and, since 1995, to Hübner, on the basis of her experience in regional policy, to put in place a group of promoting consensus through three generations of the programmes for peace and experienced officials from different Commission departments to act as a special Task reconciliation. Force on ways in which Europe can help to underpin change in Northern Ireland. The emphasis has been on helping the region to become more firmly embedded For the period 2007-2013, six new European programmes will deliver € 1.1 billion in the dense formal and informal networks that make up the knowledge economy. for new investment in the region including in its urban, rural, border and coastal Northern Ireland’s leaders, like those in many other European regions, want to take areas and also including the third PEACE Programme. the regional economy higher up the value chain, with a greater concentration of There is a vision that is shared between the Northern Ireland authorities and the activities, and new jobs, in research and innovation especially in the private sector. Commission that these resources should focus on quality and added value. This is The results of the work of the Task Force, which has worked closely with the where the work of the Northern Ireland Task Force is important. Working with the administration in Belfast, and also with the UK national authorities and with the key services of the Commission involved in the quality and added value agenda, authorities in Dublin are set out in the report attached. It contains a long list of our objective is to remove the obstacles facing Northern Ireland in participating in leads for the region to follow-up as part of the effort to develop a high added value a range of programmes and initiatives and in competing for additional resources, economy, and to provide lasting jobs that will do much to secure the basis of the for example, under the research programme, trans-European networks or the political process. The Task Force will continue to work closely with the administration education programmes. in Northern Ireland, and to accompany the region in the follow-up to the report. In Europe today, economic success is often dependent on a region’s capacity to I also have to say that for me personally, as President of the Commission, this has develop networks with other regions. The report of the Northern Ireland Task been a most interesting experience, for two reasons. First, it provided a point of Force therefore places a particular accent on how Northern Ireland can learn from comparison with my previous experiences of seeing peace come to areas previously other regions, can combine forces with them, and can share its own particular in conflict. I am very proud of the role that the EU is playing in helping to consolidate experiences with others, for example, in the field of conflict resolution. the Northern Ireland peace process. Secondly, it brought home to me what the I look forward to cooperating with the authorities in Northern Ireland in the European Union really means to its regions. In particular, through this experience, implementation of the ideas, suggestions and recommendations of the Northern I am convinced that the Commission needs to do more to “bring Europe to the Ireland Task Force report and in supporting the continuation of peace and regions”. We can and should reduce the barriers that exist, either real or perceived, prosperity in the region. that may sometimes prevent regions from participating in the many initiatives that can help to generate new opportunities and to reinforce competitiveness in the age of globalisation. Against the expectations of only a few years ago, Northern Ireland has now emerged as an example to the world on how to succeed in promoting peace and reconciliation in a deeply divided community. Its political leaders have recognised the importance of economic success in this process, and of the role of the European Danuta Hübner Union in the drive for growth and jobs. Just like the emerging European Community Member of the European Commission of 50 years ago, the story of Northern Ireland shows that people from different responsible for Regional Policy communities, sometimes with fundamentally different opinions, can overcome the divisions, work together and share a common future. I wish the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland every success in the period that lies ahead. José Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 07 April 2008 COM(2008)186 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the Report of the Northern Ireland Task Force EN EN 1. Introduction The consolidation of peace in Northern Ireland is a matter first of all for the people of the region. But there is clearly also an important European dimension given that the people of Northern Ireland are citizens of a European Union that is founded on the principles of peace, stability and prosperity. This is why the Commission was particularly pleased to be invited to support the peace process in Northern Ireland, in particular, by helping the region in its efforts to improve its economic competitiveness and to create sustainable employment for its people. The Commission is particularly encouraged by the priority that has now been attached to economic development in Northern Ireland by the political leadership. A key moment in the peace process was the re-establishment of a devolved administration in Northern Ireland in May 2007 based on the sharing of power between communities that have been deeply divided over recent decades. This historic event means that Northern Ireland has the potential to become an example of how deep political divisions can be permanently overcome, and how a more open, tolerant and democratic society can be created even in the most difficult of circumstances. It was also in May 2007 that, in the course of a visit to Northern Ireland, the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, announced his decision to establish a Task Force inside the Commission, under the authority of Commissioner Danuta Hübner, in order to support the peace process, with particular emphasis on how to generate more growth and jobs in line with the Union's overall Lisbon Strategy1 The NITF represents, in effect, a new and closer partnership between Northern Ireland and the Commission services as the region's long period as major recipient of European regional aid is gradually phased out, and where it will increasingly rely on its own resources. In the annex to this Communication, the report on the results of the work of the Northern Ireland Task Force (NITF) is set out. Overall, the report confirms that Northern Ireland, in emerging from a prolonged period of conflict, faces many challenges of a socio-economic nature. While many of the headline economic indicators, for example, in relation to unemployment rates or GDP per head, compare very favourably today with the averages for the Union, the region bears the imprint of the period of conflict: a high dependence on the public sector, an inclination against risk-taking and a low level of entrepreneurship, the negative image of the region to international investors, and a high proportion of the population not engaged in economic activity.
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