The Highland Council Leader’s European appointment

Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor Drew Hendry, has been appointed to a top post on an influential European lobbying network. At the recent General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions, Councillor Hendry was elected by UK members to represent them on the  ruling Political  Bureau. Councillor Hendry’s term will be for three years during which time he will represent the views of the UK in the discussions on the future direction of E.U. policy and legislation. There are currently 15 UK members of the Conference representing the views of 6.3million citizens.

Councillor Hendry said: “I am delighted at this appointment.  The CPMR remains the pre-eminent lobbying network in the European Union and is regularly used by the European Commission and Parliament to gauge the views of the regions in the development of future European policy and legislation."

The network of local authorities comprises 160 members from 28 countries representing the interests of some 200 million people.

In the recent past the CPMR has been lauded for saving regional policy as an instrument of regional development for all the regions of the Union. This support for inclusivity has meant that development assistance remains available to all regions and not just the very poor and the centres of growth.

On the rural front the Conference has led the way in fighting to ensure that the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) continues to support the socio-economic development of rural areas and rural communities and is not simply a means of supporting farmers.

The CPMR was instrumental in highlighting the need for a whole scale re-assessment of maritime safety in light of the Erika disaster off the coast of Brittany in December 1999.

Elsewhere the CPMR has fought to ensure that E.U Transport policy has taken account of the periphery and has promoted the maritime dimension of EU transport policy by launching a Motorways of the Seas initiative to develop a network of sea routes with servicing and access points across European waters.

The Conference is led and governed by the Political Bureau which comprises one member from each of the member countries. The Bureau meets three times a year at venues across the membership and during the General Assembly. The work of ad-hoc working groups are increasingly  carried out by electronic means and via video conferencing reflecting the busy diaries of Bureau members and the need to be more sustainable in terms of  the environment and cost of implementing work. 
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