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'EU enlargement not just about commercial opportunities' says Euro MP
May 29, 2003 12:00 AM
Speaking at the Local Government International Bureau conference in Leeds Civic Hall on Thursday 22 May Diana Wallis MEP (Yorkshire & the Humber) said EU enlargement was not just about commercial opportunities.
With the EU to extend from its existing 15 members to 25 next year Diana Wallis MEP said that it was easy to forget the people to people benefits which will come with enlargement.
She said "All of us have memories of the struggle of Eastern Europe countries to return to democracy in the 80s and 90s. Whether it be the candles lit for the Solidarity workers in Poland or the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Now is the opportunity for people in the Yorkshire & the Humber to build up links through twinning, educational exchanges and so on. Whilst the pot of money available to the region in terms of large structural funds will inevitable reduce after enlargement, there will continue to be funding available for such projects."
"The benefits of some of the existing links (Leeds twinning with Brno (Czech Republic) and Kirklees social services with Arad (Romania) are unquantifiable in commercial terms, yet in term of people to people contact the rewards are potentially immense."
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