The launch of the new Competitiveness Programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will see a greater shift in focus on translating the EU’s Lisbon Agenda of Growth and Jobs into a regional reality in the East Midlands. Although key changes will relate to the new management arrangements and greater strategic alignment of the Programme to regional priorities, there will be a wide range of EU level activities which EMEO will focus on:

• Green Paper on European Territorial Cohesion - an updated analysis on the disparities of the European territory will start the debate on how to take better account of the territorial dimension within EU policies and operational programmes;

• Fifth Progress Report on Cohesion – an update on the status quo of economic and social cohesion across the EU; Budget Review post 2013 and the future direction of the EU budget; and

• Interreg 2007-2013 programmes, with a specific focus on North Sea and North West Europe programmes (trans-national strand), and Interreg IVC's Regions for Economic Change initiative (inter-regional strand).