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European funding

According to the Western Mail today, Rhodri Morgan has admitted that £40 million will have to be returned to the Europe because the Assembly does not have the matched funding.

Why such a defeatist attitude?

Is the First Minister trying to tell us that Wales doesn't have the businesses, universities and colleges that could not come up with the necessary matched funding to invest this money?

Give me two months and I could ensure that all that money is spent in a way that would benefit Wales and the Welsh economy.

What Rhodri needs to do is to get WEFO to be more flexible over the rules and the rest of the economic development team to put their thinking hats on.

They should not assume the worst but proactively look for opportunities to use this funding before we have the shame of sending back this money to Europe.

Comments

Neil Cocker said…
I couldn't agree more. And it's even more frustrating, given the amount of times I've been knocked back for relatively tiny amounts of funding from that pot, for exciting, very viable and job-creating projects.
June 20, 2008 10:10 am
Anonymous said…
defeatist or maybe can't be bothered is closer to the truth, there are obviously no Labour pet projects in need of the 40 million, so it will go back to Brussels.
June 20, 2008 12:57 pm
Anonymous said…
Not just Labour mate...Plaid have their snouts well into the trough, especially in the North. If you investigate the millions they and their Councillors have had for projects that haven't got a chance of succeeding in the long term, it would warrant a custodial sentence. Why do you think the four Labour Councillors in Gwynedd put the non majority Plaid back into power in that county ?
June 23, 2008 1:15 am
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