‘Cornish embassy’ would continue to represent county in EU
More power to Cornwall’s elbow I say on the strength of this story, which tells us:
The clock might be ticking to Brexit on 29 March, but even if Britain leaves the EU on that date, a “Cornish embassy” will continue to speak out in Brussels.
Cornwall council is tendering for a contract for the continued operations of an office in the city “to support our efforts to define our place within the new UK/EU relationship”.
About £240,000 has been put aside to support the project, which will cover what is envisaged to be a Brexit transition period.
Providing that there is a deal between the UK and the EU, and therefore a transition period, the council states on the tender contract that EU funds will continue to flow until the end of 2023 into Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (CIoS).
“Having a Cornwall Brussels office in place will ensure that we have a channel through which we can engage directly with EU stakeholders on funding issues during this period,” it says.
A deadline of 11 February has been set for receipt of bids to the council, which is the only local authority in England covering what qualifies under EU rules as a less developed region (LDR).
Cornwall had been receiving £80m a year in EU funding, according to the council, money that has gone into jobs, local businesses, infrastructure, training and research. It had been on course to receive about £350m for the next round of funding from the years after 2020.