I am grateful to Anne Palmer for her latest research on the dreadful, money wasting and insulting Arc Manche 'clown and cycle farce', and mentioning also the Motorway in the Sea (upon which I have posted in the past), I am afraid it is rather long:

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'The EU are trying to wipe us off the map': Brussels merges England and France in new Arc Manche region... with its own FLAG

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382263/The-EU-trying-wipe-map-Brussels-merges-England-France-new-Arc-Manche-region--FLAG.html#ixzz1L5Zzjf6C
Monday, 7 March 2011 – Strasbourg
EU strategy for the Atlantic region (debate)

Maria Damanaki, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I would like to thank Mr Cadec for his initiative. I very much welcome his ideas. I would like also to thank the Members of the European Parliament who have subscribed to this oral question. We are now working on the preparation of a maritime strategy for the Atlantic. I would like to inform the House that I am determined to propose a well-targeted strategy in order to put maritime affairs at the top of the agenda in this area.

I also recognise that this area brings a solid heritage of significant environmental importance and has many committed stakeholders. I have encouraged all those stakeholders, including the Atlantic, coastal and maritime regions and economic sectors, to give strong support to the strategy. They have already shown good support during its preparation phase. I will continue to encourage them to fully engage in its adoption procedure. This will be vital for the strategy’s success.

The public consultation has shown us that an Atlantic identity does exist. It has also shown that stakeholders welcome an approach that takes into account their geographical, demographic and economic specificities. They also support measures that bring coastal states together on matters such as marine knowledge, maritime surveillance, special planning and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

The feedback we have received during the consultation will also allow us to identify priorities for EU actions in the field of regional development and research during the coming months. The Atlantic strategy will establish concrete policy objectives by providing for cross-fertilisation between all the maritime sectors.

A key priority will be to create jobs on the ground. This will require full commitment and active participation by Member States, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, Atlantic regions and the maritime industries. The assistance on these matters of Members of the European Parliament, in their constituencies, is therefore of the utmost importance and value.

Ladies and Gentlemen, to ensure maximum visibility I am proposing that we plan for adoption after the discussion on the reform of the common fisheries policy. In this way we will be sure that the initiative gets the appropriate exposure, and we can also include the regional dimension of the new, reformed, common fisheries policy. Parliament’s position also has to be taken fully into account.

I therefore believe that the Atlantic strategy will help, firstly, to promote sustainable growth and jobs in the region through EU research programmes and regional development programmes, secondly, to achieve the objectives of the reformed common fisheries policy and, thirdly, to achieve progress in protecting the environment and at the same time to develop the maritime economy in a sustainable manner in this vital region.

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Isabella Lövin, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, for all too long our seas have not been truly managed but torn between conflicting economic interests. Sometimes it is fisheries, sometimes farming, sometimes maritime transport, energy or tourism that sets the agenda. Regional sea strategies such as the Atlantic or Baltic strategies should be a tool to coordinate and to help identify priority objectives.

We must remember that some policies such as fisheries and agriculture are mostly decided at EU level, but with environmental policies it is Member States that are mostly responsible. I therefore believe that the EU integrated maritime policy has an important role to play. An efficient system of so-called marine spatial planning will be key to prioritising objectives and will guide managers, policymakers and stakeholders.

Cooperation with other States in the Atlantic region is also absolutely essential; in order, for instance, to decrease the amount of microscopic plastic debris, to fight illegal fishing or to ensure that fisheries and environmental regulations are effectively controlled and enforced.

We all depend on healthy seas and good environmental status. That will benefit all sectoral interests, not least fisheries and tourism. Therefore environmental objectives are not only about the environment, but also about a prosperous Atlantic region.

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Derek Roland Clark, on behalf of the EFD Group. – Mr President, this question mentions a territorial dimension with reference to other policies, including the CFP, which is a complete EU disaster. Fish stocks in the North Sea, part of the Atlantic, have been ruined by discards, which must be abolished. They should never have been contemplated in the first place.

UK fishermen have carefully looked after fish stocks in their own territorial waters while others have ruined theirs by overfishing. No wonder the CFP was welcomed by other Member States, whose fishermen could not wait to get into the North Sea. One needs more territorial exclusion, not less. In my own region – the East Midlands – the fishermen of Boston have fished the Wash for generations, looking after the fish stocks and making sure that their trawl nets do not disturb the sea bed, for they know that this is where the immature shellfish develop and that this is where the creatures form the bottom of the food chain.

This is their livelihood. Now they are forbidden to fish, on the pretext that their trawls damage the sea bottom. Meanwhile, a Dutch vessel is licensed to hoover up a million tonnes of gravel from the same sea bed, while E.ON is to dig a trench right through to the open sea to lay the line for a useless offshore wind farm. How much damage will all that do to the sea bed? How much longer will these fishermen be forced to stand by and watch their fishing grounds reduced to nothing while they are reduced to being benefit claimants?

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Alyn Smith (Verts/ALE). - Mr President, I think there is a great deal of agreement, Commissioner, between this House and your office as you develop the strategy. I think there is a wide agreement that we can achieve more together by creating a forum for encouraging cooperation amongst the regions and states and nations of the Atlantic Arc, but I would counsel gently against ‘priorityitis’, which is a disease that afflicts us in this Chamber particularly badly. If you try to achieve 300 million objectives we might end up doing nothing very well, so I would pick out two particular priorities where I think the EU could add real, genuine, EU added value.

In paragraph 8 there is a focus on interconnectors for marine energy. We have a massive renewable energy potential in the Atlantic region. Coming from Scotland, we have a vast contribution to make towards our climate-change and our regional development objectives. We could play a great role in that. In paragraphs 9 to 11, the importance of marine transport could also have hugely important economic, as well as environmental, output.

There is much in this to admire, but I would hope that the Commission will have a greater degree of focus than the many, all very worthy, objectives we have seen from this House this evening.

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Maria Damanaki, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, this has been a very interesting discussion and it has proved that the initiative of having this oral question was really a success.

I have three points. The first concerns our maritime strategy. In maritime strategy we can include many sectors, many actions and many perspectives. What will our focus be? Our focus will be on trying to create linkages between the different sectors. Let me explain myself.

We have a space, we have a sea space – Atlantic sea space. There we can have fisheries; we need environmental protection; we can have tourism; we can have transport; we can have aquaculture; we can have energy; and we can have research. So we need a way to create linkages between all these sectors and to overcome the possibility of there being conflicts of interest there. So maritime special planning will be a very important instrument for us, and maritime surveillance and maritime knowledge will also be very important instruments.

This is our ambition. It is not about creating new structures – I can agree with that; we do not really need new structures. What we need are linkages between the different structures we already have. That is what this is all about – creating linkages between the existing structures in order to have better results. So this is my first point.

The second point concerns your comments about having a territorial cohesion policy. I would like to remind you that to have this macro-region policy we need to have a proposal. A proposal must be made by the Council to the Commission. What we have for the time being is a proposal about a maritime strategy. There was a decision last June about this and we have already been authorised to come forward with a maritime strategy. We are working on this and we hope that in this way we are helping to put on the table the prospect of a macro-region approach.

My third point is the need for an international approach. Yes, I agree with all of you who said that we need good coordination with our neighbours on both sides of the Atlantic too. We have to be cautious. We need to have good discussions and to try to fix a level playing field for everybody, because this is the only way to be successful.

So I would like to thank Mr Cadec once again for his initiative and I would like to reassure you that all your suggestions will be taken on board.

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Jim Higgins (PPE), in writing. – I very much welcome this initiative. We need to ensure that we have a clearly defined strategy so as to enable this region to prosper. Problems facing the region and areas we need to address include environmental threats (water pollution, floods, climate change), untapped shipping potential and lack of road and rail transport connections, insufficient energy connections, uneven socio-economic development, uncoordinated education, research and innovation systems, shortcomings in safety and security.

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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=CRE&reference=20110307&secondRef=ITEM-020&format=XML&language=EN
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Maritime Affairs

Une stratégie européenne pour l'Atlantique d'ici juin 2011 A European Strategy for the Atlantic by June 2011

Par Isabelle Smets | vendredi 04 juin 2010 By Isabelle Smets | Friday, June 4, 2010

The Council of EU Ministers should invite the Commission to submit such a strategy by June 2011. The point is made in draft conclusions on the integrated maritime policy, which should be adopted at a forthcoming Council.

To recap, the first macro-regional European strategy was put in place for the Baltic Sea in 2009 and a strategy for the Danube should follow this year. It is therefore likely that the demand for the Atlantic back to this level too. By designating the Atlantic and setting a timetable, the Council remains in line with previous findings, which said its desire to continue the strategic approaches to sea basin "where there is a demand and a clear added-value perspective "(General Affairs Council Conclusions of November 2009).

The draft conclusions also recommends further explore the possibility of developing an integrated maritime surveillance project in the Atlantic, and "if appropriate" in the Black Sea. The establishment of an integrated maritime surveillance - instead of the current "every man for himself" the Member States and concerned agencies (fisheries, maritime security, defense, external border controls) is a key objective only if EU is set as part of its integrated maritime policy. The Altlantis should follow, and perhaps the Black Sea.

In its draft conclusions, the Council also invites the Commission to "urgently" on legislative proposals for the funding of actions under the IMP. In late May, the Days of the Sea of Gijon (Spain), Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Maria Damanaki, said it was working on such proposals.. According to information from European Report, it could be a budget of fifty million for the years 2011-2013. To approve, of course, by the budgetary authorities of the EU are the Council and European Parliament.

Le projet de conclusions sur www.europolitique.info > recherche = 273675 The draft conclusions on www.europolitique.info> Search = 273675

Les journées maritimes The Maritime Days

According to the draft conclusions, future European Maritime Day, held each year around the 20th May (Day of the Sea) will be held in Gdansk (Poland) in 2011, Gothenburg (Sweden) in 2012, Valetta (Malta ) in 2013 and Bremen (Germany) in 2014, guaranteeing a rotation between the sea basins.

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http://www.europolitique.info/politiques-sectorielles/une-strategie-europeenne-pour-l-atlantique-d-ici-juin-2011-art273930-19.html

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From our Houses of Parliament=

Communities and Local Government

Arc Manche
12 Oct 2009 : Column 308W

Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding and support (a) the Government Office for the South East, (b) the South East England Regional Assembly and (c) the South East England Development Agency has provided to the Arc Manche network. [290419]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The funding that the Department has provided to the Arc Manche network is as follows:

(a) The Government office for the south east through the Interreg IIIB programme contributed £1.1 million ERDF to Arc Manche via the EMDI (Espace Manche Development Initiative) project;

(b) The South East England regional assembly did not contribute to the project; and

(c) The South East England Development Agency is aware of the Arc Manche Network but does not provide specific funding or support to it.

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Arc Manche
25 Mar 2010 : Column 541W

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 307W, on Arc Manche, what bids have been made for funding for the Arc Manche Network and Assembly under the Interreg IV round. [324005]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Arc Manche Network and Assembly have made no specific bids for funding under the Interreg IV programmes.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 307W, on Arc Manche, if he will place in the Library a copy of each document associated with the bid and award of the £1.1 million grant to support the Arc Manche Network and Regional Assembly. [324006]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department will place a copy of the Espace Manche Development Initiative bid documentation in the Library. The details of the award and grant offer letter are commercially in confident documents and are not available to us. These are held by the French Managing Authority based in Lille and Haute Normandie as Lead Partner for the Project.

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Arc Manche
28 Oct 2008 : Column 945W

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether representatives of (a) her Department and its predecessors and (b) the Government Office for the South East have attended (i) formal or (ii) informal meetings of (A) the Arc Manche Assembly and (B) its committees since the Assembly's inception. [230298]

John Healey: No representatives of my Department or the Government Office for the South East have attended any meetings of the Arc Manche Assembly or its committees since the Assembly's inception.

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Arc Manche Assembly 6 Oct 2008 : Column 294W

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings of the Arc Manche Assembly representatives of (a) her Department and (b) the Government Offices attended in the last 12 months; and on what dates. [224482]

Mr. Khan: No representatives of my Department or the Government Offices have attended meetings of the Arc Manche Assembly in the last 12 months.

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Communities and Local Government

Arc Manche 13 Oct 2009

Ms Rosie Winterton: The funding that the Department has provided to the Arc Manche network is as follows:

(a) The Government office for the south east through the Interreg IIIB programme contributed £1.1 million ERDF to Arc Manche via the EMDI (Espace Manche Development Initiative) project;

(b) The South East England regional assembly did not contribute to the project; and

(c) The South East England Development Agency is aware of the Arc Manche Network but does not provide specific funding or support to it.

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Launch of a new cooperation project in the Channel area

(4 December 2009) The French and UK partners in the Interreg IV-A France (Channel) England programme recently launched a new project called CAMIS (Channel Arc Manche Integrated Strategy). The objective is to draw up and implement an integrated maritime policy in the Channel area. A “Channel Forum” will be set up bringing together political and socio-economic decision-makers to address issues of common interest. Economic activities relating to the sea, maritime safety, transport and the development of competitive clusters are some of the issues that will be the subject of consideration and action.
The Haute-Normandie region is taking the lead in this project. The total budget is €3.3 million and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is providing 50% of the funding. 19 partners are involved in the project: five UK counties, the five French regions on the Channel as well as nine organisations from both sides of the maritime border.

Press release

Channel Arc Manche

PRESS RELEASE

CHANNEL ARC MANCHE

Launching a new cooperation project in the

the Channel area

On Thurday 22 October 2009, Alain Le Vern, President of the Haute

Normandie Region, officially launched the CAMIS - EMDI+ project

within the framework of the INTERREG IVA France (Channel) – England

European Programme.

The CAMIS project (Channel Arc Manche Integrated Strategy) brings together 19

British and French partners led by the Haute Normandie Region as lead partner. It is

an ambitious extension of the EMDI Project (Espace Manche Development

Initiative) since the objective is to contribute to the implementation of an integrated

maritime policy within the Channel spaces, specifically by testing new governance

tools : the integrated maritime strategy, a forum for the Channel space

stakeholders, a scientific committee, a resource center, a transportation scheme.

The objectives of the seminar organised in Rouen were as follows :

- Inform on the CAMIS project all potentially interested players who might wish to

become involved in the work and research.

- Show how some other projects or initiatives can dovetail with CAMIS around the

integrated maritime policy objective.

This seminar was also on the list of 2009 Open Days local events.

Hence, Mr. Fernando Coelho-Moniz of the DG REGIO and Mr. Luis Cuervo-

Spottorno of the DG MARE - Atlantic Maritime Policy Unit were both present at the

seminar in their capacity as representatives of the European Commission. Mr.

Coelho-Moniz monitors the INTERREG IVA France (Channel) - England

Programme for the Commission.

“After EMDI, this new project fits within the continuum of efforts deployed by

Channel Arc Manche to obtain recognition of the Channel spaces and a

strengthening of Franco-British cooperation. This project will help find answers to

several questions : How to allow various activities to co-exist in a space that is more

and more crowded (fishing, extraction of marine materials, transport, etc.)? How to,

at the same time, sustainably tap into the Channel spaces’ formidable resources (for

instance marine energies)? How to develop a coherent transport system between

both coastlines of the Channel ? How to gain more from our position as a maritime corridor for intercontinental maritime traffic ?” explains Alain Le Vern.

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From the European Union (Good, quite informative-a must read)   Recent http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/contributions_post/460arc_manche_en.pdf
                                    *******************************
Arc Manche-West Sussex http://www.arcmanche.com/media/programme_gb__049879800_1607_07112007.pdf
Arc Manche web site- http://www.arcmanche.com/en/faq/
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And here-dying to kill itself,

Arc Manche

Arc Manche represents a geographical area made up of English and French counties that border the English Channel.

Since 2003, Arc Manche has also become a group of local authorities from these regions that network to share best practice, co-ordinate initiatives and share project ideas to attract European funding.

In October 2005, the Arc Manche Assembly was developed to improve the profile of the network. The assembly has two main aims:

To lobby the European Union on behalf of the Channel area
To promote joint initiatives between organisations on each side of the Channel.

As a result of this work, the Assembly has been successful in achieving eligibility of the whole Arc Manche area to European cross-border funding programmes. This gives West Sussex the opportunity to bid for European Union funding that was previously unavailable.

From 2007, a European Union funded programme was set up to cover the entire Channel area, represented by Arc Manche, which will fund projects that contribute to environmental protection, economic development and cultural richness throughout the area.

West Sussex County Council's Cabinet Member for Communications is Vice-President of the organisation and, together with Upper-Normandy, provides secretariat support to the network.

Information on the benefits of being a member of Arc Manche is available to download in pdf format. To view the file you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Please refer to our downloading documents page for more information.

http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/your_council/council_services/europe_office/networks_and_partners/arc_manche.aspx
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There is no doubt it has been debated faily recently in the EU parliament, although I can’t find anything of importance in our Parliament.

However, as you may know I wrote my first article, “Thirty pieces of Silver on the way to Arc Manche” (Will send if required) on this in 2006 although I had dotted one or two items on the subject since 1997. I believe for some unknown reason, it has all been dragged up once more and maybe it is to be activated prtoperly-I simply do not know. However, here are one or two thoughts on the matter, actually put on the Daily Mail blog which have not apeared!

I firmly believe that in the “drawing together” of the Continent of Europe and the British Islands we will lose our 12 mile limit-all part of the EU’s Motorway in the Sea, and once that happens well why not transfer our air-space for the Single European Sky, why keep it when we are all more or less one great EU state eh?

“The real question that should be asked is this. Is this an invasion by France or the European Union? Too many of our Forces died in 1939-45 in preventing a foreign Flag from being hoisted on these shores or treating it as part of their own? It is NOT. So, are we at war with one of those two? Has there been a referendum to ask the people of England, if France can take over part of our Country? Or meld it into another foreign Country? Why are we allowing the dividing of the Country and Nation of ENGLAND through the EU’s Localism Bill, put through on behalf of the European Union by OUR OWN GOVERNMENT when the EU wants us to be “closer” TO THOSE ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL? Most certainly we do not want to take over any part of France. We love their City and Country for Holidays, but we certainly do not want to take-over any part of their Country forever or ever fight to protect it ever again. The United Kingdom of Great Britain does not belong to any British Government alone to give part of it away, or for foreigners to decide or tell us what we have to do with our own Country. Or do we not have a Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain any longer? It is the people of this Country that have to fight-EVERY TIME- to prevent foreigners from governing this Country AND THEY WILL DO SO AGAIN IF NEED BE.

Oh, you have no need to worry about who has what out of our Council Taxes soon because the way this Coalition Government is putting through EU legislation as did the previous Government, soon the people will stop paying all their taxes, simply because it is the people that fought and died for our Island Country to be FREE. Free to govern itself according to its own Common law Constitution. I am not even sure whether the article in the Mail yesterday, (30.4.2011-Brussels merges England and France in new Arc Manche region... with its own FLAG) was telling us our island was being invaded? The people have never agreed to this, and neither will they because THEY are the ones that have to fight and die to prevent such a thing. We fought to be free and remain free; the Government has little time left to take us out of the EU. Of course we have been promised a referendum on any further give away of sovereignty-never forget that.

Incidentally if what is written in the mail re Arc Manche is true, following the General Election in May 2010, David Cameron, The Prime Minister, appointed Eric Pickles as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr Pickles is also the man that is dividing ENGLAND permanently through the EU’s Localism Bill, with its forced elected Mayors, and a Bill, if activated will be the cause of the break up of our NATIONAL Health Service-for in dividing permanently, it will never be NATIONAL again and ditto the Fire Service, the Police Service etc and anything else that is National in ENGLAND. Scotland is already an EU Region, as is Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Government can get out of the EU now very soon, for the people will no longer ‘just accept’ what they have done and are continuing to do in our name-nor will the people ever forgive them, especially if they continue with the Localism Bill-Mr Cameron’s Big Society!-a great pity we do not have Queen Elizabeth 1^st on the throne! One thing they need off us-no, not our votes- but our money in taxes. We the people cannot continue to pay for the sheer treachery our present Governments are doing for it may be seen that we too are contributing to what may well be seen as Treason, for between them, they are destroying our very own Common Law Constitution. According to R v Thistlewood, to destroy the Constitution is Treason. Our Country would be broken forever, some-thing we did not allow Hitler to do in the last war. A constitution so many died for in 1939-45 rather than give in to Germany and be governed by them forever. As Churchill once said, “We will never surrender”. There is no doubt what so ever, repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and then repudiate the Treaties of the European Union. Anne Palmer 1.5 2011.

PS-As it looks as if the Motorway in the Sea is also to go ahead-which includes sovereignty over our ports, I wrote an article on the “Motorway in the Sea” some time ago-will send if required.

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How the minds of people who can spout nonsense such as this, while the economies of Europe and the lifestyles of Europeans are being deliberately destroyed, can be brought to see common sense defeats me entirely. The present Britsh Cabinet should be compelled to read and re-read the comments being made in the debate quoted above.

The insult that is the AV referendum, concerning the method of election of our now powerless MPs, is compunded when set against the daily actions of these people, who are really in charge of our country, when viewed against the backdrop of the real world and its present turmoils.

Labels: Arc Manche, Motorway in the Sea

Ironies Too

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Merging Southern England and Northern France

'The EU are trying to wipe us off the map': Brussels merges England and France in new Arc Manche region... with its own FLAG

Maritime Affairs