Annual Meeting of the EPRC European Regional Policy Research Consortium (EoRPA)

The 24th annual meeting of EPRC's European Regional Policy Research Consortium took place at the University of Strathclyde's country house, Ross Priory, on Loch Lomondside on 5-7 October. The meeting, which as usual took place under Chatham House rules and was chaired by Douglas Yuill, was attended by 21 senior regional policymakers from nine Member States. Simultaneous translation was provided in English, French, German and Italian. To facilitate discussion, EPRC prepared four major papers for the meeting, together with detailed comparative information at the Member State level. The papers were: A Comparative Overview of Recent Regional Policy Developments in the Member States and Norway: Regional Policy Change in 2002 and 2003 (by Douglas Yuill); Regional Aid Control after 2006: The Forces of Change (by Fiona Wishlade); Enlargement and Structural Fund Reform: Policy Perspectives and Budgetary Implications (by John Bachtler); and Regional Governance in the EU: A Comparative Assessment (by Martin Ferry). <p> The Consortium was initially established in October 1978 and held its first meeting in January 1980. It is supported by national regional policy departments and agencies in nine Member States (plus Norway): Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Ross Priory meeting agreed that, in future, the Consortium would be known as the EoRPA Consortium. Eorpa, the Gaelic word for Europe, loosely abbreviates the phrase European Regional Policy Research Consortium and helpfully combines the reference to Europe with EPRC's Scottish location.