European territorial cooperation programmes 2021-2027: consultation

Annex A: Consultation questions

Scotland's Place in Europe emphasises the importance Scotland places on EU cooperation, and although the UK Government has yet to make a decision, the Scottish Government is committed to continuing to take part in European Territorial Cooperation programmes.

The current European Territorial Cooperation programmes run from 2014-2020. The new programmes, which will run from 2021-2027, are now starting to be designed.

Your response to this consultation will be used to inform Scottish Government thinking on the design of the future programmes, so that we can work together with partner countries in the programmes to design something which meets our shared needs.

Please read the consultation paper for more information before answering the questions.

It should take between 40- 60 minutes to answer all the questions.

About you

Are you a:

• Public sector organisation
• Private sector organisation
• NGO
• Social enterprise
• Membership organisation
• Private individual
• Other (please detail)

All programmes

1. What do you consider to be the main aims that the Scottish Government should be seeking to achieve through European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) programmes?

2. How do you think working together with organisations from other countries could help you or your organisation or your members' organisations?

3. How many priorities do you think future ETC programmes should support?

(Programmes can support up to three priorities plus the Interreg specific objectives - see consultation document for more information about the priorities)

• One
• Two
• Three
• Three plus Interreg specific
• Don't know

4. Please rank the priorities below in order of importance to you/your organisation. One being the most important and five being the least:

• A Smarter Europe
• A Greener, Low Carbon Europe
• A More Connected Europe
• A More Social Europe
• A Europe Closer to the Citizens

5. Do you agree with the conclusions of the European Policies and Research Centre report?

• Yes
• To some extent
• No

5b. Which conclusions do you disagree with and why?

6. Which ETC programmes have you been involved in?

• None
• Atlantic Area
• North Sea
• North West Europe
• Northern Ireland-Ireland-Scotland (otherwise known as Interreg VA)
• Northern Periphery and Arctic
• Interreg Europe
• Urbacht

7. How could ETC programmes improve communication of funding opportunities, calls, access to information, and application processes and systems?

Programme specific questions

Atlantic Area

8. The 2021-2027 Regulation is expected to require the Atlantic Area programme to spend at least 70% of the funding on projects which help deliver the Atlantic Maritime Strategy. In your view, what should the remaining Atlantic Area programme budget be used for (tick all that apply):

• to support projects under the social priority
• to help more people benefit from the results of successful projects
• to encourage projects to link up with others working on the same challenge to improve their work
• other (please state)
• don't know

North West Europe

9. What do you consider to be the main aims that the Scottish Government should be seeking to achieve through the North West Europe programme?

10. Which of Scotland's National Performance Framework outcomes do you think this programme should try to help achieve (tick up to three):

• Children and young people: We grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential
• Communities: We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe
• Culture: We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are expressed and enjoyed widely
• Economy: We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy
• Education: We are well educated, skilled and able to contribute to society
• Environment: We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment
• Fair Work and Business: We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone
• Health: We are healthy and active
• Human rights: We respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination
• International: We are open, connected and make a positive contribution internationally
• Poverty: We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally
• Don't know

North Sea

11. What do you consider to be the main aims that the Scottish Government should be seeking to achieve through the North Sea programme?

Due to the geographical area covered by the North Sea programme, there has been a focus on maritime issues.

12. To what extent do you think Scotland should seek to align the new programme with Scotland's National Marine Plan?

• Completely - all projects with Scottish partners should contribute to the delivery of Scotland's Marine Plan
• To some extent – the programme should also support projects which are not focused on maritime/coastal communities
• Not at all - the programme should focus on something else instead (list ideas below)

Northern Periphery and Arctic

13. What do you consider to be the main aims that the Scottish Government should be seeking to achieve through the Northern Periphery and Arctic programme?

The Scottish Government's Artic Policy Framework sets out a prospectus for even closer Scottish-Arctic cooperation. It details how EU programmes have helped countries in the northern periphery and arctic area work together, and suggests areas for future collaboration.

14. To what extent do you think Scotland should seek to align this programme with Scotland's Arctic Policy Framework?

• Completely - all projects with Scottish partners should contribute to the delivery of Scotland's Arctic Policy Framework
• To some extent – the programme should also support other projects which address the needs of remote, rural and sparsely populated areas
• Not at all - the programme should focus on something else (write what in the box below)

Interreg Europe

15. How do you think this programme could help public authorities improve the design and delivery of policies and related services?

16. To what extent should the future Interreg Europe programme also fund the work to deliver the policies developed?

• Not all – other sources of funding should be used for this
• To some extent – small scale pilots should be funded
• To a greater extent - a significant amount of the funding should be used for this
• Don't know

Urbact

17. How do you think this programme can help Scottish cities?

18. To what extent do you think Scotland should seek to align this programme with shared priorities in city-region deals?

• Completely - all projects with Scottish partners should contribute to the delivery of the relevant city-region deal
• To some extent – the programme should also support other projects which address the needs of Scottish cities
• Not at all - the programme should focus on something else instead (write what in the box below)
• Don't know

Future cooperation with Ireland and Northern Ireland though ETC programmes

The current Northern Ireland-Ireland-Scotland programme will be merged with the PEACE programme post 2020 to form PEACE Plus, which will focus on the border area of Ireland and Northern Ireland (without Scotland).

SEUPB, the organisation which manages the programme, are carrying out a separate consultation on the design of the PEACE Plus programme.

Ireland and Northern Ireland are part of 3 other ETC programmes that Scotland are also part of (not including Urbact and Interreg Europe).

19. How do you think Scotland can best continue to collaborate with Ireland and Northern Ireland through ETC programmes?

• through the other ETC programmes that Ireland and Scotland are part of
• through setting up a separate ETC programme with Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland
• by Scottish originations being associate partners in PEACE Plus projects/ making the most of the flexibility the programmes have to award funding to organisations outside of the programme area.

20. What do you consider to be the main aims that we should be seeking to achieve through collaborating with Ireland and Northern Ireland in ETC programmes?