The European agenda at the regional level will focus on the following priorities for the period of 2009-2013. This will allow the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), 4NW Regional Leaders Forum and their partners to continue to use limited resources more effectively and make the most of their engagement with the European Union.

The European Priorities concentrate on a small number of thematic issues as well as looking beyond 2013 to build strategic partnerships and engage in the debate on the future of the European Union.

Implementation will be overseen by the North West Regional European Partnership (NWREP), the regional stakeholder forum established in 2006 (see below).

Thematic Priorities	Sub-themes	Examples of supporting regional organisations and initiatives
Economy	Enterprise and SMEs Research, Development, Technology and Innovation (RDTI) Internationalisation	Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) FrameworksNW
Environment	Climate Change Energy Resource Efficiency & Eco-Innovation	Climate Change Action Plan Partnership EnvirolinkNW Environment Agency
People	Education/Skills Demographic Change and Economic Inclusion Health	Demographic Change Group Northwest Health Brussels Office

England’s Northwest will deliver these thematic priorities through accessing EU programmes outside the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF) and Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). Organisations across the region with a particular interest in these areas will be engaged to support this delivery.

In addition to the thematic priorities, England’s Northwest will engage to influence the debate on the future of the European Union and its policies.

We will also further develop our strategic relationship with regional Members of the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions representatives and promote England’s Northwest in Brussels.

Themes	Examples of supporting regional organisations and initiatives
Future of the European Union, including: Lisbon Agenda post 2010, Territorial Cohesion, EU Budget, Common Agricultural Policy reform, Europe in 2020.	Northwest Regional European Partnership (NWREP) NWREP Secretariat & Officers
Territorial Co-operation Programmes Increased access and participation by Northwest partners	European Cooperation Group
Relationships & Promotion Development of relationships with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and Committee of the Regions (CoR) members Promotion of the region in Brussels and beyond	NWDA, 4NW and NWREP

The NWREP brings together the public, private, education and third sectors. Its role is three fold:

• overseeing the delivery of the European Priorities through the annual work plans,
• bringing together regional partners, MEPs and Committee of the Regions members on a regular basis, and
• engaging the region in the debates on the future of the EU to ensure the voice of the region is heard.