Ms Ruth Taillon:

In terms of the consultation document, it is important to clarify there are possibilities for cross-Border projects to apply to PEACE IV. In PEACE I, the commission directed that 15% of funding had to be ring-fenced for cross-Border work. In PEACE II, specific cross-Border measures accounted for 15%. However, in PEACE III the funding was mainstreamed and we have not been able to ascertain the actual percentage that went to cross-Border projects. We have some serious concerns in regard to the PEACE IV consultation document, although cross-Border projects are mentioned.

Because there has always been a derogation for the PEACE programme providing that single jurisdiction projects could be funded under INTERREG programmes, which must be cross-Border projects, the PEACE programme has always allowed for single jurisdiction projects. However, now there is so little emphasis on cross-Border projects in the documents that we are very concerned they are not being given space and will be in direct competition with every other PEACE project. Given the pressure on civil society organisations - PEACE now constitutes one of the few areas of potential funding for civil society programmes and projects - cross-Border projects could get squeezed out even more. This is why we stress that we should go back to the 15% funding and ring-fence it for cross-Border projects. It is a European territorial co-operation programme, so it should be a cross-Border programme and should have more of a cross-Border focus than appears to be proposed.

Work is still going on in regard to the Border development zone. We work very closely with cross-Border local authority clusters. Unfortunately, local government reform on both sides of the Border over the past year or so has taken up everybody's energy and focus, so development has been quite difficult. Now that reform is getting more settled in, there is quite significant support within the cross-Border local authority clusters for the Border development zone idea. They are working on a charter which will, hopefully, go to the councils this coming autumn for endorsement. This charter will summarise the principles of the cross-Border development corridor idea. Then people can advocate it, as we have been doing, as broadly as possible in different areas to try to get the policy and resources focused on the Border region.

We believe the Border region is an entity in itself, with characteristics on both sides of the Border that are very similar, which make it distinct from the rest of the island. For that reason, the area needs a concentration of interest, support and resources. We hope the cross-Border development zone idea will percolate over the next few years. Perhaps in ten years or so, the area could be a euro region, but in the meantime, we are concentrating on the zone as an idea. We are talking about the Border development zone not just as some sort of special economic zone, but in terms of a holistic approach to the development of the region.