An institutionalising of relations between business support and local government actors; the strategic focusing of investment towards the National Spatial Strategy Gateway cities; and strengthened oversight roles for the Regional Authorities are among the key recommendations being proposed by the national policy advisory body for enterprise and science, ForfAs.

The Regional Competitiveness Agendas (RCAs) report, published in January, comprises 7 separate analyses of the baseline economic situation plus the same number of ''Realising Potential'' options for ensuring quality mid-term employment prospects in the Border, East (Dublin & Mid-East), Midlands, Mid-West, South-East, South-West, and West. The latter documents set out the key opportunities for each region to optimise its enterprise assets and achieve internal collaboration. An overview volume piecing together the various profiles on issues such as skills and training; economic infrastructure and connectivity; innovation drivers and approaches; quality of life; and governance arrangements is also included.

In seeking to deliver a more strategic and coherent regional response, harnessing necessary stakeholder engagement in a coordinated enterprise-focused agenda is highlighted as a particular challenge. To achieve this, the creation of an Economic Forum is suggested for each region whereby the appropriate expertise and competences from the enterprise development agencies and planning and development authorities (at Regional and Gateway level) would be regularly brought together to monitor and update action oriented progress.

In what is described as a ''refresh of the NSS'', the report urges the need to take steps to assure suitable coordinated and resource efficient governance arrangements for each gateway along with its hinterland. The reinstatement of the National Development Plan's deferred Gateway Innovation Fund to encourage coordinated, innovative and strategic development initiatives in key urban centres as part of a drive to deliver the appropriate supporting infrastructures to create competitive and attractive environments for sustainable business investment.

Similarly, the importance of achieving widespread buy-in and compliance from relevant actors with the soon-to-be updated and strengthened Regional Planning Guidelines is another matter emphasised with the Regional Authorities being suggested as the best placed bodies to ensure adequate implementation arrangements. The Authorities are also charged with developing strong linkages with neighbouring regions ''in particular to harness services and/or leverage key 'national' infrastructures as appropriate''.

This analysis is the first in what is to be a planned 2 yearly review of the competitiveness of the regions.

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Enforcing compliance of national laws with EU waste legislation merits a new EU body according to recommendations contained in a European Commission feasibility study published on 1 February.

The quality of the implementation efforts attached to the various waste regulations and directives in many Member States has long been a concern in Brussels with the backlog of time-consuming infringement proceedings mounting year on year. Almost one in five environmental infringement cases is now waste-related yet the Commission is not in a position to provide the practical resources to address this situation throguh early-stage interventions.

The study depicts this situation as being mirrored within many national jurisdictions where a lack of technical capacity to prepare waste management plans, poor coordination among organisations, and a lack of resources for enforcement activities are seen to be widely in evidence - creating an environment where implementing waste laws is a distinctly low priority at national level while ranking among the EU's top concerns.

The proposed agency is being envisaged as carrying out reviews of Member States' enforcement systems, supplying guidance on the interpretation of EU waste requirements, and providing training for national officials. Where serious cases of non-compliance arose, direct inspections and controls of facilities would take place. An in-depth cost-benefit analysis on the proposal is to be carried out over the coming year.

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An amendment to the EU accounting directives rules, approved by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee on 28 January, is a significant step in exempting micro-enterprises from having to draw up annual accounts. This follows upon a Commission proposal from February 2009 to realise one of the ambitions of the European Economic Recovery Plan to simplify the business environment for small firms so as to enhance their competitiveness and release their growth potential.

Although firms would still have to maintain records of their business transactions and financial situation, the move would help to alleviate some of the disproportionate regulatory burden on the smallest companies by differentiating them from larger firms. The exemptions would have to be granted by national authorities. In order to qualify, firms would need to meet two of the following criteria: balance sheet total under EUR500,000, net turnover under EUR1 million and/or an average of 10 employees during the financial year.

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In a bid to launch a debate among Member States with a view to developing a post-2010 biodiversity EU policy framework, a Communication setting out four possible scenarios as mid-term vehicles to contribute to achieving a long-term (2050) vision for reducing biodiversity loss in Europe was published by the European Commission on 19 January. The vision is grounded in the proper valuing and preservation of natural ''ecosystem services'' and biodiversity given their functions in supporting economic prosperity and human well-being as well as environmental stability.

The options, which take account of what can be achieved within the next decade, are tiered in terms of their respective levels of ambition:
1) Significantly reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services;
2) Halting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services;
3) Option 2 plus restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services as far as possible, and
4) Option 3 plus stepping up the EU's contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.

The extent of the biodiversity loss in the EU and globally, the main drivers of this crisis, and its implications for the environment, economy and society as a whole are also highlighted in the Communication. It further outlines the main achievements and shortcomings of the current EU Biodiversity Action Plan. A major conference on this issue will be held in Athens at the end of April.

Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010
Conference

The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) has published a report attempting to identify, for the first time, the full range of environmental and wider societal benefits arising from European farming. Public goods provided by agriculture in the European Union concludes that many of these benefits - including the maintenance of high quality water and soils, cultural landscapes, and biodiversity habitats - are found to be highly valued but are already not being provided on a sufficient scale (a situation likely to further deteriorate in the future with technological change and the threats of climate change impact and commodity price instability upon farming).

Instigated on behalf of the Commission's DG Agriculture and Rural Development, the report sets out the arguments for increased public intervention in the delivery of such goods and services. It argues that this can best be achieved through appropriately targeted Common Agricultural Policy measures whereby direct payments are, as now, tied into standards compliance based on environmental factors such as maintaining the condition of land. The publication comes at a time when the debate about the size and character of the CAP beyond 2013 is intensifying.

Report

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