Local Partnerships : Mission Statement

Local Partnerships : Mission Statement

EUROPEAN LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS & TWINNING GROUP

(EUROPEAN MOVEMENT UK)

 

MISSION STATEMENT

The aim of the European Local Partnerships and Twinning Group is to promote European awareness, economic, educational and cultural links through European Local Partnerships (ELPs) and Twinning between the UK and their European counterparts

 

Context

Exposure to different cultures, ways of thinking and organising society is not only enriching for the individual but essential for whole nations to ensure international harmony and co-operation in a world facing increasingly global challenges. This is especially important for young people who have in the past benefited from educational and other exchange programmes, such as those provided under the European Union’s Erasmus Plus programme.

International engagement can and should be global but should start by learning to live in harmony with near neighbours in mainland Europe, with which the UK shares a common history and cultural heritage. This shared culture outweighs differences in language, national character and political structure which can make co-operation challenging. Ultimately, co-operation with near neighbours is rewarding in practical terms, providing an enlarged space in which to enjoy security, to travel and enjoy freedom of movement, to do business and to amplify the UK’s national voice on the world stage.

The UK’s exit from the EU has erected serious obstacles to co-operation with European neighbours such as customs and immigration requirements. Despite this, some 1,000 plus formal European Local Partnerships (ELPs) or traditional twinning links at city, Schools and community level have continued between the UK and the EU some flourishing, some moribund and in need of re-energising.

Some novel kinds of partnerships have even been created since 2016 to mitigate the adverse impact of Brexit, like the Straits Committee between Kent County Council and French, Belgian and Dutch local authorities or the recent Manchester-Ruhr partnership. Some devolved Governments such as the Welsh Government have also established new programmes to facilitate youth and other exchanges with the EU.

There are also new ELPs beyond the EU, notably with partners in the Ukraine and the Balkans. Formal links moreover continue through the UK’s participation in the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and other pan-European bodies such as the Council of Europe. In addition, it is noteworthy that the new UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly at a recent meeting underscored the importance of UK-EU twinning.

The European Local Partnerships and Twinning Group (ELPTG) was established to identify different kinds of partnership, to raise awareness of their existence and their importance in national life, and to promote their further strengthening and to encourage the creation of new partnerships. The Group brings together practitioners involved in ELPs and twinning from across the UK and meets regularly online and at an annual meeting to exchange views and discuss policy.

Whilst the European Movement has as its core mission for the UK as a whole to re-join the EU, the ELPTG, of which it is a Working Group, is focused on sub-national or local partnerships. There are many groups lobbying for attention in this space with diverse, but convergent aims in the fields of education, culture, commerce and local government. The ELPTG provides a forum for these diverse groups to come together, share best practice, to learn from each other, and, where appropriate and possible, to campaign to remove or mitigate the barriers to UK-EU partnerships and exchanges, especially for young people, which exist as a result of Brexit.

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