What is Europe Direct?

Europe Direct Highlands and Islands (EDHI) is part of an official European Commission network of information relays, with over 400 Europe Direct Centres spread throughout the European Union.

EDHI is hosted by Highlands & Islands Enterprise and managed by the International affairs team. It has the role of improving the flow of European information to citizens in one of Europe's most peripheral regions.

Aims

The main objectives of the Europe Direct network are to:

1. enable local citizens to obtain information, advice, assistance and answers to questions about the European Union’s institutions, legislation, policies, programmes and funding opportunities;

2. actively promote local and regional debate about the European Union and its policies;

3. allow the European institutions to improve the dissemination of information tailored to local and regional needs;

4. give the public the opportunity to send feedback to the European Union institutions in the form of questions, opinions and suggestions.

 

Calls for Propsals

The European Commission regularly issues “calls for proposals” and “calls for tender” for it various departments. If you are interested in participating in or starting up a project, check out the Grants page of the European Commission website to see what is available. There are also other types of EU funding programmes available, for more information on these go to the HIE EU Funding page

Upcoming EU Events

European Year of Creativity and Innovation - 2009 is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, and aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development; to disseminate good practices; to stimulate education and research, and to promote policy debate on related issues. More details can be found on the website. (2010 will be European Year for  combating poverty and social exclusion)

Copenhagen Climate conference  - The Copenghagen Climate conference which will agree a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol opens on the 7th December, 2009. The European Commission and MTV Networks International have launched the "Play to Stop - Europe for Climate" campaign, which will run for six months, and is aimed at raising awareness among young people about the dangers of climate change whilst mobilising them in the run-up to the conference. "Play to Stop" targets 11 EU Member States and involves TV spots, a Moby concert in Stockholm, two concerts featuring other artists in Budapast and Copenhagen, webcasts and games, and editorial content about the battle against climate change. Check out the full Copenhagen Climate conference press release, and the Play to Stop website for more details.

Why not try your hand at the European Parliament Christmas Eco-quiz  to see how green you are.

Civil Protection Forum - towards a more resilient society - DG Environment  held the third Civil Protection Forum in Brussels on the 25th-26th November. It brought together over 800 delegates and speakers from politics, academia, civil protection services and international organisations to discuss the future of civil protection in Europe. Videos and presentations from the conference are available on the Towards a more resilient society website.

Innovate Scotland - Innovate Scotland took place in Aviemore on the 28th and 29th October, 2009. It was organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Technology Strategy Board in partnership with the Scottish Government, Scottish Enetrprise and the Scottish Funding Council. The event addressed aspects of technology innovation, with special focus on the commercial exploitation of a low CARBON economy, ENERGY, the DIGITAL economy and LIFE SCIENCES of the future. Europe Direct Highlands and Islands staff were available on the Highlands and Islands Enterprise stand in the exhibition area.

Northern Periphery Programme project development event - A seminar on project development and how to apply took place at the New Drumossie Hotel, Inverness on the 27th August, 2009 and was open to anyone interested in taking part in a project under the next call for proposals. 

European MEP Elections - In June 2009, a new European Parliament was elected. Every EU citizen in every EU state has the right to vote. Elections for UK MEP’s took place on 4th June 2009 when you had a unique opportunity to go to polls along with 375 million fellow European voters to elect both the world’s only directly elected transnational and multilingual parliament, and the EU’s only directly elected institution. For more information use the link above to go to the European elections page on the European Parliament website. Take a look at some of the issues on the new Parliament's agenda.

SME Week  - The first European SME Week took place from 6 to 14 May 2009, it is a campaign to promote entrepreneurship across Europe and to inform entrepreneurs about support available for them at European, national and local level. It allows SMEs to discover an array of information, advice, support and ideas to help them develop their activities. Throughout 2009, events are taking place to inform, assist and connect existing and potential entrepreneurs and also help them develop new ideas and benefit from personalised information and support go to the SME website for more information

Polish Cultural Festival - A massive, three-day festival of Polish culture took place in Edinburgh in 2009 from 23-26 April 2009. The festival was backed by the Consulate General of Poland and Edinburgh City Council. More details can be found on the festival's website

Campaigns and Competitions

European Entrepreneurship Video Award 2010 - The European Commission is encouraging enterprising film lovers to prove their creativity and skills by producing a short video that deals with the following questions: What is entrepreneurship all about? What could encourage people to become entrepreneurs? What could counteract old prejudices and offer new visions of entrepreneurship? Deadline for submission is 9th April 2010

Draw me a right - It is the 20th anniversary on the convention on the rights of the child and the Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security is holding a competition to celebrate the anniversary of this important agreement. The competition is open to teams of four between the ages of 10-14 or 15-18. The deadline is 19th March 2010.

 
The Tasty Bunch - The Directorate General for Agriculture has launched a campaign aimed at providing schoolchildren with information about healthy eating. Have a look at The Tasty Bunch website for interesting facts, a competition and more information.

Click a Tree campaign - The European Commission has launched a new initiative “Click a Tree” to raise awareness of the actions we can all take to fight climate change and protect the environment. It's especially for young people between 15 and 29 years, from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden or the United Kingdom. Young Europeans can order and plant one of 5,000 free tree seedlings they receive from the website, or simply buy their own tree to plant and then register at the site.  

Please see below for useful links to a range of EU resources and information network sites that should help you find what you need, however if you cannot locate what you are looking for, please complete the enquiry form and we will get back to you with an answer.

General EU information for Scotland and the UK

Europe Direct - enquiry and information service about the Europe Direct Network

Enterprise Europe Network - gateway to European business and innovation

European Information Network in Scotland - Information on European issues in Scotland

The UK Office of the European Parliament – Access to the UK MEP’s

The EU in the United Kingdom – The European Commission representation in the UK

General EU Information

Europa – The Gateway to the European Union – Discover all about the EU - Activities, Institutions, Documents and Services, Your Rights, Travelling, Working, Studying. Takes you to the European Commission, European Parliament, European Court of Justice, European Ombudsman etc.

SOLVIT – An on-line problem solving organisation for all EU citizens. With centres in every EU country, they handle complaints from citizens and businesses. Real solutions to real problems

CORDIS – Provides information on funding opportunities in Research and Development of the EU plus news of latest scientific initiatives

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) – on line version of the supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, dedicated to public procurement

EUR-Lex - EUR-Lex provides direct free access to European Union law. Here you can consult the Official Journal of the European Union as well as the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. You can also use the extensive search facilities available on EUR-Lex

Eurostat – The site for all the statistics of the European Union

EU Publications

EU BOOKSHOP – EU publications available to order, some of which are free. If you are looking for a publication that is not in the bookshop then please e-mail EDHI and we can try to locate these publications for you if they are still available

Policy Booklets – Information booklets on each of the EU’s main area of activity, plus access to posters and postcards for displays and events

Easy Reading Corner - maps, posters and postcards and booklets about the EU for young people

European News

Europa Press Room – Press releases, news bulletins and daily briefings

04/01/2010 Spain takes over rotating EU presidency for six months

11/12/2009 What has the EU done for you over the past year?

04/12/2009 Enterprise Europe releases new video - Mission possible: helping SMEs beat the recession

01/12/2009 Explaining the Treaty of Lisbon

30/11/2009 European Commission reserves phone numbers for victims of crime and non-emergency medical hotlines in Europe

27/11/2009 President Barroso unveils his new team

24/11/2009 Commission launches consultation on EU 2020 - deadline for responses to consultation is 15th January, 2010.

Europe Direct is an official information relay of the European Commission and part funded by Directorate General Communications.