Working with the European Union

The European Union (EU) has a growing influence over all aspects of local government activity. Councils also have a major role in ensuring that the EU delivers practical benefits for Welsh citizens. There are a number of reasons why Europe is important to local government and why local government is important to Europe:

• Councils can contribute to the quality of EU initiatives by identifying ways to make them more workable on the ground.
  
• For many councils EU funding, whether from the Structural Funds or other programmes, is a very important resource.
  
• As much as 70% of UK law impacting on councils has its origins in EU legislation.
  
• Councils have much to gain from exchanging good practice with their counterparts in other European countries.

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