Plaid MEP Jill Evans will today (Monday 14th February) launch a campaign for Wales to become the first country of Europe that is not a member state to join the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) tourism programme. Until now Wales was unable to take part in the Eden project because the UK Government had chosen not to, even though almost every country in Europe has.

EDEN is a project that encourages sustainable tourism in lesser known areas by holding national competitions in participating countries. Winning destinations are then promoted around the EU and join the EDEN network where they receive help to become established tourist destinations. The idea for the campaign came from a meeting with the Caerphilly Tourism Association organised by Councillor Ron Davies, Plaid Cymru Assembly candidate for Caerffili, in November last year.

Today Ms. Evans will meet with the Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones to call for an agreement from the Welsh and UK governments for Wales to take part in its own right and Wales to become the first European "region" to join the project.

Photograph: Jill Evans MEP with Alun Ffred Jones AM at the Senedd

Plaid MEP Jill Evans said,

“Tourism is worth billions to the Welsh economy and we need to maximise Wales’ status with tourists. Wales has some beautiful and interesting destinations for tourists and, through EDEN, people across Europe would know more about them. Why should the UK Government stop us taking part when the European Commission would welcome us with open arms? Locations in Wales could join a Europe-wide network of that would help put on the map.”

Plaid Assembly candidate Ron Davies said,

"Devolution means that Wales does not always have to play second fiddle to the UK. Through the Assembly we are now able to fully participate in European programmes when they will benefit Wales. In the past Wales would have been held back by decisions made in London but with many decisions now being made in Cardiff, instead of being held back we are able to push Wales forward. And of course, if we succeed in winning this ‘first’ for Wales, I will be promoting Caerffili."

Ends

Notes

What is EDEN?

The European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) is a project administered by the Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission. The project aims to promote sustainable tourism development models across the European Union through national competitions based on Commission set themes and criteria. The project takes place every year and results in the selection of a tourist "destination of excellence" for each participating country. Through the selection of destinations, EDEN attempts to achieve the objectives of drawing attention to the values, diversity and common features of European tourist destinations. It enhances the visibility of emerging European destinations, creates a platform for sharing good practices across Europe and promotes networking between awarded destinations.

Participation

At present almost every EU member state takes part in the project along with EU candidate countries. The UK is one of five member states that does not participate. However, it is the European Commission's policy that where tourism is largely a devolved competency, as is the case in Wales, they accept applications so long as the devolved administration gets approval from the national administration i.e. the UK Government. Through discussions with civil servants and the EDEN Project Officer[1] in the UK it has been established that the UK does not intend to join because it perceives that the costs of participating outweigh the potential benefits and because the UK has no established tourism competition that could select the winning destination. However, through dialogue with the European Commission, as well member states that participate in EDEN, the costs for Wales seem low whilst the benefits for a small country seem potentially large.

[1] Each Member State has an EDEN Project Officer even if they do not participate.