ASSOCIATION "POMORSKIE IN EUROPEAN UNION"

Under the Council of Gdynia resolution no. XV/345/04 dated 28th January 2004 (Monitor no. 3/04; position 35), the City of Gdynia joined the Association of Pomeranian Regional Office in Brussels. The name of the association was then changed into Association .Pomorskie in European Union.

The aims of the a/m association are as follows:

• promoting, representing and supporting interest of the Association members both in the country and abroad, particularly in the EU member states
• stimulating activities for sustainable development of the Pomeranian Region and increasing living standards of the inhabitants of the Region, which is in accordance with the Pomeranian Region Development Strategy and National Programme of Preparation for Membership in the EU
• disseminating knowledge and information on programmes, tenders and EU initiatives as well as know-how and the best practices related to the EU functioning
• initiating and coordinating joint ventures intended for favourable transformations in the Pomeranian Region.

Within the Association there has been established the Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels

One of the reasons for the foundation of the Office was to make it accessible to a bigger number of partners from the Pomeranian Region. It was also important not to limit the Office partners exclusively to local governmental units but to include in this initiative representatives of universities, regional development agencies as well as small and medium enterprises (MSP) represented by economic self-government, non-governmental organizations, etc.

The Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels plays the three basic functions:

• to inform - by collecting and distributing to appropriate regional institutions and organizations information on new legal acts and on the announcement of EU tenders, programmes and funds allowing financing regional development projects
• to lobby - by representing and lobbing interests of the Region among associations and by stimulating interest of groups acting in Brussels as well as by attracting investors and partners to the Region
• to promote - by promoting the Region.s individual character in Brussels and by propagating initiatives of regional authorities and of other subjects by organizing seminars, conferences and presentations as well as by its home page, publications, bulletins and periodic reports.

Beside the above mentioned functions of the Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels, it is the Office.s responsibility to support the Region representatives in the Committee of Regions, to prepare visits of politicians and public administration experts as well as to organise apprenticeships in Brussels for Pomeranian public administration officers.

Among the members of Association .Pomorskie in European Union. there are Regional Authorities of the Pomeranian Region, municipalities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot, Słupsk, poviats of Człuchów, Kwidzyn, Puck, Wejherowo and the Pomeranian Association of Rural Communes. The number of members is still growing.

In order to ensure an efficient flow of information from Brussels to partners in the region, the so-called Local Office of the Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels has been established. Its role consists in forwarding information by the Regional Office to partners in the region, monitoring the use of supplied information and preparing information needs of regional partners and forwarding them to the Office in Brussels. The Local Office of the Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels is based in the Marshal Office of the Pomeranian Region in Gdańsk. 

Contact addresses:
POMORSKIE Regional EU Office
3, Rue du Luxembourg
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel.+32 2 207 13 74
www.pomorskie-eu.pl

Local Office of the Pomeranian Region Office in Brussels
Marshal Office of the Pomeranian Region in Gdańsk
ul. Okopowa 21/27
80-810 Gdańsk

Aleksandra Cieplińska 
phone:  +48/58/32 61 714
fax: +48/58/32 61 709
e-mail: a.cieplinska@woj-pomorskie.pl

Szymon Polak 
phone:  +48/58/32 61 709
fax: +48/58/32 61 709
e-mail: s.polak@woj-pomorskie.pl

Contact person in Gdynia City Hall:
Dominika Kowalkowska
Department of Development Programmes
phone:  +4858 (...) 668 84 35
fax:  +4858 (...) 668 84 45
e-mail: d.kowalkowska@gdynia.pl