Not an ego trip !

Most of the items below are about me and my experience. I have posted these first as all the enquiries I have received so far have been about this. I will also post on policy matters, which should be more interesting.

My work in the South East

I was Head of European Affairs for East Sussex County Council from 1995 to 2002. I had two main aims, to increase the volume and usefulness of European funding in the county and to persuade the councils and other bodies of the South-East to work together in influencing the EU.

Funding
I managed East Sussex’s INTERREG II trans-border programme with Upper Normandy which supported a wide range of projects by the public and private sectors and the voluntary sector. I helped to set up the successor programme INTERREG III which also involved Kent. My office also built up a successful programme of projects using the European Social Fund to help the unemployed. I co-ordinated the campaign which which led to Hastings, Dover and Thanet receiving Objective 2 funds from the EU.

Representation and Lobbying
We don’t have democratic regional government in the UK, which puts us at a disadvantage when competing with regions across Europe for attention in Brussels. Instead we have government regional offices (GOSE in the South-East) which represent Whitehall, regional development agencies (SEEDA) appointed and funded by central government and regional assemblies (SEERA) which have delegates from local government and elsewhere and carry out functions largely carried out by counties before. I worked in many ways with all these bodies and, in particular, argued for joint representation to the EU which was finally achieved by the establishment of South-East England House in Brussels, which I helped to manage.

The South-East of England is rightly seen as the richest part of the country but it contains many pockets of poverty and lack of skill, disguised by the overall statistics. Together with colleagues from across the region, I put together a campaign to promote the needs of the South-East to the European institutions. I led an all-party delegation of councillors from all over the South-East to lobby the European Commission and Parliament. We achieved some vital amendments to funding legislation which would otherwise have prevented the South-East from receiving European funds.

European Union experience (short version)

I have worked with not for the EU institutions, but for NGOs, public and private bodies.

Young Federalists (JEF) 1978-83
I raised EC funds and organised many international conferences. JEF trained many people who now hold decisive positions within the EU.

Regional Policy (RETI) 1991-3
I revitalised a network of older industrial regions of Europe, recruiting new regions in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany. We persuaded the EU to double Objective 2 funds to help these regions convert to new economic activity.

Environmental Policy 1995-93
I ran the EU office of BirdLife International, (RSPB in the UKwe got environmental criteria put in structural funds regulations. We stopped Delors and the French government weakening protection of species and strengthened it. We stopped the German government from building a motorway through a protected valley.

South-East
At East Sussex I worked with groups across the South-East to raise the region’s profile in Brussels and attract more funding. Please see separate posting on the South-East.

European Union experience (long version)

I have never worked inside the institutions of the European Union but have known them well, watched them develop over 30 years and learned how to influence them as an ordinary citizen and a lobbyist on behalf of many groups, including local and regional government and environmental NGOs.

Young Federalists

From 1978-83 as Secretary-General and then as President of Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste (Young European Federalists), I raised funds from the European Commission and from the Council of Europe and organised many international conferences with Commission and European Parliament participation. I doubt that we had a big impact on policy but we did train many people who have gone on to high positions in the European institutions. In one small way, we have affected the daily business of the European Parliament; the parliament’s rules of procedures contain rules copied directly from the standing orders I wrote for the young federalists. See separate posting on federalism.

Regional Policy

From 1990-95 I worked as a lobbyist in Brussels for a variety of organisations. In particular I campaigned on Regional Policy and Environmental Policy. I took over the running of a rather moribund organisation, RETI, representing a network of older industrial regions of Europe, where traditional industries such as coal, steel and ship-building were in terminal decline. I built up the network recruiting new regions in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany. We put together a campaign to increase EU funding to help these regions convert to new economic activity (Objective 2 funding) and lobbied teh Commission, the Parliament and national governments. As a result, Objective 2 funding was doubled.

Environmental Policy

I then set up the EU office of BirdLife International, a global conservation network whose biggest European member is RSPB. I lobbied successfully for environmental criteria to be included in the management of structural funds. I took on and defeated the French government and Jacques Delors, who wanted to appeal to the votes of French hunters by weakening the Birds Directive which protects migrating birds. The amending legislation finally adopted reflected almost exactly the policy which we advocated and strengthened teh protection of birds during the breeding season. The most difficult campaign was to persuade the European Commission to enforce European law on species and habitat conservation against the wishes of the German government which wanted to build a new motorway through two protected valleys. We managed to save one.

South-East

Back in the UK, from a base at East Sussex County Council, I worked with groups across the South-East to raise the region’s profile in Brussels and attract more funding. Please see separate posting on the South-East.

Short biased summary CV

I developed an early interest in politics and debating at school, which continued at university where I became President of the Cambridge Union. After university I became a local government lawyer but was much more interested in European politics which led me to my first job in Brussels as Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists, an organisation of 10,000 members in 15 countries. I returned to the UK in 1980, re-trained and joined ICL to design software and then in marketing. However, my interest in politics dominated, I continued to be active in European politics and became very active in the Liberal Party, standing as our candidate in the target seat of Gainsborough & Horncastle in the disappointing election of 1987, where we sadly failed to "break the mould". Having re-married and started a family, I returned to Brussels in 1990 where I worked as a lobbyist, firstly for a range of private and public sector clients, then for a network of the older industrial regions (Objective 2) and finally for BirdLife International (RSPB in Britain) campaigning on conservation and environment. I returned to Britain in 1995 to run European Affairs for East Sussex. I now run Inside Europe which is my own consultancy working chiefly with universities and research institutes but also campaigning on climate change.

Long factual CV

David Grace, Curriculum Vitae so far...

Personal

1951 Born

1972 Married (first time)

1976 Divorced (first time)

1989 Married (second time)

1999 Divorced (second time)

Two sons, Charlie (18) and Toby (12)

Education

1956-60 Richmond Avenue Primary School, Shoeburyness, Essex

1960-61 Lymington Church of England Primary School, Hampshire

1961-64 Skippers Hill Manor Preparatory School, Five Ashes, Sussex

1964-69 Dover College

1970-73 Magdalene College, Cambridge: Part I: Economics & Politics, Part II: History

1973-74 Wolfson College, Cambridge: Law

1981-82 Wolfson College, Cambridge: Computer Science Diploma Course

Professional

1974-78 Greater London Council, Legal & Parliament Department

1978-80 Secretary-General, Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste (Young European Federalists)

1982-86 International Computers Limited, software development and marketing

1986-87 Federal Union, Company Secretary

1988-90 Commission for Local Administration (Local Ombudsman), Investigator

1990-91 Account Director, R&M European Strategy

1991-93 Director, European Association for Regions of Industrial Technology (RETI)

1993-95 Head of European Union Office, BirdLife International

1995-2002 Head of European Affairs, East Sussex County Council

2002- Director, Inside Europe, European Consultancy

Secretary, James Madison Trust

Secretary, Action for a Global Climate Community

Political

1963 My first speech in favour of British membership of the European Communities

1973 President, Cambridge Union Society

1974 Joined Liberal Party

1976 Joined Young European Federalists

1977 Chairman, Radical Youth for Europe (Young Liberal organisation)

Executive, Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste (European youth organisation)

1978-80 Secretary-General, Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste (Young European Federalists)

1981-83 President, Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste

1985-87 PPC and Candidate, Gainsborough & Horncastle Constituency

1980s Liberal Party Foreign Affairs Panel, European Community Affairs Panel and International Development Panel

British Council of the European Movement

Federal Committee, Union of European Federalists

British Liberal delegate, European Liberals and Democrats Conferences

Treasurer, Liberal European Action Group

1986 Silver Medal for work for European Unity, awarded by the Friends of Robert Schumann Foundation, Metz.

1987-88 Liberal Party Candidates Committee

2006- Chair, Liberal Democrats for Peace & Security

First E-mail

I am an old-fashioned politician who likes to meet people face to face but there are 12,000 Liberal Democrats in the South-East, so forgive me for this impersonal approach.

Eurosceptics have been winning the European debate in Britain by default because politicians have been too cautious or too cowardly to make the case for the European Union and our role in it. Sadly, our own party cannot be exempted from this charge. For years we have taken our support for the European Union for granted and failed to debate it properly. The Eurosceptics spreading fear about immigration and loss of sovereignty have us all on the back foot. Liberals do not win in a climate of fear. We must campaign on the basis of the good news about Europe and the hope which the EU brings for us all.

We can tell voters the good news about the biggest single market in the world and the good news about EU spending in the South-East. As Head of European Affairs at East Sussex County Council I helped to bring over £60 million to the region.

We can tell people that the EU leads on environmental issues which nations cannot solve alone, not least climate change. As an environmental lobbyist, I know my way around the European institutions and I have successfully changed EU law and policies.

We must tell people the forgotten truth that the European Union has brought peace to Europe and can build a peaceful world. Since the Iraq war security is a top issue. People share our conviction that international law is better than war. I chair Liberal Democrats for Peace and Security and I campaign for a Britain which plays a full part in making the EU a force for peace instead of a Britain which slavishly follows American foreign policy. We can and must become part of the solution and no longer part of the problem.

We can demonstrate that Liberal Democrats lead on all these issues. I want to show voters that the European Union is vital to a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. I ask you to give me the chance to show that the Liberal Democrats are vital to the EU.

Thank you for reading this. If you agree with me, please give me your 1^st preference vote. If you want know more about my experience and views, please read my blog, Hope in place of fear at http://hopeipofear.blogspot.com/

Best wishes,

David Grace