Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Alderman Stalford and Councillors Kyle and McAteer.

            The minutes of the meeting of 9th March were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 4th April.

            In respect of Item 6a on the agenda, viz., Ciclovia Support 2016, Councillor McDonough Brown declared an interest in that he was a member of the Ciclovia project delivery group but confirmed that it was a non-pecuniary role.

            The information contained in the following report is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            The Chief Executive provided the Committee with an overview of the progress which had been made on the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy (CCRIS).  She highlighted the success of the Council-led delegation to the MIPIM international property exhibition and advised the Committee that one to one meetings had since been set up with a number of potential investors from the event. 

            The Committee was reminded that the Council had set an ambitious target of attracting £1billion of investment into Belfast over a five year period and the Chief Executive advised the Members that the city centre team had delivered on a number of objectives already.

            In response to a Member’s question on city centre regeneration, the Chief Executive confirmed that supplementary planning guidance for Belfast city centre would be issued in advance of the Local Development Plan for the whole city, in recognition of the fact that the city centre was the economic core.

            After discussion, the Committee noted the contents of the report and noted that detailed reports on the recent visits to MIPIM, Boston, Nashville and SxSW would be brought to a future meeting.

            The Director of Development outlined the progress which had been made to date with the Belfast One Business Improvement District (BID), which the Committee had agreed to establish at its meeting in October 2015. He advised the Members that the BID area consisted of 1,200 properties within the main retail core of the city and, through the levy, it would raise around £1.1million of additional expenditure every year.  He pointed out that the Council would be required to pay an annual levy of around £12,000 for the three properties it owned in the BID area, namely, the City Hall, the Digital Services building and Seymour House.

            The Members were advised that the BID had become operational from 6th April, 2016, and that it would focus on three key themes, namely, promoting, enhancing and supporting the businesses within it. 

            The Director advised the Committee that the Belfast One BID Board consisted of business representatives from the area and that the Chairman had now written to the Council seeking a senior official from the Council to join. The Chairman of the BID had requested a senior official who would have oversight of a range of issues and activities in which the Council was involved.

            After discussion, the Committee noted the update in relation to the Belfast One BID and agreed that the Director of Development or the Head of Economic Initiatives and International Development would represent the Council on its Board.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0  Purpose of Report

1.1   The purpose of this report is to provide Members with an overview, for information purposes, of the support provided by the Council to new and existing businesses.

1.2    Members will be aware that, on 1 April 2015, Councils assumed statutory responsibility for a range of enterprise functions.  This meant that the budget attached to a number of programmes and activities previously run by Invest NI was allocated to the 11 Councils.  Belfast City Council attracted around £411,000 of that funding to support activity to encourage enterprise and these resources are being used – along with Council funding and possibly EU funds – to develop a range of new initiatives to help address the current deficit in business start up rates.  At regional level, these are below both UK and Ireland and, within Northern Ireland, business start-up rates in Belfast rank 9 out of the 11 Council areas. 

1.3    The majority of the direct support is provided through the Development Department but the Council also interacts with and supports businesses across a range of operational areas including food health, licensing, building control and planning. 

1.4    There is a range of business support available through the Council from pre-enterprise (thinking about starting a business) through to support for start up and then support for the business once operational, depending on its growth needs (export development, marketing support etc.) in order to enhance business competitiveness and sustainability.

1.5    The Council is only one player in this field and Officers work very closely with a range of organisations such as Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs), Invest NI, Northern Ireland Science Park, Universities and Colleges and specialist/sectoral business support organisations in order to maximise the impact of the collective effort to support business start-up and growth.  This is particularly important in the context of constrained public finances.  It is also important in terms of signposting businesses to relevant support to meet their development needs and also in making the service more customer-focused. 

1.6    Given the scale of the challenge to increase business start-up rates and to make local businesses more competitive, Officers have been working to put in place a number of support programmes, in conjunction with these other organisations.  It is important to acknowledge that changing the business start-up figures and improving growth rates is a long-term ambition which will require a range of interventions.  These will include promoting the enterprise culture from an early age through school-based interventions, creating and profiling more positive role models working in small business and making the business support system easy to access.  The range of proposals in this paper is a starting point: in order to make incremental improvements in start-up and business competitiveness rankings, it will be important to work closely with partners to elevate the levels of support available for these initiatives and to focus on activities that will have the best opportunity of creating positive outcomes.   

1.7    By way of context, there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3b

The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0  Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1    This report is to provide an update on work in relation to developing a Belfast city-region ‘deal’.

2.0    Recommendations

2.1   The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the progress towards developing a Belfast city-region proposal.

3.0    Main report

         Background

3.1    Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreed in November 2015 that the Council should seek to influence the development of the next NI Executive Programme of Government and Investment Plans.  This included commissioning expert assistance to articulate the case for a Belfast city-region ‘deal’ or devolution package.  This was consequent to a Notice of Motion entitled ‘City Growth’ agreed by Council earlier in 2015.

3.2    This is directly connected to work ongoing in relation to City Centre regeneration, and it is argued that, given the appropriate freedoms and flexibilities, city-region devolution could enable greater and more widely distributed economic growth, as well as the dramatic improvement of public services. 

3.3    Subsequently, officers have completed an initial review of the various approaches to greater devolution for cities in England, and more recently, in Scotland and Wales (available on modern.gov).  This largely focuses on three main areas of support from central government:

-       funding;

-       transfer of powers and;

-       increased cooperation.

3.4   Given the links to Westminster, the Chief Executive has also had discussions with the Belfast MPs and the Secretary of State to outline the Council’s ambitions in this regard and seek their input.  In addition, as part of the agenda for the Belfast Strategic Issues Group, all the Permanent Secretaries have also been briefed.  The paper shared with the stakeholders is available on modern.gov.  Broadly speaking, all meetings have been positive and generated support for the Council’s direction and initiative on the matter.

3.5   As part of the process, the Council is developing a robust evidence-based business case to argue for greater devolution for the Belfast city-region. To this end, ResPublica has been commissioned to develop a preliminary report on what a Belfast-region devolution deal might look like.  They have a strong track record in working with cities, including Glasgow and Liverpool, in securing additional freedoms and flexibilities in a devolution package.  ResPublica has produced a preliminary paper, available on modern.gov.

3.6    In addition, given the importance of strong city-regional linkages, Centre for Cities has been commissioned as ‘honest broker’ in facilitating dialogue with neighbouring Councils and the business community, as well as other interested parties including Derry and Strabane Council. 

3.7    The draft report on the Belfast-region ‘asks’ for devolution will be presented to SP&R Committee in April.   Following this, and subsequent to the Assembly elections, there will be a series of political briefings and community engagement to advocate and build support for a Belfast city-region deal and develop the detail required for a phased implementation.

         It is anticipated detailed discussions with the NI Executive will take place later in 2016, to identify opportunities to integrate the Council’s ambitions into the Programme for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3c

            The Director of Development presented a report and accompanying research documents from the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Research and Information Service, Oxford Economics and PricewaterhouseCoopers in relation to the forthcoming referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. 

Noted.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0   Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1    In January 2016, Committee emphasised the importance of enhancing the Council’s ongoing analysis of the city economy to support the underpinning evidence base for the Belfast Agenda and propositions around investments in the city as the economic driver for the region.

1.2    With Local Government Reform, Invest NI has prepared 11 sub-regional briefings, based on the new Council boundaries, to align with its Regional Office areas.  These annual briefings have been designed to inform and support the development of emerging Community Plans and future economic development strategies that Council’s develop. 

1.3    The Belfast Regional Briefing and Summary is available on modern.gov for the Committee’s information.  It provides a range of statistical data, Invest NI data as well as an overview of regional economic assets for Belfast.  This briefing has informed the development of the Belfast Agenda and as Invest NI intends to update the profiles annually it can act as a baseline from which progress can be assessed over time.

2.0    Recommendations

2.1    As the Committee is responsible for ‘the development and implementation of strategies, policies, programmes and projects directed towards regeneration and growth of the city’ the Committee is asked to:

-       note the Invest NI Belfast Regional Briefing  which will form part of the evidence base when developing future strategies and programmes of work in its efforts to grow the Belfast economy. 

3.0    Main report

         Key Issues

3.1    Invest NI has produced an annual profile for each of the 11 Council areas to help inform the evidence base for the development of the emerging community plans and future sub-regional economic development strategies. 

3.2    The Belfast Regional Briefing and Summary provides an overview of the key metrics from a range of data sources, including Invest NI corporate intelligence.  Within the annexes (pages 15-27), comparative information is provided for each Council area and a summary of UK regional comparisons is also available for a number of key measures.  In addition, Invest NI intends to make available an interactive database to allow easy access to the data and enable trend and comparative analysis.

3.3    The Belfast Regional Briefing contains information related to the following areas:

-       Demographic and labour market structure;

-       Business base, productivity, jobs, skills and earnings;

-       Commuting patterns, tourism impact and property availability;

-       Support and investment data;

-       Performance indicators and sectoral trends for Invest NI supported businesses; and

-       An overview of regional assets, economic development partners and local supported businesses.

3.4    The following provides a brief snapshot of the type of information contained in the briefing:

-       The population in Belfast stands at 336,830 (18% of NI population). 

-       The level of economic inactivity is higher in Belfast than for NI as a whole (31% compared to 28%).

-       Belfast has 210,424 employee jobs; 34% of which are in the public sector.

-       There are 9,005 businesses in Belfast representing 13% of the total business population.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3e

            The Director of Development reminded the Members that a strategic review of events and festivals was ongoing and that proposals would be submitted to the Committee for consideration at a future date.

            He explained to the Members that festivals and events played a key role in developing the city’s economy, particularly through the tourism and hospitality sectors and that officers had initially identified a number of events which had the potential to be developed further in order to maximise the impact and economic return to the city.

            The Committee was advised that the success of many festivals could be attributed to a clear alignment with a city’s ‘brand’ and the delivery of a coordinated visitor offering.  He provided the Members with the example of the Edinburgh Festival which, in 2010, had generated £245million for the city, with the Fringe alone contributing £142million towards that figure. 

            The Director therefore advised the Committee that, in order to develop and promote a number of events and to encourage visitors to stay in the city for longer periods, £150,000 (non-recurrent) was recommended to be allocated in 2016/2017 towards the following:

·        £50,000 for St.Patrick’s Day in March 2017;

·        £50,000 for Orangefest in July 2016;

·        £40,000 to develop a coherent city offering based around a number of high profile events happening in September 2016; and

·        £10,000 for the Friendship Four college ice hockey tournament in November 2016.

            During discussion it was agreed that officers would bring regular updates on these events. 

            The Committee agreed to allocate the funding for 2016/17 as recommended.

(Mrs. J. Minne, Director of Organisational Development, attended in connection with this Item)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1      To provide elected members with information on the work that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has been doing on connecting growth and poverty reduction and to present JRF’s  manifesto briefing for a shared prosperity and reduced poverty in Northern Ireland.

1.2       In addition, this report seeks approval for a Member workshop that will determine the initial approach that the Council and its partners need to adopt in order to better maximise the potential of citywide economic growth to enable people to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.

1.3       The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is currently supporting Leeds City Council and its stakeholders in its work to realise a similar ambition. This paper therefore recommends that Belfast City Council seeks to engage with JRF to determine what steps Belfast needs within our particular city context and as an integral part of the Belfast Agenda.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1      Members are asked to note the information provided at the appendices to this report and agree that the Council engages JRF and others to facilitate a workshop in spring 2016 at City Hall to support the development of an integrated approach to addressing poverty and inequality.

3.0       Main report

            Key Issues

3.1       At the January meeting of Strategic Policy & Resources Committee Members acknowledged the growing issue of poverty and inequality in the city. Committee also noted that the Council and its partners already made significant contributions towards mitigating the impact of poverty (particularly in relation to issues of food, fuel and housing).

3.2       In relation to tackling the root causes of poverty in Belfast, there was also agreement that the over-riding need was to maximise household income by addressing unemployment, low pay, and ensuring full access to benefits.

3.3       Members acknowledged that, while it is very important to mitigate the negative impact of poverty here and now, it is also critical to understand and address the root causes of why people are in poverty in the first place and work towards reducing that risk.

3.4       In Leeds JRF has been working successfully with the Local Authority and with local business in the Leeds Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to find out how economic growth can be promoted in a way that makes addressing poverty an integral part of that city’s local growth strategies. The city has established a ‘More jobs, Better Jobs’ partnership to achieve this see. It has four aims:

-       To better understand the relationship between poverty and the economy at the city and city region level;

-       To identify what can be done and by whom at city/city region level to create more and better jobs;

-       To make a compelling practical case for why cities should link growth and poverty reduction; and

            To make addressing poverty a more integral part of local growth strategies in cities and city regions.

3.5       A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

            (Councillor McDonough Brown declared an interest in this Item, in that he was a member of the Ciclovia project delivery group, but confirmed that it was a non-pecuniary role and did not participate in the vote.)

            The Director of Development reminded the Committee that Belfast’s first Ciclovia event, where a section of the city was closed to traffic for a specified period of time, had taken place in October 2015.  He outlined that the first event had been a success for the city, with 1,500 cyclists taking part, and that a second Ciclovia event had now been proposed to take place during the summer months of 2016.

            The Members were advised that the Council’s contribution for the 2015 event had been £15,000 and that a request had now been received from the organisers for Council sponsorship towards this year’s event.  The Director explained to the Members that the overall cost of the event was an estimated £30,000 but that the organisers were seeking to secure funding from other statutory and non-statutory bodies, including DSD’s Belfast City Centre Event Grant Scheme 16/17 where they were bidding for up to £10,000.  The Director therefore advised that £10,000 from the Development Department’s budget could be allocated towards the Belfast Ciclovia event 2016.

            During discussion, a Member suggested that whilst the event last year was enjoyable, it was felt that more activities could be put on along the closed route and around the City Hall.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to allocate £10,000 from the existing Development Department budget to support the Belfast Ciclovia 2016 Event.

(Ms. E. Henry, Assistant Tourism, Culture and Arts Manager, attended in connection with this Item)

            The Assistant Tourism, Culture and Arts Manager reminded the Committee that it had approved a draft Cultural Framework for Belfast Action Plan 2016-2020 at its meeting on 13th January, 2016, and that the public consultation had closed on 23rd March, 2016.

            She outlined to the Committee that twenty-five formal responses to the consultation had been received which had been used to modify the final draft of the Cultural Framework, with the majority of respondents having been supportive of the draft Action Plan.  She highlighted that, in particular, a number of comments were made about the Council’s commitment to supporting culture, arts and heritage within the city and that the feedback was largely supportive of the Plan.

            The Members were advised that there were four themes under the Action Plan, namely, Distinctly Belfast, Inspiring Communities, Attracting Audiences and Strengthening the Sector and that at least 84% of respondents fully or mostly agreed to the proposed plans and actions within each theme.

            In response to a Member’s question, the Assistant Manager clarified to the Committee that those groups which were unsuccessful in attaining funding had been offered meetings with Council officers to discuss other funding avenues and future applications.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed the Cultural Framework Action Plan 2016-2020 and the associated Year 1 Delivery Plan.

            The Director of Development provided the Committee with an update on the arrangements for the Sister Cities International Summit, which was taking place in Dublin on 21st and 22nd April, 2016, to celebrate and build upon the relationships which sought to support sustainable economic growth in each region.  In addition, the Director reminded the Members of the events which were planned for the delegations from Boston and Nashville, Belfast’s partner cities, which had confirmed their attendance in Belfast from 19th-21st April for a range of meetings and events.  The Members were advised that there would be a drinks reception and welcome dinner in the City Hall on 20th April to welcome both the delegations to Belfast and he encouraged the Members to attend.

Noted.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       To seek Members’ support for a request to financially support the second National Collegiate Athletic Association of the USA (NCAA) Festival of Ice Tournament. 

            The City Growth and Regeneration Committee is asked to consider the request for a £50,000 financial contribution to host the festival over the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend (25-27 November) and for agreement in principle to support the tournament for a further two years subject to budget approval.  This is the same amount that the Council contributed in 2015.

2.0      Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is requested to:

·        Agree to commit £50,000 towards sponsorship of the above event.

3.0       Main report

3.1      Key Issues

            Members will be aware of the successful NCAA Friendship Four Festival of Ice Hockey Tournament held in Belfast at the SSE Arena from 25-28 November 2015.  This was complemented by a month long STEM Conference in the W5 complex in Belfast which attracted 2,776 participants.

3.2       BCC contributed £40,000 towards the cost of the tournament, as well as a civic welcome dinner costing £10,000.

3.3       The four universities which came to Belfast in 2015 were the University of Massachusetts (UMass Lowell), Northeastern University, Brown and Colgate.  This was the first time that a collegiate hockey competitive tournament was played outside of the USA, and attracted 600 Bostonians who travelled to Belfast for a 4 night stay. The tournament was the first tangible output of the Belfast Boston Sister City Agreement, and significantly strengthened the 2014 agreement.  The intention is to host the tournament annually in Belfast, and on 08 February 2016 four universities were confirmed and announced to compete in this year’s tournament. These are the University of Massachusetts, St Lawrence University, Quinnipiac and the University of Vermont.  Proposed universities for subsequent years include Boston College, Boston University, Dartmouth and Union.

3.4       There is also potential to build on the momentum and develop Friendship Four beyond ice hockey.  This may result in a wider Festival of Sport through the inclusion of a sequential basketball competition also under the umbrella of the Sister City partnership.

3.5       2015 Outputs

            Members will be aware that the 2015 Friendship Four was successfully telecast in North America.  TSN, which is the biggest sports channel in Canada with 158,000 subscribed viewers in Western Canada and airs coast-to-coast, Time Warner Sports (broadcasting in NYC) and NESN (New England Sports Network) broadcast the tournament, reaching 4.2 million homes, and have all expressed their intent to broadcast further in 2016.

3.6       The 2015 Friendship Four featured in both of Boston’s major newspapers The Herald and The Globe, with daily readership of 96,500 and 232,432 respectively.

3.7       Direct outputs for the city of Belfast with respect to the 2015 festival are outlined as Appendix 1 of this report.

3.8       Since the first Friendship Four tournament BCC has undertaken a further visit to Boston to develop academic, business and tourism links, and will host an incoming business and political delegation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6d

(Mrs. C. Cassin, Markets Development Manager, attended in connection with this Item)

            The Director of Development advised the Members that St George’s Market had grown significantly over the last few years and that it regularly attracted up to 20,000 visitors over its three day opening period, namely, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  The Committee was reminded that St. George’s Market had attracted almost one million visitors last year alone.  He advised the Committee that, while the Saturday and Sunday markets had been performing well, business at the more traditional Friday market had been less positive. 

            The Markets Development Manager advised the Members that the more traditional markets, such as the Friday market, had been struggling right across the country.  She explained that, in order to look at how business could be improved at the Friday market, officers had met with the Friday traders.  She explained that a proposal had been made to extend the opening hours of the market on Fridays, allowing traders to remain open between 6am and 3pm, in order to allow more lunch time business from the adjacent offices.  She explained that a plan had also been put in place to boost Friday trade which included a re-launch of the market, a celebration of 120 years of the Friday Market, an advertising, marketing and social media campaign and an activities calendar of events.

            During discussion, the Markets Development Manager confirmed to the Members that discussions were ongoing regarding the possibility of using Verner Street, adjacent to St. George’s Market, as additional space for the traders on occasion.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to extend the Friday opening hours at St. George’s Market by one hour, from 2pm to 3pm.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0  Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1    The purpose of this report is to inform Members of a policy consultation document launched by the Department of the Environment (DOE) on 10 March 2016, relating to Dilapidated/Dangerous Structures and Neglected Sites.

1.2    The Minister of the Environment, Mark H Durkan MLA has initiated a review of the legislation available to district councils to deal with the impact on local environmental quality of dilapidated/dangerous buildings and neglected sites. Much of the legislation relating to this area of environmental policy dates back to the 19th century and in many cases applies only to specific geographical areas.

1.3    The policy consultation considers a range of options to enhance protection of the environment by ensuring that district councils have the appropriate powers to effectively tackle this problem. However, Members should note the DOE has indicated its preference at this stage is for a comprehensive revision of primary legislation in this area.

1.4    This consultation will run for 16 weeks and will close on 30 June 2016. The consultation document can be accessed using the following link:

https://www.doeni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultations/doe/environment-consultation-dilapidation-policy.pdf

2.0    Recommendations

2.1    The Committee is asked to:

-       Note the contents of this report; and

-       Note that officers develop a draft response to this consultation document to be brought back to this Committee and the People and Communities Committee in May for detailed consideration.

3.0    Main report

3.1    Members should be aware that this review of legislation is to a large part as a result of concerted lobbying by the Building Control Service on behalf of the Council over many years. In dealing with issues under the current legislative framework the Service identified significant deficiencies and loopholes which adversely impacted its ability to take effective action in certain circumstances.

3.2    Council officers met with the then Minister of the Environment, Alex Attwood MLA, to seek a review of the legislation in this area and, further to subsequent meetings with DoE officials, a discussion document was issued by the DoE in March 2014, ‘Environmental Legislation: Dilapidated/Dangerous Buildings and Neglected Sites’.

3.3    In response to this discussion paper the Health and Environmental Services Committee, at its meeting of 4 June 2014, agreed that the position of Belfast City Council is that the current legislation for dealing with dangerous, dilapidated, ruinous buildings and abandoned sites is not fit for purpose in certain circumstances. Copies of the Committee report and Council response from this time are attached at Appendix 1 & 2 to this report.

3.4    Council officers from Building Control, Environmental Health, Legal Services, Economic Initiatives and the Planning Service will discuss the various aspects of this consultation document and produce a draft response for consideration by Members.

3.5    It is intended that the draft response will be brought to both this Committee and the People and Communities Committee, given the cross cutting nature of the policy consultation, in May for detailed consideration. Subject to consideration by the Committees a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7b

The Director of Development reminded the Committee that the Department for Regional Development (DRD) had made proposals in relation to the issues which were raised by elected members and the Belfast Public Hire Taxi Association representatives at the Special City Growth and Regeneration meeting on the 3rd February, 2016.

            The Director advised the Members that a response had been drafted by officers regarding the DRD Transport NI consultation in relation to providing a public hire taxi feeder rank in Donegall Square West by reducing the existing coach bay and the proposal to convert part of the existing taxi rank on Chichester Street to a coach bay. 

            During discussion, it was pointed out to the Members that correspondence had since been received from the Federation of Passenger Transport NI Ltd., who represented the coach and bus trade in Northern Ireland.  The correspondence asked that the Council did not take a preferential view in regard to the Public Hire Taxi drivers.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed the following submission to DRD, as the Council’s position:

(a)   that the Council would support the proposed reduction of the existing coach bay in Donegall Square West and the introduction of a public hire taxi feeder rank of 20 metres on the basis that alternative provision was provided for coach parking as proposed in (b);

(b)   that the Council supported the proposed reduction of the existing taxi rank on Chichester Street to accommodate a 23 metre coach bay (outside Victoria Square Shopping Centre, opposite Seymour Street), on the basis that it was introduced by DRD on a trial basis and subject to planned management and monitoring to ensure the conditions of use of the new rank and coach bay areas are adhered to by the operators; and

(c)   noted that the Council was in contact with DRD to consider proposals to improve directional signage information to the public hire taxi ranks in the city centre.

(Miss. L. Leonard, European Manager, attended in connection with this Item)

            The Committee agreed that a paper on the potential to establish an EU working group would be brought to a future meeting within the context of the International Relations Framework.