A new County Council-backed service which provides a wealth of information about living and working in Europe will launch this Friday (November 2) in Penrith library.
Europe Direct is an European Commission initiative that has already been rolled out across mainland Europe. It's now arrived in the UK and information points will be up and running in Cumbria this week.
Users of Europe Direct could be anyone from a small business hoping to export to Estonia to a British holidaymaker wanting to know about the cheapest Czech mobile phone tariffs. The information portal will also offer information about the UK's role in Europe, so Cumbrian-based employers could use it to find out more about employing migrant workers.
There are four main functions of Europe Direct:
- To enable everyone living in Cumbria, including businesses, to access information about the European Union's institutions, laws, policies and funding opportunities.
- To promote local and regional debate about the European Union and its policies.
- To allow European institutions to improve the dissemination of information.
- To allow the public to send feedback to European institutions.
The website www.europedirectcumbria.org.uk (external link)is now up and running for the public to explore a whole range of issues.
The main headquarters of Europe Direct will be in the Cockermouth offices of the County Council's regeneration support team, where the public will be able to have one-to-one discussions about Europe Direct with one of the team as well as picking up a wide range of supporting literature and accessing the Europe Direct web portal at the dedicated information kiosk.
The service will also be connected to the PC network in the six main libraries in the county: Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal, Penrith, Whitehaven and Workington. This means that library users will be able to access the Europe Direct web page for free.
Cllr Tony Markley, Cabinet member responsible for economic development and regeneration, said:
"Finding out information about specific issues in Europe can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Europe Direct will take people to the right information in the quickest and easiest way. It might be someone who's looking to study for a year in France, it could be someone needing more information about town twinning, it could be someone hoping to learn a foreign language. Europe Direct will be able to help these people, and many others, and avoid all the complicated jargon and Euro speak that often goes with this territory."
Notes
The official launch of Europe Direct is at Penrith library at 10.30am on Friday November 2. Europe Direct will be officially launched in Cumbria by Greta Hopkins, Regional Manager for European Commission Representation in the UK and Elisabeth Sweeney-Smith, who represents the European Parliament's UK Office. County councillors and representatives from Cumbria Vision, University of Cumbria and West Lakes Renaissance will also be attending.
ENDS
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
Follow think link to view the Europe Direct Flyer