Mid Sweden in Brussels

by Ms Elisabeth Engqvist

The Mid Sweden region including two counties of Jämtland (130.000 inhabitants) and Västernorrland (250.000 inhabitants), has high ambitions of participating on the European arena and to take part in the international development.

Therefore, an office has been established in Brussels as well as offices in both counties. The Mid Sweden Office has built a complex network both in the region and on the EU-arena and serves as a link between the region and the European Institutions.

The main objective of the Mid Sweden Office is to increase regional growth by various EU-related activities. One of our main functions is to provide information of the EU policy to the region as well as promotion of the region on the European level and thereby influence policy- and decision-making on the EU-level. Other functions are to inform actors in the region about various EU-funding opportunities and to help them to find project partners. The Mid Sweden Office:

• Influences the shape of future EU-activities o Promotes networking, exchange of knowledge and partnerships between the region and organizations, companies and citizens in other European countries
• Enhances the flow of information between the region and the EU-institutions
• Helps the region to a greater extent to take advantage of the opportunities the EU- membership offers.

The Mid Sweden Office represents:

• 2 counties
• 15 municipalities (among them City of Sundsvall)
• 2 county councils
• 2 county administrations
• Mid Sweden University