An Aberdeen councillor is banking on a new task force to make sure Aberdeen benefits from European Union funding post-Brexit.
Councillor Barney Crockett said the North Sea Commission (NSC) had helped the Granite City secure tens of millions of pounds worth of EU financial support since it was set up in the 1970s.
But with Brexit around the corner there are concerns the NSC’s clout could be weakened.
The NSC Brexit task force, whose first meeting is in May, will try to protect the partnerships forged between regional authorities around the North Sea − in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.
Mr Crockett, who is on the NCS’s executive committee, said it was important for the whole North Sea basin that Aberdeen continues to play a “full role” in the commission, “regardless of what happens with Brexit”.
Mr Crockett, who also chairs the NCS’s economic development working group, said: “Through the task force, we are trying to make sure we have joint action regarding funding.
“Aberdeen is good at bidding for funding through the NCS and we are keen for that to continue.”
He added: “Politicians from every country around the North Sea want to see good relations continue.
“There’s a desire and a need for Aberdeen to be involved in North Sea issues.”
The task force’s creation was agreed at an NSC executive committee meeting in Southend on March 24.
Nienke Homan, from the Groningen Region of the Netherlands, will head up the Brexit task force.
The NCS lobbies, develops policy and encourages cooperation in the areas of marine resources, transport, energy and climate change, and attractive and sustainable communities.
It is one of the six commissions set up under the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, an independent network of over 150 regions from within and outside the EU.
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