Europe Direct Highlands & Islands (EDHI)

What is Europe Direct?

Europe Direct Highlands and Islands (EDHI) is part of an official European Commission network of information relays, with over 400 Europe Direct Centres spread throughout the European Union.

EDHI is hosted by Highlands & Islands Enterprise and managed by the International affairs team. It has the role of improving the flow of European information to citizens in one of Europe's most peripheral regions.

Aims

The main objectives of the Europe Direct network are to:

  1. enable local citizens to obtain information, advice, assistance and answers to questions about the European Union’s institutions, legislation, policies, programmes and funding opportunities;

  2. actively promote local and regional debate about the European Union and its policies;

  3. allow the European institutions to improve the dissemination of information tailored to local and regional needs;

  4. give the public the opportunity to send feedback to the European Union institutions in the form of questions, opinions and suggestions.


Calls for Propsals

The European Commission regularly issues “calls for proposals” and “calls for tender” for it various departments. If you are interested in participating in or starting up a project, check out the Grants page of the European Commission website to see what is available. There are also other types of EU funding programmes available, for more information on these go to the HIE EU Funding page

Upcoming EU Events

European MEP Elections - In June 2009, the new European Parliament will be elected. Every EU citizen in every EU state has the right to vote. Elections for UK MEP’s take place on 4th June 2009 when you will have a unique opportunity to go to polls along with 375 million fellow European voters to elect both the world’s only directly elected transnational and multilingual parliament, and the EU’s only directly elected institution. For more information use the link above to go to the European elections page on the European Parliament website, or visit http://www.cor.europa.eu/pages/ElectionTemplate.aspx to go to EU election information on the Comittee of the Regions Website.  
To register to vote, go to About my Vote

Polish Cultural Festival - A massive, three-day festival of Polish culture is to take place in Edinburgh in 2009 from 23-26 April 2009. The festival has been backed by the Consulate General of Poland and Edinburgh City Council. More details can be found on the festival's website

SME Week  - The first European SME Week, taking place from 6 to 14 May 2009, is a campaign to promote entrepreneurship across Europe and to inform entrepreneurs about support available for them at European, national and local level. It allows SMEs to discover an array of information, advice, support and ideas to help them develop their activities. Throughout 2009, events are taking place to inform, assist and connect existing and potential entrepreneurs and also help them develop new ideas and benefit from personalised information and support go to the SME website for more information

Please see below for useful links to a range of EU resources and information network sites that should help you find what you need, however if you cannot locate what you are looking for, please complete the enquiry form and we will get back to you with an answer.

General EU information for Scotland and the UK

Europe Direct - enquiry and information service about the Europe Direct Network

European Information Network in Scotland - Information on European issues in Scotland

The UK Office of the European Parliament – Access to the UK MEP’s

The EU in the United Kingdom – The European Commission representation in the UK

General EU Information

Europa – The Gateway to the European Union – Discover all about the EU - Activities, Institutions, Documents and Services, Your Rights, Travelling, Working, Studying. Takes you to the European Commission, European Parliament, European Court of Justice, European Ombudsman etc.

SOLVIT – An on-line problem solving organisation for all EU citizens. With centres in every EU country, they handle complaints from citizens and businesses. Real solutions to real problems

CORDIS – Provides information on funding opportunities in Research and Development of the EU plus news of latest scientific initiatives

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) – on line version of the supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, dedicated to public procurement

EUR-Lex - EUR-Lex provides direct free access to European Union law. Here you can consult the Official Journal of the European Union as well as the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. You can also use the extensive search facilities available on EUR-Lex

Eurostat – The site for all the statistics of the European Union

EU Publications

EU BOOKSHOP – EU publications available to order, some of which are free. If you are looking for a publication that is not in the bookshop then please e-mail EDHI and we can try to locate these publications for you if they are still available

Policy Booklets – Information booklets on each of the EU’s main area of activity, plus access to posters and postcards for displays and events

Easy Reading Corner - maps, posters and postcards and booklets about the EU for young people

European News

Europa Press Room – Press releases, news bulletins and daily briefings

Europe Direct is an official information relay of the European Commission and part funded by Directorate General Communications.