The monitoring committee of European funds, the 2nd of the year, met last week on the island, for two days, to take stock of the 2014-2020 programming in Saint-Martin. We can see that the project leaders have understood the importance of these credits.
The 2014-2020 program in Saint-Martin was described as “dynamic” by the correspondents of the European Commission, the services of the Secretary General for Regional Affairs (SGAR) of Guadeloupe, but also by the President of the Collectivity Aline Hanson. Last Wednesday, at the CCISM, many local actors - National Education, CCISM, Initiative Saint-Martin Active, CESC - came to listen to the report of the monitoring committee of European funds, decision-making body in Saint-Martin. “This committee looks at the progress of the 2014-2020 programming, in particular the ERDF and ESF credits,” said Eric Berthon, secretary general of regional affairs, prefecture of the Guadeloupe region. This document should allow us to anticipate the studies, the evaluations, necessary until 2020 to check that the program is on the right track, that this programming is taking place according to the set objectives. We will thus see if the economic impact of European credits is real on the territory. ” “We are trying to encourage project leaders to get closer to the COM's Europe unit,” said President Aline Hanson, adding that Saint-Martin is on “a very good path” to move forward with its partners.
European funds: does the population feel concerned?
As part of this programming, it was important to know the perception of the population. A QualiStat survey was therefore carried out at the beginning of the month among many Saint-Martin residents. In the context of this study, we see that Saint-Martin, although a French community, is not perceived as a French-speaking island. Ericka Merion, director of the institute, explained that “Saint-Martin is a multicultural island, primarily English-speaking. For the people questioned, it is important not to speak just French. If we don't use English, in simple language, that makes European funds even more inaccessible. We must show that all Saint-Martinois can benefit from these funds (...) they want multi-media communication, but also outside the media: street banners, communication step by step, that is to say in neighborhood councils and on social media. ”
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