BELC member, Mayor of Saliès on France 3 TV channel

In an interview with France 3 Tarn, one of the local editions of the French public television channel, Jean-François Rochedreux, mayor of Saliès, in France’s Occitanie region, explained his role as a BELC member. He highlighted to the public that Europe brings to France many benefits, without people being aware of it. He mentioned popular programmes, like the MaPrimeRénov that helps people renovate their houses, while nobody knows that it runs thanks to European funding.

In his view, the European Commission is willing to develop this privileged relationship with the local councillors who, in turn, transfer the information to their communities.

Among the most successful concrete European initiatives, he cited the Erasmus programme, which has grown from 300,000 student beneficiaries at its launch to several millions today.

Mr Rochedreux also spoke about the visit of French BELC members to Brussels in February 2004, at the invitation of the European Commission. One of the highlights of the trip, according to him, was a visit to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which is at the heart of the EU's civil protection mechanism.