Brussels, 21/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - The EU peace and reconciliation programme in Northern Ireland (PEACE) is a success, whose experience could be drawn on by other institutions and people involved in other reconciliation and peace building projects in the world. The European Parliament expressed this view in an own initiative report by Bairbre de Brún (GUE/NGL, United Kingdom), adopted in a plenary session on 20 May in Strasbourg. To this end, MEPs are calling for a database to be set up as a teaching instrument for people working for peace and reconciliation at national and international levels. In 2000, the PEACE 2 programme took over from the special peace and reconciliation support programme of 1995-99 (PEACE 1). The current PEACE 3 (2007-13) programme is based on the same structure as the previous programme and aims to strengthen the peace process in Ireland and promote reconciliation and a peaceful and stable society in the region. This programme benefits a multitude of sectors, geographic zones, groups and communities particularly affected by the conflict, and encourages inter-Community projects. The major part of the funds comes from the PEACE programme and is managed by local partners and NGOs. It aims to provide members of the different Northern Irish communities with the possibility to come together and work at a local level. The EP's report welcomes the important contribution the PEACE and International Fund for Northern Ireland (IFI) have brought to economic and social development and highlights the fact that this cooperation should not come to an end once the programmes have expired. MEPs are also calling on United Kingdom and Irish governments to implement specific and temporary financing mechanisms for local associations and voluntary groups in an effort to bridge the gap between the end of the PEACE 2 funding programmes and the beginning of the PEACE 3 funding programmes. MEPs are also demanding a reduction in bureaucracy in an effort to ensure that small projects are not overburdened by disproportionate charges. The EP recognises that peace-building is a long-term, evolutionary process and that robust development towards peace and reconciliation takes time. It also calls on the EU to set up a longer more secular framework for individual aid to help projects obtain positive outcomes. It stresses that it is not only economic initiatives but also cultural and sporting initiatives that can significantly help towards peace and reconciliation, and that the EU should therefore continue to support them. EUROPE would like to point out that during the president of the European Commission's visit to Belfast on 1st May 2007, José Manuel Barroso, announced the creation of a Commission task force (chaired by Commissioner Danuta Hübner), which would be in charge of examining ways of improving Northern Ireland's access to, and participation in, Community programmes and policies. (H.B.)