What did the Ecofin summit ever do for us?

IS it really five years since a smiling Gordon Brown walked past ranks of banner-waving Eurosceptics in York city centre? So much has happened since Ecofin, it is hard to credit this anniversary.

Whether Eurosceptic or Europhile, most York residents would agree that the Ecofin conference of the 15 European Union finance ministers was good for the city.

York threw itself into the continental spirit. There was flamenco dancing at Tang Hall Community Centre, Austrian cheese rolling at Hull Road Park and Parisian cabaret at Haxby.

Thousands of pounds were spent sprucing up York to ensure it looked at its best for the hundreds of foreign journalists covering Ecofin.

We were in the world's shop window and had to look our best.

"Ecofin is going to be a major event in the city and has enormous long-term implications," said Peter Berry, then City of York Council assistant chief executive, at the event's launch.

Five years on, has it lived up to this hype?

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, is sure there have been long-lasting benefits for the city.

"It was a good profile for the city, to get it established as a conference destination capable of putting on this sort of event from Ecofin."

The bureau uses it to market the city for other conferences. "It's like a stamp of approval from the powers-that-be. Whether it has influenced various organisations to choose York rather than somewhere else is debatable.

"If you talk to the large hoteliers, they're pretty pleased with the way business tourism, as they call it, is going."

However, York has failed to keep up appearances. Most observers agreed the city looked at its stunning best in the spring sunshine of Ecofin. The Evening Press launched its Proud To Be York campaign on the back of it.

Today there is a debate about the city's cleanliness.

While it was recently shortlisted for a tidy city award, the state of the public loos are a disgrace and Evening Press readers have written in to complain about dirty streets.

"We pulled out all the stops five years ago," said Gillian. "We would like to see that being the norm rather than the exception.

"Compared to other cities, on things like crime and litter we do quite well. We need to do even better on the international stage: people compare us to Frankfurt and other places."

Dave Taylor, marketing director of the York Inward Investment Board, agreed that Ecofin placed the city on an international stage five years ago. "In terms of what we can see from it today, that might be a little more difficult to say."

He cited the relocation from Brussels to York of the headquarters of CENPO, the Centre for European Not-for Profit Organisations. "We are also in discussions with another European organisation about them possibly setting up an office in York."

Britain's reluctance to join the Euro is an issue, he said. "Americans we talk to often do ask 'when will the UK be joining the Euro?'. They're not saying it would definitely make their minds up one way or another but it is clearly a factor."

Dave believes York is "more European in terms of economics, and we are a little more European in some of the ways we behave". Later shop opening hours and caf bars make York a more continental city.

That is a good thing: "York is an international city in terms of our tourism. We get many, many visitors from all over the world, and we have a lot of foreign-owned companies in York.

"I don't think I would want us to be seen to be an insular city: a northern, flat-cap, purely white working class city.

"It has greater aspirations than that, and that's not knocking those good, indigenous people of York.

"It's more cosmopolitan. It's a good thing to be cosmopolitan and outward-facing.

"York is a very attractive face to present outwards for Britain to Europe and the rest of the world."

All we need now, says Gillian Cruddas, is a repeat of 1998. "Another Ecofin would be absolutely super. That would be good news for the city."

Updated: 10:14 Friday, March 21, 2003