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Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 04:11
Smart specialisation and innovative-led growth in the EU states
Smart
specialisation has made a real difference in the way European regions are
designing their innovation strategies, creating or reinforcing cooperation at
all levels, especially with local business spheres.
There is room for improvement:
to better help regions catch the train of globalisation, the Commission
identifies four main challenges to regional innovation, as well as actions and
policy solutions to tackle them, under the regions' smart specialisation strategies.
The experience acquired so far
with current Cohesion policy programmes, together with the modern actions and
policy solutions will provide a useful input in preparing the next Multiannual
Financial Framework.
Boosting innovation-led growth
The
Commission intends to shape a broader approach to boosting innovation-led
growth in the EU, with the objective of making smart specialisation a
comprehensive tool to help all regions seize the opportunities brought by
technological change, digitisation and industrial modernisation.
Challenge 1:
Boosting innovation capacity in less-developed and industrial transition
regions
The Commission already
highlighted the specific needs of less-developed regions in relation to their
innovation capacities and connection with global value chains.
Commission-supported pilot projects led in two Polish regions showed promising
results, especially as regards the development of competitive clusters and the
reform of the business environment.
Regions in industrial
transition face different challenges. Trailing behind in terms of innovation in
a globalised context, they don't benefit from the same EU financial support as
less-developed regions, although they may be unable to attract sufficient
investment to develop new comparative advantages and move up the value chain.
Often carbon intensive, they can combine lack of an appropriate skills-base,
high labour cost and deindustrialisation.
Thus, the
Commission proposes to accompany the
industrial modernisation of these regions with the EU-funded pilot action
including a number of volunteer regions to help revamp their innovation systems
on the basis of their smart specialisation strategies.
This pilot action will provide
on-demand support from Commission experts as well as technical assistance
actions supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in order to
facilitate the combined use of existing EU instruments with the aim to
accelerate innovation uptake, remove investment barriers, facilitate reskilling
and prepare for industrial and societal change.
These partnerships should be
in place by March 2018. By the end of 2018, each partnership should have
defined a set of actions to foster economic transformation, identifying
possible funding opportunities at European, national and regional level.
As to the Commission's
"EFSI 2.0" proposal, this hands-on support could be complemented by
guidance by Commission investment envoys on the ground on opportunities to
combine EU funds and instruments, such as the European Fund for Strategic
Investments, EFSI and Cohesion Policy funds.
Challenge 2:
Increasing cooperation in innovation investment across regions
To develop innovative products
and expand beyond local markets to create – or rebuild – European value chains,
regions and their local industrial spheres need to join forces and pool their
resources, in tight partnership with innovation actors and researchers.
Interregional investment
networks in industrial renewal already exist. The Vanguard initiative gathers
30 EU regions who jointly develop high value added projects, on the basis of
matching smart specialisation priorities.
This Initiative has served as
model for thematic Smart
Specialisation platforms, under which 100
regions with matching assets can develop project pipelines, share research
infrastructure (testing facilities, data centres or Fab-Labs) and benefit from
the expertise of Commission experts.
Thus the
Commission proposes: to go one step
further and build on existing networks and platforms with the EU-funded pilot
action by the end of 2017 in order to scale-up interregional innovation
projects. Small projects will have the opportunity to integrate large
investment pipelines, bringing together EU funds in the most efficient way.
Five to ten thematic
partnerships will be created with policy-makers, researchers, businesses and
other innovation actors. High value added economic sectors will be targeted,
such as bioeconomy, big data, health or connected mobility as well as
traditional sectors with innovative manufacturing processes.
The smart specialisation
thematic platforms will act as the coordination structure where selected
partnerships can work with teams established within the Commission, involving
experts from several Commission departments.
Challenge 3: The need to reform
regional innovation systems
As a prerequisite for the EU
states to benefit from Cohesion Policy funding in research and innovation,
smart specialisation has proven to be a powerful incentive for states and
regions to carry out reforms and improve multi-level governance.
Broader reform efforts of
regional research and innovation systems require particular attention to three cross-cutting issues, according to recommendations issued in the context of the European
Semester: the quality of public
research, efficient
business-science cooperation with the right
support for technology transfer, and a business-friendly environment.
Efforts to conduct reforms
should be complemented by investments in the right skills, education and
training to better match today's and tomorrow's job market demands, in line
with the EU New Skills Agenda.
What the Commission proposes:
Thus the
Commission will step up its
efforts to encourage the states to make full use of available EU support to
facilitate the design and implementation of reforms. For example, on-demand
assistance from the Structural Reform Support Service can help improve the
business environment and break down silos between administrative bodies.
The Horizon 2020 Policy
Support Facility will help the states address obstacles in their research and
innovation systems, including those related to an effective implementation of
smart specialisation strategies.
EU states are invited to
reinforce the dialogue with all concerned stakeholders in the course of the
European Semester process, including regions and local authorities. They should
also develop local skills-bases by better linking vocational education and
training systems to smart specialisation priorities.
Challenge 4:
Facilitating synergies between EU policies and instruments
Currently there is a
substantial number of regional, national and European policy instruments aiming
at research and innovation, growth and competitiveness or at promoting
interregional cooperation.
Efforts have already been
undertaken to promote and simplify combinations and synergies between the
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), Horizon 2020 and Cohesion
policy funds.
Thus the
Commission proposes cooperation
with national and regional authorities and help them combine the funds, in
particular by providing further clarifications on synergies as regards state
aid and public procurement.
To boost interregional
cooperation, the Commission will continue to work with the European Parliament
and Council in the context of the ongoing discussions on the mid-term review of
the Multiannual Financial Framework to further facilitate transnational
investments, such as the implementation of operations outside an EU funds
programme area. The Commission will also provide stakeholders with a
comprehensive mapping of support actors and facilities to foster cross-regional
industrial partnering and access to competences.
Simplifying synergies and
aligning rules between different EU funding instruments is high on the
Commission's agenda in the framework of the discussion on the future of the EU
finances which the Commission launched on 28 June with its reflection paper.
In this context, a High Level
Group on Simplification for the beneficiaries of EU funds set up by the
Commission recently published its final conclusions for the post-2020
framework, with ideas to facilitate further combinations between EU funds.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-17-1994_en.htm?locale=en
European Commission helps regional economies in the era of globalisation
Globalisation
has brought many opportunities for the EU states; however, while the benefits
are widely spread, the costs are often borne unevenly as the Commission
highlighted.
To take up the challenge of
economic modernisation, the EU needs to empower its regions and help them
create value. This means embracing innovation, digitisation, decarbonisation
and developing people's skills.
Thus, the Commission is
proposing a new set of actions(18.07.2017) to further help Europe's regions
invest in their niche areas of
competitive strength (so-called
"smart specialisation") and generate the needed innovation,
resilience and growth.
Smart
specialisation: background. Introduced as a
prerequisite to ensure effective Cohesion Policy spending in research and
innovation, smart specialisation has required all regions to design investment
strategies based on their own competitive assets – from agrifood specialties
and tourism to nanotechnologies and aerospace.
Under these strategies, local
businesses are receiving financial support to develop innovative products and
expand beyond local markets. These strategies have also resulted in better
links between science and business as well as improved coordination at all
levels of local governance.
Commissioners on regional growth
Vice-President
Jyrki Katainen, responsible for
Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness said that reaping the benefits of
globalisation the member states need "enabling environments", where
the advances from trade and technology can materialise. "Locally-led and locally-owned
investment and innovation strategies are key to take up this challenge and
empower the EU regions", he added.
Commissioner for Regional
Policy Corina Crețu mentioned that the EU states have entered the
"glocal era", whereby the impact of global challenges is felt at the
regional and local levels. The member states' economies are undergoing deep
changes, she underlined and the EU institutions "can help the regions
equip themselves with the right tools for robust and lasting growth; this is
what smart specialisation is about."
Introduction in 2014 smart
specialisation approach in all EU regional policy programmes has proven to
deliver; the Commission intends to build on this positive experience with two pilot projects:
= Tailored support for the specific challenges of
regions facing industrial transition: on their request, certain regions can work in partnership with teams of
Commission experts to boost their innovation capacity, remove investment
barriers, equip citizens with the right skills and prepare for industrial and
societal change, on the basis of their smart specialisation strategies.
= Interregional innovation partnerships supported by EU
funds: inspired by the success of the Vanguard initiative,
the aim of this pilot project is to identify and scale up 'bankable'
interregional projects that can create European value chains in priority
sectors such as big data, bioeconomy, resource efficiency, connected mobility
or advanced manufacturing.
In parallel, the Commission
will step up efforts to help EU states address remaining bottlenecks to growth
and establish business-friendly environments. Particular attention will be
given to the quality and
openness of public research, cooperation between businesses and universities
and the alignment of local skills-bases with market demands, with the help of Commission support facilities.
The Commission will also look
at ways of facilitating further synergies and combinations among different
presently existed EU programmes and instruments oriented at innovation, growth
and increased competitiveness.
Perspectives
The calls
for interest for the industrial transition regions pilot action will be
launched in the autumn this year. The interregional partnerships will be set up
during 2017 and run throughout 2018.
The experience acquired so far
with current Cohesion policy programmes, together with the actions and policy
solutions put forward in this communication, will provide useful input in
preparing the next budget framework, in the context of the ongoing reflection
on the future of EU finances.
The Commission will consider
stronger linkages between existing EU instruments with the common objective of
responding to new industrial challenges. Smart specialisation could be
scaled-up, to make it a comprehensive tool to help all regions take advantage
of the changes brought by globalisation.
More information
on the following websites: = Communication
"Strengthening Innovation in Europe's regions"; = MEMO
"Challenges ahead: boosting innovation-led growth in EU regions"; =
Factsheet "Smart specialisation pilot actions"; = Factsheet
"What is smart specialisation?"; = Country fiches "Smart
specialisation in your country".
Source: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1995_en.htm?locale=en;
Latvian version at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1995_lv.htm.