Brussels, 14 March 2018
PRESS RELEASE
Enhancing Policies Through Interregional Cooperation: New Industrial Value Chains For Growth
– Debate at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 15 March 2018
S34Growth involves 10 EU regions and was launched in 2016 with a bold ambition to explore and define how industry-led, inter-regional collaboration can accelerate EU ambitions to improve industrial innovation and competitiveness. Specifically, the project aims to improve the effectiveness of EU interregional cooperation through the improvement of existing regional policy instruments. The project supports the renewal of Europe’s industry and competitiveness through industrial innovation across EU borders, and is seeking out new approaches to co-specialisation in smart specialisation which can be replicated across the EU and across EU industrial domains.
The project partnership is based on Vanguard Initiative – New Growth through Smart Specialisation, including leading European industrial regions Flanders (BE), the Basque Country (ES), Catalonia (ES), Tampere (FI), Lombardy (IT), South Netherlands (NL), South Holland (NL), Norte (PT), Skåne (SE), and Scotland (UK). S34Growth is led by the Baltic Institute of Finland and co-funded by the Interreg Europe programme.
With the project half-way through its delivery, the project organizes a debate providing a critical reflection point in emerging project learning and an opportunity to review early, growth-related policy considerations in light of current EU discussions regarding the post-2020 multiannual financial framework.
Hence, our debate on March 15 aims to:
- provide an update on insights from the project, following its first major phase of activity in relation to the inter-regional dimension of S3, how this relates to EU growth and competitiveness ambitions and how new models and approaches to EU industry collaboration can deliver growth and competitiveness
- share findings with a strong EU and domestic policy relevance for the current programming period and the post-2020 timeframe
- test out direction of demand for the EU’s innovation and economic growth agenda, in the context of the EU’s Industrial Policy Strategy, the future growth-orientation of the EU’s post-2020 Regional Policy especially in relation to ESIF, S3 and projects such as Interreg Europe which support industry-led, inter-regional collaboration
The speakers of the event include, among others, Peter Berkowitz, Head of Unit, Smart and Sustainable Growth, European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, and Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist, European Policy Centre.
Further information:
Mr. Esa Kokkonen, Director
The Baltic Institute of Finland
E-mail: esa.kokkonen@tampere.fi
Phone: +358 50 516 9111
Event agenda:
Enhancing Policies Through Interregional Cooperation: New Industrial Value Chains For Growth – S34Growth, Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 15 March 2018:
https://www.interregeurope.eu/s34growth/events/event/1543/new-industrial-value-chains-for-growth-s34growth/
