23.12.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 482/2

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having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Titles XVII, XVIII and XIX thereof,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 (1),

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having regard to Council Decision 2006/702/EC of 6 October 2006 on Community strategic guidelines on cohesion (2),

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having regard to its resolution of 5 July 2011 on the Commission‘s fifth Cohesion Report and the strategy for post-2013 cohesion policy (3),

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having regard to its resolution of 23 June 2011 on the state of play and future synergies for increased effectiveness between the ERDF and other structural funds (4),

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having regard to its resolution of 7 October 2010 on EU cohesion and regional policy after 2013 (5),

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having regard to its resolution of 20 May 2010 on the contribution of the cohesion policy to the achievement of Lisbon and the EU 2020 Objectives (6),

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having regard to its resolution of 20 May 2010 on the implementation of the synergies of research and innovation earmarked Funds in Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 concerning the European Regional Development Fund and the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development in cities and regions as well as in the Member States and the Union (7),

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having regard to the Commission proposal of 6 October 2011 for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund covered by the Common Strategic Framework and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (COM(2011)0615),

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having regard to the Commission proposal of 6 October 2011 for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on specific provisions concerning the European Regional Development Fund and the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 (COM(2011)0614),

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 6 October 2010 entitled ‘Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative: Innovation Union’ (COM(2010)0546),

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 9 November 2010 entitled ‘Conclusions of the fifth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion: the future of cohesion policy’ (COM(2010)0642),

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 6 October 2010 entitled ‘Regional policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020’ (COM(2010)0553),

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 3 March 2010 entitled ‘Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ (COM(2010)2020),

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having regard to the Commission’s March 2012 ‘Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3)’,

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having regard to the OECD’s December 2012 ‘Report on innovation driven-growth in regions: the role of smart specialisation’,

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having regard to its study of December 2012 entitled ‘Ex-ante conditionalities in cohesion policy’, commissioned by the Directorate-General for Internal Policies,

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 21 March 2013 entitled ‘State of the Innovation Union 2012 — Accelerating change’ (COM(2013)0149),

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having regard to the Commission Communication of 13 September 2013 entitled ‘Measuring innovation output in Europe: towards a new indicator’ (COM(2013)0624),

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having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Development (A7-0462/2013),

A.

whereas, especially during these times of economic, financial and social crisis, the EU must step up its efforts to complete the innovation union and create sustainable economic growth, and whereas, because of the tight budget situation in many Member States and regions as well as at EU level, resources available are limited, and particularly efficient use has therefore to be made of them,

B.

whereas ‘Smart specialisation strategy’ means the national or regional innovation strategies which set priorities in order to build competitive advantage by developing and matching research and innovation (R&I) own strengths with business needs to address emerging opportunities and market developments in a coherent manner, while avoiding duplication and fragmentation of efforts, and which may take the form of, or be included in a national or a regional R&I strategic policy framework (8).

C.

whereas supporting research, development and innovation (R&D&I) is one of the Cohesion Policy objectives that is subject to obligatory thematic concentration under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for 2014-2020;

D.

whereas for the 2014-2020 programme planning period Member States are required, for the first time, to design an R&I strategy to boost regional innovative capacity and to coordinate R&D&I spending more effectively (9);

E.

whereas, in the process, regions should focus on a small number of priority areas that take account of their respective strengths and weaknesses, and should drive innovation to promote and renew regional economies in a sustainable manner;

F.

whereas regions should formulate a smart specialisation strategy through a process of critical self-analysis, in close cooperation with civil society and with stakeholders that include research centres, universities and other higher-education establishments, and businesses (10);

G.

whereas the purpose of the strategy is to maximise synergies from all instruments and investment in the R&D&I area — and to boost, in particular, synergies between Horizon 2020 and the Structural Funds — in order to close the innovation gap between regions;

H.

whereas regions should also draw up investment plans for the use of all available regional, national and EU funding for R&D&I, indicating as well how to stimulate private investment and how it should be used in the implementation of the Union’s R&D&I priorities in the coming years;

I.

whereas summaries of such strategies, or at least plans for their implementation, should be included in partnership agreements and operational programmes;

J.

whereas the Commission may withhold interim payments of ERDF funding for the thematic objective of strengthening R&D&I if these pre-conditions are not met;

K.

whereas, given the multi-level governance nature of regional policy, regions should be allowed the flexibility of identifying the modalities for fulfilling the ex-ante conditionalities;

L.

whereas the regions should not only become more closely integrated internally, but must also cooperate more closely with each other, in order to become more competitive globally;

1.

Acknowledges that a smart specialisation strategy is a dynamic, long-term process, the participants in which are on a constant learning curve, and that this process should also continue over the next programme planning period and beyond;

2.

Considers that, aside from the need to fulfil the ex-ante-conditionality, developing such a strategy can offer regions significant medium-term and long-term advantages in terms of the effectiveness of their R&D&I, as it entails a coordinated approach and a close look at their potential for innovation;

3.

Calls on each region to view such a strategy not only as a statutory obligation but also as a source of opportunity; calls, therefore, on all regions and Member States, in so far as they have not yet done so, to press ahead with formulating their smart specialisation strategies, so as not to risk delays in receiving EU funding for the relevant operational programmes owing to the lack of such a strategy;

4.

Recognises the need for information in the regions, and therefore emphasises the importance of the advice and support provided by DG REGIO, DG RTD and other relevant directorates-general, as well as by the platform in Seville (11), and calls on them to step up their activities further; calls on all regions to make greater use of the platform; advocates developing broad-based local campaigns to disseminate information on the smart specialisation strategy in order for stakeholders and civil society to be able to participate;

5.

Calls on the Commission to support the regions in establishing the foreseen monitoring system in an effective way, using meaningful indicators, and thereby, in particular, to provide data on which EU-wide and international comparisons can be based;

6.

Underscores the fact that the regions differ significantly in their levels of development and have very different strengths and weaknesses; calls, therefore, on the regions to make their own appropriate choice of actions by focusing on strengthening their regionally-based characteristics, potentials and competitive advantages, rather than by simply copying the successful strategies of other regions;

7.

Stresses that while regions can strive to pioneer new technologies, in order to tap into new markets, alternatively they can build on — and hence diversify — already existing knowledge, skills and abilities in related activities, should this be where the knowledge transfer is greatest (‘related diversity’);

8.

Emphasises how important it is, in terms of strengthening regional economies, not to focus exclusively on individual areas of competitive advantage but also to create a value chain linking all stages of development and production, from basic research through application-oriented research and technology transfer to specific, usable products and business start-ups;

9.

Encourages the regions to invest in cross-sector and cross-technology activities that can generate cross-cutting links throughout the regional economy so that a variety of businesses, as broad as possible, can contribute to as well as benefit from the generation of more growth and jobs; encourages, in this regard, the regions in particular to draw on and foster the potential of all types of SMEs — which per definition are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (12) — as they act as regional drivers of innovation and are therefore of fundamental importance to the economy of each region.

10.

Is of the opinion that the regions, when selecting their priorities, should — in addition to strengthening their innovation systems with a view to achieving greater competitiveness and added value — undertake actions that address structural and societal challenges within society, such as unemployment, poverty, energy security and demographic change;

11.

Calls on the regions not to focus solely on technology-based innovation, but rather to base their strategies on as broad a notion of innovation as possible; hopes that account will be taken not merely of high-tech but also of low-tech — and, indeed, non-technical –innovation, such as process optimisation and organisational transformation; points specifically to social and environmental innovation in this context; stresses that the aim of innovation strategies should be to stimulate innovative practices;

12.

Is aware that setting priorities is a sensitive procedure that regions undertake; believes, therefore, that the introduction of a review system would offer regions the opportunity to rethink their strategies; takes the view that the initial selection of meaningful results-oriented indicators and the quality of the contribution from the actors involved are key factors for the success of the smart specialisation strategy, reducing the risk of errors when priorities are set;

13.

Is of the opinion that the quality of cooperation between government and the relevant actors in regions will have a decisive influence on the success of the RIS3 strategy, and will markedly reduce the risk of wrong priority choices being made;

14.

Underscores, in this connection, the importance of consulting with businesses, and with SMEs in particular, since a ‘vision of innovation’ will only be successful if businesses have the appropriate potential to put it into practice;

15.

Stresses the need to rethink and, where necessary, expand all the consultation processes and target groups, so as to avoid missing future drivers of innovation; considers it particularly important to involve future entrepreneurs;

16.

Makes it clear that, in the process of developing a shared vision, it is, for reasons of ownership and awareness-raising, fundamental that local and regional policy-makers, universities, research and innovation centres and businesses, as well as civil society and social actors, are as closely involved as possible;

17.

Highlights the important role that close cooperation inside the knowledge triangle plays in the transfer of knowledge, for example in the framework of the European Institute for Research and Innovation or of regional innovation clusters and centres; underlines, in this regard, the importance of ‘investment in people’;

18.

Calls on public and private stakeholders to use the many opportunities to fund these actions under the ERDF for 2014-2020, including by supporting the establishment of regional innovation incubators and by developing links and synergies between universities, other research and higher educational institutes, innovative and creative entrepreneurs and businesses, and business support providers and investors, as e.g. in the case of creative and cultural industries;

19.

Is of the opinion that, for this process, appropriate structures and efficient administration need to be in place, and that administrative authorities and ministries must establish a culture of cooperation between themselves and in dealings with businesses and other actors; calls on regional and national decision-makers and authorities to modernise their internal procedures in line with the needs of the new ‘entrepreneurial discovery process’ and, in particular, to enter into a more intensive, long-term dialogue with the relevant actors; encourages SMEs, especially in regions with a high share of such enterprises, to collaborate through suitable platforms in order to strengthen their role in the smart specialisation process; recommends that, if necessary, resources available for capacity building should be used to empower administrations and stakeholders further;

20.

Considers that all authorities and actors concerned at regional level should, if necessary, be offered high-quality training and seminars focused on issues related to the preparation and implementation of smart specialisation strategies;

21.

Welcomes the Commission’s and the EU legislative authority’s successful efforts to improve the environment for synergies between the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and other EU programmes, such as COSME and, in particular, Horizon 2020, for instance through harmonised standard rates or combined funding (13);

22.

Urges the regions to make full use of all funding, cooperation and investment opportunities, including upstream and downstream actions (14), in order to promote synergies between ESIFs and Horizon 2020 and, in so doing, to close the innovation gap between regions;

23.

Calls, in this regard, on those regions that are lagging behind in terms of building research infrastructure and capacity to foster collaborative arrangements with research establishments of excellence, along the lines of ‘teaming/twinning for excellence’, in order to build up centres of excellence on their own that, in the future, will benefit the regional economy as a whole;

24.

Calls on the regions, within the framework of the strategy, to give in-depth consideration to the question of how to attract investment in the private sector, since there is still considerable scope for boosting the investment potential in R&D&I in this sector;

25.

Calls on all regional and national actors in charge of devising and implementing the RIS3 strategy, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) road map, the ESIFs and Horizon 2020 to cooperate more closely as regards planning and coordination, and, where necessary, to develop appropriate structures (15) to integrate the various tiers of government action; invites the Member States to exchange best practises on such structures;

26.

Calls on DGs REGIO and RTD to persist in their efforts to ensure that programmes are compatible, in order that synergies may be created; underlines that joint support should be provided to national and regional authorities to aid in the design and implementation of their respective strategies; expects DGs REGIO and RTD to step up their cooperation in this regard, in particular by issuing guidance documents for the actors involved;

27.

Welcomes all efforts to extend advisory services; is of the opinion that it would be beneficial if potential recipients of Horizon 2020 funding and relevant advisory bodies were to be involved as well in this exchange in an appropriate fashion;

28.

Calls on the regions not only to improve their internal links between education and research institutions, businesses and the administration, but also to build alliances with other regions so as to supplement their own value chain;

29.

Stresses out that opportunities will be fostered if close cooperation is established between the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) partners in the regions and the authorities and organisations involved in designing and delivering the RIS3 strategies as described in Annex IV in COM(2011)0615, 2011/0276(COD), C7-0335/2011, including partnership with regions hosting existing and potential co-location centres, such as Regional Implementation and Innovation Communities (RICs);

30.

Considers it vital that regional specialisation strategies help create new European networks of excellence in a range of sectors, thereby helping to boost the European Union’s competitiveness and international profile;

31.

Is of the opinion that regional cooperation is potentially of huge benefit, because of the knowledge and technology transfer involved, both to the regions themselves, in terms of their local economic strength, and to the EU as a whole; points in this regard to very successful collaborative arrangements such as, for instance, the ‘Regions of knowledge’ initiative;

32.

Notes that many regions shy away from the complex analytical and coordinating efforts required; encourages the regions to make use of the option provided by the legislator whereby up to 15 % of the programme funding can be invested outside the programme area (16);

33.

Points out that, in border areas, the challenges are often the same on both sides of the border owing to the common territorial features which these areas share; calls on the Commission and the Member States, and on local and regional authorities, to draw up cross-border smart specialisation strategies, and to establish cross-border clusters, making use of EU interregional cooperation funding;

34.

Welcomes the territorial cooperation options provided for by the common strategic framework (17); welcomes as well any other small-scale internationalisation action by the regions and by actors working on their behalf;

35.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Member States.