The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) hosted, on Monday 27 March, the launch of the 2022 edition of the EU Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI). Despite an improvement in the performance of the less developed regions, significant regional differences persist, both within a single Member State and across the EU.
The Regional Competitiveness Index is a composite indicator created in 2010 by the European Commission that measures a region’s ability to provide an attractive environment for businesses and residents. While the Commission has identified a series of “development traps” (talent, middle income, innovation), the RCI “provides a kind of X-ray into some of these development traps and helps guide regional investment funds”, explained the Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, Elisa Ferreira.
Catching up with less developed regions...
The 2022 edition reveals two major trends. On the one hand, the less developed regions have improved their competitiveness. “This improvement can be seen not just in basic skills and infrastructures, but also in the most advanced measures, such as those linked to innovation. Competing from the bottom is difficult but it is possible”, commented Ms Ferreira.
Nevertheless, the lowest performance continues to be recorded in these regions, particularly in the east of the Union. The performance of the transition (middle-income) regions is more mixed, while the more developed regions remain at the top of the ranking.
...Despite strong regional differences
On the other hand, the more competitive countries, as a whole, have smaller regional gaps. “The most developed countries have all the regions above the [EU] average level, while most of the other Member States suffer significant internal disparities”, the Commissioner deplored.
For example, capital cities are systematically the most competitive regions within a Member State (with the exceptions of Italy, Germany and the Netherlands), but their lead is generally more pronounced in the less competitive EU countries. This is particularly the case in Romania and Slovakia, but also in France.
“This is a timely reminder that the performance of a country depends on all its regions”, Ms Ferreira said, calling for policies and investments to be tailored to the characteristics of a given region.
Finally, while for the most complex sources of competitiveness (such as innovation capacity), regional differences are even more striking, “this is a reminder of the importance of cohesion policy in helping countries and regions to invest even more in innovation, moving from basic infrastructures into the more advanced factors, that can support a competitive economy in a fast-changing world”, she concluded.
Utrecht, South Holland and Ile-de-France are the most competitive regions in the EU.
To read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/628 (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)