The regional research and innovation (R&I) priorities of smart specialisation strategies (‘S3’) should be better aligned with the EU’s wider objectives, the European Court of Auditors said in its report published on Tuesday 23 September. What’s more, it’s always difficult to determine whether these S3s are achieving their objectives.
Introduced in 2010 by the European Commission, in line with the objectives of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the S3 concept aims to create a competitive advantage for the region, by developing its strengths and matching them with the needs of businesses. Over €70 billion has been allocated to these strategies over the two programming periods, 2014-2020 and 2021-2027.
“It is crucial to reconcile bottom-up and top-down approaches, and to ensure that measures actually implemented in the regions are consistent with decisions taken at EU level”, emphasised Annemie Turtelboom, the member of the Court responsible for the analysis document, adding: “Otherwise, we will simply fail to achieve a more strategic and effective use of EU funds”.
Although it provides the regions with guidance and technical support, “the Commission does not, however, use its unique position, experience and supervisory role to guide the regions in their choices or to bring together those likely to gain mutual benefit”. There is no oversight at EU level to maximise the added value of the smart specialisation process or to ensure that regional priorities take sufficient account of EU industrial policy priorities. The Court of Auditors therefore considers that better use of the S3 CoP Observatory platform would make it possible to identify priorities where there are gaps or duplication.
However, inter-regional collaboration, while essential to the search for complementarities, is seen as restrictive, not least because of the pressures to which administrative capacities are generally subject. The Court stresses that “the Commission has the opportunity to further promote cooperation among regions, including by identifying and facilitating suitable areas for such cooperation, supporting less innovative regions in developing their administrative capacity”.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/iks (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)