Brussels, 25/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to Wim Kok, the president of the High Level Group responsible for establishing a mid-term report on the Lisbon Strategy, the president of Regio Randstad (Netherlands), Jan Franssen, sets out recommendations by the Lisbon Regions Network for saving the strategy, as he puts it.
In its position paper, the Network mainly considers that: 1) Mid-term review should include a critical assessment of the implementation of principles on governance and the added value of decentralisation in the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy; 2) the European Commission should study the role of the metropolitan areas when attaining the aims of this strategy; 3) the new Union financial framework, structural fund activities, the 7th framework programme for research and development and the activities of the European investment bank should be more closely linked to the implementation of the Lisbon strategy; and 4) research, innovation, the promotion of the entrepreneurial spirit, improved SME competitiveness, the setting up of networks (transport, energy and telecommunications) are key concepts for the Lisbon strategy. National governments should give local and regional authorities the means to take part in the formulation of key concepts, on both their form and their content.
Jan Franssen announces that the Lisbon Regions Network is organising a conference on the theme "A European Agenda for Metropolitan Areas" in Amsterdam, on 9 and 10 December in cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in order to continue reflection on this highly controversial issue.
The Lisbon Regions Network is composed of nine European regions: Ile-de-France, Stockholm, Emilia Romagna, Stuttgart Region, Nordrhein-Westfalen, West Midlands, Brusssels Capital, Vlaams Gewest and Regio Randstad. The network was created via the representative office for these regions in Brussels. The regions have in common the fact that they all significantly contribute to European growth strategy. Their goal is twofold: 1) to develop the key role of local and regional authorities in achieving the Lisbon Strategy; and 2) to contribute to the wider policy debate at national and European level through their track record of delivery, and aid the development of the next stages of the Lisbon Strategy (Information: http://www.regio-randstad.nl ).