Opinion of the Committee of the Regions onthe Communication from the Commission — Challenges for enterprise policy in the knowledge-driven economy
Date: 2000-09-21
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions, European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU programme, business policy, economic development, economic policy, fight against unemployment, regional policy

C 22/10

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Official Journal of the European Communities

24.1.2000

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on

— the ‘Communication from the Commission — Challenges for enterprise policy in the

knowledge-driven economy’, and

— the ‘Proposal for a Council Decision on a Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and

Entrepreneurship (2001-2005)’

(2001/C 22/04)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘Challenges for enterprise policy in
the knowledge-driven economy’ and the Proposal for a Council Decision on a Multiannual Programme
for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (2001-2005), COM(2000) 256 final — 2000/0107 (CNS);

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 31 May 2000, under the first paragraph of
Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions
on this matter;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 2 June 1999, to draw up an opinion on this matter
and to instruct Commission 6 for Employment, Economic Policy, Single Market, Industry and SMEs to
undertake the preparatory work;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 185/2000 rev. 1) unanimously adopted by Commission 6 on
30 June 2000 (rapporteur: Mr Jensen, DK, PES),

adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 35th plenary session, held on 20 and 21 September
2000 (meeting of 21 September).

1.

The Committee of the Regions position on the
Communication and the proposal for a multiannual
programme

regions and local bodies would seem to necessitate further
study. Such studies have been carried out in many Member
States and shown that this new economy impacts on regional
and local economies and society in several different ways.

1.1.
The Committee of the Regions generally regards the
Communication from the Commission — Challenges for
enterprise policy in the knowledge-driven economy and pro-
posal for a Council Decision on a multiannual programme for
enterprise and entrepreneurship (2001-2005) — as a visionary
and constructive contribution towards the renewal and refo-
cusing of EU enterprise policy.

The Committee endorses the Commission’s analysis of
1.2.
the challenges that the EU will have to face in the form of
globalisation and the new knowledge-driven economy. In its
view, coordinated action by the Member States — involving
their local and regional authorities — will have a greater
impact than purely national initiatives.

1.4.
The Committee agrees with the Commission that EU
enterprise policy and the related programmes must be refo-
cused in order to attain the EU’s ambitious new strategical
objectives decided by the heads of state and government at the
European Council meeting in Lisbon, viz. to become the most
competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy in the
world. An economy which can create sustainable growth with
more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, realising
President Prodi’s vision of ‘Enterprise Europe’.

1.3.
In this connection, the Committee feels that the aspects
and implications of the new knowledge-driven economy for

1.5.
The Committee assumes that this sustainable growth
will encompass sustainable growth for, and in, the regions. In
this respect, the Committee points out that regional and local
authorities enjoy special relationships with business leaders
and the social partners.

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1.6.
The Committee welcomes and agrees in the con-
clusions given by the European Council meeting in Lisbon
regarding the interdependence of the new knowledge-driven
economy and the welfare society but does not feel that
this message is adequately reflected in the Commission’s
Communication or the proposed multi-annual programme.
Social security systems must be adapted to the new, knowledge
driven economy so as to both promote entrepreneurship and
self-employment and meet the interests of the workforce.

view, one major factor on which the benchmarking process
could focus would be ways in which the impact of enterprise
policy is influenced by the apportionment of public and private
sector entrepreneurial tasks and the division of work between
different public sector players, including the regional auth-
orities.

1.7.
In addition, the Committee observes that the Com-
mission has not given much thought to the place of local and
regional authorities in the new knowledge-driven economy,
and hence to their contribution in framing solutions to the
challenges the EU is facing from globalisation and this new
economic scenario. It is an established fact that in many
Member States the devolved authorities play a key role in
undertaking public welfare responsibilities. These authorities
therefore expect to be assigned a central place in the transition
to the new knowledge-based economy. Further,
local and
regional authorities in the Member States — often on a
voluntary basis — pursue an enterprise policy with a view
to creating an optimal
framework for entrepreneurs and
enterprises, thereby promoting local growth and employment.
The Committee therefore feels that it is important to give these
authorities a formal role in EU enterprise policy and in the
multi-annual programme so that the experiences gleaned at
this level can be exploited in a broader context.

The Committee finds it surprising that

1.8.
the Com-
mission’s Communication ‘Acting Locally for Employment. A
Local Dimension for the European Employment Strategy’ (1)
recognises the importance of the local and regional dimension
in employment and enterprise policy yet that is not the case
in the present Communication and proposed multi-annual
programme.

1.9.
The Committee regrets that the local and regional
authorities have not been assigned a formal role in the new
open coordination — ‘BEST procedure’ — methodology. This
is strange since the conclusions of the European Council
meeting in Lisbon made it clear that this procedure should
embrace all levels. For purposes of drawing enterprise into the
public sector, it would be normal to involve the local and
regional authorities in both the development and implemen-
tation of the benchmarking methodology. In the Committee’s

(1) COM(2000) 196 final.

1.10.
The Committee is waiting, with great expectations,
for the Commission to prepare a White Paper on governance
by summer 2001, in which it will, for instance, spell out how
local and regional authorities can play a greater part in
European action. In the Committee’s view, the Commission
should preferably already at
this stage incorporate this
approach into the Communication and the multi-annual
programme so that the local and regional authorities are
assigned institutional status in EU enterprise policy.

1.11.
The Committee feels that the framing of a new EU
enterprise policy addressed to all enterprises, regardless of size,
sector or situation, opens up many perspectives. In its view,
this innovation, in tandem with the new Enterprise DG, will
result in a new and improved political and structural frame-
work for EU enterprise policy.

1.12.
As regards the dynamic, innovative entrepreneurial
climate which is one of the Commission’s targets, the Com-
mittee feels that the Commission places too great an emphasis
on the research dimension in relation to the general education
and training system. Experience has shown that enterprises in
the knowledge-driven economy tend to form geographical
clusters, especially around university towns; hence investment
in the research dimension alone can have a number of direct
repercussions for regional economies.

1.13.
Generally, the Committee finds it hard to take a stand
on a multi-annual programme to promote enterprise and
entrepreneurship in Europe which is expressed in as broad
terms as in the present case, such as its failure to differentiate
between company type and size, which assumes they all
operate in a similar way in the new knowledge-driven
economy.

1.14.
Though the Committee recognises that the prerequi-
site for promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship in Europe
shift over the years, it would seem advisable that the first year’s
initiatives, at any rate, should be set out in a more detailed
programme. The Committee accepts that the new multi-annual
programme focuses mainly on strategy development and
broad activities — even if that is not entirely compatible with
the ‘think small first’ principle.

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1.15.
Basically the Committee feels that one prerequisite in
achieving ‘Enterprise Europe’ is for the Commission to take
account of the workings of the new knowledge-driven econ-
omy. One trend in this new economy has been for innovation
and production to be increasingly concentrated in regional
clusters, or centres of excellence. These clusters are character-
ised by extensive internal cooperation, along with competition
for highly skilled labour, etc. The combination of cooperation
and competition generates dynamic, competitive regions
which act as magnets in attracting both entrepreneurs and
established enterprises. This trend has several obvious impli-
cations for regional economies besides contributing specific
regional facets to enterprise and entrepreneurial policy.

1.16.
The Committee feels that EU enterprise and entre-
preneurial policy should take greater account of the fact
that success will hinge on the capacity for multidisciplinary
cooperation and to establish partnerships and physical or
virtual networks with entrepreneurs and enterprises in other
regions and introducing and responding to new technologies.
These networks will often have a definite regional dimension
on account of inter-regional alliances which can supplement
and support the region’s knowledge base in particular areas of
expertise. The image of the single inventor, artisan or engineer
as founder of Europe’s new enterprises will hardly hold good
in the years to come. Future entrepreneurs and enterprises will
increasingly organise physical or virtual networks in which the
capacity for regional cooperation and organisation is vital for
success.

1.17.
The Committee generally considers that, in framing
strategy in this sphere, there is great need for a more detailed
study of this new knowledge-driven economy, with particular
emphasis on highlighting this economy’s regional aspects and
impact in Europe.

2.2.
The Committee of the Regions recommends that the
Commission work towards a comprehensive, cross-functional
local development policy.

The Committee specifically urges the Commission to involve
the local and regional authorities more closely in the know-
ledge-driven economy in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity, and hence in framing solutions to the challenges
facing the EU as a result of globalisation and this new
economy. This approach should preferably encompass both
these authorities’ role in developing enterprise policy, including
methodology and action, and the implementation of the
specific projects in the multi-annual programme.
In the
Committee’s view, this could be achieved through new forms
of partnership and cooperation between the various interests
and levels of authority in Europe.

2.3.
The Committee requests the Commission to take
account of the structure of enterprise policy and the way
responsibility for it is divided up in the individual Member
States and of the responsibilities shouldered by local and
regional authorities for enterprise policy. It specifically urges
the Commission to draw up a Communication setting out the
local and regional authorities’ role and tasks in the sphere of
enterprise policy, and hence underlining the importance of a
local and regional dimension in enterprise and entrepreneurial
policy. In this connection the Commission can constructively
draw on its experiences in the field of employment.

2.4.
The Committee calls on the Commission to draw up
more detailed work programmes so that the current highly
abstract, multi-annual programme can be broken down into
more operational
is
important to stress that these specific activities should take
account of the political and administrative structures of the
individual countries.

terms. The Committee feels that

it

2. Committee of the Regions recommendations regard-
ing the Communication and the proposal for a multi-
annual programme

2.1.
The Committee calls on the Commission to give greater
consideration in its Communication and the multi-annual
programme to the interdependence of the new knowledge-
driven economy and the welfare society, including the local
and regional authorities’ place and role in the welfare society.

2.5.
The Committee urges the Commission, for the purpose
of developing its strategy in this sphere, to study the regional
aspects and impact of the new knowledge-driven economy in
greater depth. In the Committee’s view, there are some obvious
it
regional facets to the new knowledge-driven economy;
therefore calls on the Commission to frame and prioritise
entrepreneurship projects with a clearly regional and local
dimension,
i.e. those which take account of the tendency
of enterprises in the new knowledge-driven economy to
concentrate in regional clusters. For instance it could be
necessary at EU level to provide greater support for regional
centres of excellence or virtual education and training facilities,
to counterbalance regional concentration. It will therefore be
necessary to encourage the creation of networks of excellence
and make it easier for less favoured regions to join these
networks.

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2.6.
The Committee urges the Commission to involve local
and regional authorities in framing and implementing the
‘Best Procedure’ methodology. The Committee specifically
encourages the Commission to examine more closely, as part
of its benchmarking exercise, ways in which the impact of
enterprise policy is influenced by the apportionment of tasks
between private and public entrepreneurs and the division of
work between public authorities. It will then be possible to

ascertain which tasks are best catered for by the private and
public (including the regional authorities) sectors respectively
in the sphere of enterprise policy.

2.7.
Lastly, the Committee of the Regions recommends that
it be consulted on the relevant sections of the annual work
programmes, the mid-term evaluation in 2003 and the final
evaluation report.

Brussels, 21 September 2000.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Comittee of the
Regions: Acting Locally for Employment — a Local Dimension for the European Employment
Strategy’

(2001/C 22/05)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled Acting Locally for
Employment — a Local Dimension for the European Employment Strategy (COM(2000)196 final);

having regard to the decision of the Commission on 7 April 2000, under the first paragraph of Article 265
of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult it on this matter;

having regard to the decision taken by its president on 17 April 2000, to draw up an opinion on this
matter and to instruct Commission 6 for Employment, Economic Policy, Single Market, Industry and
SMEs to undertake the preparatory work;

having regard to its opinion on the Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) laying down general provisions
on the Structural Funds, adopted on 17 September 1998 (CdR 167/98 fin) (1);

having regard to its opinion on the Communication from the Commission — From guidelines to action:
the National Action Plans for Employment and the Communication from the Commission — Proposals
for guidelines for Member States’ employment policies 1999, adopted on 19 November 1998 (CdR
279/98 fin) (2);

having regard to its opinion on forthcoming economic policy guidelines, adopted on 19 November 1998
(CdR 110/98 fin) (3);

(1) OJ C 373, 2.12.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 51, 22.2.1999, p. 59.
(3) OJ C 51, 22.2.1999, p. 63.