COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020
Date: 2010-10-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU regional policy, economic and social cohesion, economic growth, economic intelligence, financing method, innovation, management of resources, research and development

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 6.10.2010 
COM(2010) 553 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020 

SEC(2010) 1183 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This  Communication  sets  out  the  role  of  Regional  Policy in  implementing  the  Europe  2020 
strategy,1  in  the  area  of  smart  growth  and  in  particular  the  flagship  initiative,  "Innovation 
Union".  As  highlighted  by  the  European  Council,2  Regional  Policy  can  unlock  the  growth 
potential of the EU by promoting innovation in all regions, while ensuring complementarity 
between EU, national and regional support for innovation, R&D, entrepreneurship and ICT. 
Indeed, Regional Policy is a key means of turning the priorities of the Innovation Union into 
practical action on the ground. 

It  does  so  by  creating  favourable  conditions  for  innovation,  education  and  research  so 
encouraging  R&D  and  knowledge-intensive  investment  and  moves  towards  higher  value 
added  activities.  It  can  so  help  meet  the  major  challenge  for  Member  States  and  regions  of 
increasing  innovation  capacity  and  R&D  in  businesses  and  strengthening  their  links  with 
universities and research centres. 

Regions have a central role as they are the primary institutional partner for universities, other 
research  and  education  institutes  and  SMEs,  which  are  key  to  the  process  of  innovation, 
making them an indispensable part of the Europe 2020 strategy. 

This  Communication  complements  the  one  on  the  Innovation  Union  by  calling  on  policy-
makers in Member States at all levels to act without delay to invest more of the resources still 
available  from  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF)  in  the  present 
programming  period  on  smart  growth.  The  document  first  looks  at  what  is  the  situation  in 
regions  with  respect  to  R&D  and  innovation  and  at  the  resources  regions  have  planned  to 
invest in these areas. It then describes the main elements of a strengthened effort in support of 
R&D  and  innovation  under  EU  Regional  Policy.  It  concludes  by  putting  forward  concrete 
ideas for implementing such efforts. 

2. 

REGIONAL INNOVATION POTENTIAL AND CHALLENGES  

The Innovation Union is based on a broad concept of innovation encompassing not only new 
or improved products and processes,  but  also services, new marketing, branding and design 
methods and new forms of business organisation and collaborative arrangements. Innovation 
is increasingly understood as an open system where different actors collaborate and interact. 

Accordingly,  public  support  for  innovation  needs  to  adapt  to  this  change,  complementing 
efforts  to  support  research  and  technology  with  promoting  open  collaboration  between  all 
stakeholders.  

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COM (2010)2020 'Europe 2020: a strategy for smart sustainable and inclusive growth'. 
Council of the EU EUCO 13/10, 17th June 2010. 

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Such support is justified since market forces cannot always ensure adequate long-term funding 
for  investment  due  to  differences  between  social  and  private  returns,  uncertain  outcomes, 
asymmetry of information and system failure (e.g. inefficient regulation). Public intervention is 
equally  important  to  facilitate  change.  The  geography  of  innovation  is  however  very  diverse 
with certain regions competing worldwide on the technological frontier, and other struggling to 
move  closer  to  that  frontier  by  adopting  and  adapting  innovative  solutions  to  their  specific 
situation  ("innovation  divide").  Public  support  needs  to  tailor  strategy  and  interventions  to 
reflect this diversity. 

2.1. 

Regional diversity at the service of a common goal: smart growth 

To  reach  the  Europe  2020  objective  of  smart  growth,  the  full  innovation  potential  of  EU 
regions needs to be mobilised. Innovation is important for all regions; for advanced ones to 
remain ahead and lagging ones to catch up.3 

Map 1: Regional Innovation Performance Index 

The  knowledge  and  innovation  capacity  of  regions  depends  on  many  factors  –  the  business 
culture,  work  force  skills,  education  and  training  institutions,  innovation  support  services, 
technology  transfer  mechanisms,  R&D  and  ICT  infrastructure,  the  mobility  of  researchers, 
business incubators, new sources of finance and the local creative potential. Good governance 

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R. Wintjes, H. Hollanders, "The regional impact of technological change in 2020". 

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is also crucial. Performance in R&D and innovation varies markedly across the EU as shown 
by the Regional Innovation Performance Index (see Map 1), a composite indicator of many of 
these factors.  

Equally,  the  gap  to  the  target  of  R&D  expenditure  of  3%  of  GDP  varies  greatly  across 
regions:  only  27  regions  in  the  EU,  around  one  in  ten  have  reached  that  target  (see  Map  2) 
Agglomeration  effects  lead  to  R&D  resources  concentrating  in  a  few  leading-edge  regions 
(e.g. in Braunschweig (Germany) where R&D spending is nearly 7% of GDP) and being very 
low in others (e.g. Severen tsentralen (Bulgaria) where it is under 1%). 

Map 2: R&D expenditure 

2.2. 

Regional Policy supports smart growth in all regions 

Member  States  and  regions  are  already  committed  to  support  smart  growth  despite  the 
unfavourable economic conditions. Almost EUR 86 billion are allocated to these policy areas, 
three quarters financed by the ERDF (EUR 65 billion). 

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However,  the  support  given  to  research  and  innovation  by  Regional  Policy  varies  greatly 
across  regions  (see  Map  3).  It  tends  to  be  larger  in  more  advanced  regions  reinforcing  a 
virtuous circle of innovation-driven growth. The policy has to work in close coordination with 
the  Community  Innovation  Programme  (CIP)  and  the  7th  Research  Framework  Programme 
(FP7). While the latter should continue to focus on supporting excellence, mutual learning and 
EU-wide cooperation of researchers and enterprises, Regional Policy should continue to focus 
support  on  ensuring  that  all  regions  are  capable  of  absorbing  and  putting  to  effective  use 
innovation,  so  that  its  benefits  spread  throughout  the  EU,  helping  maximise  the  Union’s 
knowledge-based potential.  

Map 3: Cohesion Policy Funding for RTD and innovation, 2007-2013 

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As of September 20094 only EUR 22 billion or 26% of the EUR 86 billion initially planned 
under  EU  Regional  Policy  for  research  and  innovation,  including  entrepreneurship  and  ICT 
are currently allocated to projects (see Chart 1)  

Chart 1: Rate of Progress in innovation project selection by Member State, 

2007-2013 

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

CY NL MT SI SE BE LU IE PT LT IT LV EE UK FI PL DK FR BG AT HU RO ES DE CZ SK GR CB

%

average

There  is  therefore  a  need  for  accelerating  implementation,  optimising  the  impact  of 
interventions,  re-orienting  activities  towards  areas  which  give  regions  the  best  chance  of 
developing competitive advantage, and maximising synergy between the different sources of 
Community funding for innovation. 

3. 

EUROPE 2020: REINFORCING THE CONTRIBUTION OF EU REGIONAL POLICY 

Strategic intelligence is needed to identify the high value-added activities which offer the best 
chance  of  strengthening  a  region’s  competitiveness.  To  have  most  impact,  R&D  and 
innovation  resources  need  to  reach  a  critical  mass  and  to  be  accompanied  by  measures  to 
increase skills, education levels and knowledge infrastructure.  

National  and  regional  governments  should,  accordingly,  develop  smart  specialisation 
strategies  to  maximise  the  impact  of  Regional  Policy  in  combination  with  other  Union 
policies. 

Smart  specialisation  strategies  can  ensure  a  more  effective  use  of  public  funds  and  can 
stimulate  private  investment.  They  can  help  regions  to  concentrate  resources  on  few  key 
priorities rather than spreading investment thinly across areas and business sector. They can 
also be a key element in developing multi-level governance for integrated innovation policies. 
Moreover  they  have  to  be  closely  linked  with  other  policy  domains  and  require  an 

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COM  (2010)110  Cohesion  policy:  Strategic  Report  2010  on  the  implementation  of  the  programmes 
2007-2013 

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understanding  of  regional  strengths  relative  to  other  regions5  and  of  the  possible  gain  for 
inter-regional and trans-national cooperation. 

Rather  than  being  a  strategy  imposed  from  above,  smart  specialisation  involves  businesses, 
research centres and universities working together to identify a region’s most promising areas 
of  specialisation,  but  also  the  weaknesses  that  hamper  innovation.  It  takes  account  of  the 
differing  capacities  of  regional  economies  to  innovate.  While  leading  regions  can  invest  in 
advancing a generic technology or service innovation, for others, investing in its application 
to a particular sector or related sectors is often more fruitful.  

The  sustainability  of  the  strategy  will  depend  on  the  timeliness  and  coordination  of  policy 
measures,  and  on  governance,  including  ways  of  engaging  stakeholders.  It  must  include 
mechanisms for policy learning, in particular through peer reviews, involving public officials, 
practitioners  and  regional  stakeholders.  Smart  specialisation  needs  to  exploit  regional 
diversity,  stimulate  cooperation  across  national  and  regional  borders  and  open  up  new 
opportunities,  by  avoiding  fragmentation  and  ensuring  that  knowledge  flows  more  freely 
across the EU.  

What should be the main elements of such strategies? Without the ambition to be exhaustive, 
some  key  ideas  are  listed  below,  which  regions  can  use  in  different  combination  to  design 
their strategy in order to reflect their specific situation. 

3.1. 

Innovation clusters for regional growth 

Clusters  -  geographic  concentrations  of  companies,  often  SMEs,  which  interact  with  each 
other and with clients and suppliers and often share a pool of specialist labour, business and 
financial  services,  R&D  and  training  facilities  –  are  an  important  element  in  smart 
specialisation strategies. They provide a favourable environment to foster competitiveness and 
drive  innovation.  Support  for  their  development  needs  to  be  concentrated  on  areas  of 
comparative advantage. 

3.2. 

Innovation-friendly business environments for SMEs 

A thriving SME sector is essential for growth, jobs and innovation and so for cohesion. SMEs 
are  central  to  the  EU  economy:  some  20  million  of  them  account  for  almost  60%  of  value-
added  and  two-thirds  of  employment  in  the  private  sector.  Over  92%  are  micro  firms 
employing  fewer  than  10  people.6  Regional  and  national  authorities  should  thus  support 
innovation-friendly  business  environments  to  assist  SMEs,  R&D  intensive  ones  especially, 
and the creation of new firms. The ex-post evaluation of the ERDF in 2000-2006 found that 
though  support  allowed  creating  at  least  one  million  jobs  and  increasing  investment  in 
research and innovation, there is a need to make more extensive use of loans, equity finance 
and other forms of financial engineering.  

3.3. 

Lifelong learning in research and innovation 

Many  universities  in  the  EU  are  helping  to  commercialise  research  by  increasing  the 
entrepreneurial mindset of students and by collaborating with regional firms in innovation, so 

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Belgian Presidency input to informal competitiveness council, July 2010. 
"Innovation  policy  at  regional  level:  Crafts  and  SME  priorities  for  the  new  Innovation  Strategy"  – 
Discussion paper from UEAPME secretariat (2010). 

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becoming more strongly involved in regional economic development. More cases of this kind 
are needed. 

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology is the first initiative aiming to boost the 
EU's  competitiveness  by  fully  integrating  higher  education,  research  and  business  (the 
Knowledge  Triangle)  to  generate  and  promote  innovation  of  world-class  level  and  impact. 
The EIT has thus an important contribution to play in the European innovation landscape. 

Education, training and lifelong learning, as referred to in the Europe 2020 flagship 'Youth on 
the  Move'  and  in  the  "New  skills  for  new  jobs"  initiative,  are  vital  to  developing  regional 
capacity  to  innovate.  Focussing  school,  vocational  and  higher  education  curricula  on 
transversal competences like creativity, entrepreneurship and initiative will help young people 
to develop their full potential for innovation. More projects to support effective cooperation 
between all types of education, training institutions and businesses should be promoted by the 
ERDF. 

3.4. 

Attractive regional research infrastructure and centres of competence 

Research  infrastructure  is  central  to  knowledge-based  innovation  systems.  A  three-pronged 
approach  is  needed  to  help  regions  to  realise  their  full  potential:  (i)  develop  world-class 
research  and  ICT  infrastructure,  building  on  existing  regional  scientific  excellence  through 
Structural  Fund  support,  (ii)  establish  networks  of  research  facilities  for  less  research-
intensive  countries  and  (iii)  develop  Regional  Partner  Facilities  (RPF).  The  further 
development and use of ICT-based e-infrastructure to interconnect and facilitate collaboration 
between geographically dispersed research teams and the sharing of scientific resources and 
knowledge is a key means of doing this. 

National and regional authorities should consider, in particular, how EU Regional Policy can 
contribute to the 2015 objective of the Innovation Union flagship of completing or initiating 
60%  of  the  research  infrastructure  currently  identified  by  the  European  Strategy  Forum  on 
Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). 

3.5. 

Creativity and cultural industries  

The capacity of the EU to recover from the crisis and meet longer-term challenges rests not 
only  on  a  strong  industrial  base  but  on  the  creativity  and  skills  of  people,  governance  and 
strong social values – solidarity, respect for the environment, openness and cultural diversity.  

Cultural  and  creative  industries,  which  flourish  at  the  local  and  regional  level,  are  in  a 
strategic position to link creativity and innovation. They can help to boost local economies, 
stimulate new activities, create new and sustainable jobs, have important spill-over effects on 
other industries and enhance the attractiveness of regions and cities.7 Creative industries are 
therefore  catalysts  for  structural  change  in  many  industrial  zones  and  rural  areas  with  the 
potential  to  rejuvenate  their  economies  and  contribute  to  a  change  of  the  public  image  of 
regions. 

They should be integrated into regional development strategies in order to ensure an effective 
partnership between civil society, businesses and public authorities at regional, national and 
European levels. 

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COM(2010)183 “Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries' . 

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3.6. 

Digital Agenda 

The  Digital  Agenda  aims  to  deliver  sustainable  economic  and  social  benefits  from  a  digital 
single market based on fast internet applications and open up acess to content on line. 

Regional Policy support for broadband in 2000-2006 and 2007-2013 has helped to reduce the 
gap in take-up between sparsely and densely populated regions from 67% in 2004 to 24% in 
2008 and the gap in broadband coverage between rural and urban regions from 33% in 2004 
to  28%  in  2007.  But  gaps  still  remain  particularly  in  rural  areas:  94%  of  Europeans  are 
covered by broadband networks but only 80% of the rural population. 

Many  regions are  still struggling to invest ERDF funding allocated to ICT (around 4.4% of 
the total) due partly to a lack of planning capacity. Greater leverage of private investment in 
ICT  is  also  needed  to  offset  budget  constraints  on  public  expenditure.  With  regard  to  the 
significance of ICT for the innovation system, member states should consider how to better 
use  the  ERDF  to  accelerate  achievement  of  the  EU  2020  objectives  for  broadband  access 
including  total  coverage,  making  use  of  the  different  technologies  (fibre,  adsl,  wireless, 
satellite) available to suit the diverse geographical needs and challenges of different regions 
across the EU. 

3.7. 

Public procurement 

Public procurement is a key driver of innovation since it can help innovative firms speed up 
market introduction of innovations and return on investment. Innovative public procurement 
means the public sector taking on the role and risks of a lead customer, while improving the 
quality of its services and productivity.  

Procurement budgets should include pre-commercial type procurement as well as Innovation 
Partnerships.  The  Commission  will  provide  guidance  and  support  to  stimulate  the  process, 
including a legal framework to facilitate joint procurement between contracting bodies from 
different Member States.  

Such  processes  are  developing  in  regions  included  in  the  'Regions  for  Economic  Change' 
initiative and need to be mainstreamed into the Operational Programmes. 

3.8. 

Regional Policy addressing the grand challenges through European Innovation 
Partnerships 

Some societal challenges make a major co-ordinated approach at EU level necessary in order 
to  find  and  deploy  effective  solutions.  Those  identified  in  Europe  2020  include  climate 
change, energy and resource efficiency, raw material scarcity and demographic ageing.  

The  Innovation  Union  includes  a  number  of  European  Innovation  Partnerships  to  tackle 
specific challenges by providing the means of pooling resources and bringing together all key 
actors as well as relevant policy instruments at EU and national level in pursuit of common 
goals. 

Regional  Policy  should  continue  to  address  these  challenges  and  ways  need  to  be  found  of 
integrating the Partnerships concerned into its implementation. 

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4. 

INCREASING SYNERGIES BETWEEN POLICY INSTRUMENTS  

The Council8 and the European Parliament9 stressed the importance of strengthening synergy 
between  EU  support  policies  in  the  area  of  research  and  innovation.  They  called  on  the 
Commission to explore further ways of harmonising and simplifying the rules and procedures 
for  the  measures  concerned  and  to  examine  the  inter-linkages  between  them,  in  order  to 
provide guidance and to foster cooperation with national and regional bodies involved in their 
implementing. 

Since  then,  a  number  of  steps  have  been  taken  to  support  both  those  directly  involved  in 
innovation  and  public  bodies  responsible  for  designing  regional  innovation  systems  and 
providing  support  services.  For  the  former,  the  Commission  has  published  a  "Practical 
guide"10  for  researchers  and  enterprises.  For  policy-makers  at  national  and  regional  level, 
efforts  are  being  made  to  inform  them  of  local  recipients  of  EU  funding  to  increase  the 
potential for synergy between the activities concerned. 

The Commission services are exploring, with Member States and regional authorities, how far 
the co-funded programmes can provide complementary financial support to FP7 for:  

•  the construction of research infrastructure foreseen in the ESFRI Roadmap 

•  projects under the FP7 Research Potential action which were positively evaluated but could 

not be funded due to lack of resources. 

A  further  possibility  is  for  Member  States  and  regions  to  adopt  best  practices  from  the 
management  of  FP7  projects  and,  through  the  use  of  international  peer  review,  to  identify 
funding priorities for research and innovation in EU Regional Policy programmes. 

Science  and  technology  parks,  as  well  as  business  incubators,  are  important  in  facilitating 
innovation and stimulating regional development.11 The Commission has recently produced a 
'Smart Guide to Innovation-Based Incubators' for regional policy makers.12 

The  Enterprise  Europe  Network  is  anchored  in  local  and  regional  business  and  innovation 
support  bodies,  many  of  which  are  responsible  for  managing  the  ERDF.  The  Network 
promotes  SME  participation  in  FP7  and  CIP  projects  and  fosters  technology  transfer  and 
business partnerships, so helping companies to get connected to trans-national innovation and 
knowledge  networks.  The  Network  also  increases  the  capacity  of  local  and  regional  partner 
organisations to offer support services adapted to the increasingly global value chains. 

Moreover,  at  EU  level,  support  for  transnational  programmes  (e.g.  the  Baltic  Sea  Strategy) 
and  inter-regional  cooperation  (e.g.  FP7  Regions  of  Knowledge,  CIP  cluster  initiatives  and 
INTERREG IVC and URBACT, including the Regions for Economic Change initiative) helps 
regions  to  participate  more  in  research  of  global  excellence  and  increase  learning 
opportunities. 

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Conclusions of 17 May 2010 
EP Resolution (EP:A7-0138/2010, P7_TA(2010) 0189; May 2010). 
http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html 
EESC CCMI/072 (July2010), 'Technology, Industrial innovation and Science Parks'. 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/working/sf2000_en.ht 

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5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

This  Communication  calls  on  Member  States  and  regions  to  help  attain  the  smart  growth 
objectives of Europe 2020 through Regional Policy and its funding, the ERDF. 

Major  changes  in  the  way  Regional  Policy  operates  can  only  be  envisaged  in  the  next 
multiannual financial framework. However, in the last three years of the current programming 
period,  Member  States  and  regions  can  already  start  refocusing  their  practice.  The  annex  to 
this communication suggests ways of building on regional diversity and ensuring an efficient 
use  of  scarce  resources  by  exploiting  synergies  between  funding  sources  and  between  the 
research  and  innovation  systems  in  different  regions.  These  actions  should  be  seen  in  the 
context of and be complementary to the "Innovation Union" flagship initiative.  

Annex  1  –  Actions  to  attain  the  smart  growth  objectives  of  EU  2020  through  regional 
policy and its funding 

Action 1: Develop smart specialisation strategies  

This  action  aims  at  concentrating  resources  on  the  most  promising  areas  of  comparative 
advantage, e.g. on clusters, existing sectors and cross-sectoral activities, eco-innovation, high 
value-added markets or specific research areas. The development of such strategies can start 
immediately, drawing on support for technical assistance and subjecting them to international 
peer review. 

If this action is retained, it must be accompanied by two flanking measures: 

•  Reinforce  ERDF  support  for  education,  research  and  innovation  in  the  current  period  to 
boost  investment  in  these  areas,  including  by  drawing  on  complementary  funding  from 
FP7  and  CIP.  The  framework  conditions  for  research  and  innovation  and  a  knowledge-
based economy should be improved by aligning ERDF support with the National Reform 
Programme priorities (linked to Guideline 4 of the Integrated Economic and Employment 
Policy Guidelines).  

•  Make full use of the flexibility in the EU Regional Policy programmes to redirect funding 
to this end. The Commission will support requests for such redirection that accords with a 
smart specialisation approach and speed-up their approval. 

Action  2:  making  more  extensive  use  of  financial  engineering  instruments  in  support  of 
innovation, including soft loans, guarantees and venture capital, according to the type and size 
of  firm  and  risk  involved.  The  expansion  of  lending  and  equity  financing  for  innovation 
through existing instruments, including the EIB group, and particularly to SMEs should be a 
policy priority; 

Action 3: pursuing the possibility (under Article 37 (6)(b) of Regulation EC No 1083/2006) 
to  finance  interregional  cooperation  to  promote  research  and  innovation  under  the 
Convergence  and  Regional  Competitiveness  Objectives  and  better  access  to  international 
research and innovation networks under FP7 and CIP; 

Action 4: ensuring coherence between supply push and demand pull research and innovation 
policy,  by  making  use  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  public  procurement  co-financed  by 
the ERDF to increase the innovation content of products, processes and services; 

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Action  5:  using  international  peer  review  by  independent  experts  for  research  projects 
more systematically to enhance the effectiveness of support; 

Action 6: considering the use of the ERDF for financing suitable shortlisted FP7 and CIP 
projects; 

Action  7:  exploiting  the  possibilities  for  improving  regional  innovation  policy  through  the 
peer learning offered by FP7, CIP and INTERREG IV C platforms and networks. 

The  implementation  of  the  above  actions  should  be  set  out  in  a  dedicated  section  of  the 
implementation reports and discussed by Programme Monitoring Committees. 

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Annex 2- List of actions to be undertaken by the Commission 

To  support  the  action  mentioned  in  Annex  1  in  the  case  they  are  retained  by  the  Member 
States, the Commission will: 

•  Facilitate  the  formulation  and  implementation  of  smart  specialisation  strategies  by 

national and regional governments through: 

•  developing  a  ‘Smart  Specialisation  Platform’  before  2012,  bringing  together 
expertise  from  universities,  research  centres,  regional  authorities,  businesses  and 
Commission services so as to help identify needs, strengths and opportunities; 

•  data, policy analysis and information on research and innovation performance and 
specialisation  from  an  EU-wide  perspective  (in  particular  the  European  Cluster 
Observatory,  the  Regional  Innovation  Scoreboard  and  Monitor  and  the  Sectoral 
Innovation Watch); 

•  platforms for mutual learning on the design and implementation of such strategies 
(including  the  CIP-funded  “European  Cluster  Cooperation  Forum”13  and  the 
European  Cluster  Alliance  and  the  FP7-funded  ‘Regions  of  Knowledge’  and 
Research Potential projects). 

•  Assist  Member  States  and  regions  to  implement  education,  research  and  innovation 
projects through knowledge transfer and diffusion of  good  practice,  with  the  help  of  the 
'Regions  for  Economic  Change'  initiative  (including  'RegioStars')  and  by  providing 
technical  support  to  innovation-based  Fast  Track  regional  networks  as  well  as  to  inter-
regional collaboration supported e.g. under INTERREG IVC, Regions of Knowledge and 
CIP-funded cluster activities. 

•  Work  closely  with  financial  institutions  to  leverage  funding  and  maximise  the  use  of 
existing financial instruments, as appropriate, including by possibly establishing a RSFF14 
window/facility dedicated  to  Convergence  Regions,  more  intensive  use  of  JEREMIE15  to 
provide risk finance and guarantees to stimulate innovation in SMEs and technology-based 
start  ups;  as  well  as  by  examining  ways  of  extending  the  scope  of  existing  financial 
engineering instruments to new research and innovation activities. 

•  Facilitate  business  opportunities  for  SMEs'  through  consolidating  and  reinforcing  the 
Enterprise  Europe  Network  (EEN),  the  partners  of  which  should,  in  turn,  help 
organisations to make better use of ERDF financing for innovation.  

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To be established under the European Cluster Observatory in 2011 
Risk-Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF) is a debt-financing facility co-developed by the EC and the EIB 
in order to foster private investment in research, technological development and innovation. 
Article 44 of Regulation 1083/2006 

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•  Improve  the  coherence  and  complementarity  of  EU  policies  for  education,  research 

and innovation, with the aim of: 

•  identifying  and  promoting  the  take-up  of  examples  of  good  practice  for  policy-
makers and innovation support providers; expanding and upgrading the 'Practical 
Guide  on  EU  funding  opportunities'  in  this  area  and  establishing  a  single  web-
based  portal  on  Commission  support  for  research  and  innovation,  linked  to,  or 
included in, the FP7 Participant Portal to facilitate access of innovating bodies to 
EU funding. 

•   

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