Brussels, 03 Jun 2005

Since its creation in 1996, the European Commission's Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) network has built up a membership of some 250 European regions, helping many of them to develop regional innovation strategies (RIS) and other projects to boost their competitiveness.

Since the enlargement of the EU in 2004, and as the majority of regions in the EU-15 already have some form of innovation strategy in place, the IRE network has devoted more effort towards helping regions in the new Member States to develop their innovative capacity. This effort will result in the launch of 45 new initiatives, including 33 RIS projects, at the fourth IRE plenary conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 7 and 8 June.

CORDIS News spoke to Renate Weissenhorn, Head of Unit for 'Support for Innovation' activities at the Commission's Enterprise and Industry DG, who revealed that the Ljubljana event coincides with an important shift in the Commission's approach to innovation policy and the work of the IRE network.

'In the past we have focused on supporting regions by helping them to develop regional innovation strategies, and of course we still have some more work to do in this area,' said Ms Weissenhorn, referring to the 33 new RIS projects. 'In the future, however, we want to bring Europe's regions together in a 'cycle of continuous learning', based on assessing the impact of the RISs, benchmarking themselves against each other, and mutual learning.'

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The concept of mutual learning is embodied in a major initiative launched by the IRE network in April: the Mutual Learning Platform (MLP). The platform is designed to bring regional policy makers together to share their experiences in the field of research and innovation, ensuring that 'one region's mistakes and successes can become the experience of all'.

This new focus on collective learning represents an important shift in EU regional innovation policy. Indeed, together with its steering committee of representatives from 18 regions across Europe, the IRE network has recently defined a new mission statement to reflect this evolution.

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The purpose of the IRE network according to the new mission statement is: 'To strengthen the global competitiveness of European regions by promoting innovation policies, and provide a unique platform for regions to cooperate and learn from each other.'

Despite this clear change in emphasis, or perhaps because of it, it is crucial that those regions, particularly in the new Member States, that do not currently have regional innovation strategies in place are given the chance to implement them. Under the 33 new RIS projects that will be launched in Ljubljana, the Commission will provide 75 per cent of the total cost to develop the strategy and an associated action plan based on the involvement of all relevant regional actors.

There is a common methodology behind all RISs, but each is adapted to the particular circumstances of the region in which it is being implemented. As Ms Weissenhorn explained: 'We have to prepare regions in the new Member States for the influx of financial support from the Structural Funds. These strategies help them to make the most of this funding.'

In this way, regions in the newer EU countries can be quickly and smoothly integrated into the 'cycle of continuous learning' and take part in trans-regional networking activities along with the EU's other regions.

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When it comes to these mutual learning activities, however, the Commission is aware of the limitations involved. 'It's impossible to replicate exactly the success of one region in every other,' says Ms Weissenhorn. 'You have to look at the factors behind the success and seek to replicate the underlying strengths, for instance the existence of a strong university base or certain key infrastructures.'

Given that the GDP per capita in Europe's ten best performing regions is as high as 189 per cent of the EU average, while that figure drops as low as 36 per cent in the worst performing regions, there is clearly much to be done to redress such imbalances. 'But we must be careful to develop the weaker regions while also helping the better performing ones to get even better,' stresses Ms Weissenhorn.

All of which confirms that the Ljubljana conference is a key milestone for the Commission and its IRE network. 'It is a major launch event for new activities and a perfect opportunity to take stock of the latest developments in regional competitiveness policy,' concludes Ms Weissenhorn. 'It is also an important publicity event for the IRE network, as it still needs to become more widely known. It also marks something of a reorientation of the network away from a focus on cohesion regions and towards a more open approach.'

For further information, please consult the following web addresses:

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