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EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

as a tool to implement the EU2020

European Commission Directorate General Regional

PolicyTerritorial Cooperation

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Why an EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region?

• Requested by the European Council, inter alia helps to address the urgent environmental challenges

• A need to speed up implementation of important priorities

• An integrated approach to identify needs, solutions and match them to available resources

• Four pillars: 1) Environment 2) Economy 3) Energy and Transport 4) Safety and security

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Outputs and Outcomes

Outputs• Rolling Action Plan for the Baltic Sea Region with 15

priority areas, actions and examples of flagship projects• Analytical report on the Baltic Sea Region

Outcomes

• 70 actions, 80 flagship projects• Alignment of policies / funding • Coordination in implementing of EU

legislation• Improvement of Spatial Planning• Integrated Maritime Policy

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Smart Specialisation Smart Specialisation Strategies –Strategies –Why?Why?• Harnessing knowledge potential, investing

smarter, mobilising all regions for Europe 2020 • Mainly to be seen in the framework of spending

Structural Funds more effectively, by focusing on local strengths and investing in research and innovation

• But also in terms of better synergies with R&I policies to avoid policy fragmentation and duplication and assure better governance

• Upgraded rationale for role of Regional Policy by ensuring the diffusion of innovation and its benefits across all regions

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Smart Specialisation Smart Specialisation Strategies –Strategies –Why?Why?Main message: Investment in R&D, human

capital and innovation is crucial for all regions

But: no “one size fits all” Regional Policy model, diversity as asset for different growth path/policy mixes

Policy mixes need to recognise regional diversity and innovation capacity (assets, not ambitions)

There are potentially large gains from strategies that exploit areas of competitive advantage and focus investments rather than spreading them thinly across many sectors and areas

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Implementation• Simple implementation system: making better use of existing

institutions, funding, and legislation (rule of “three No”)

• Policy development: European Council (assisted by High Level Group Meeting twice a year, composed of 27 MS representatives)

• Coordination, monitoring and follow-up: European Commission

• Implementation on the ground: Member State or equivalent to coordinate Priority Area; Ministry, agency, or other body to lead flagship projects

• Annual Forum with stakeholders

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Smart Specialisation Smart Specialisation Strategies – How?Strategies – How?• Strong focus on bottom-up process and

stakeholder involvement and interaction• Combination of top-down setting of objectives

(Europe 2020, Innovation Union) and bottom-up processes of entrepreneurial discovery

• Involving experts, businesses, research centres, universities and other knowledge-creating institutions and stakeholders

• Sound analysis, identification of competitiveness factors (e.g. critical mass) and bottlenecks, enabling technologies (sourcing in), concentrating resources on key priorities, …

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First Results• New projects created and financed in response to the

needs identified in the Action Plan

• New momentum to existing projects across the four pillars

• New governance process (domestic re-organisation, better use of existing structures, etc.)

• Creation of new macro-regional networks in areas previously dominated by national approaches

• Extension of networks in otherwise established areas

• Reinforcement of cooperation with third countries (Russia)

• Macro-regional policy discussions

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Examples of Flagship Projects launched within the area of Innovation

– BSR Stars that focuses on creating and strengthens links between national research and innovation milieus, clusters and SME networks;

– Create a Baltic Sea Fund for Innovation and Research

– Set up cross-sectoral reference projects for innovation in health and life sciences

– Setting up a Baltic Science Link

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Next Steps• To maintain high-level political

pressure • To intensify work on identification and

promotion of cross-cutting links among priority areas

• To keep on working to align different sources of funding to the Strategy and policies (lab group, seminar in Gdansk 2011, trust fund, etc.). Strategy should guide policy in the region

• To better involve private sector• To start reflection on results and

impact of Baltic Sea Strategy: other macro regions enthusiastic to develop strategy- e.g. Danube, Alpine, Adriatic, etc.

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Thank you for your Attention!

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/baltic/index_en.htm

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: an integrated framework to address the challenges and opportunities of the Baltic Sea Region