Peripheral regions focus on territorialisation of R&D and innovation policies
How to achieve territorialisation of research and development (R&D) and innovation policies in the European Union came under discussion in Valencia on 23 February at a high profile meeting of the conference of peripheral maritime regions (CPMR). Discussions at the conference revolved around a CPMR report produced in response to one of the Lisbon European Council's conclusions in March 2000, recommending Member States take the necessary steps towards establishing a European research area. This aims to establish, inter alia, conditions for a 'territorialisation' of R&D and innovation policies, designed to adapt them to the social and economic context of the territories in an enlarged European Union. 'It's up to politicians to balance centralisation of policies with the needs of regions. The solution will need to be dynamic because economic criteria change all the time', said Eduardo Zaplana, President of the Comunitat de Valencia and a member of the Committee of the regions, as he opened the conference. 'R&D is one of the most essential criterion...to maintain economic growth.' Growth of the research sector in his own region, which has accelerated particularly in the last two years, has really felt the benefits of investment from a regional perspective, he said. 'I am absolute convinced that the regions offer the best possibilities to contribute to European policy.' The CPMR report examines the issues involved and the prospects for territorialisation of R&D and innovative policies and looks at the actions and initiatives needed to achieve both the territorialisation and governance of R&D and innovation policies. 'We cannot talk about [science and technology] without discussing territorial aspects as one of its primary motors,' the European Commission's Research Director General, Achilleas Mitsos, told conference participants. 'There are striking differences between central and peripheral regions...Addressing the regional dimension is not an easy task. Addressing the national dimension is equally, if not more, important, and this we should not forget. We need to stimulate innovation...Regional specialisation needs to develop to the next stage of economic competitiveness. We need to increase cohesion of research.' The conditions for territorialisation of research should be studied and put into place, he continued, underlining his belief that the main instrument to achieve this is regional policy, coordinated with the Commission's RTD Framework programme as well as Structural funds. According to the CPMR, neither the preparation nor implementation of R&D and innovation policies in the European Union are satisfactory for improving competitiveness. Wide gaps between the regions of the European Union in the field of R&D and innovation indicated by the European Commission's recently published second Cohesion report 'show it is imperative to promote a policy that is better adapted to the current situation of the territories of the Union and to its enlargement,' says the CPMR. 'The European dimension is an opportunity which allows the regions to flee from fragmentation. They must retain their own dimensions,' added Francois Xavier de Donnea, Minister-President of the Belgian region Brussels-Capital. Carl Lindberg, the Swedish deputy state secretary of the Ministry of education and science, also believes it is essential to pay attention to peripheral regions: 'But my basic opinion is that the greatest importance is the Member States' policy on research and technology. There is still a great difference between different Member States and of course also between the different regions so [the CPMR] has to start really to have an influence on the Member States policy on research and development. This is the base. If you have a very strong base it's easier to combine the needs from the regions and from the territory.' Territorialisation should combine a sectoral approach to development with a regional or territorial approach, says the CPMR. 'In this respect', it continues, 'territorialisation does not mean the regionalisation of R&D and innovation in the strict sense of the term. It does not mean dividing up Community and national policies...The territorialisation of this policy means first and foremost the calling into question of its uniformity, in order to take better account of the social and economic realities and needs of the different territories of the Community and, especially, those of enterprise.' In its opinion, the CPMR believes the most essential structural and organisational requirements for preparing and implementing the territorialisation of R&D and policies include: - the need for greater synergy between R&D and innovation policy and regional development policy; - the need to give greater consideration to the potential for excellence of all the R&D and innovation resources of all the European territories under the Framework programmes for research and development; - the requirement for a better integration of social and economic reality in the needs of different territories of the Community; - the obligation to improve targeting of interventions and reduce the dispersion of resources; - the acquisition of critical mass in R&D and innovation through the promotion of cooperation between the territories in an enlarged European Union. 'The territorialisation approach must be understood as being a way of better combining top-down and bottom-up approaches, not only at the planning stage, but also at the level of the implementation and the evaluation of these policies, says the CPMR. To achieve this, it says, R&D and innovation policy need to be implemented at both the regional and the transnational level, requiring improved coordination of the Community national and regional policies 'and therefore concerted action between the European Commission, the Member States and the regional authorities,' The European Spatial development perspective (E.S.D.P) should be used as the common community framework for R&D and innovation policy able to respond to the needs of all the territories in terms of competitiveness, says the CPMR. And it outlines priority areas of action including: improving the strategy and organisation of R&D and innovation through, for example, initiatives like the European Commission's regional innovation strategy (RIS); excellence in R&D and innovation; promoting access to knowledge infrastructures; enhancing human potential; and strengthening financing for R&D and innovation policies (through instruments such as those established by the European Commission's Enterprise Directorate-General). Better coordination between all existing funding instruments is needed, says the CPMR and 'furthermore, the content and rules of various provisions or R&D funding are strongly geared towards very high technology production activities (technology push) and are not particularly targeted at support for enterprise innovation policies (demand pull) although this constitutes the European Union's greatest part of growth and added value.' The CPMR's conclusions - running to 12 points focus on action at Community, national, transnational and regional level - providing the basis for discussion at the Valencia event. Encouraged by the day's discussion on the broader European perspective, Carl Lindberg told CORDIS News: 'This is important...just to see how you can connect the discussion about social cohesion and...to strengthen competitiveness in Europe; how to combine the different parts of the Lisbon goal really. Some people forget that the social cohesion is a very important part of the Lisbon goal and this is very important to stress. And also the issue of the territory and the regions. Just to get an opportunity for all of Europe to develop.'