The successful European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) scheme, which
celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, has been modernised
and renewed for upcoming five years. Each of the annual calls for
applications between 2021 and 2025 will have a lead theme, which is linked
with the EU policy agenda and relevant to regional and local level. The EER
2021 label will be dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship for a green and
sustainable future and will be open for applications from EU regions and
cities until 31 March 2020.
Markku Markkula
, First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions,
announced the new EER award cycle at the European Commission's
SME Assembly 2019
in Helsinki. Speaking at the annual
European Enterprise Promotion Award
ceremony on 26 November, Mr Markkula said, "Regions and cities can best
deliver on the new European Commission's political priorities by
leveraging entrepreneurship and SMEs, mobilizing resources for research
and innovation, investing in education and skills and promoting
internal and external collaboration and knowledge transfer."
"To address the most pressing economic and societal challenges of our
times, we also need to mobilise EU regions' and cities' efforts in
driving forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore,
promoting entrepreneurship for a green and sustainable future is the
lead theme for the EER 2021 campaign. This way we are encouraging EU
regions and cities to mobilise resources and propose initiatives
supporting the sustainability shift of their economies", First
Vice-President Markkula concluded.
The Commission for Economic Policy (ECON), which is one of the six
thematic commissions at the European Committee of the Regions,
organised a seminar at the SME Assembly 2019 in partnership with
Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council. Invited speakers, among them CoR
rapporteurs on the industrial policy (Jeannette Baljeu
, NL/RE) and SME policy (Tadeusz Truskolaski, PL/EA),
highlighted that the upcoming European Commission's new SME and
industrial strategy should contribute to strengthening and connecting
regional entrepreneurial eco-systems across Europe, while addressing
the challenges of industrial renewal and sustainability.
More information:
The EER label is awarded by the European Committee of the Regions each
year to up to 3 cities or regions with outstanding, future-oriented
strategies to support SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups. Becoming a
European Entrepreneurial Region gives recognition and visibility to
local or regional entrepreneurial strategies and provides access to a
network of potential partners. The EER award in 2020 has been granted
to the following regions: Gdansk & Pomorskie Region (Poland),
Gothenburg Business Region (Sweden) and Navarra Region (Spain).
Contact:
Lauri Ouvinen
Tel. +32 22822063
lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu