Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

Danuta Hübner in Graz: "Innovation and knowledge society" at the heart of European Regional Policy's programmes

/noticias.info/ Europe's interest is in modernising its economy through innovation and the creation of a society based on knowledge. This is the main message Regional policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, delivers today in the best practices conference held in Graz, Austria. The Commissioner is addressing the "New Horizons in Graz – Shaping Best Practice IV" conference which brings together almost 250 practitioners and experts from many member states of the European Union. Among the key themes to be discussed this year are: generating innovative projects, using innovative financial engineering, and creating an environment favouring the effective transfer of knowledge.

"We need to realise urgently the real competitive potential of the European Union. We are encouraging ambitious, innovative programmes which will make maximum advantage of the world class knowledge that we have in the field of research and development", said Danuta Hübner and added: "The best practice experiences and expertise showcased in this conference will support participants in the identification of such solutions for their regions."

This year's conference is the fourth in a series of events intended to identify and promote best practice in the use of EU Structural Funds and has been jointly organised by the European Commission's Regional Policy directorate general and the regional government of Styria. The event is attended by representatives from managing authorities across the EU Member States and will run from 15 to 17 November 2006.

"New Horizons in Graz – Shaping Best Practice IV" will bring together contributions from high level experts from across the EU Member States. The event will include examples of best practice from Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, the UK, Austria, Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands.

The conference concentrates on three themes:

• The generation and development of innovative projects;

• Innovative financial engineering; and

• Knowledge Society: projects that make a difference.

As well as enabling the transfer of best practice from individual projects, the event also aims to explore the processes and methodologies used to design and implement Structural Funds supported programmes. Finalisation of programmes for the period 2007-2013 is currently underway for all Member States so this aspect of the conference is expected to be particularly useful for participants. Austria, along with Latvia, is the first Member State to have submitted its NSRF for 2007-2013, now being analysed by the Commission. The new Cohesion policy investment in Austria in the next seven years will amount to € 1.46 billion (current prices) of which approximately 1.03 billion is allocated to regional competitiveness and employment objective.

Background

In the new programming period 2007-2013 the main aim of the European Cohesion policy is to further help regions lead the way to economic and social modernisation. To this effect, the EU will make available over the period 2007-2013 about € 350 billion (in current prices) from its Structural Funds and instruments, which represents 35% of the Community budget.

At this stage of procedure before the implementation starts, the Commission is cooperating closely with the national authorities to see that their preparation of the new Cohesion policy 2007-2013 is (a) completed in time for the new programmes to start in 2007 and (b) serves the purpose of sustainable modernisation. Each Member State has been asked to draft a document setting its framework and priorities for the new programming period. The document, called national strategic reference framework, is expected to link with the more general national reform programme where member states describe specific measures to modernise their economy in the context of what is known as Lisbon strategy for jobs and growth.

To help Member States with their preparations for the new programming period the Community Strategic Guidelines on cohesion policy have been recently adopted based on Commission's proposals. The guidelines set out a framework for programmes which will be supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund.
Further information about European Regional Policy available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
Further information on the conference can be found at

www.best-practice-graz.at. notas_de_prensa_archivo