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19 Feb 2021 | Brussels

ECR CoR Study Days focus on smart specialisation and EU budget

19 Feb 2021 | Brussels

ECR CoR Study Days focus on smart specialisation and EU budget

The second edition of ECR CoR Study Days brought together local and regional leaders from eleven EU Member States, as well as other leading thinkers from academia, government and EU institutions. The focus of this edition's Study Days, held on February 19th, was on smart specialisation and new trends in the EU budget 2021-2027.

ECR President Marshal Władysław Ortyl welcomed the participants, underlining that "smart specialisations create competitive advantages of our regions, and the funds from the new EU financial perspective will help us to strengthen their potential and lift our economy after the pandemic".

The Study Days were organised by Podkarpackie region in Poland as it has a unique set of smart specialisations including the automotive industry, IT and telecommunications, but above all aviation and aerospace. The region is famous for its Aviation Valley, including over 160 businesses and employing almost 30 000 people.

In the first panel, politicians and experts discussed good practices in applying smart specialisations at local and regional level.

Among the speakers were Mayor of Ciampino Daniela Ballico, Marshal of the Małopolska region Witold Kozłowski, as well as representatives of PZL Mielec a Lockheed Martin company and the Rzeszów University of Technology.

Mayor Ballico spoke about the devastating consequences the pandemic has had on the airport sector. She called for "a new path of smart specialisations with a view to relaunching and helping the aviation sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic".

The second panel focused on new trends in the EU budget 2021-2027.
Speakers included the Vice Presidents of the ECR Groups in the CoR and the European Parliament Rob Jonkman and Roberts Zīle.

Dr Zīle highlighted the good compromise and the flexible rules of the new EU budget but expressed disappointment that "the pandemic started one year ago and we are still facing significant delays in disbursing funds for businesses and citizens". He also emphasised the need for regional cooperation in creating national recovery plans, especially in the area of transport.

Other speakers included Dr Bogdan Rzońca MEP, Marco Marsilio, President of Abruzzo, Dr Pavel Branda, Deputy Mayor of Rádlo and a representative of the European Commission.

The format of the event was virtual due to the worrying health situation in Europe.