Regional innovation patterns and the EU regional policy reform: Towards smart innovation policies

Abstract

In the recent EU regional policy debate, two main documents captured the interest of experts: the EU Report Europe 2020 (European Commission 2010a), which presents the general context in which Europe will act in the next decade, and the Barca Report to Commissioner for Regional Policies, Danuta Hubner (Barca 2009), paving the way towards a reformed regional policy. The first Report proposes a strategy based on three pillars-namely, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The second report discusses and proposes a new process of EU Regional Policy Reform, launched in preparation of the new programming period 2014-2020; in particular, the rationale, economic justification, conditionality, process design and delivery style of regional policy itself are discussed, supplying wide material for institutional and political decisions.