The event fosters debates on the opportunities and challenges faced by the EU Industry and encouraged dialogue between the stakeholders. The 2022 edition hosted a wide range of discussions on industrial ecosystems, in the context of the green and digital transition. Furthermore, the event addressed the strengthening of the resilience of EU companies and SMEs. In the context of the designated 2022 European Year of Youth, the EU Industry days hosted a Special Youth programme, which addressed topics such as the impact of the pandemic on the young Europeans, what could be further done in order to bridge the gap between the young people and policy-makers.
EU regions towards a climate-neutral industry: transition challenges
The session on the challenges faced by the EU regions within the transition process to climate neutrality was organized by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and focused on the place-based dimension of the EU Industrial Policy. The discussion outlined several implementation challenges that are encountered at both regional and local levels. Furthermore, the speakers outlined specific ways of connecting the industrial and regional innovation ecosystems, through the employing of instruments such as smart specialisation (S3), Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs).
The 1st speaker of the session, Ms.Jeanette Baljeu- Regional Minister in the Zuid-Holland Province, highlighted the importance of adopting a place-based approach on the level of the EU regions. Within her speech, Ms. Baljeu made several references to the report on “Implementing a place-based approach to EU industrial policy strategy”, published in 2019 by the European Committee of the Regions’ Commission for Economic Policy. The report contributed to the debate on how local and regional authorities can adopt a place-based approach or circular economy approach to the industrial policy strategy. Furthermore, Ms. Baljeu outlined the importance of further connecting the local and regional levels of governance and of enhancing the dialogue between regional authorities and the European Commission. Instruments such as the Digital Innovation Hubs and Smart Specialisation Strategies need to be further implemented on regional levels.
The 2nd speaker, Mr. Mikkel Landabaso, Director of Growth and Innovation at the Joint Research Centre, highlighted the importance of enhanced use of smart specialisation strategies on the ground, in order to encourage investments for the green and digital transitions. To this extent, he outlined 3 main arguments. Firstly, he stressed out the importance of directionalityin S3, in correlation to the green and digital transitions. Furthermore, Mr. Landabaso outlined that these strategies should be rejuvenated in order to match the objectives established in line with the Green Deal. Secondly, within his speech, Mr. Landabaso stated that S4 should primarily be about the integration of all community sources of funding. In relation to this, relying on the people on the ground and the enhancing the private-public partnerships is of paramount importance. In addition, he brought into discussion the importance of speedily integrating the consequences of the rapid diffusion of the artificial intelligence on societal level. Also, his speech mentioned the new resilience paradigm, the importance of innovative procurement and of the innovation policy. Within his third argument, Mr. Landabaso drew further attention to the fact that economic development is about meeting societal needs.
The 3rd speaker within the panel, Mr. Sandro D’Elia, reiterated that digitalisation is a broad necessity for the European Industry. Furthermore, he placed high emphasis on the importance of the green transition, in order to make our societies more efficient. Mr. D’Elia explained the current paradigm taking place within our industries and that the approach should go beyond the smart factory. Regarding the Digital Innovation Hub, Mr. D’Elia mentioned that the concept and its speed is changing. Hence, the strategic aspects of digitalization must be taken into account. Moreover, the speaker highlighted that one important aspect of digitalization is that the cities and regions should play a paramount role in the industrial strategies. Within this context, the objective on EU level should be to integrate all the available sources of funding. Last but not least, Mr. D’Elia reiterated both the impact and the importance of AI for our societies.
