Throughout this journey, I've encountered both support and resistance to change from colleagues and policymakers alike. As a self-described ideas-focused lobbyist—rather than one advocating merely for increased funding—I've championed numerous initiatives that have shaped regional development across Europe.

Successful Innovations

Over the years, several pioneering initiatives I advocated for have come to fruition:

• Regional Development Agencies achieving ISO 9001 accreditation, with Deux-Sévres Development becoming the first public organisation to receive this certification;
• Introduction of benchmarking practices in the public sector, supported by DG Enterprise;
• Establishment of EBAN in 1999 to create business angels' networks supporting regional start-ups, backed by DG Enterprise;
• Creation of AEROMART, a B2B matchmaking initiative for the aerospace industry that continues to thrive after 29 years, alternating between Toulouse and Montréal;
• Implementation of business retention dialogues at regional levels with both foreign direct investors and local entrepreneurs;
• Development of business readiness training programmes for start-ups seeking external funding;
• Introduction of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) concept;
• Establishment of soft-landing offices to assist SMEs in exploring foreign markets;
• Promotion of 3D printing technology through demonstrations to EU officials;
• Introduction of the Seal of Excellence for high-quality but unfunded EU projects;
• Advancement of crowdfunding initiatives, highlighted in the 2011 EURADA Declaration of Bielsko-Biala.

Challenges and Unrealised Visions

Despite these successes, several important initiatives have faced significant resistance, primarily due to institutional inertia:

1. The proposal to allocate 25% of ERDF funding to revolving financial instruments;
2. The suggested transfer of ESF funds to ERDF for financing lifelong learning programmes in critical regional sectors;
3. The proposed division of programming periods between tangible and intangible investments;
4. The development of comprehensive regional intelligence datasets;
5. The implementation of no-nonsense approaches to S3 strategies;
6. The structuring of regional enterprise support services as value chains;
7. The revival of ERDF innovative actions as collective technical assistance;
8. Joint initiatives between various DGs to promote innovation uptake and industrial modernisation;
9. The creation of an academy by the Committee of the Regions for economic development training.

Looking Forward

As we approach the drafting of new Cohesion Policy regulations, there's hope that some of these long-standing proposals might finally be realised. The next frontier appears to be the integration of Large Language Models (LLM) for conducting self-explanatory assessments of strategy drafts against professional benchmarks.

The evolution of EU regional development policy demonstrates that today's seemingly radical ideas can become tomorrow's standard practices. As we continue to face new challenges in regional development, maintaining an innovative mindset whilst learning from past experiences remains crucial for effective policy-making.