The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Markku Markkula, awarded EPP-led regions of Lombardia (IT) and Małopolska (PL) as European Entrepreneurial Regions (EER) 2016. The Award ceremony was held in Brussels today after a jury, consisting of members from EU institutions and business associations, selected the regions' strategies as the best to promote entrepreneurship and spread innovation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
SMEs play a vital part in the European economy: 99 % of all European businesses are SMEs and one in two new jobs is created by them. The EER award evaluates the EU regions investing in an entrepreneurial spirit. "Since the launch of this initiative, fifteen regions have already shown us that they are ready to tackle the challenge of creating jobs and growth through their support to SMEs. This year the winners embraced the importance of engaging stakeholders, as seen in Małopolska; renewed traditional industries in Lombardia; and improved governance to steer innovation and entrepreneurship as in Glasgow," President Markkula pointed out. "Our goal has been to promote SME forerunners in Europe and I am pleased to note that since its launch the EER has been proven to be effective in this".
"It is a great honour to join the group of the European Entrepreneurial Regions" said Marshal Marek Sowa, arguing that: "Małopolska is a region of creative citizens and innovative entrepreneurs – it is them who inspire us to act and to undertake new challenges. In the following years we will focus mainly on the development of new technologies in business because it is the area, where we see a great chance for the Małopolska Region. We are aware that it requires building a strong partnership between local government, entrepreneurs and scientific institutions. This is out ambition for the forthcoming years".
"We are really pleased to receive the EER award as acknowledgement of the quality of our strategic efforts to support entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers" said Mr Mario Melazzini, Minister for Enterprise, Research and Innovation, of the Lombardia Region. He stressed that: "We are currently the 5th EU region for GDP and its entrepreneurial system keeps flourishing thanks to the spreading of outstanding technological and scientific knowledge. The pending challenge we face is to double investment for innovation and research, to reach a target threshold of 3% of the regional GDP, in order to create new business opportunities and open up new markets".
The European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) identifies and rewards EU regions which show an outstanding and innovative entrepreneurial policy strategy, irrespective of their size, wealth and competences. The regions with the most credible, forward-thinking and promising vision plan are granted the label “European Entrepreneurial Region” (EER) for a specific year. The EER label has been set up in partnership with the European Commission and is supported by EU level stakeholders such as UEAPME, Eurochambres and Social Economy Europe. It remains open to any organisation willing to contribute to its objectives. The implementation of measures is regularly monitored by the EER jury.