ERRIN acknowledges the importance of the European budget as a common effort to tackle the current challenges Europe is facing and, therefore, the relevance of an adequate funding for the European policies, Cohesion Policy included. Building an effective and well-resourced European research and innovation policy post-2020 requires input from a range of stakeholders, including citizens. These stakeholders often work together in partnership at the city or regional level combining proximity with critical mass. Thus, ERRIN argues that effective research and innovation is increasingly dependent on strong interconnected research and innovation ecosystems embedded in regions and cities.

In combination with regional innovation strategies (Smart Specialisation), the EU budget enables managing authorities to increase the critical mass of investments. This is often essential for producing excellent cutting-edge research, capitalising on research infrastructures and clusters and providing incentives for risk-taking when bringing innovations to market. Smart Specialisation with sufficient resources for its implementation also serve to bring together key stakeholders in areas of regional comparative advantage and strategic importance.