The draft paper on "Mapping regional and local needs to inform the future European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)" complements ERRIN's previously submitted input papers and proposed amendments to the European Commission's proposal on the ECF.

This document is part of an ongoing exercise for collecting inputs from ERRIN members across Europe to identify concrete regional and local investment needs, implementation challenges and opportunities under the four proposed ECF Policy Windows. The contributions demonstrate strong support from regions and local authorities for the objectives of the ECF while highlighting the importance of a place-based, ecosystem-driven approach to competitiveness. They also underline the need to strengthen synergies between Horizon Europe, the future ECF and National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), ensuring a seamless pathway from research and innovation to deployment and market uptake.