Council positions on the ECF and NRPPs are out
On 16 June, the Council agreed its partial negotiating position on two files: the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs).
European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)
With regard to the ECF, the Council's position clarifies synergies with other EU funds, such as the Horizon Europe programme, and includes specific measures to support SMEs. It also strengthens the role of member states in the governance of the fund. ERRIN welcomes the points raised in the position regarding ecosystems and regions, following similar wording in the Commission's proposal, among which:
Recital 5: Union funding should facilitate the creation and expansion of innovative and industrial ecosystems, where different actors interact in a synergetic way. Successful ecosystems feature intensive and agile interactions and collaboration between small and large companies, universities research institutions, infrastructure providers, investors as well as public authorities. Without such collaboration within and between individual innovation and industrial ecosystems, innovation potential stays unexploited.
Recital 7: Therefore, the purpose of the ECF is to establish an investment capacity to support European competitiveness in strategic technologies, infrastructures, products and services and sectors, providing for a more seamless investment journey. It will promote the creation and expansion of innovation, private finance and industrial ecosystems, as well as the collaboration between them.
Recital 8: In the Union, persistent disparities in competitiveness and innovation performance across regions continue to exist. After sustained efforts at both Union and national level to close the innovation gap, it is time to unlock the full potential of every region. By ensuring that less-developed regions are effectively connected to Union value chains, the Union as a whole will be better positioned to compete globally.
Recital 9: The Union outermost regions and overseas countries and territories represent unique and strategic assets that benefit the Union as a whole – including proximity to third countries, exceptional conditions for space and astrophysics research, abundant renewable energy potential, rich biodiversity, and extensive maritime zones. The ECF should leverage their potential as geostrategic outposts, particularly in support of the Union’s objectives on security, preparedness, regional value chains, and competitiveness.
Article 27, point 1b: The EU for Business Network shall have a Union-wide and geographically balanced coverage, taking into account the specificities of all Member States and types of regions in the Union, including the less developed regions, transition regions, insular areas and the Union outermost regions.
The document also includes some mentions of the European Partnerships, such as:
Recital 13: Cooperation between public and private sectors can benefit European competitiveness and leveraging private investments is necessary to complete the objectives of the ECF. Therefore, it should be possible to implement parts of the ECF budget through European Partnerships together with other partners, public or private actors, where this is the most effective implementation form to achieve the policy objectives, notably for the market deployment activities. This option encompasses partnerships under the MFF 2028 – 2034, as well as partnerships established under the MFF 2021 – 2027 that continue to operate during the transition phase. In view of fostering synergies and efficiencies, European Partnerships should follow a strategic, portfolio-based approach to enhance coherence, ensure complementarity and optimise the use of Union resources, taking into account their contribution to the competitiveness objectives under this Fund. Therefore, a coherent and complementary portfolio of a limited number of European Partnerships should be selected in a transparent, open and competitive process based on a set of quantifiable lifecycle criteria.
Article 12, point 11: Where necessary to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3, parts of the ECF may be implemented through European Partnerships, pursuant to the rules established under Article 11 of the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and identified and agreed in close cooperation with Member States.
When it comes to instruments, in the text there are e.g. specific articles 16 and 17 dedicated to the single market value chains builder and to the EU tech frontrunners, in addition to their mention in recitals 54 and 55. At the same time, regions are not explicitly mentioned under either of them. EU Missions are also not addressed in the file in any way, which calls for increased advocacy efforts.
You may find the official press release here and the full document here.
National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs)
On the NRPPs, the position of the Council increases flexibility for member states, strengthens the role of regions and local authorities, simplifies implementation procedures, and ensures continuity for agriculture and fisheries funding while maintaining a strong link between reforms, investments and EU funding.
Notably, Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) have a more prominent place than in the Commission's proposal, being more explicitly mentioned also in Annex V ("Template for the NRPP") of the proposed regulation.
You may find the official press release here and the full document here.
As background: The partial negotiating position (partial general approach) is the Council's mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament. The Council position is "partial" because it excludes financial and horizontal issues, which are currently being discussed as part of the overall negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) covering the period 2028 to 2034.
ERRIN's amendment proposals to the European Commission's proposals of ECF and Horizon Europe regulations are available here and the proposal of the NRPPs regulation (advocating for stronger anchoring of S3) here. Our recent paper highlighting the strategic role of EU Missions and mission-oriented approach in the next EU long-term budget can be accessed here. We work continuously to secure place-based dimension in the future programmes.