ERRIN's signing of an Open Letter on the Future of the EU Budget (2028–2034)

ERRIN's signing of an Open Letter on the Future of the EU Budget (2028–2034)

As negotiations on the 2028-2034 EU Budget are in full swing, Europe faces a pivotal choice: strengthen regional innovation ecosystems or centralise funding and risk weakening cohesion and competitiveness. At the heart of this concern lies the uncertain future of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3).

In an effort spearheaded by ERRIN and EURADA, twelve European networks representing actors across all 27 EU Member States, bringing together 285+ regions, and connecting 900+ innovation ecosystem organisations have co-signed an Open Letter to call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council to safeguard and reinforce S3, and protect multi-level governance in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post-2027. This will be essential for connecting regional strengths with EU priorities, fostering collaboration and bringing innovations to market across borders.

In brief, our key messages are:

  • Maintain S3 as a mandatory strategic reference within NRPPs, ensuring that regional and sub-national innovation strategies are used as an essential input into national planning
  • Recognise S3 as a multi-level governance and investment coordination framework, not merely a territorial planning tool under Cohesion Policy
  • Retain a clear pathway for interregional implementation and increase interregional collaboration through strengthened Regional Innovation Valleys and I3 Instrument
  • Introduce binding requirements for genuine regional involvement in the design, implementation and monitoring of NRPPs
  • Prevent the effective recentralisation of cohesion-type investments, ensuring that simplification enhances, rather than weakens, territorial effectiveness 

You can read the full Open Letter launched on 16 March with our detailed recommendations in attachment.

In conclusion, this is a call for a balanced and future-proof budget, which must not force a false choice between competitiveness and cohesion. Europe’s ability to innovate, transition and remain globally competitive depends on mobilising all its territories. Smart Specialisation is not a legacy tool but a strategic asset for Europe’s future. 

We urge the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council to ensure that the final MFF framework reflects this reality, and that Europe’s regions remain actors, not bystanders, in shaping Europe’s economic future.