The European Commission has now opened its public consultation on the future Interregional Innovation Investment initiative (I3, also know as Component 5). The Commission has proposed the new initiative to help actors involved in smart specialisation (S3) strategies to cluster together, scale-up and bring innovation to the European market. This will contribute towards its outlined goal of 'strengthening innovation in Europe's regions' during the 2021-2027 period.

The consultation will shape:

• The multiannual work programme
• The role of Member States, regions and networks, as well as other triple helix stakeholders, in the governance of the instrument
• How to involve different categories of regions
• How to activiate synergies with mainstream programmes and other EU funding programmes.

The consultation is open until 30 September 2020. Read more about the consultation here and complete the consultation here.

In the frame of the Smart Specialisation Working Group, we are mobilising a task force to develop a joint ERRIN contribution to the public consultation. If you are interested, get in touch with Ilaria d'Auria by 25th August. 

Background information

The instrument has an indicative EU budget of €0.5 billion, with the goal to mobilise public private investment to leverage the impact of the available budget to achieve:

• More interregional industrial cooperation
• Strengthening the EU on the global stage
• Synergies and complementarities with other initiatives.

In May 2020, ERRIN contributed to a joint statement on the instrument, calling on the EU to use the tool to unleash the innovation potential available in Europe's regions for Europe's recovery. The statement emphasised how the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the EU's dependence on external providers for strategic goods, while many regional innovation ecosystems across Europe responded rapidly, mobilising innovative technologies through bottom-up collaboration. You can read the full statement here.