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EU local and regional authorities contribute to the

mid-term review of Europe 2020

Assessment of the flagship initiative

An industrial policy for the globalisation era

Almost three years after the launch of Europe 2020, the Committee of the Regions has launched a broad assessment of the Strategy in preparation for its mid-term review, expected in 2014.

As part of this assessment, the replies to this questionnaire on the state of play of the flagship initiative An industrial policy for the globalisation era will be discussed at a conference to be held on 10 April 2013 in Brussels.

This conference will be the third in a series of CoR events and monitoring initiatives on the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives, preparing the mid-term review in 2014. More news on this conference can be found on the CoR website[1]. By participating in this survey, you will:

·  ensure that your views are taken into account in the debate held during the conference;

·  contribute to the CoR's consultative activity over the coming months, to include an opinion drafted by Claude Gewerc, President of Picardy Regional Council (PES/FR), scheduled for adoption at the CoR plenary session on 10-11 April 2013;

·  contribute to the fourth CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020, to be published in October 2013;

·  contribute to the mid-term review of Europe 2020 in 2014.

If you wish to participate in this survey, please complete this questionnaire in any eu language, using the spaces provided, and return it in text format to:

by 1 March 2013

The questionnaire will be available in all languages in mid January

For more information on this survey and for details on how to join the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform, go to:

http://portal.cor.europa.eu/europe2020/

Contributor information[2]

Name of sender: / Gabriela Effenberg
Contact details:
(address, telephone, email) / 82-300 Elbląg, ul. Saperów 14A
Tel. 55239 49 60
e-mail:
On behalf of:
(name of local or regional authority) / ELBLĄG COUNTY AUTHORITY
Type of organisation / City/Town/Municipality Region
County/Province Association of local and/or regional authorities
Other (please specify)
Country: / POLAND
Member of the EUROPE 2020 Monitoring Platform: / Yes No

Current policy challenges and responses at regional and local level

1) What are the main challenges faced by industry in your region/city?
Please answer with respect to competitiveness (market trends; positioning in the market; competitors) and employment (finding the necessary workforce with the right skills; ability to create new jobs).
Industry in the county of Elbląg, outside of Elbląg itself (which is a separate municipal district), is poorly developed. The region is strongly characterised by the furniture industry. There are also agri-food processing plants, particularly dairy plants. There are no meat processing factories despite there being a large resource base.
Offers of employment in industry appear only occasionally at the county employment office. The largest group of unemployed people according to profession is unemployed industrial workers and craftsmen: at the end of June 2012, this group made up 1880 of the 7549 unemployed people in the Elbląg area. At the Elbląg county employment office (as well as on the websites of local and regional authorities) most jobs offers are in the area of budget, services and trade. Industry specialists have to look for work outside the region, which is becoming increasingly difficult, and even outside the country (as in the case of meat processing specialists). There is a notable lack of new external investors creating jobs and local investors.
2) Do these challenges differ from those faced in 2010 (when the Europe 2020 strategy was launched)? If so, in what respect?
Please make a distinction between structural problems and problems resulting from the impact of the economic and financial crisis.
In 2010, the economy of Elbląg county was not so different from the previous year. Over the past two years, the negative effects of the economic crisis (rising unemployment) have been felt by people living in Elbląg. Residents of Elbląg county have been dealing with crisis for much longer. There has been structural unemployment here for over 20 years (at the end of 2012, the unemployment rate in Elbląg county was 27.9%). Given the region's economic development, trying to find a job still poses a constant challenge.
3) How are your regional/local policies addressing these challenges?
Please make clear whether you are (i) working on the basis of a local/regional industrial strategy; (ii) providing direct support to firms and networks/clusters; (iii) encouraging stronger relationships between firms, universities, public and private research institutions; (iv) improving the business environment, including through administrative simplification; (v) undertaking a proactive industrial policy, focusing on certain activities or sectors; or a mix of these actions.
Please provide examples (or at least web references[3]).
The county authorities have very limited scope for influencing the region's economic life. The region does not have a regional industrial strategy. At most, it can be an ambassador for new developments in consultations with the national authorities and businesses. Generally speaking, there is a lack of economic development centres or development agencies promoting economic growth. The local administration can only create a climate favourable to growth. It has limited scope to create the economic and legal conditions for future and current businesses.
Representatives of Elbląg county authority have contributed to the creation of a tourism cluster. However, the county does not have its own legal tool to enable it to support firms directly and carry out a proactive industrial policy.
The county is working to improve the business environment not least by carrying out an innovative project to introduce e-services for SMEs, entitled "The Elbląg county e-region – services for businesses". A broad range of e-services covering the economy, tourism, roads, analysis and statistics, urban planning, public procurement, surveying and the environment will simplify and shorten administrative procedures, making the authority more open and friendly to businesses.
BOX 1 – An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era
The Europe 2020 flagship initiative An integrated industrial policy for the globalisation era, adopted by the European Commission on 28 October 2010, sets out a strategy that aims to boost growth and jobs by maintaining and supporting a strong, diversified and competitive industrial base in Europe, offering well-paid jobs while becoming more resource-efficient[4]. The flagship initiative highlights ten key actions for European industrial competitiveness:
1.  "competitiveness proofing" i.e. analysis of the impact on competitiveness of all policy proposals;
2.  "fitness checks" of existing legislation aimed at reducing the cumulative effects of legislation in order to cut costs for businesses in Europe;
3.  making it easier for SMEs to access credit and facilitating their internationalisation;
4.  a strategy to strengthen European standardisation;
5.  more efficient European transport, energy and communication infrastructure and services to serve European industry;
6.  a new strategy on raw materials creating the right framework conditions for sustainable supply and management of domestic primary raw materials;
7.  addressing sector-specific innovation performance with specific actions, in such areas as advanced manufacturing technologies, construction, bio-fuels and road and rail transport, particularly with a view to improving resource efficiency;
8.  actions to improve framework conditions and support innovation in energy-intensive industries;
9.  a space industrial policy creating a solid industrial base and covering the whole supply chain;
10.  reporting on Europe’s and Member States' competitiveness, industrial policies and performance on an annual basis.
These actions are implemented through more than 70 measures, whose state of play can be found on DG Enterprise and Industry's website[5].
You can find more information on An industrial policy for the globalisation era, seen from the point of view of local and regional authorities, in the Committee of the Regions' publication Delivering on the Europe 2020 Strategy. Handbook for Local and Regional Authorities[6]. General information on Europe 2020 can be found on the strategy's official website[7].

How is the Europe 2020 flagship initiative An industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era relevant to your city or region?

4) With respect to industrial policy, how would you evaluate the support your city/region has received from EU policies so far? Was it sufficient in view of the challenges you are facing in this area? As concerns EU-financed investments, in which area has more added value been created (e.g. infrastructure, skills, innovation, etc.)?
Please answer with reference to the various existing strands of EU policy (Europe 2020 flagship initiative "An industrial policy in the globalisation era", Structural Funds, 7th Framework Programme, Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, etc.).
Please comment both on the policy tools used and on funding.
For many years, EU funds have played a very important role in the county's development. For the purpose of economic growth, infrastructure investments have been carried out which are geared towards improving the state of the road network, ensuring internal spatial cohesion and making the region an attractive place to invest.
So far, the investments have been co-financed using EU funds as part of the following operational programmes: 2007-2013 Warmia and Mazury regional operational programme and PO RYBY 2007-2013 (operational programme for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector and coastal fishing areas). The most important projects carried out include:
-  reconstruction and repair of many county roads (affecting 57km of county roads),
-  tourist signposting in the Warmia and Mazury region
-  integrated system for promoting tourism in the Elbląg canal area
-  Digitalisation of the radiology lab of the county hospital in Pasłęk
-  Modernisation of the schools complex building in Pasłęk (Zespoł Szkół w Pasłęku) for the purpose of starting to provide hotel management training
-  Construction of a recreational-camping site by Buczyniec slipway
-  Reducing energy use through the construction of solar collectors at year-round sites for public use in Elbląg county
-  The Elbląg county e-region – services for businesses
With funds from the European Social Fund and under the framework of the POKL (human capital operational programme), between 2008 and 2013 at educational establishments in Elbląg county 21 projects were carried out for a total amount of almost PLN 3.5m. The projects were aimed at young people: they provided for extra-curricular activities, courses to acquire additional qualifications and additional skills, enabling young people to respond to changes in the labour market and demonstrating a path to professional development. The participation of young people in these projects was reflected in better learning outcomes and the quality of work in schools and institutions.
5) The Europe 2020 flagship initiative An integrated industrial policy for the globalisation era[8] (see Box 1 above), as reviewed by the Commission Communication A stronger European industry for growth and economic recovery[9] of 10 October 2012, sets out a "renewed industrial policy" based on the four pillars presented in Box 2 below.
Which of these pillars are more relevant to your specific local/regional situation?
Both economic, social as well as environmental factors have an impact on the concept of sustainable integrated development. From the point of view of the local situation, it is important to make use of natural local resources for innovative investments, based on advanced technologies for production, e.g. production of high-quality food and production of furniture.
BOX 2 - An industrial policy for the globalisation era: 2012 update
The flagship initiative on industrial policy, as reviewed by the Communication of 10 October 2012, places more emphasis on short-term, growth-enhancing measures resulting from the economic crisis and its impact on EU industry. The flagship initiative is based on an extensive consultation of stakeholders carried out in the first half of 2012, which highlighted the impact of the crisis in terms of job losses, the decline of industrial production and very low business confidence. Those short-term problems go hand in hand with EU industry's structural competitiveness problems. The European Commission's response is based on these four “pillars of the reinforced industrial policy”, to be addressed through partnership involving the EU, its Member States and industry:
ñ  Investments in innovation, with a focus on six priority areas with great potential (advanced manufacturing technologies for clean production; key enabling technologies; bio-based products; sustainable industrial and construction policy and raw materials; clean vehicles and vessels; smart grids).
ñ  Better market conditions, both in the internal market, with special reference to goods, entrepreneurship and the protection of intellectual property rights, and in international markets.
ñ  Access to finance and capitals, through better mobilising and targeting of public resources, including from the EIB, and by unlocking private funds.
ñ  Human capital and skills, to promote job creation and better anticipation of, and investments in, the skills needed to promote industry's competitiveness[10].

Are your country's policies relevant to your city or region?

6) To help meet these objectives, your country has set its own targets, which you can find at http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/targets_en.pdf. Are your country's targets appropriate to your local (regional) situation?
Please explain, bearing in mind that "An industrial policy for the globalisation era" can potentially contribute to at least the following Europe 2020 targets:
- in a quite direct manner: 75% of the 20-64 year-olds to be employed; 3% of the EU's GDP to be invested in research and innovation (public and private investment);
- in an indirect manner: 20% less greenhouse gas emissions than in 1990; 20% of energy from renewables; 20% increase in energy efficiency.
From the county's perspective, this is not clear, although the potential possibilities are relatively good (especially in the area of bio-energy plants).
7) Do you think that the industrial competitiveness policies set in your country's current (2012) National Reform Programme[11] meet the needs of your city or region?
If not, how would you change your National Reform Programme next year?
No, they do not. Legal changes are needed, which will make it easier to create new jobs and undertake business activities.
8) Which measures in the field of industrial competitiveness policy could be more helpful in the short term?
Competitiveness is a challenge for the whole of society and has an impact on all sectors and forms of production. Measures which help improve competitiveness include:
-  improving access to credit (the major role of banks and financial institutions as an intermediary, which in a proper and transparent way guarantee the links between the financial economy and the real economy);
-  innovative public procurement, the award criteria of which will support innovative businesses by setting priorities in the form of innovative products and services consistent with the principles of sustainable development, leading to better quality and greater accessibility of public services;
-  Also important is the role of SMEs according to the "think small first" principle – SMEs as key economic operators in terms of job creation and contributing to economic growth.

Managing and funding issues