R&I and Cohesion Managing Authorities’ Network

According to the Council Conclusions on the New ERA and the explanatory document on Action 16, “the work on the action is to be guided by a structured dialogue between the Commission and the Member States”. Due to the complexity of the tasks and the high number and variety of participants involved, this dialogue should be conducted in a dedicated subgroup to be set up after approval by the ERA Forum, with the aim to advise and assist the ERA Forum in achieving the overall objectives of a renewed ERA as indicated in the ERA Communication.

Activities of the sub-group will be focused on strategic discussions, exchange of knowledge and practices and targeted networking activities between authorities responsible for R&I and those responsible for Cohesion policy, in particular the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the goal to:

1. identify national, regional or institutional challenges related to access to excellence, to increasing performance of R&I systems and to the better integration of innovation policy, cohesion policy and relevant instruments, and
2. provide recommendations on the type of support needed to face these challenges and to identify appropriate tools that can facilitate policy exchange and learning on potential ways to address these challenges.

The sub-group following-up ERA Action 16 will represent an informal platform of exchange, providing policy updates and defining actions to build and maximize R&I investments and synergies across programmes, monitoring the roll-out of synergic initiatives and define activities aimed at boosting scientific excellence that will be instrumental to address innovation divide in Europe.