The 11th European Week of Regions and Cities, better known as the European Open Days, was held between October 7 and October 10 in Brussels. This annual four-day event gives representatives from different regions and cities the possibility to network and meet their European counterparts to exchange good practices in economic development, social inclusion and European cooperation on a local, regional and European level. It aims to highlight the different approaches regions and cities are engaged in and to portray their achievements in creating growth, new jobs and implement the European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy.

The 2013 Open Days have come at a crucial time when the final negotiations about the new EU programming period 2014-2020 are being undertaken by regions and cities. In view of this, the open days offered EU institutions, managing authorities and final beneficiaries a chance to exchange ideas and network on innovative approaches before the new Operational Programmes (OPs) start being implemented next year.

Through various workshops and seminars, the Open Days provided an opportunity to participants coming from different backgrounds to meet and discuss the most salient issues concerning the new programming period. Moreover, regions and cities had the opportunity to present the 2007-2013 results of EU-funded programmes and projects, underlining the impact these have on regional development and ways in which these contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Workshops and debates were the two types of working sessions that took place during the event; workshops were held to achieve and promote the exchange of good practices and training between practitioners, while debates with the participation of experts in the field targeted more in depth topics. In all, around 100 workshops and debates were held around the main slogan Europe's regions and cities taking off for 2020, which characterised this year’s Open Days in view of Europe 2020 strategy.  

The three thematic priorities which evolved around this slogan were: Managing Change 2014-2020, focusing on innovative approaches on the implementation of the 2014-2020 new programmes; Synergies and Cooperation, which focused on different ways in which synergy can be achieved amongst different EU, regional and national policies; and Challenges and Solutions, aimed at presenting practical solutions with a focus on promotion of entrepreneurship and support for SMEs as well as reference to demographic change and urban solutions.

Due to the fact that we are now close to the end of the current programming period (2007-2013), some of the workshops focused specifically on a number of the upcoming new programmes. One very interesting workshop, Designing good programmes 2014+ dealt with the difficulties, challenges and the learning process in Member States in designing programmes for the next seven years.

Another workshop entitled Financial Instruments in Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 presented the future approach to financial instruments in cohesion policy and provided a platform for stakeholders to share their experience in preparing for the new programming period.

Reference was further made to direct EU financial instruments mainly related to research, innovation, competitiveness and growth namely, Horizon 2020 - the Programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME) and Connecting Europe Facility. Throughout a number of workshops, emphasis was made on complementarities at European and regional levels between these new programmes and the European Structural and Investment Funds.

Among the events organised, the 100 EUrban Solutions Exhibition, was spread over different venues in Brussels and highlighted good practices in the area of smart, sustainable and inclusive urban development in projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Around 7 to 8 workshops had the scope of creating close networks between academics, practitioners, EU officials and students. Some other 250 local events took place in other European countries between September and November, whilst other ancillary events took place in Brussels during the same week.

Every year, the Open Days welcome around 6000 participants ranging from decision-makers and experts to representatives of civil society organisations and other associations. Despite some uncertainties resulting from the fact that a number of negotiations on the upcoming programming period are still underway, this year’s Open Days were yet another success and managed to deal with a variety of aspects related to the upcoming programming period.

Annabelle Khalil

Executive – EU Funding, MEUSAC