1. What is it about? A mayor event for up to 2,000 regional policy experts comprising of 60 sessions, seminars and workshops dealing with 2007-2013 generation of Structural Funds programmes. DG REGIO, the Committee of the Regions and 16 groups presenting 110 European regions will be “Working together for Regional Growth and Jobs”.

2. Press conference in Berlaymont Quote of Commissioner Hübner “OPEN DAYS 2005 will be a market place for new ideas and a platform for exchanging experiences in regional development. The EU should make better use of the unlocked potential of its regions and cities by focusing on best practices in innovation, and more knowledge-based and sustainable pathways to growth and jobs.”

3. Press conference in Berlaymont Quote of President Straub “This will be our third annual OPEN DAYS and the most successful yet in terms of participation. OPEN DAYS is the premier event of its kind because it focuses on the daily, practical concerns of the regions and cities that are Europe’s engine of growth. OPEN DAYS is not a talking shop: it’s about delivering results and getting the EU economy back on track.”

4. Structure of the organisation Committee of the Regions Laurent Thieule Jan Blaha Ulrika Lagergren Dorota Panczyk DG REGIO Thierry Daman Wolfgang Petzold Charles White Conglomerates contact persons & deputy contact persons OPEN DAYS Managing Team …… 1 2316 Leading office Partner office Conglomerate

5. Selected conglomerates 5 Seas 1 Future led by Stockholm Region Baltic Sea Group West Sweden Capital Cities/Regions London Cohesion Policy: From convergence to competitiveness Murcia Regions for new development horizons CzechInvest Green Innovation in Action Mid Sweden Knowledge Regions East Midlands METREX and the Lisbon Regions Stuttgart Region Natural Effect regions for competitiveness and innovation Valencia Region Networking for Lisbon Saxony Region & Thüringen Partners on Innovation Lower Saxony Pirineoak-Pirineus-Pirineos-Pyrénées Basque Country Regions for change Provence-Alpes - Côtes d'Azur Regions of Rond Point Schuman Central Italy Regions & Scottish Executive RUP Plus Canarian Isles The Gates of the East Friuli Venezia Giulia

6. Selected conglomerates Statistics 16 conglomerates representing 110 partner offices 22 Member States represented (except of CY, LU, MT) 3 Candidate Countries represented (BG, HR, RO) 2 non-EU countries represented (NO, AD) Most represented countries: - Spain (15 partners) - France, Germany, Italy, Poland (11 partners) - United Kingdom (9 partners) - Czech Republic (6 partners) - The Netherlands (5 partners)

7. Structure of the programme Monday 10 October Thursday 13 October Tuesday 11 October Wednesday 12 October Events in partner offices morningafternoon 15:00-17:00 Opening session 15:00-17:00 Debate at the beginning of the CoR Plenary Session 19:00- Official Reception 15:30-17:30 Closing session

8. Structure of the programme Events in partner offices 1) organised by the conglomerate maximum 2 events (seminars/conferences) per conglomerate each event should last 2 hours 2) organised by DG REGIO 25 workshops in total to complete the themes of conglomerates in order to have a balanced structure of all events Covergence Competitiveness and employment European territorial cooperation Programme management Events organised by conglomerates Events organised by DG REGIO In total about 60 events

9. Structure of the programme DG REGIO workshops DG REGIO workshops will again be the ”training sessions” speakers will be selected through a call for speakers published in April on Inforegio 60 speakers should be involved in about 25 workshops Topics: - convergence - regional competitiveness and employment - European territorial cooperation - regional development (innovation/research) - programme managment

10. Schedule March April May June July August SeptemberOctober Brochure Detailed programme to be expedited 30.6. Detailed programme to be finalised 22.4. All printed documents to be ready 1 6. 9. MarchApril

11. Contact details Comments/questions opendays@cor.eu.int Committee of the Regions tel. 02/282.20.27 (Jan Blaha) tel. 02/282.21.40 (Ulrika Lagergren) fax. 02/282.20.85 DG REGIO tel. 02/295.53.69 (Charles White) tel. 02/299.88.32 (Wolfgang Petzold) fax. 02/296.60.03