EN Regional Policy EUROPEAN COMMISSION Upcoming events and news, Communication actions, success stories, evaluation, OPEN DAYS 2006 SFIT, 15 June 2006 Wolfgang Petzold, DG REGIO

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 2 Regional policy: upcoming events and news (indicative schedule) 4-5 July: EP Plenary votes on the regulations 12 July: Commission adopts proposal for Community Strategic Guidelines and the Communication on the Role of Cities in Cohesion Policy 20 July: Publication of the Structural Funds regulations in the EU Official Journal 21 July: Community Strategic Guidelines are published Autumn 2006: Council and EP adopt Community Strategic Guidelines; Member States and Regions introduce National Strategic Reference Frameworks for Cohesion and Operational Programmes October: Commission adopts Implementing Regulation on Structural Funds 21 November: Informal Council of Regional Policy Ministers under the Finish Presidency (Brussels) December: Series of Commissions decisions on Structural Funds allocations by Member States As of January 2007: Series of Commission decisions on Operational Programmes Autumn 2006-Spring 2007: Several EP reports on the future of EU Regional Policy May 2007: Informal Council of Regional Policy Ministers on Territorial Cooperation and Urban Development (Leipzig) May/June 2007: Commission publishes 4th Cohesion Report

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 3 DG REGIO: Communication actions July-December: Launching new the website, implementing a new map tool; publication of regulations, summarising national Strategic Reference Frameworks and first Operational Programmes; effort on success stories (continued) Autumn: Launch of the « Regions for Economic Change » (Fast- Track) initiative October: 4th European Week of Regions and Cities on «Investing in Europe’s Regions and Cities – Public and Private Partners for Growth and Jobs» (Brussels) January 2007: “Regions for economic change” conference on demographic challenges for regions (Brussels) February 2007: “Regions for economic change” conference on best practices and networking (Marseille) After June 2007: 4th Cohesion Forum (Brussels)

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 4 Success stories on INFOREGIO Database: Adapting to new needs (Lisbon themes) Format: Context, project description, results, data and address, photo Link to mapping tool? Link to the lists of final beneficiaries provided by regions and Member States? SFIT asked to update list with project descriptions on national/regional websites

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 5 REGIO, SFIT and evaluation June – October 2006: Regional Policy in the media: survey on the image of regional policy/structural funds in the media based on press analysis and interview with managing authorities and journalists from six Member States (France, Germany UK, Italy, Spain, Poland), followed by a seminar with journalists on 13 October in Brussels SFIT asked for support October 2006: Series of fiches «How to evaluate Communication Strategies and Actions?» (events; websites; publications; campaigns; press activities; best practices; media coverage; communication plans; actions for the general public) SFIT asked for feedback

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 6 Theme: « Investing in Europe’s Regions and Cities: Public and Private Partners for Growth and Jobs », organised under five topics: enterprise investments; innovation; sustainable development; public-private partnerships; structural funds management Programme: Volume: 108 workshops and seminars in Brussels with expected 3, ,000 participants + 70 local events with another estimated 3,000 visitors; more than 500 speakers Organisers: Committee of the Regions and Regional Policy DG in cooperation with 135 regions and cities, other Commission DGs, European banks, 15 IT enterprises and several NGOs SFIT asked for promotion of:

Regional Policy – Information and Communication EUROPEAN COMMISSION EN A new partnership for Cohesion Publicity for Cohesion Policy 7 New regulation 135 participating regions and cities organised in 14 thematic groups