The Policy Forum held on 21 November 2023, dedicated to the use of European Innovation Council (EIC) funding and European Structural Funds, closed the annual cycle of institutional meetings of Taftie, the European Network of leading national innovation agencies.
The meeting, which was also attended by Invitalia, was held in Brussels and hosted by the European Commission.
The Taftie agencies discussed ways to build and strengthen synergies between European and national measures to promote innovation, within the framework of the Horizon Europe programme and through the use of European Structural and Investment Funds (EIS) within the Member States.
Invitalia presented its approach on structural funds to support spending performance and the effective use of resources in support of innovation and cohesion. In particular, the Agency's role as a partner of the Italian authorities in implementing cohesion policies was emphasised. Some good practices were shared, such as those learned during the programmes for business innovation and competitiveness, for which the Agency has been the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy’s longstanding partner.
The experience presented by Invitalia highlighted the importance of concentrating resources on strategic interventions and the value of a long-term vision: structural interventions that complement each other, to provide support for business innovation with a range of incentives covering research & development, start-ups, investments, etc.
To make implementation effective, interest cases on simplification, evaluation approach and digitisation in programmes financed by the European Structural Funds were presented, with a focus on Invitalia's contribution to the design and implementation of the Italian State Aid Register.
The Taftie Agencies and the Commission rose questions on what the future of European innovation and cohesion policies will look like, what the challenges are and what room for improvement is there to exploit synergies, build effective partnerships and implement consistent measures between the different levels of intervention.
Once again, as a partner in the Taftie network, Invitalia shared the exchange of good practices with European partners, promoting mutual learning on how to plan and support innovation.
Finally, by the end of the two-day event, Invitalia partook in the Board Meeting and General Meeting, participating in the Association's governance activities.