Home

In October 2008 the European Commission took the initiative to
establish a European Cluster Policy Group (ECPG) with a mandate to
advise the Commission and Member States on how to better support the
development of more world-class clusters in the EU.

Through an open call for applications, 20 high-level members with a
diverse background and outstanding expertise were selected in March
2009 for a term of 18 months. The Group is chaired by Tea Petrin,
former Minister of Economy in Slovenia and professor at the University
of Ljubljana.

The objectives of the European Cluster Policy Group are as follows:

  • to make recommendations on how to better design cluster policies in the Community;
  • to assess international trends in cluster development;
  • to identify future challenges for cluster policies in response to globalisation;
  • to explore tools for the removal of existing barriers to transnational cluster cooperation;
  • to analyse complementarities between the main Community level policies and the financial instruments that support clusters.

The Group is expected to deliver practical and concrete policy recommendations in its mid-term and final reports.

During the period April 2009 – September 2010 the Group will meet four
times and it will conduct two study trips to explore how countries
outside the EU are supporting the development of world-class clusters.
The themes of the four meetings
include: international cluster cooperation, the role of clusters in
creating new industries (in the field of services), effectiveness of
cluster policies, initiatives and cluster organisations, and synergies
between community instruments in support of clusters.

Based on the discussions during these meetings the Group is expected
to formulate 3-5 policy recommendations on each theme which will be
handed over to the Commission by the end of the term in connection with
a public conference scheduled to take place in September 2010.

 

Meeting materials:

Report of the European Cluster Policy Group's first meeting on international cluster cooperation:

The agenda as well as the background material from each of the meetings will be available on this site.

 

 

 

For more information about the ECPG please contact the secretariat