Vanguard Initiative
VI
The Vanguard Initiative, founded in 2013, is driven by a political commitment by regions to use their smart specialisation strategies to boost new growth through bottom-up entrepreneurial innovation and industrial renewal in European priority areas.
ID: 683831940758-35
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – implementing EU funding with Member States and regions
3 Nov 2025
The Vanguard Initiative acknowledges positive elements in the Commission's proposal, including the commitment to industrial competitiveness through the new Competitiveness Fund. However, we express critical concerns about the proposed consolidation of several funds into single national plans per Member State, which fundamentally contradicts the principles of subsidiarity, place-based development and regional empowerment that have proven essential for European competitiveness. A competitive Europe is not possible without strong regions. The proposed consolidation of funds into single national plans threatens to undermine the regional dimension that has been key to European innovation success. We call on European institutions to reject this centralisation model, strengthen Cohesion Policy with effective regional participation, significantly increase investment in industrial innovation and interregional cooperation, recognise regions as strategic partners rather than mere executors, and simplify procedures without renationalising European policies. Please read the attached document to learn more about the Vanguard Initiative position.
Read full responseResponse to European strategy on research and technology infrastructures
22 May 2025
Vanguard Initiative (VI) strongly supports the development & implementation of a European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures, TIs, such as demonstrators and pilot lines, are a key component of VIs strategy to support the development, testing, validation, industrialization and exploitation of advanced technologies. Europe already has a significant number of TIs but we are still far from the concept of a European Single Market for TIs, as proposed and discussed during the Conference Technology Infrastructures: A Strategic Asset for European Competitiveness, capable of providing complete and coherent set of resources and services to companies, particularly SMEs and start-ups, in an effective and efficient way. Despite the existence of several studies, mappings, initiatives and projects aiming at improving this scenario, some challenges and barriers are still limiting a more rational and impactful utilization of these resources, namely: Information and visibility about the entities, their competences, capabilities and services. The heterogeneity of the TIs landscape: more diverse and disperse than RIs. Lack of clear understanding of the TIs specific role and intervention, namely vis-a-vis RIs. Lack of incentives to go beyond their traditional area of intervention and work collaboratively with other TIs and RIs, targeting better services, efficient utilization of resources, mutual learning, etc. Legal, administrative, geographic, language and cultural barriers. To overcome these problems, VI proposes the following lines of action to be considered in a future European Strategy for TIs (and RIs): 1. Increase TIs visibility across Europe: this calls for a catalogue of the network, the definition of a common format, a platform (or interoperable set of platforms) and a "mechanism" (incentives) not only to its creation but to keep it updated. 2. Promote the creation of a European wide network or networks of TIs (evolving towards the model of distributed TIs), linked with strategic technologies or value chains, capable of reaching (and support) a larger and more geographically distributed set of stakeholders: through the implementation of single entry point mechanism, remote access to the infrastructures and their services. These networks can/should also consider the links with RIs and Industrial Infrastructures (IIs). 3. Incentivize collaboration and joint projects and initiatives across the networks: ranging from common roadmaps, collaborative projects and activities (research & innovation, education & training, dissemination & cross fertilization). Upstream and downstream links with RIs and IIs should not be overlooked. 4. Create a stable, comprehensive and coherent funding and financing landscape: covering both CAPEX and OPEX at the European, national and regional levels. 5. Overcome the existing administrative barriers: current programmes and funding instruments, at European, national and regional level are a major barrier for a broader and utilization of TIs by companies, especially across borders (national and regional),e.g. the still existing limitations to fund entities from other (administrative) geographies and the heterogenous implementation of State Aid Rules by Member States and regions. This transformation calls for an effort of capacitation (education and training, best practices exchange, peer-review) to improve awareness and understanding the specific role and intervention of TIs, paving the way for better, more adequate public policies, programmes and instruments. 6. To foster effective support for interregional collaboration and deployment of innovation by SMEs, VI calls for a targeted revision of the current European State aid framework. In particular, there is a pressing need to reassess the rules concerning the public financing of test beds, pilot lines or demonstration facilities. The current ceiling for public funding of such infrastructures represents a major bottleneck.
Read full responseMeeting with John Berrigan (Director-General Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)
24 Sept 2024 · Integrated pensions and Retail Investment Reforms