Eurocommissaris Danuta Hübner stemt in met plan van Slovenië om te investeren in de innovatie van werk en groei (en)

Danuta Hübner i , Commissioner for Regional Policy, will today make a keynote speech at the Conference on Territorial Dialogue in 2008 at Brdo pri Kranju, near Ljubljana. This high-level meeting, co-organised with the EU Committee of the Regions and Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, has been convened to promote EU regions' involvement in the Lisbon process for jobs and growth. She will then have a meeting at the National Assembly in Ljubljana with the Parliament Committee on EU affairs and the Committee of Local Self-Government and Regional Policy. Tomorrow she will make a keynote speech at the Conference on Research Infrastructure and their Structuring Dimension within the European Research Area

Commissioner Hübner said : "Slovenia's investment in innovation over the years 2007-2013 is a strong signal that Member States have grasped the link between European cohesion policy and the Growth and Jobs Agenda. Now we need to deliver, and I have every confidence that Slovenia is on track."

"Territorial Dialogue 2008" is the third in a series of annual conferences on this theme. The event is timely in the run-up to the Spring European Council and in relation to the start of the new Lisbon governance cycle 2008-2010. Local and regional political leaders will have the opportunity to voice the challenges they are facing in implementing the revised Lisbon Strategy. Commissioner Hübner will speak on the future of Cohesion Policy on which the Commission launched a consultation last September. She welcomed the active role of the regions in this debate, as demonstrated in the report from the EU Committee of the Regions under the title " European Regions and Cities - Partners for the Jobs and Growth Strategy".

Other highlights of Commissioner Hübner's visit to Slovenia are as follows:

4 March: Address at Slovenian National Assembly

  In the morning, she will address the Slovenian National Assembly. She will stress the fact that Slovenia is often referred to as a precursor among the Member States: it was the first country of the new Member states to adopt the Euro; it is the first new Member State to take over the EU presidency and it is known for accelerated and continuous economic growth since its independence. In the field of Cohesion policy, it is among the first Member States to have signed a "contract of confidence" with the Commission to reinforce controls and audit systems on the structural funds. (IP/08/205)

5 March: Speech at Presidency Conference

  The Commissioner will deliver an opening speech at the conference organised by the Slovenian Presidency around the theme of Research Infrastructure and the Structuring Dimension within the European Research Area. In the present programming period 2007-2013, there is three times as much EU funding available for investment in research and development infrastructure (€ 10.4 billion euros for 27 Member States, out of which € 84.5 million for Slovenia) as in the previous programming period. In the past, Cohesion Policy contributed to the financing of projects such as the Barcelona Science Park in Spain, the Centre of Excellence in Nanotechnology in Ljubljana or the Sonic Studio at Norrbotten in Sweden.

Project visit, Ljubljana: Danuta Hübner will visit the faculty of Electronics and Computer engineering in Ljubljana. A consortium has been created with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Centre of Excellence for information and communication technologies and services, which creates synergies between institutions and enterprises to prepare projects in the sector of research and development.

Notes for editors

Facts and figures: Slovenia will benefit from Cohesion Policy investment worth € 4.2 billion for 2007-13 period. The strategy defined in the three programmes for Slovenia provides for an increase in the share of R&D and innovation, further improvements in the transport infrastructure (in particular railway) and environmental infrastructure (both water and waste) and will ensure a contribution to EU goals by increasing renewable energies and energy efficiency.

In line with the Lisbon strategy, targets have been set: for instance, increasing the share of innovative companies from the current 21% figure to 44% by 2013, and increasing the employment rate by 1.7%.

More information on regional policy in Slovenia is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/atlas2007/slovenia/index_en.htm