EU Recovery Plans, Inclusive Knowledge Economy and Overcoming Regional Disparities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/20.4.1171-1189(2022)Keywords:
EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, inclusive knowledge economy, institutional innovations, regional disparities, development dilemmaAbstract
The EU has adopted the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) as the key instrument help to ensure that the EU, its member states, regions and local communities emerge stronger and more resilient from the pandemic crisis. Its main goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and it sets Europe on a path of digital transition, creating jobs and spurring growth in the process. The EU recovery plans should be seen as an opportunity not merely to address the post-pandemic health, social, economic and financial crisis – further exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine – but primarily to develop a more inclusive and innovative institutional framework for European economies with more resilient local communities, small and medium sized firms, and high-quality public services across the EU. New forms of participation, more policy space, tools and instruments to support local and regional development strategies are necessary to establish an overall environment more hospitable to sustainable and inclusive development. Diversity of European local communities and European regions at different levels of development require tailored-made approach to realize their development potential. Institutional innovations, such as the regional public venture funds, may be the key to overcome regional disparities and build regional knowledge economies. The positive experience with the recovery, sustainable transition and inclusive knowledge economy across the European Union may serve as an important experience and encouragement to many other parts of the world, coping with the post-pandemic recovery, implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and inclusive development.
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European Commission (2021a) Recovery and Resilience Facility, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/recovery-coronavirus/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en (July 25, 2022).
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Mangabeira Unger, R., Stanley, I., Gabriel, M. & Mulgan, G. (2019) Imagination Unleased: Democratising the knowledge economy (London: Nesta), available at: https://www.oecd.org/naec/projects/Imagination_unleashed-Democratising_the_knowledge_economy.pdf (July 25, 2022).
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Nilsen, T., Grillitsch, M. & Hauge, A. (2022) Varieties of periphery and local agency in regional development, Regional Studies, https://doi.org 10.1080/00343404.2022.2106364.
OECD (2016) The Productivity-Inclusiveness Nexus, Report from the Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level Paris, 1-2 June 2016, available at: https://www.oecd.org/economy/The-productivity-inclusiveness-nexus.pdf (July 25, 2022).
Rangoni B, Zeitlin J. (2021) Is experimentalist governance self‐limiting or self‐reinforcing? Strategic uncertainty and recursive rulemaking in European Union electricity regulation, Regulation & Governance, 15(3), pp. 822-839, https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12309.
Roblek V., Meško M. & Podbregar I. (2021) Mapping of the Emergence of Society 5.0: A Bibliometric Analysis, Organizacija, 54(4), pp. 293-3025, https://doi.org./10.274/orga-2021-20020.
Rodríguez-Pose, A. & Di Cataldo, M. (2015) Quality of government and innovative performance in the regions of Europe, Journal of Economic Geography, 15(4), pp. 673–706, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbu023.
Rus, P., Nared, J. & Bojnec, Š. (2018) Forms, areas, and spatial characteristics of intermunicipal cooperation in the Ljubljana urban region, Acta geographica Slovenica, 58(2), pp. 47-61, https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.4830, available at: https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/ags/article/view/4830/4757 (July 25, 2022).
Sabato, S., Vanhercke, B. & Guio, A-C. (2022) A ‘Social Imbalances Procedure’ for the EU: Towards Operationalisation, ETUI Research Paper - Working Paper 2022.09, available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4065513 (July 25, 2022).
Unger, R. M. (2019) The Knowledge Economy (London: Verso).
Vesan, P. & Corti, F. (2021) The return of the commission social entrepreneurship before and after the Covid-19 pandemic, Journal of European Integration, 44(6), pp. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2021.1985114.
Vesan, P. & Corti, F. (2019) New Tensions over Social Europe? The European Pillar of Social Rights and the Debate within the European Parliament, Journal of Common Market Studies, 57(1), pp. 977– 994, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12863.
Visvizi, A., Lytras, M.D., Damiani, E. & Mathkour, H. (2018) Policy making for smart cities: innovation and social inclusive economic growth for sustainability, Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 9(2), pp. 126-133, https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-07-2018-079.
WIPO (2021) Global Innovation Index 2021: Tracking Innovation through the COVID-19 Crisis (Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization), available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_gii_2021.pdf (July 25, 2022).
Zaman G. & Goschin Z. (2015) Romania's Sustainable Development Requirements from the Viewpoint of Regional Economic Bank's Crediting, Procedia Economics and Finance, 32, pp. 125-130, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01373-8.
