The creation of a European platform of national platforms is highly welcomed, as this gives new opportunities of interaction.

1. One of the strengths of a European platform is to facilitate exchange between national platforms. It would be beneficial for all platforms to learn about good practise, interesting initiatives on the national level and exchange views in an open and trustful setting.

Therefore a structure could be envisaged where this trustful exchange is made possible. One format could be to create small break-out sessions, 2-3 national platforms platform identify successful projects/initiatives which are then presented to a small group followed by an intensive discussion. A good setting would be to have max. 10 people around a table for discussion. Twice a year is seen a good frequency.

Several break-out sessions could be organised in parallel, possible topics could be DIH, qualification, standardisation, access to SMEs, R&D, etc.

2. Continuing the format where initiatives of the European Commission are presented and discussed, is regarded informative and useful and enables the national platforms to link their work to these EU-initiatives.

Tapping more on the existing expertise of the Sherpas, i.e. creating a more interactive structure would be beneficial.