Programme co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective
Programme description
On 1 August 2007 the European Commission approved an Operational Programme for the region of Tuscany (Italy) for the period 2007-2013.
This Operational Programme comes under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective and has a total budget of about 1.1 billion euros. The financing by the Community from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) amounts to some 338 million euros, representing about 1.2% of total EU investment in Italy in connection with the cohesion policy for 2007-2013.1. Purpose and aim of the programme
The strategy of the Operational Programme is based on:
- regional issues highlighted by an identification and analysis of the region’s potential;
- the gains achieved during the previous stages of the Community programme;
- the Community strategic guidelines and the national strategic framework establishing the principles for the allocation of European funding.
The Tuscany region has opted to put research, innovation and sustainable development at the core of its regional development strategy.
The nature of the region's industrial fabric, comprising primarily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), means that the focus must be on reinforcing research and innovation capacity to boost competitiveness. To this end, the programme aims to improve mechanisms for technology transfer between public research centres and enterprises so that the region can better exploit its full potential.
Other features of the Tuscany region are the tremendous wealth of its artistic and cultural heritage and its outstanding natural environment. Protecting the environment in the broad sense is vital to the development of its appeal and essential for safeguarding its artistic and cultural heritage. The programme aims to contribute significantly to achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, with considerable support for research, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship. Major actions under the programme will aim to provide better provision and accessibility of environmentally-friendly transport services.
The programme will also involve actions for the promotion and production of sustainable energy as well as including actions geared to energy saving.
Mention must also be made of efforts to improve telecommunications in the region's rural or outlying areas and of special actions for urban and metropolitan areas.2. Expected impact of the investment
The expected results of the programme may be summarised as follows:
- an increase in GDP, estimated on average at 0.24% per year;
- an increase in the number of new jobs, estimated on average at 0.24% per year;
- a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at about 0.6%;
- an increase in value added per employee, estimated on average at 0.16% per year.
3. Priorities
The Operational Programme has six priorities:
Priority 1: Research and development, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship [about 35.6% of total investment]
The purpose of this priority is to promote the knowledge-based economy and it aims to boost public and private research efforts. Special attention will focus on transferring the research results of public centres and universities to private enterprises.
Another aim is to foster the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises by developing their innovation potential so that they can access new markets in a context of economic globalisation.
Priority 2: Sustainable environment [about 8.3% of total investment]
This priority will involve funding actions to improve air quality and clean up polluted industrial sites or contaminated areas. Promoting biodiversity and protecting nature will also be major actions. In addition, this priority includes preventing natural risks and protecting and enhancing the region's natural heritage.
Priority 3: Competitiveness and sustainable energy system [about 4.7% of total investment]
The actions under this priority are geared to promoting the production and use of renewable energy sources and to encouraging actions for energy saving.
Priority 4: Accessibility of transport services and telecommunications [about 23.6% of total investment]
The purpose of the actions under this priority is to improve the accessibility of environmentally-friendly transport services. The main actions will be geared to infrastructure improvements to rail links and inland waterways.
Initiatives will be launched to improve mobility in the metropolitan districts of Florence and Prato and will aim at reducing the adverse effects of road traffic congestion, cutting noise and air pollution levels and improving energy consumption.
This priority will also make it possible to improve telecommunication facilities in the region's rural and outlying areas.
Priority 5: Making full use of local resources, sustainable development of the territory [about 24.5% of total investment]
This priority will make it possible to implement actions to make full use of the region's local resources both in the urban/metropolitan context and in areas with difficult geographic or natural features.
In the urban and metropolitan areas the actions will form part of integrated plans for sustainable development, supported by a strategy for enhancing and generally promoting the area in question. In this context, it is also planned to create social facilities where they prove particularly necessary.
A major action under this priority will be the exploitation of the region's natural and cultural resources with a view to promoting sustainable forms of tourism.
Priority 6: Technical assistance [about 3.3% of total investment]
Technical assistance will make it possible to co-finance activities relating to management, monitoring, evaluation, organisation, information and communication.4. Managing Authority
Financial information
Breakdown of finances by priority axis
| Priority Axis | EU Investment | National Public Contribution | Total Public Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship | 127.805.787,00 | 273.286.634,00 | 401.092.421,00 |
| Sustainable environment | 30.855.764,00 | 62.849.714,00 | 93.705.478,00 |
| Competitiveness and sustainable energy system | 17.165.001,00 | 36.270.732,00 | 53.435.733,00 |
| Accessibility of transport services and telecommunications | 88.780.512,00 | 177.702.538,00 | 266.483.050,00 |
| Making full use of local resources, sustainable development of the territory | 60.333.800,00 | 214.834.022,00 | 275.167.822,00 |
| Technical assistance | 13.525.710,00 | 23.242.017,00 | 36.767.727,00 |
| Total | 338.466.574,00 | 788.185.657,00 | 1.126.652.231,00 |