Study on prioritisation in Smart Specialisation Strategies in the EU

This study is about “Prioritisation in Smart Specialisation in the EU”. It systematically screens and assesses all available S3 strategies across the EU to discover the respective approaches to prioritisation, to analyse if priorities set within the strategies correspond to innovation capabilities and if these were translated into concrete projects.

A complex and multi-faceted picture regarding prioritisation and implementation of smart specialisation strategies in the EU emerges: Priority areas of S3 strategies in the EU are largely based on objective data-driven identification processes. The EDP processes are appreciated by stakeholders but also illustrate room for improvement regarding continuous dialogue and data analysis on a granular level. This has led to prioritisation approaches across EU Member States/regions that define a limited, but often broad set of priority areas oriented towards R&D and more technology driven themes. In a majority of cases, a linkage between ERDF-funded projects in the field of R&I and associated S3 priority areas exists. An investment volume of approximately EUR 20 billion in S3 priority areas is indicative of the fact that the prioritisation approach was mostly effectively implemented in funding procedures. However, more than 25% of the S3 strategies do not match well with their endogenous innovation potential, while the remaining strategies only match well with a single element of the innovation ecosystem.

The study highlights that a better, more holistic delineation and specification of S3 priority areas is necessary to increase the effectiveness of smart specialisation along the different elements of the intervention logic.