The Commission will offer 11 EU regions technical assistance to help them untap their potential to attract, retain and develop talent.
- 12 September 2023
To select these regions, the Commission has launched today a call for expression of interest for all EU regions experiencing an accelerated decline of their working age population and low levels of higher education.
In the present context of increasing territorial disparities and a growing urban-rural divide, several EU regions are severely affected by the decrease of the working-age population with the loss of 3.5 million people between 2015 and 2020 in the EU, and another 35 million people expected by 2050. Some of these regions also face a low share of university and higher-education graduates and a negative mobility of their population aged 15-39, finding themselves in the so-called ‘talent development trap’.
46 regions across 11 Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Romania) will have the opportunity to submit applications for today’s call for interest. The deadline for applications is 20 October 2023.
The call is a concrete follow-up of the Communication on Harnessing talent in Europe's Regions. In this Communication, the Commission presented the causes and effects of regional disparities stemming from demographic challenges and introduced the Talent Booster Mechanism. This Mechanism supports EU regions affected by the accelerated decline of their working age population to train, retain and attract the people, the skills and the competences needed to address the impact of the demographic transition. This is an important initiative in the context of the European Year of Skills.
More information and online application for the interested regions are available on the Harnessing Talent Platform.