Division 1 Background

A ‘High-Level Advisory Group on Clusters’ was established in December 2006 under the Europe INNOVA Initiative with the mission to steer cluster policy discussions in Europe and develop a cluster agenda of common actions that would foster trans-national cooperation. The group played the lead role in the preparation of the ‘European Cluster Memorandum’^f1 launched at the European Presidency Conference on Innovation and Clusters in Stockholm on 22-23 January 2008 and signed by more than 70 national and regional authorities and agencies.

The Communication ‘Towards world-class clusters in the European Union: Implementing the broad-based innovation strategy’^f2 adopted on 17.10.2008 foresees the establishment of a European Cluster Policy Group to help Member States to develop a more strategic vision to reach critical mass and world-class excellence. This Group will replace the current ‘High-Level Advisory Group on Clusters’ and raise its profile and visibility.