Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas:

Article 157 of the Treaty assigned the Community and the Member States the task of ensuring that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Community's industry exist, as well as fostering better exploitation of the industrial potential of policies of innovation, research and technological development.

Article 13 of Decision No 1639/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007 to 2013)^f1, calls for action to foster sector-specific innovation, clusters, innovation networks, public-private innovation partnerships and cooperation with relevant international organisations, and the use of innovation management.

In its Communication ‘Putting knowledge into practice: A broad-based innovation strategy for the EU’^f2 the Commission recognises the important role of clusters for competitiveness and innovation as instruments for closing the gap between business, research and resources, thereby bringing knowledge faster to the market, and calls for a strategic policy orientation and cooperation.

In its conclusions of 4 December 2006 the Competitiveness Council identified clusters as one of the nine strategic priorities for the implementation of the broad-based European innovation strategy.

The European Council of 13 and 14 March 2008 stressed in its conclusions that the framework conditions for innovation should be better coordinated, including through improved science-industry linkages and world-class innovation clusters and the development of regional clusters and networks.

The European Cluster Memorandum, launched at the European Presidency Conference on Innovation and Clusters in Stockholm on 22 and 23 January 2008 and signed by more than 70 national and regional authorities and agencies, marked an important step for further encouraging cluster development.

The European Cluster Alliance, which currently brings together more than 70 partner organisations across Europe, was a first step towards cluster policy cooperation across the EU.

In its opinion on clusters and cluster policy adopted on 19 June 2008, the Committee of the Regions calls for the setting-up of a High Level Expert Group on Clusters, which could serve as a platform for discussing the implementation of a general strategic framework for clusters.

In the Communication from the Commission ‘Towards world-class clusters in the European Union: Implementing the broad-based innovation strategy’^f3, the establishment of a European Cluster Policy Group is identified as an important step of the policy agenda in support of world-class clusters in the EU.

It is therefore necessary to set up a European Cluster Policy Group and define its tasks and structure.

With a view to achieving the above-mentioned objectives the Commission needs to call upon the contributions of policy makers and experts in the field of cluster development.

The European Cluster Policy Group should share intelligence about cluster policies with a view to further exploring how to better assist Member States in supporting the emergence of world-class clusters in the EU.

The European Cluster Policy Group should be composed of high-level members with experience and competence in the field of competitiveness and innovation policies and with a very good understanding of the role and functioning of clusters in economic development.

Rules on disclosure of information by members of the European Cluster Policy Group should be provided for, without prejudice to the rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom^f4.

Personal data relating to members of the European Cluster Policy Group should be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data^f5.

It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: