West Region Romania, one of the six European demonstrator region in cluster policy

West Regional Development Agency, as the initiator of the cluster organization and Automotivest and Regional ICT clusters, submitted an expression of interest in May 2014 in response to an appeal launched by the European Commission together with the European Cluster Observatory for selecting the 6 European demonstrator regions in order to develop intraregional policies designed to increase competitiveness and to strengthen cluster collaboration.

Thus, West Region has been selected as part of a group of six demonstrator regions out of a total of 44 European applications.

This will bring significant benefits to the Western Region and clusters involved in this initiative, regarding image and expertise, the project consisting of European Cluster Observatory experts assisting West Region during 2015.

The support provided by this initiative will be adapted to the needs of each region and its actors in order to address their challenges or opportunities through a modern approach. Each model demonstrator region will receive recommendations on cluster policy in order to facilitate innovative entrepreneurship and the development of emerging industries.

Action plan West Region Romania:

• Preliminary evaluation (report on the importance and potential clusters in the region - February 2015)
• Regional Study and "benchmarking" (identification of favorable conditions within the economic environment, the maturity of companies, and consulting services availability on a certain theme or emerging industry - March-May 2015)
• Peer-review Workshop (2 days, 4 external experts in the region to introduce expertise and recommendations - June-September 2015)
• Policy recommendations (recommendations, detailed action plan - September - December 2015)

This call is related to the contract under which the European Commission launched the second edition of the European Cluster Observatory 2014-2016, for a period of 3 years (the program CIP-EIP Work Programme 2013). The managing authority on this contract is represented by Unit D5: Clusters and Emerging Industries, Enterprise & Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission.