Research and Innovation in S3

Smart specialisation strategies (S3) is an EU policy approach, fully implemented from the 2014-2020 programming period with the goal to maximise competitive advantage and to build on the regions’ own economic strengths. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) review 05/2025 on Smart Specialisations Strategies in the EU aims to inform on what smart specialisation is and how it is implemented in the EU.

Over €70 billion earmarked for 2014-2027 to boost R&D in EU regions but it is still not clear if there was a real impact. The main reasons identified by ECA are that R&I strategies defined at regional level may not match EU priorities and that success of the smart specialisation approach has never been thoroughly evaluated. Therefore, even fifteen years after they were launched, it is still difficult to say whether S3 for R&I in EU regions are achieving their goals or whether it has turned into a merely formal requirement to secure EU money. The auditors highlight three main challenges that are yet to be implemented:

1. To ensure that the process of designing S3 is useful, leading to the identification of meaningful priorities.
2. To assess the value of smart specialisation as a process.
3. To maximise the value of interregional cooperation and to help unlock untapped regional potential.

More in the Review 05/2025: Smart specialisation strategies in the EU