Committee of the Regions’ opinion on the European Competitiveness Fund

The CoR opinion – adopted in early March 2026 – underlines that competitiveness should encompass innovation, productivity growth and territorial resilience, while also improving product and service quality. In this context, it suggests including a dedicated article on place-based innovation, reflecting local and regional conditions and contributing to balanced development across the EU.  

While welcoming the proposed simplification and consolidation of EU funding instruments into a single fund, the opinion notes potential challenges in ensuring that diverse territorial needs continue to be addressed effectively and that existing tools reaching local and regional levels are not lost. It also calls for closer coordination between the ECF and national and regional frameworks, including future National and Regional Partnership Plans, and for the systematic involvement of regional and local stakeholders. 

The CoR further emphasises the importance of supporting innovation ecosystems that involve businesses, research institutions and public authorities at all levels. It stresses the value of strengthening regionally anchored industrial and innovation ecosystems, including through interregional value chains, economic diversification and support for industrial transformation across different types of territories.  

The opinion highlights the need for improved access to funding, information and administrative support, particularly for SMEs and regions with more limited capacities. The CoR also stresses that financing thresholds should not be set too high, in order to ensure that smaller players, who can contribute to increased innovation, are not excluded. 

A Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) carried out in early 2026 to inform the CoR opinion points to potential differentiated impacts across regions. Under certain implementation scenarios, benefits could be concentrated in already strong innovation ecosystems, while less developed and rural areas may face barriers to participation without targeted support measures. The assessment also warns that insufficient territorial targeting could exacerbate brain drain, skills mismatches and uneven employment opportunities, particularly in rural and peripheral regions.  

The CoR opinion contributes to ongoing discussions on the design of the ECF, highlighting the need to take territorial diversity and governance arrangements into account when developing place-based innovation strategies capable of broadening productivity growth and supporting economic diversification across all regions.