News | 08 Dec 2023

Harnessing Talent Platform – a new EU tool that can help combat rural depopulation

The European Commission has launched the Harnessing Talent Platform, a key tool to help national, regional and local authorities address the demographic change.

talent booster mechanism

Many EU regions, especially their rural areas, are struggling with depopulation and ageing. To address this new demographic reality, the European Commission published a Communication on Harnessing Talent in Europe’s Regions and put in place the Talent Booster Mechanism: a dedicated eight-pillar initiative that seeks to boost talent in EU regions, focusing particularly on supporting 46 regions currently in a talent development trap and 36 regions identified as being at risk of falling into one in the future.

 The Harnessing Talent Platform was launched at the dedicated event organised by DG REGIO on 23 November 2023. The event brought together high-level policy makers, experts and practitioners, and its live streaming was watched by ca. 300 participants. The agenda and recording of the event are available here.

The event was opened by Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, and Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms. Both speakers stressed the need for reversing and stopping the ‘brain drain’ and highlighted the role of the new platform as a fundamental element in the Talent Booster Mechanism as a component of the European Year of Skills.

Ron Boschma, Professor of Regional Economics at Utrecht University, highlighted the need for diversification opportunities and identification of growth prospects within regions to retain skilled labour. Beyond local capacities, forging connections between regions, fostering inter-regional linkages, and establishing meaningful interconnectivity play a crucial role. Migration can be a significant catalyst of knowledge diffusion, with talented individuals contributing with their expertise and skills. 

During a high-level debate on demographic change and regional prosperity, Normunds Popens, Deputy Director-General for Implementation and International Relations at DG REGIO, Dragoş Pîslaru, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and Domagoj Mikulić, State Secretary of the Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, pointed out problems within urban and rural regions, stressing EU citizens’ concerns about job stability, fair conditions and social cohesion. The discussion highlighted the importance of adapted place-based policies, focusing on local capabilities, and of comprehensive strategies that support the holistic needs of future generations, including work-life balance and personal development. The importance of developing entrepreneurship, adapting education to labour market needs and mobility was also stressed.

In the panel on territorial dimension of demographic challenges, speakers focused on tools already available at the EU level to help public authorities deal with the demographic change. Mihail Dumitru, Deputy Director-General at DG AGRI, outlined a number of tools developed by DG AGRI which Member States can use within their National Strategic Plans (including, for example, the target of 377 000 young farmers to be installed in the 2021-2027 period), as well as the long-term vision for rural areas (LTVRA) and the Rural Pact – which, he stressed, needs also to happen in Member States. Dumitru also mentioned the possibilities offered by CLLD, Rural Revitalisation Platform, SMARTA-NET, RECAH, the Rural Observatory and dedicated rural funding under Horizon Europe. Lewis Dijkstra, Team Leader for Urban and Territorial Analysis at the Joint Research Centre, described the types of information that can be found in the Atlas of Demography, as well as more in-depth analytical work planned in the near future.

The following panel discussion focused on addressing talent development disparities through socio-economic policies, and looked in particular on such policies as the protection of social rights, health, innovation and economic competitiveness as well as considering the specific needs of European territories, in particular rural areas, affected by depopulation. An interesting example from Romania was shared: Corneliu Manescu, Director of electronic communications, Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation highlighted how the digital technologies mitigate the demographic changes based on a project for rural areas called Ro-NET bringing high-speed broadband to rural Romania. The project managed to cover 695 rural localities, connecting 200 000 rural households, 8 000 public and private institutions and over 390 000 citizens.

In closing comments, Peter Berkovitz, Director for Policy at DG REGIO, stressed that combating depopulation, for example preventing certain areas becoming ‘deserts’ in terms of public services, is both important and urgent. The different aspects of depopulation cannot be addressed piecemeal but must be tackled in a comprehensive way. He stressed that the Cohesion Policy is there to help, and that in the future EU funding period demographic challenges should be higher on the political agenda.

After the launch event, a meeting took place between the teams of the Rural Pact Support Office and the Talent Booster Mechanism to exchange experience and look for synergies between the Rural Revitalisation Platform and the Harnessing Talent Platform. 

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