The Committee of the Regions has commissioned t33 and Milieu to carry out the study "Experiences of regional authorities with the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and suggestions for improvement".
IPCEIs are designed to support projects that bring significant benefits to the EU by making "a very important contribution to sustainable economic growth, jobs, competitiveness and resilience of the Union's industry and economy and by strengthening its open strategic autonomy". Such projects must address "major market or systemic failures" or "societal challenges" that could prevent their implementation without public support. An IPCEI consists of a single project or a group of linked projects in areas such as infrastructure or R&D&I (research, development and innovation).
Local and regional authorities play a key role in industrial development in the EU and IPCEIs have the potential to make a significant contribution. By mapping the obstacles faced by local and regional authorities trying to set up or join an IPCEI, the study could both contribute to the CoR's future policy work in this area and provide guidance to local and regional authorities before they consider the IPCEI instrument.
The objectives of the study are therefore

• Examine the current experience of LRAs with IPCEIs, including best practice and lessons learned.

• Identify barriers to the effective use of IPCEIs in support of place-based industrial policy.

• Propose specific changes to simplify the IPCEI process and make it more transparent and inclusive.

• Propose improvements to ensure that the process for establishing IPCEIs is more transparent and inclusive.

The final objective of the study is to provide actionable recommendations to the Committee of Regions to improve the IPCEI instrument and ensure that it responds to regional and local needs while promoting industrial development across the EU.