​On 16 May, members of the European Committee of the Regions adopted unanimously the opinion "Strengthening Innovation in Europe's Regions: Strategies for resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth", prepared by Mr Mikel Irujo, Head of the Navarre Government Delegation in Brussels.

The opinion argues that future smart specialisation strategies should be based on interregional strategic cooperation, with the double objective of generating synergies between regional innovation and development policies, and financial instruments, and, secondly, of avoiding duplication. Mr Irujo also called on the European Commission to initiate a phase 2.0 of smart specialisation, based on developing a "regional discovery process" in which regions pool their strategies involving the interregional triple helices.

These proposals were also echoed by Mr Lambert van Nistelrooij MEP (in the photo with Mr Irujo), member of the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development (REGI).

The opinion builds on Mr Irujo's previous opinion on smart specialisation strategies and their impact on regions and inter-regional cooperation, which was adopted last spring.