On 5 April 2017 Mr Tadeusz Truskolaski, President of Bialystok chaired  the CoR mission of the EER jury delegation to Lombardy. The European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) Award is an initiative of the European Committee of the Regions that identifies and rewards EU regions and cities with outstanding, future-oriented entrepreneurial strategies. The territories with the most credible, visible, forward-looking and promising political strategy are granted the label EER for a specific year. Twenty-one EU regions and cities have been awarded the EER label so far. Lombardy is one of the three EER winners of the year 2016, together with Małopolska (PL) and Glasgow (UK).

"Through the EER award, the European Committee of the Regions supports the implementation of SME-focused policies in Europe's regions and cities. The local and regional levels are those who provide the framework for productive, innovative investments, speed up the creation of employment and are able to raise the level of education and training. Local and regional authorities play a key role in achieving the Europe 2020 objectives and in stimulating growth and jobs."- said Mr Truskolaski