ERDF fulfilment criteria as approved by European Commission

To receive moneys under ERDF member states must show that they meet the enabling conditions for funding. Having in place a Smart Specialisation Strategy is an enabling condition for Policy Objective 1 ‘A Smarter Europe’.

With regard to this, the European Commission, in drafting the Common Provision Regulations (CPR) for the management of cohesion funds in 2021-2027, clearly set out fulfilment criteria for national smart specialisation strategies. These are then self-assessed and then approved by the Commission. Ireland’s strategy was approved on 22 August 2022. The Fulfilment Criteria for the strategy to be assessed, as per Article 15 (1) of the CPR, Annex IV, are set out below:

	Fulfilment Criteria for Smart Specialisation
1. Up-to-date analysis of challenges for innovation diffusion and digitalisation.
2. Existence of competent regional or national institution or body, responsible for the management of the smart specialisation strategy.
3. Monitoring and evaluation tools to measure performance towards the objective of the strategy.
4. Functioning of stakeholder co-operation (“entrepreneurial discovery process”).
5. Actions necessary to improve national or regional research and innovation system, where relevant.
6. Where relevant, actions to support industrial transition.
7. Measures for enhancing cooperation with partners outside a given Member State in priority areas supported by the smart specialisation strategy.