Stuttgart, February 26th – Freezing delegations from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Catalonia and Lombardy arrive in bitter cold Stuttgart to jointly boost the cooperation within the network at the Four Motors for Europe Working Group Day, one of the must-attend-events of the presidential calendar of Baden-Württemberg. This two day event has been a key opportunity to foster networking and synergies among the working groups of the Four Motors for Europe and to develop new innovative solutions.
The Four Motors for Europe (#4motors) are a flexible, unbureaucratic network without institutions of its own. The network is steered and coordinated by the executive office of the regional presidents or the Minister President in the case of Baden-Württemberg. The different focal areas of the network are developed and shaped by the respective working groups.
From the signing of a common position on the future EU-framework program for research and innovation over the establishment of a sub-working-group on e-mobility to the signing to Under 2 MoU – recent milestones achieved by the working groups are multiple and divers. The working groups on economy and cluster dialogue, environment, professional training and labour mobility, research and higher education as well as the coordinators of the network used the opportunity to cooperate across themes in joint sessions and to advance the agenda within their groups.
The delegations from the Four Motors were given a warm welcome by the State Secretary Theresa Schopper from Baden-Württemberg. She underlined the importance of the network for the future of the European Union debate in stating “There will be no future of the European Union without a strong regional level”.
The future of the network – which is about to celebrate its’ 30th anniversary in this year – has also been the key topic of the second day of the Working Group Days. Despite the past achievements of the network, the Four Motors have to keep their juvenileness and stay up to date and what is more bring added values to the regions involved. The network has since its foundation contributed to the promotion of the regional dimension within the European Union. It goes without saying that in the next years the voice of the Four Motors for Europe should be heard at European level and the Motors wish to push forward the Future of the European Union debate.
