Page 110 - Proceeding 2015

FAMP NASTASEANU Ariana
CCASP SMART SPECIALIZATION STRATEGIES AND EMPOWERING CITIZENS

implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy is two-folded, thematic approach, ‘combining priorities and

headline targets; and country reporting, helping Member States to develop their strategies to underpin
sustainable growth and public finances.’ The Union has set five ambitious objectives - on employment,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy - to be reached by 2020. The Commission put

forward seven flagship initiatives to catalyse progress under each priority theme:

? "Innovation Union" targeting research and innovation to ensure that innovative ideas can be
turned into products and services that create growth and jobs.

? "Youth on the move" to enhance the performance of European education systems.

? "A digital agenda for Europe" to speed up the roll-out of high-speed internet.

? "Resource efficient Europe" to help decouple economic growth from the use of resources,
support the shift towards a low carbon economy, increase the use of renewable energy sources,

modernise our transport sector and promote energy efficiency.
30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest
? "An industrial policy for the globalisation era" to improve the business environment, notably for
SMEs.

? "An agenda for new skills and jobs" to modernise labour markets and support labour mobility.

? "European platform against poverty" to ensure social and territorial cohesion and people
experiencing poverty and social exclusion are enabled to live in dignity and take an active part

in society (European Commission, 2010).

It should be noted that in the center of the policy-makers interest are the European citizens, their combat
with poverty and the preoccupation to re-establish the European economic stability, making use of the
huge potential of the human capital and promoting the shift towards a new era, characterized by use of

renewable energies in a new digital era.

The Strategy is accompanied by thematic targets which are regularly revised. The 2015 edition of
‘Smarter, greener, more inclusive? — Indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy' represents a series

of Eurostat flagship publications providing statistical analyses related to important European Commission
policy frameworks or important economic, social or environmental phenomena.

Since 2008 substantial progress has been made in the area of climate change and energy through the

reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the increase in the use of renewable energy sources. Positive
developments are also visible in the area of education, where the EU is within reaching distance of both

108