European Commission's Communication on Harnessing Talent in Europe's Regions

On January 17, 2023, the European Commission has made public a Communication on Harnessing Talent in Europe’s Regions. This document is the first among the measures and initiatives which will form the EU’s contribution to the European Year of Skills.

The new Communication offers tailored solutions to European regions affected by declining working-age population, which has decreased by 3.5 million people between 2015 and 2020 and is expected to lose another 35 million people by 2050. The proposed measures are meant to attract and retain skilled and educated people in the most affected regions (82 in total, almost 30% of the EU population), that need external aid to avoid endangering their future development. Almost all of Romania’s regions fall in this trap through a significant shrinkage of working-age population and an unsatisfactory level of tertiary education; the North-Western Romanian region is also affected in special by a negative mobility of its population between 15 and 39 years old. This grave danger must be recognized and alleviated sooner than later.

There are 8 fundamental initiatives presented in the communication, among which we can mention: the pilot project, which will get under way in 2023, aims to support and put into practice detailed plans for the impacted areas, in order to help them train, attract and retain talent; financial assistance for the member states from the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) to encourage innovation and high-skilled job opportunities; the initiative “Smart adaptation of regions to demographic transition”; a dedicated website, providing a single access point to relevant information; thematic and regional working groups and analytical knowledge.