The Commission has launched the first full version of the European classification of Skills, Competencies, Occupations and Qualifications (ESCO). The classification is available in 26 languages (the 24 EU languages, Icelandic and Norwegian). ESCO facilitates the dialogue between labour market and the education/training sector by providing a common language that could help overcome labour market imbalances and increase occupational and geographical mobility in the EU.

BEDA European Design Forum, held in Vilnius on 8th June 2017, brought together design stakeholders representing 19 European countries to debate and co-create the future of design support in Europe. The delegates had a chance to learn, share experience and discuss design support in three panels focused on political, financial and organisational perspectives.

The 2nd edition of the 'Grow your region' conference will take place in Valencia, Spain, on 8 and 9 November. Save the date! The event is co-organised by the European Commission's Directorate-Generals for 'Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs' and for 'Regional and Urban Policy', in cooperation with the Valencia Regional Authority.

Today, the European Commission released the first ever edition of the ‘Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor'. This new tool provides comparable data on how European cities perform across nine dimensions – covering culture and creativity – and underlines how their performance contributes to cities' social development and economic growth and job creation. Developed by the European Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor will help policy makers as well as the cultural and creative sectors identify local strengths and areas for improvement, and learn from comparable cities.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of design action plans, policies and strategies in Europe. In the decade 2000 to 2009, only Finland and Denmark launched dedicated design policies: 'Design2005!' and 'DesignDenmark' respectively. However, since 2010, governments in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia and Slovenia as well as the European Commission have developed Design Action Plans. 

Today, we announce the finalists for the 2017 edition of the RegioStars Awards, the yearly competition honouring Europe's most inspiring and innovating regional projects supported by EU Cohesion Policy Funds. An independent Jury, led by MEP Lambert Van Nistelrooij, selected 24 finalists from 103 entries on the basis of four key criteria: innovation, impact, sustainability and partnership. 

DESIGN and CREATIVITY are vastly recognized as key innovation drivers to provide business with a clear competitive advantage. In 2015, the creative industries generated €558 billion in value added to EU GDP (4,4% of total), with more than 850.000 companies (most of them SMEs) and 6,8 million jobs which were 9,2% of total employment in 2014. Thus, Creative Industry and Design are highly relevant catalysts for innovation of fashion and high-end products.

More than three in four EU citizens, 78%, see a positive impact of EU regional investments in their city or region (up 3 percentage points (pp) from 2015). This is one of the key findings of regional policy Eurobarometer 452, which was published today. Citizens' generally positive opinion about Regional policy is also reflected in their view that it should continue investing in all EU regions: 53% of Europeans expressed this opinion.