The COVID-19 crisis has seriously impacted the European economy. Industries are still fighting its immediate effects and need to improve their business models and resilience. However, despite its severe consequences, the crisis can be turned into an opportunity to accelerate the European transformational lead-ership and turn into a green, digital, and resilient Europe.

The European Commission laid out the path in its roadmap “Europe's moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation” and plans to allocate important recovery funds directly to the Member States under the NextGenerationEU instrument. Hence, the elaboration of the national recovery plans is high on the agenda of the Member States.

The European Clusters Alliance reinforces the call to the Member States to include clusters in the drafting and implementation of the national recovery plans.

They should be considered as valuable to activate SMEs, linking them with the leading companies, and effectively carry out innovative investments and pro-jects to reach the goal of a green, digital, and resilient economy.

On 30 June 2020, European Commissioner Thierry Breton affirmed the role of clusters in the economic recovery to the European Clusters Alliance. He declared: “You must be part of the recovery plans. You are the pillars of the bridge I am willing to build across all the internal market.”

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