Flanders Outlook 2015: a benchmarking of Flanders amongst the European regions

 Like other regions and countries, Flanders is faced with important issues, such as the unwinding of the debt crisis, possible renewed unrest on the financial markets, geo-economic problems in certain parts of the world, changing migration patterns, the ageing population, mobility problems and energy and climate issues. In order to tackle these challenges, the Government of Flanders wants to strengthen Flanders’ economic and innovative potential, in order to have it rank among the top…

 Like other regions and countries, Flanders is faced with important issues, such as the unwinding of the debt crisis, possible renewed unrest on the financial markets, geo-economic problems in certain parts of the world, changing migration patterns, the ageing population, mobility problems and energy and climate issues. In order to tackle these challenges, the Government of Flanders wants to strengthen Flanders’ economic and innovative potential, in order to have it rank among the top European regions in 2020. Flanders Outlook focuses on the evolution of Flanders towards an innovative region. In order to meaningfully analyse this process, 16 regions were defined which are still one step ahead of Flanders in this respect. This list of benchmark regions is renewed each time a new Government of Flanders takes office. The following areas are analysed: economic welfare, labour market and innovation.