SRDEII Grand Est: The Ardennes, spearhead for the region towards northern Europe
Such is the ambition shown by the Ardennes in the contribution coordinated by Ardennes Development for creation of the SRDEII (french acronym for Regional Schema for Economic Development and Internationalisation), which has been voted and implemented by the region. The document was submitted to the Agency’s board on the 2nd of December 2016 and shows both the will of the Ardennes to position itself as a player in the region and the strong demand for the Ardennes EPCI to have available means of action to support the area’s economy.
The propositions have been grouped into 4 items:
1. support for businesses and the economy, especially in regard to:
- business funding (possibility for areas to continue to use support which belongs to them),
- capital intervention funds for SMEs (entry at around EUR 50,000)
- agricultural diversification and development of short supply chains
2. innovation and industry of the future:
- training programmes (Ardenne Metropole campus)
- innovative entrepreneurship (Rimbaud’tech Incubator)
- promoting the use of Platinium 3D (additive manufacturing platform)
3. attractiveness - layout - cross-border cooperation:
- taking the geographical position of the Ardennes into account to develop strong cross-border cooperation with Belgium and Luxembourg,
- rapid implementation for important resources (property, real estate, financing) for the A304 as it has been a true source of benefits for the county since its opening. The current inventory of equipment, its adequacy for requirements and future equipment to be acquired must be given consensus with preparatory work assigned to Ardennes Development,
- Strengthening of the road route from the A34-A304 axis, notably from the service area at Vouziers, improvement from the E44 to the west of the interchange at Piquet and to the eastern interchange at Bazeilles, with construction of the bridge at Givet enabling a connection between the Belgian motorways N5 and E411, improvement of the service areas at Revin and Fumay from Rocroi, and the north-west bar from Charleville-Mézières,
- complete fibre optic coverage for the entire county,
- renovation of the Charleville-Givet rail link and a return to service for the route to Belgium,
- further appreciation of the Ardenne brand.
4. energy transition and circular economy:
- enable the Ardennes to maintain their place as a leader in renewable energy (wind power, methanization etc.)
- promote short supply chains in agriculture
Ardennes Development has also completed its mission for dialogue and alliance between the area’s economic players. Beyond this work in 2016 for summary and coordination, as well as its portage within the region, the agency is preparing to become a major player implementing the operational approach for measures finally decided upon, with SRDEII being voted for by the Region during Spring 2017.
By Ardennes Développement, the Ardennes economic development agency - ardennes-developpement.com