The Committee of the Regions is engaged in the monitoring of the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy from the perspective of regional development and cohesion. This short survey by the Committee of the Regions serves the collection of opinion and feedback regarding the Europe 2020 initiatives for social change and innovation in the regions and EU Member States. Ecologic Institute and RIMAS are analysing the results in a ten-page report. The report is available for download.

One important aim of the survey was to find out what the members of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the European Union think about the European programme for social change and innovation. Those comments were then adjusted with the European Economic and Social Committee. Furthermore the outcome was added to the third monitoring report of the CoR that has been published in December 2012. The survey was also used to allocate Best Practice examples of local and regional actors (LRAs).

The survey was open for six weeks in November and December 2011. During this term 24 participants from 12 EU member states answered the questions. All of the respondents were content about the programme and its instruments. Nethertheless they criticised that the programme could be implemented in an better way. The instruments function satisfying, but should be better adapted to local, regional and national conditions. More flexibility and less bureaucracy were the keywords of the participants' answers.

To improve the instruments of the programme the participants namend three important requirements that have to be implemented. One of these is to improve the access to them and that they are focused on sustainable, long-term results. Moreover the instruments should be regularly monitored and easy to understand for the user.