In October 2008 the European Commission took the initiative to establish a European Cluster Policy Group (ECPG) with a mandate to advise the Commission and Member States on how to better support the development of more world-class clusters in the EU.

Through an open call for applications, 20 high-level members with a diverse background and outstanding expertise were selected in March 2009 for a term of 18 months. The Group is chaired by Tea Petrin, former Minister of Economy in Slovenia and professor at the University of Ljubljana.

The objectives of the European Cluster Policy Group are as follows:

• to make recommendations on how to better design cluster policies in the Community;
• to assess international trends in cluster development;
• to identify future challenges for cluster policies in response to globalisation;
• to explore tools for the removal of existing barriers to transnational cluster cooperation;
• to analyse complementarities between the main Community level policies and the financial instruments that support clusters.

The mandate of the ECGP ended in September 2010.