State Ministry Baden-WürttembergFour Motors for Europe Conference 2024

To mark the end of Baden-Württemberg's presidency of the Four Motors for Europe, a two-day closing event was held in Stuttgart on 11 and 12 April. Steinbeis Europa Zentrum was commissioned by the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry to carry out the event.

The conference kicked off with an evening event at the Mercedes-Benz Museum on 11 April, which provided inspiration and best practices on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence as an opportunity for society" from the Four Motors for Europe regions and brought together a broad audience from the Baden-Württemberg ecosystem and the Four Motors for Europe member regions.

The handover ceremony took place on 12 April in the New Castle in Stuttgart. Minister President Winfried Kretschmann and Florian Hassler, State Secretary for Political Coordination and Europe in the Ministry of State, handed over the baton to Lombardy.

During its presidency, Baden-Württemberg focused on the future viability of the regions. The main themes were economic transformation, technological change and the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. In addition, the presence of the four regions at the political level in Brussels was strengthened. According to State Secretary Hassler, this is a particular and important concern:

“This applies, for example, to our demand that industrially strong transition regions be given greater consideration as economic centres in funding programmes. We have succeeded in raising awareness of our concerns. We will continue to work with the new Commission and bring our combined regional strength to bear.”

State Secretary Florian Hassler, Copyright: Ministry for economic affairs labour and housing Baden-Württemeberg

Lombardy took over the presidency of the Four Motors for Europe from 2024 to 2025. During its presidency, Lombardy intends to foster progress in technology, research, innovation and education, focusing on artificial intelligence, information and communication technologies and the commercial use of space.