This publication was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director. It was produced as part of the programme of work of the Working Party on Rural Policy, within the Regional Development Policy Committee of the OECD.
The project and its reports were co-ordinated by Stefano Barbieri, Senior Policy Analyst, under the supervision of José Enrique Garcilazo, Deputy Head of the Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division led by Dorothée Allain-Dupré.
This report was drafted by Stefano Barbieri, drawing on thematic and country reports prepared by OECD Secretariat staff, including Michelle Marshallian (Economist), Jeroen Michels (Policy Analyst), Eduardo Rodriguez Montemayor (Policy Analyst), Geoff Upton (Policy Analyst), Felix Winkelmayer (Policy Analyst), and Joshua Wood (Policy Analyst), and from external experts: Prof. Thanasis Kizos (University of the Aegean, Greece), Paolo Rosso (Senior Advisor), Prof. Ioannis Spilanis (University of the Aegean, Greece), Nenad Starc (Senior Advisor), Marijana Sumpor (Senior Advisor), and Prof. Theodore Tsekeris (Centre of Planning and Economic Research, KEPE, Greece). The project and its reports also benefited from valuable input from other OECD colleagues including José Enrique Garcilazo, Loukas Gourgiotis (Policy Analyst), Arwen Low (Policy Analyst), and Maria Varinia Michalun (Head of Unit).
The OECD expresses its sincere thanks to the individuals whose contributions were instrumental to the project.
Croatia: Iva Mesić (Senior Expert Advisor), Veljko Radić (Head of Sector), and Ivo Vrandečić Loje (Head of Service) from the Directorate for Islands, Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.
Greece: Menelaos Georgantellis (Head of Department), Alexandros Karavas (Executive), Manolis Koutoulakis (General Secretary), Triantafyllos Pnevmatikos (Advisor), and Fotis Vrahas (Advisor) from the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy, Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy.
Sweden: Maria Ahlsved (Senior Advisor) and Mattias Moberg (Head of Division) from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Rural Development; Erik Bäckström (Senior Analyst), Roland Engkvist (EU Policy Advisor-Strategist), Meit Fohlin (Chair Regional Board) and Stefan Persson (Head department) from Region Gotland; and Cecilia Lindblom (Strategic Business Controller), Öckerö Municipality.
The project was implemented by the OECD in co-operation with the European Commission Task Force for Reform and Investment (SG REFORM), with financial support from the EU Technical Support Instrument (TSI). The OECD thanks SG REFORM for its active engagement, in particular Elodie Boulch and Nikos Kleniatis (Policy Officers) and Kaspar Richter (Head of Sustainable Competitiveness Unit).
The OECD also thanks stakeholders from government, civil society, academia and the business community in Croatia, Greece and Sweden who participated in on-site and virtual missions, workshops and meetings. The publication process was led by Jack Waters (Publications Co-ordinator, OECD), who prepared the manuscript for publication.