In a press release dated Tuesday 17 July, the Regional Cooperation Council, an organisation that works to bring south-eastern European countries closer to the European Union, pointed out the need to guarantee a geographical balance in the implementation of the future Horizon Europe framework programme, in an effort to ensure that the Western Balkans are also included.
The press release asserts that “The research and innovation gap between the EU and the Western Balkans continues to grow” and that Horizon Europe must have a balanced geographical approach covering the Western Balkans as a region aspiring to join the Union.
In this connection, the organisation is requesting that 3% of the total programme budget is dedicated to the sharing excellence principle that seeks to reduce disparities in the European research area.
The budget currently forecast by the European Commission is €.7 billion out of a total budget of € 94.1 billion (in current prices) or around 1.8%.
The Regional Cooperation Council has also indicated that it would like to prepare a paper on Horizon Europe, in an effort to specifically tackle the challenges affecting the Western Balkans in the research and innovation domain, in relation to both infrastructure and people.
Although the press release does not make any reference to it, the first informal meeting was held at a ministerial level in Vienna and focused exclusively on the future framework programme (see EUROPE 12064). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)