Research ministers will meet in Zagreb on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 February at the invitation of the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council to discuss two main topics: the European Research Area and brain circulation.
The morning of Tuesday 4 February will be the heart of the meeting: the ministers will take part in a round table discussion on the two subjects in the presence of the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, Phillipe Busquin, former Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science and the Belgian politician behind the project, and Mate Rimac, a Croatian entrepreneur and CEO of the car manufacturer Rimac Automobili, which specialises in the construction of electric sports cars.
The European Commission, in its work programme for the year 2020 (EUROPE 12414/4), foresees two initiatives to establish a genuine European Research Area with a Communication on the future of research and innovation and the European Research Area (planned for the 2nd quarter) and a second Communication on Horizon Europe and Innovation Missions (planned for the 4th quarter).
Brain circulation is a growing concept which, in contrast to the phenomenon of brain drain, seeks to establish a form of "positive" mobility, which is essentially the process by which highly qualified people emigrate from their country of origin and then return.
An important concept, which had moreover divided the Member States during the negotiations on the Horizon Europe framework programme, with the Eastern and Southern Member States demanding that the programme should avoid further encouraging brain drain (see EUROPE 12150/3). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)