On Friday 26 November, the EU Research Ministers will meet for their last Council under the Slovenian Presidency.
As promised by Ljubljana, the final version of the new Pact for Research and Innovation (R&I) will be submitted to the vote of the EU27 on this occasion.
This pact, drawn up on the basis of a Commission proposal (see EUROPE 12765/9), sets out new European guidelines for R&I: the EU27 will therefore have to refer to it and try to comply with it when implementing their national policies in this area.
By voting on this text, the ministers will commit themselves to raising total expenditure and the overall public effort on R&I to 3% and 1.25% of the EU’s GDP respectively.
They will also agree to increase the share of national public spending on R&I committed to European programmes, infrastructure and partnerships to 5% of their national public funding by 2030.
To consult the text put to the vote: https://bit.ly/3CBpdqJ
European Research Area
This European R&I Pact will help to organise the implementation of a new European Research Area (ERA - see EUROPE 12571/9).
A second text essential to the establishment of this space will also be submitted to the EU Council for approval on Friday.
Ministers will be asked to support draft conclusions defining the future governance of the ERA. This vote should make it possible to “have a full picture”, to give substance to one of the main pillars of the new ERA, a diplomatic source commented on Monday.
In particular, the text put to the vote recognises the role of the “ERA Forum”. This new body will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the ERA, supporting the Commission and the Member States and involving various stakeholders and associated countries.
To consult the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/32oiLHo
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Cross-sectoral objectives and institutionalised partnerships
Ministers will also be invited to participate in a policy debate on the strength of R&I to enable the “achievement of cross-sectoral objectives”.
“R&I has a fundamental role to play in implementing the cross-cutting objectives of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, such as those related to the ‘European Bauhaus’ (see EUROPE 12791/19), or the objectives on health crisis response and preparedness (see EUROPE 12798/5)”, explained a European source ahead of the meeting.
This policy debate should, among other things, enable ministers to highlight the links between these cross-sectoral European objectives and the corresponding policies currently implemented in their Member States.
Finally, the Presidency will review with the Ministers the launch of the ten new European institutionalised partnerships established by the Horizon Europe programme. The EU Council, after having obtained the approval of the national ambassadors to the EU on this file, gave the green light last week to the setting up of the ten partnerships (see EUROPE 12836/27). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)