The European ministers for research met in Prague on Friday, 22 July to discuss possible synergies in the funding of research and innovation (R&I) in Europe and support for Ukrainian researchers.
Vladimír Balaš, the Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, invited the European Commission, represented by Mariya Gabriel, the EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
One of the objectives of the new Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to adopt the Prague Declaration on Synergies in the Research and Innovation Funding in Europe and EU Council Conclusions on this issue. A choice welcomed by Mariya Gabriel. The Commissioner said that she appreciated the timing chosen by the Czech Presidency, which first consulted researchers at a conference on 7-8 July in Prague, before ministers were called upon to debate.
Member States have a wide variety of international cooperation measures in place, but for Vladimir Balaš, in general, there are common features and the idea of using limited resources efficiently.
Commissioner Gabriel stressed that the Commission, through synergies, wanted to be able to align programmes strategically to increase their impact. For Mariya Gabriel, it is not a question of changing the nature of the programmes or the ground rules, but of aiming for more flexibility and efficiency to achieve results with greater impact.
The Commissioner also thanked the Czech Presidency for reporting on the guidelines issued by the Commission to increase flexibility between Horizon Europe and the cohesion funds.
According to the Commissioner, the synergies will allow cohesion policy to provide an estimated €56 billion in support for R&I until 2027, in addition to €44 million in dedicated R&I funding (10% of the budget of the national plans approved so far) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
In addition to this budgetary support, there is also technical support such as the Policy Support Facility and the Technical Support Instrument.
The ministers also discussed support for Ukrainian researchers in Ukraine or those who have been forced to flee the war, as well as support for the reconstruction of the country once the war is over. Vladimír Balaš said that the participants had taken stock of the experience gained by the Member States. There are already bilateral contacts and EU-Ukraine contacts. The minister also identified the potential for synergies between support initiatives.
Commissioner Gabriel recalled the European initiatives already in place: the granting of scholarships to researchers, the support of the European Research Council and the 25 million euro aid package via the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants. The Commission is in contact with key partners such as the National Research Foundation to discuss and identify the needs of Ukrainians and to respond appropriately.
Mariya Gabriel and Vladimír Balaš agreed that a brain drain from Ukraine should be avoided and that Ukrainian researchers should be allowed to acquire capacities (training, access to research infrastructures...) during the conflict so that they can participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine once the war is over. This is a demand from Ukrainian researchers, according to Vladimír Balaš, who said that Ukrainian research infrastructures could be connected to European ones.
For Minister Balaš, Russian and Belarusian researchers persecuted for their opposition to the regime in their respective countries should also not be excluded from mobility exchanges. However, for the minister, it is necessary to work on a case-by-case basis and not to discriminate, especially between those who are persecuted. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)