On 15 and 16 February, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council organised a high-level multilateral dialogue on the principles and values of cooperation in research and innovation (R&I). The event consisted of a series of workshops involving a large number of stakeholders who were able to discuss and share their experiences.
The Member States were invited, as well as the European institutions, the European Commissioner for Research, Iliana Ivanova, and the countries associated with Horizon Europe or in the process of being associated.
International organisations also took part in the dialogue, including the OECD, represented by its Deputy Secretary-General, Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, and the International Council for Science, represented by Sir Peter Glucksman.
This multilateral dialogue culminated in a ministerial declaration, the ‘Brussels Declaration’, in which the ministers, among other things, recognised the importance of R&I, the strengthening of international cooperation in R&I and the importance of cooperation based on shared principles and values. This declaration remains open to the participation of new countries.
Ambassador Ghislain D’hoop, acting Political Director General at Belgian Foreign Ministry, said that the meeting had been organised by the Belgian Presidency on the principle of the “global approach” and “stronger together”. He felt that the culture of open cooperation should become a reflex in R&I, while remaining fully aligned with equity and security.
Signe Ratso, Acting Director-General of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, stressed that by seeking to establish a common understanding of what these values and principles were, the dialogue could provide a kind of roadmap.
Ms Ratso pointed out that the process leading up to this dialogue had already begun with the Commission’s communication on the EU’s global approach to R&I (COM(2021) 252 final) and had been continued with a ministerial meeting organised by the French Presidency of the EU Council in March 2022.
Looking to the future of the process, she pointed out that it is a long-term, flexible process, which is not guided by the Commission, but which will be fed by the reflections developing in the participating countries.
Ms Ratso also stressed the importance, in a polarised world, particularly since Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine, of forging partnerships with countries that share the same values.
Other values and principles identified include academic freedom, inclusiveness, gender equality, ethics and the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Finally, Mr D’hoop stressed the need to maintain the sustainable and coherent nature of this dialogue. Ms Ratso added that these values were not just European, but universal.
Link to the Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/awf (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst )