On Wednesday 26 March, the European Commission proposed to the Council of the European Union that the agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the Government of the Republic of India be renewed for a further period of five years each time. The current agreement is due to expire on Saturday 17 May.
The agreement, which came into force in October 2002, establishes a formal framework for cooperation to encourage and facilitate activities in scientific and technological fields of common interest between the EU and India.
The activities carried out under the agreement are based on a number of principles: - mutual benefit; - reciprocal access to activities; - exchange of information; - adequate protection of intellectual property rights.
The Commission’s review, in the form of an evaluation report on the EU-India Science and Technology Agreement published in February, clearly demonstrates that the agreement continues to provide an essential framework for facilitating cooperation between the EU and India in common priority science and technology areas of mutual benefit.
The Commission cites as examples three joint calls for flagship projects focusing on water, influenza vaccination and integrated local energy systems (smart grids), which have resulted in 12 joint projects with total funding of €98 million under the ‘Horizon 2020’ Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. These projects, which involve 220 research entities from Europe and India, are showing promising results and implementing innovative, sustainable and affordable technologies.
Read the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/g5l (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)