EU research ministers discussed measures to bridge the gap between research results and their uptake by the market, at their informal meeting held online on Tuesday 31 March (see EUROPE 13839/9).
The meeting gave rise to an open and forward-looking exchange of views on strengthening research and innovation (R&I) as key drivers of Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy. Ministers exchanged views on the main challenges limiting cross-border upscaling and ways to strengthen the research-to-innovation process. They acknowledged that persistent structural barriers continue to hinder the scaling-up of innovation across borders.
“That means removing barriers in terms of access to the single market, strengthening the research to innovation pipeline, improving access to capital, funding and talent, and also ensuring that the research and technology infrastructures are available, accessible, and utilised by our research and innovation stakeholders”, stressed Nicodemos Damianou, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, ahead of the meeting.
They also shared national and regional best practices and discussed how the EU and its Member States can work more effectively together to attract researchers, innovators and investors to Europe, as well as support the development and upscaling of breakthrough innovations across Europe and beyond.
For the Cypriot Minister, one of the priorities of his Presidency is the next Horizon Europe Framework Programme (FP10) (see EUROPE 13818/4). “That will be decisive for Europe’s ability to enhance and adequately fund fundamental research but also innovation capabilities”, he said. The discussion helped to define clear priorities, align Member States with them and guide the next steps. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)