Support for R&I policy making in the EU enlargement countries

Expected Outcome:The actions funded under this topic will provide support to national and regional R&I and education[1] initiatives in line with the objectives of the Widening programme component by pooling resources and contributing to the alignment of national and regional research, innovation, and education policies for the countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo[2], Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine hereinafter named enlargement countries[3].

Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:

• If relevant, support the Western Balkans Steering Platforms for Research and Innovation, Education and Training, and Culture as valuable instruments of policy dialogue with the region (incl. support to the annual Ministerial meeting of the Western Balkans Steering Platforms);
• If relevant, facilitate the implementation of the Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, in line and through synergies with the Growth plan for the Western Balkans[4], the Growth Plan for Moldova[5] and and the Ukraine Plan[6] as regards human capital development, including research and innovation;
• Foster the further integration of the enlargement countries into the European Research Area and into the European Innovation Area: • Highlight the strategic importance of the enlargement countries and facilitating actions aiming to support the region’s EU integration process, in the area of research and innovation;
• Aim to promote regional economic growth and prosperity through planned investments, to be directed towards game-changing innovations and actions that create a sustainable and human centric development and digital future. Support the ongoing process of reforming research and innovation eco-systems with more and better opportunities for capacity building;
• Contribute to the closer integration of the enlargement countries with the EU’s priorities, most notably the Green Deal, the digital transformation, including, if relevant, the enhancement of ICT and digital skills along the lines of the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans and the renewed Digital Education Action Plan with an emphasis on research and innovation, and knowledge transfer;
• Contribute to reducing the divide in the innovation performance with the EU through targeted actions aiming at increasing the countries’ performance in the European Innovation Scoreboard;

• Provide support to the accession process and facilitate the further integration of enlargement countries into relevant European programmes;
• Identify common priorities agreed among the participating national and regional R&I eco-systems, taking into account international developments where relevant;
• Contribute to joint initiatives, resulting in the funding of regional innovation actions, design/implement a portfolio of complementary actions which would enable stakeholders from enlargement countries and policy makers to better internationalise and integrate into EU R&I actions and policy making;
• Implement and financially support other joint activities supporting R&I, regulatory or societal uptake of results.

Scope:Research and innovation play an important role in tackling challenges but also in ensuring a sustainable and inclusive growth while boosting the resilience of production sectors, the competitiveness of economies, and the transformation of the socio-economic systems across Europe. The enlargement countries are trying to advance in the fields of Research, Development and Innovation (RDI). Closer links between research and innovation, and institutional cooperation to produce high-quality knowledge, underpinning economic and societal solutions are paramount to help bridging the R&I gap between the EU Member States and enlargement countries. Actions stemming from this call will foster capacity building efforts in enlargement countries to advance R&I eco-systems, improve the Technology Transfer Process, promote networking of and access to excellence, thus optimising the participation in and impact of Horizon Europe (and successor programme) across the region. Activities from this call will strengthen and foster the development of the human capital base in the region, they will promote the establishment of open, inclusive and responsible national research and innovation eco-systems, support institutional reform through the development of inclusive gender equality plans in line with Horizon Europe and the ERA objectives, as well as support evidence-based policy making.

Underpinning the Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, this action will foster a comprehensive policy approach, while seeking synergies across the entire Horizon Europe and related EU funding programmes. An action funded under this call will support the coordination and synchronised interaction among a multitude of instruments and programmes targeting enlargement countries in the fields of R&I. This should not only facilitate an increased participation of entities from enlargement countries in relevant European funding programmes, but also create economies of scale, complementarity, synergies, and avoid overlapping of actions.

An action stemming from this topic will support a platform for the co-ordination of various services addressing research, and innovation in enlargement countries in their programming and implementation. All these areas are key for finding new solutions to the challenges we are facing across the region. The actions should also aim to support the implementation of people-to-people cooperation projects with and within enlargement countries, supporting partnerships between higher education institutions as well as creative professionals and industries and European incubation networks for creativity-driven innovation.

This action aligns with ERA and Widening objectives in that it aims to strengthen links with EU partners and opens EU networks, contributes to improving research and innovation management capacities in enlargement countries, and it supports national policy reforms through targeted actions. A key element in this is the support to the development and implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies and macro-regional strategies in cooperation with the JRC and the Policy Support Facility.

Initiatives in the fields of research, innovation, and skills development create new opportunities, reduce the skills mismatch, support sustainable economic growth, the competitiveness of businesses and industries and the intercultural dialogue, help to tackle climate change, enable digital transformation, and provide better public services for all Europeans.

[1] Education initiatives refer to those that contribute to further deepening and integrating in the ERA and NEIA.

[2] This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

[3] https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/enlargement-policy_en: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine.

[4] COM(2023) 691 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2023:691:FIN

[5] COM (2024) 470 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52024DC0470

[6] OM (2022) 233 final IMMC.COM%282022%29233%20final.ENG.xhtml.1_EN_ACT_part1_v6.docx