Members of the CoR’s Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) held the meeting with Ivanova on 27 June.
At the exchange, the Commissioner emphasized the importance of cooperation between the Commission and regions in light of the 3rd monitoring report on the Joint Action Plan by the two institutions. The discussion focused on the 10th EU Research Framework Programme (FP10), the under-construction successor to the current Horizon Europe Programme, and on SEDEC’s draft opinion on research and innovation.
The draft opinion expresses the committee’s aims towards “combining resources effectively between European, national and local programmes” and “establishing flexible implementation rules to facilitate the combination of funds and ensure long-term synergies”. To this end, it places emphasis on the commitment of member states to invest at least 3% of their GDP into R&I – which would lead to an increased budget that has been requested for long.
With regards to FP10, rapporteur Anne Besnier stated that the programme should “fully acknowledge the key roles of regions and cities”. To this end, she called for a multi-fund approach to R&I. The report also highlights the importance of the widening initiative, explaining that EU funding should consider the improvement of “low performing” areas.
