22/05/2009

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EU-Russia: A multi-faceted partnership

Richard BurgerScience Counsellor

Delegation of the European Commission to Russia

22 May 2009

EU-Russia science cooperation: Where are we?

What could be done?

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EU-RU S&T Cooperation

Outline of this presentation:

1. Overview & context: current state-of-affairs & recent milestones

2. Inventory of EU-funded S&T policy & management projects

3. Some thoughts on future areas of cooperation on the “enabling conditions”

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International S&T Cooperation

Guiding principles for the EU:

• Support competitiveness through strategic partnerships with third countries in selected fields of R&D

• Address global challenges

• Address specific problems facing third countries on the basis of mutual interest and mutual benefit

• Use S&T cooperation to reinforce EC external relations and other relevant policies

• Coordination b/n European Community and EU member states

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EU-Russia S&T Cooperation: Overview

“EU”-Russia S&T cooperation:- 27 EU Member States – Russia- European Community – Russia

(=> see Compendium on EU-Russia Science Cooperation)

Legal bases:- EU Member States - Russia bilateral Agreements (MoU) - EU-Russia Partnership & Cooperation Agreement- EC-Russia S&T Cooperation Agreement- Euratom-Russia Cooperation Agreement in Nuclear Fusion- Euratom-Russia Cooperation Agreement in Nuclear Safety

Road-map for the Common EU-Russia Space in Research, Education & Culture

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EU-Russia S&T cooperation: Steering bodies Policy & scientific dialogue “top down”

• Permanent Partnership Council (PPC) in Science (ministerial level)

• Joint EC-Russia S&T Cooperation Committee(S&T Agreement)

• Joint EU-Russia Thematic Working Groups in priority areas (DG Directorate level)

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Joint EU-RU Thematic Research Working Groups

• Nanotechnologies & New Materials• Health• Food, Agriculture, Biotechnologies• Non-nuclear Energy• Aeronautics• Space• Nuclear Energy Fission Research• Information & Communications Technologies• Environment• […]

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EU-RU S&T cooperation:Policy & scientific dialogue

“Bottom-up”: EU & Russian scientists themselves (!!):

- scientific advisory councils and committees

- expert advice to governments

- joint evaluation committees

- peer reviews

- joint projects & publications

- scientific conferences

- research visits

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EU-Russia S&T Cooperation (1):Main instruments – EU member states

The bilateral S&T, R&D cooperationprogrammes of the 27 individual EU member states (see Compendium on Science & Research Cooperation between the EU and Russia).

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EU-Russia S&T Cooperation (2):Main instruments – European Community

• European Community Framework Programme for Research & Technological Development (2007-2013, ~€50 billion)

• Euratom Framework Programme for Research & Training Activities (2007-2011, ~€4.0 billion).

• [TACIS], Common Spaces Facility, TAIEX - e.g. projects on the commercialisation of scientific results

• European Community Competitiveness & Innovation Programme (to promote innovation, entrepreneurship & growth among SMEs, 2007-2013, €3.6 billion)

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EU-Russia S&T Cooperation (3):Main instruments – pan-European organisations

• Eureka - a pan-European network for market-oriented, industrial R&D (www.eureka.be)

• ESF - European Science Foundation (www.esf.org)

• [INTAS - International Association for the promotion of scientific cooperation with the countries of the former Soviet Union]

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EU-Russia S&T Cooperation (4):International initiatives

• ISTC – International Science & Technology Centre (www.istc.ru)

• ITER - International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (www.iter.org)

• CERN - the world's largest particle physics centre (www.cern.ch)

• International Space Station (ISS)

• (…)

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Russia in the EU Framework Programmes for Research & Technological Development

• Overall, Russia continues to be the most active “third country” in the EU FPs

• e.g. Russia was most successful “third-country” in FP6: ~330 signed FP6 contracts, incl. 60 Marie Curie fellowships), worth ~€ 2.8 billion

• Total EC contribution to RU participants in FP6 was ~€ 120 million (including INTAS)

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EU-RU S&T cooperation…

…also extends to related areas such as…

Higher Education:

- Russia’s participation in the “Bologna process”

- Tempus programme

- Erasmus Mundus programme

Space (research):

European Commission - European Space Agency - Roscosmos

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…EU-RU S&T cooperation

…and also includes Russia’s active participation in major European research infrastructures and facilities such as…

CERN - European Organization for Nuclear ResearchFAIR - Facility for Antiproton & Ion ResearchGLORIAD - Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications

DevelopmentGÉANT - European computer network for research & educationXFEL - European X-ray Free Electron Laser…

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Recent milestones (1):An equitable partnership

• 2007-2008: Launch of EU-RU coordinated calls for co-funded research proposals in Energy and Food-Agriculture-Biotechnology

• 2008-2009: Launch of EU-RU coordinated calls for co-funded research proposals in Health and Nano-technologies & New Materials and in Nuclear Fission Energy research

• Preparation of EU-RU coordinated calls for co-funded research proposals in Aeronautics in 2009-2010

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Recent milestones (2):

• 10/04/2008: Russian expression of interest in association with EC and Euratom Framework Programmes for Research

• 26/05/2008: ministerial-level EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council (“noted that an eventual association of the Russian Federation to the 7th Framework Programme on Research & Technological Development would take Russia-EU S&T cooperation to a new qualitative level” and “stated that the European Research Area would be enriched and strengthened by Russia also becoming a full part of it”).

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EU-RU S&T cooperation:Main conclusions (1)

1. S&T cooperation covers virtually all scientific areas & includes a very broad spectrum of different activities.

2. S&T cooperation is a very dynamic, multi-dimensional & fast developing area of cooperation of & by itself.

3. S&T cooperation is an integral component and an important part in the overall EU-Russia relationship.

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EU-RU S&T cooperation:Main conclusions (2)

Arguably, the S&T relationship of the European Union with Russia is as broad & deep as (if not broader & deeper than) the EU’s S&T relationship with any other non-EU member state, and one of the most dynamically developing areas of the EU-Russian relationship overall.

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EU-RU S&T cooperation

Science policy & management –the “enabling” conditions:

at the EC-level, there have been numerous projects & initiatives supported by

FP5, FP6, FP7, TACIS

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S&T policy & management projects (1) - General

FP6 RUS-ERA & FP6 RUS-ERA.EXE (“Extending the ERA to Russia”)

INTAS ININ (“Information Network in the NIS countries”)FP6 CREATION (support RU SMEs participation in FP6 & in ERA) FP6 ERA-NIS (strengthening S&T cooperation b/n ERA and NIS)FP6 RegionERA (RU regional support network for S&T cooperation

with EU)FP6 NIS-NEST (opening up New & Emerging S&T to NIS)FP6 ScopeEast (“Scenarios for a Coordinated Approach to S&T

Cooperation with the Eastern Neighbours of the EU")FP6 BRUIT (“Benchmarking RU& UA with Innovation TrendChart”)

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S&T policy & management projects (1) - General

FP7 INCONTACT (Network of INCO-NCPs)

FP7 BILAT-Rus

FP7 ERA-Net.RUS

FP7 INCO-Net EECA (Eastern Europe & Central Asia)

FP7 Access4EU.Rus

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S&T policy & management projects (2) - Thematic

FP6 SITE (ICT)FP6 InJoy&Train (Food Quality and Safety)FP6 Admire-P (ICT)FP6-INTAS GlobalSSH (Social Sciences & Humanities EU-

Russia-CIS-China)FP6 Ideal-IST (ICT)FP6 ISTOK-RU (ICT)FP7 ISTOK-Soyuz (ICT)FP7 EURAL (Environment)FP7 “Nano mapping” (Nano-technologies)

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S&T policy & management projects (3)

Tacis “S&T Development in the Russian Market Economy (EDRUS9512)

Tacis “Science Cities and Innovation Centres” (FINRUS 9804)

Tacis "Science & Technology Commercialisation“ (AP 2002)

Tacis "Innovations & strategy in the use of intellectual property" (AP 2002)

“Gate2RuBIN” (RUITC-RA-RTTN) partner in CIP Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)

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Some (not all!) “lessons learnt”

1. Need to listen to all partners & stakeholders (scientists & researchers, policy-makers) in east & west.

2. Realise that learning from experience and applying in practice the lessons & recommendations from past projects takes time.

3. Learn to understand, and navigate, one’s own flexibilities & rigidities and those of one’s partners.

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Reported weaknesses in EU-Russia S&T cooperation / Possible areas of future attention (1):

Language barriers, differences in “working cultures”, weak networking

Mobility of researchers (visa issue) and of materials & equipment (customs issue)

Banking issues – international transfer of funds into & out of Russia

IPR issues – e.g. full & direct enforcement of IPRs in Russia in joint (transnational) S&T projects

Compatibility of standards & methodologies for performance assessment, independent project evaluation, bench-marking of organisations & activities

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Reported weaknesses in EU-Russia S&T cooperation / Possible areas of future attention (2):

• Access to & use of S&T infrastructures & facilities (including in Russia)

Joint identification of priority areas for joint activities

Development of mechanisms & instruments for joint / coordinated actions

Participation of European researchers in Russian S&T programmes

Recognising & using the scientific capacities & the cooperation potential of the Russian regions

Information & contact points in key Russian regions

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Possible areas of future attention (3):

• Understanding & using the synergies & complementarities of different European Community schemes (e.g. TAIEX, Common Spaces Facility, Framework Programme, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, CIP, etc.)

• Synergies & coordination between instruments of EU Member States, the European Community, and Russia (“variable geometries”) - linking bilateral & multilateral schemes

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Thank you for your attention.

Richard Burger Science Counsellor

Delegation of the European Commission to Russia <Richard.Burger@ec.europa.eu>