06 Dec 2023
EC and Armenia hold second Joint R&I Committee meeting
The second meeting of the EU-Armenia Joint Research and Innovation (R&I) Committee under the agreement associating Armenia to Horizon Europe took place in Yerevan on 5 December 2023, under the co-chairmanship of Ms. Anne Haglund-Morrissey, Deputy Head of the Horizon Europe Association Unit at EC's DG Research and Innovation, and Mr. Artur Martirosyan, Deputy Minister for Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia. The meeting was hosted by the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports at the Yerevan State University.
The Armenian co-chair welcomed the EU delegation and highlighted several enacted national R&I policy reforms since the first encounter, and expressed optimism that the new Partnership Agenda will bring further impetus to the EU-Armenia R&I cooperation. Taking into consideration the Armenian ongoing efforts to absorb a substantial amount of displaced people, the Deputy Minister called for extra measures to enhance Armenian participation in Horizon Europe.
The EU co-chair praised the ongoing reform efforts on the Armenian side to strengthening its R&I capacity, and commended Armenian entities for already in the first couple of years in Horizon Europe having surpassed half the net EU financial contribution compared to the figures in Horizon 2020. Ms. Haglund-Morrissey also drew attention to the many open participation opportunities in the Programme, both for Armenian researchers, universities, research institutions and companies.
The EU side recalled the Multilateral Dialogue on Principles and Values in International R&I Cooperation under the Global Approach, the ERA Policy Agenda and the New European Innovation Agenda and invited Armenia to actively participate in relevant activities. The Armenian side reported on the progress made in relation to three ERA Policy Agenda actions and committed to place ERA priorities in the national research strategy. Both parties also deliberated on the state of play of the implementation of the EU-Armenia Horizon Europe Association Agreement, including the principle of reciprocity, the financial contribution, and the value of participating in Programme Committee meetings.
The meeting further touched upon the Armenian participation and participation opportunities in specific areas of Horizon Europe such as the Widening actions, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, upcoming ERC and EIC calls, and activities in collaboration with the JRC.
The next meeting of the Joint Committee will take place in Brussels in 2024.
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