Launch Conference for FP5 Essen 25-26 February 1999

1
Launch Conference for FP5Essen 25-26 February
1999

• The international role of Community research
• Challenges and Expectations
• Manfred Horvat
• BIT, Austria

2
FP5 The International Dimension

• 30-31 fully participating countries
• the 15 EU Member States
• Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein Israel
  Switzerland (by 2001)
• the 11 accession countries
• all programmes will be open for international
  co-operation on a project-by-project basis
• Science Technology Agreements with USA, Canada,
  South Africa, Australia, etc.

3
FP5 Opportunities Threats

• equal partners from 30 (31) countries
• gt new partners, new opportunities, new
  competitors
• gt from exchange of information to co-operation
  and to co-ordination
• gt management challenges for the European
  Commission and all participating countries
• RTD networking for the benefit of Europe
• gt an enlarged knowledge generating system
• gt interaction between different innovation
  systems
• gt the information and assistance challenge

4
FP5 INCO II

• INCO covers operational programmes as well as
  activities forEU RTD policy strategy support
• INCO is the RTD interface between the European
  Union and the rest of the world
• INCO complements Activities 1, 3 and 4 in
  regional and topical terms

5
Central and Eastern Europe

• from PECO 1992 to COPERNICUS I in FP4
• from an emergency effort to a well established
  programme complementary to Activity 1
• FP5 the candidate countries to be associated
• INCO had an important preparatory role
• now, RTD co-operation gains a pioneering role
  -as the "avantgarde" of European integration
• gt participation has to become a success!

6
The Candidate Countries

• getting associated to FP5
• from the training ground to full fledged
  competition
• to create awareness to bridge the experience
  gap
• to stimulate university/industry co-operation and
  to re-consider basic versus applied research
• to get involved in the EU RTD system and in the
  learning processes at all levels
  (pol/admin/info/res)
• to establish appropriate systems for information
  assistance - from FEMIRCs to NCPSs
• to overcome structural, organisational,
  administrative and cultural barriers

7
NIS and the non-accession CEECs

• strengthening the links
• to utilise well established contacts of CEECs
• to create nodes for information, assistance and
  finding partners
• to stimulate east-west science/industry
  co-operation
• to plant the seed of co-operative EU RTD and to
  train and integrate researchers in EU RTD
  evaluations
• to help stabilising and developing the RTD
  system
• to utilise synergies between INCO and INTAS

8
Mediterranean Partner Countries

• developing partnerships to the South
• to integrate RTD co-operation into theEuro-Med
  partnership - policy integration
• to bridge the cultural differences and to foster
  RTD working relations in selected areas of
  regional importance
• to support the development of National Innovation
  Systems and of active interfaces to the EU RTD
  system(s)

9
Research for Development

• building on long-term experience
• to tighten the links EU/DC and help solving major
  problems e.g. malaria, draught
• to enhance knowledge understanding on and
  multi-lateral co-operation for development in EU
• to improve co-ordination between EU MS
• to create awareness on RTD in DC
• to improve information on EU RTD and to integrate
  RTD and development co-operation

10
Emerging Economies and Industrialised Countries

• realising a new paradigm of global collaboration
• to tap into foreign expertise create mutual
  benefit building on "regional" strenghts
• to utilise the added value of ST agreements
• promotion, monitoring, strategy development
• reciprocity
• to strengthen mobility of researchers
• to proceed in policy integration
• e.g. RTD in Transatlantic Agenda

11
Summary

• International RTD Co-operation as an active
  interface between EU and the world
• FP5 as a strategic instrument for
  internationalisation of RTD in the EU
• the importance of collaborative learning at
  policy, operational and research level
• the challenges of managing active interfaces
• gt building human networks world wide!