The Global Approach to Research and Innovation (R&I) presents the Commission’s perspective for Europe’s strategy on international cooperation in research and innovation. With this strategy, the EU should take a leading role in supporting international research and innovation partnerships and in delivering innovative solutions to green, digital, health and innovation challenges. The strategy includes key objectives that aim to enhance the EU’s leading role in research and innovation in the world, notably through modulating cooperation with key international partners based on EU commitment to international openness and fundamental values. The strategy also includes a series of specific key actions, to develop in synergies with Member States, such as working with international partners to develop common principles on research and innovation and strengthening the partnership with Africa, that aim to contribute in reaching its objectives.
Communication on the Global Approach to Research and Innovation
Press release: Europe’s global approach to cooperation in research and innovation: strategic, open, and reciprocal
Factsheet: Global Approach to Research and Innovation
International cooperation in research and innovation
The global approach to research and innovation supersedes the previous EU strategy that dates from 2012, in order to respond to today’s significantly different global context and to align the EU’s international cooperation with its current political priorities. In particular, it raises the need for Europe to scale up its partnerships at multilateral level to tackle today’s urgent global challenges, such as climate change and health crises and to deliver on the green and digital transitions. It also calls for the EU to rebalance its cooperation with other countries with more reciprocity and ensuring a level playing field at international level.
The global approach sets out a series of concrete actions that should contribute in delivering its objectives.
These include:
- Promoting principles for international cooperation in research and innovation with international partners in areas such as academic freedom, research ethics and gender equality.
- Developing guidelines dealing with foreign interference that targets European universities and research organisations.
- Jointly developing roadmaps with key non-EU country partners with a strong research and innovation base, to reach a level playing field and reciprocity in research and innovation cooperation.
- Scaling up cooperation with key partner countries and regions such as Africa, to accelerate sustainable and inclusive development and the transition to knowledge-based societies and economies.
The ‘Team Europe’ approach combines resources from the EU, its Member States, and the European financial institutions, in particular the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Pooling resources together will enable us to achieve greater impact.
Reaffirming the EU’s commitment to global openness, Horizon Europe, in continuity with its predecessor, Horizon 2020, will remain open to the participation of researchers and innovators from all over the world, including through a significant number of calls for proposals relevant for international cooperation.
The Horizon Europe programme is the largest public-funded programme in research and innovation internationally and will remain open as a rule. In exceptional and duly justified cases, where needed to safeguard the EU’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security, Horizon Europe may limit participation in certain of its actions. Any limitations will always be applied in accordance with the procedure set out by EU legislation, while at the same time respecting the EU’s commitments under bilateral international agreements.
The association of non-EU countries to Horizon Europe will offer additional opportunities to participate to the overall programme with generally the same conditions as those of the Member States. A key novelty in Horizon Europe, association will be offered also to countries located anywhere in the world that share European values and have a strong science, technology and innovation profile.
Previously, open innovation, open science and open to the world are the 3 main policy goals for EU research and innovation. They were set by Commissioner Carlos Moedas in 2015.
Keywords: International cooperation, Global Approach
