The 6th Eastern Partnership Informal Working Group Meeting on Research and Innovation

On 27 and 28 May 2024, the Sixth Informal Working Group Meeting took place in Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania.

53 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from 5 Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine), and Türkiye, EU Member States (France, Germany, Lithuania, Czech Republic), from the EaP Civil Society Forum and the EU officials from the Commission's DGs RTD, EAC, ERCEA, JRC, NEAR, and the European External Action Service (EEAS). The meeting was chaired by Ruta Zarnauskaite, Head of Unit at the European Commission's DG RTD.

The two-day event was divided in three sessions: Eastern Partnership post 2020 Priorities in Research and Innovation – state of implementation, international cooperation in the European Research Area (ERA) - values and principles, and an update on smart specialisation – the link between the business and academia.  

Beside the most recent developments in the EaP countries in the implementation of the post 2020 R&I priorities and progress achieved compared to 2023, a special session was held concerning the challenges generated by the Russian aggression against Ukraine. During this session, the support measures for Ukraine in the field of R&I from the EC and Lithuania. DG NEAR explained their newest instrument, EU4Innovation EAST, a support to Digital Innovation in the Eastern Partnership region with a special focus on special measures for Ukraine deep tech and digital. 

The round table discussions during the two days allowed an overview of the challenges for the implementation of the EaP R&I Priorities in the EaP Partner countries, and experiences from the EaP Partner countries in the implementation of the ERA voluntary actions. 

A discussion on scientific diaspora collaboration in Eastern Partnership countries, featuring presentations from the European Commission on MSCA actions and ERC, along with an exchange of best practices between Türkiye, Lithuania, and EaP countries, underscored the strategic significance of this topic.

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Eastern Partnership