The European Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) has been successfully extended by three years (2025-2027)

PRIMA is a public-public institutionalised partnership between the European Union and 20 Participating States established under article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The partnership is a good example of science diplomacy, and it is the main EU-Mediterranean cooperation instrument to support research and innovation on key sustainability challenges: water management, farming systems, and food value chain.

On 19 April, the amended basic act of the PRIMA Partnership was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (Decision (EU) 2024/1167), extending the partnership’s activities until 2027.

The main elements of the amendment include:

• the extension of the duration of the partnership by three years (2025-2027),
• an increase of EUR 105 million from the Union budget, which must be matched by Participating States,
• an update of other elements to align with the 2018 financial regulation and Horizon Europe rules, such as the access to results of the proposals, monitoring and evaluation and conflicts of interest.
• Bulgaria becoming a new participating country by confirming their financial commitment to participate in PRIMA for the period 2025-2027.

This amendment would represent the continuation of the PRIMA annual transnational calls for proposals until 2027 as well.

Background

The European Commission, on 28 June 2023, adopted a proposal for a minimum amendment of the PRIMA basic act (Decision (EU) 2017/1324), to reflect the continuation of the Union’s participation in PRIMA under Horizon Europe.

This proposal was the combined outcome of the positive results of the PRIMA Interim Evaluation and the strong demand for continuation of collaboration by the Participating States.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a political agreement on the continuation of the Union’s participation in PRIMA in December 2023. The amended basic act was signed by the two co-legislators on 11 April 2024.

Next steps

Following its publication in the Official Journal, the regulation will come into force on on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The signature and conclusion of the international agreements setting out the terms and conditions for the participation of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco in PRIMA under Horizon Europe will now follow.

More information

Amendment to the PRIMA basic act

PRIMA