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Research and innovation
News article15 March 2022Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

First meeting of the EU-Georgia Horizon Europe Joint Research and Innovation Committee

Photo from the event

On 15 March 2022, the first EU-Georgia Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) under the framework of the Horizon Europe programme was held in Tbilisi, Georgia. The high-level meeting was co-chaired by Ruta Zarnauskaite, Head of the Horizon Europe Association Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General (DG) for Research and Innovation, and Dr. Nunu Mitskevichi, Deputy Minister for Education and Science of Georgia. The meeting, conducted in the hybrid mode with both physical and virtual participation, was attended by high level Georgian officials from the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, the National Horizon Europe Office Georgia, Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA) and EU officials.

In the meeting the EU side informed about the European Strategy for the Global Approach to R&I, the fundamental values and principles for international cooperation, with Ethics, Gender and Open Science as examples and discussed with the Georgian side the framework conditions for a closer R&I cooperation and progress of Georgia in aligning with the 2020 European Research Area (ERA) policy agenda.

During the Joint Committee Meeting, both sides discussed lessons learned from Georgia’s participation in Horizon 2020 and shared views on the state of the play of the implementation of the EU-Georgia Horizon Europe Association Agreement, including the application by Georgia of the principle of reciprocity towards EU research and innovation entities in its R&I programmes. The EU side expressed its deep appreciation for the efforts Georgia has made recently in opening national and regional Horizon Europe grant offices aiming to provide valuable support to researchers and innovators in Georgia. A particular attention has been paid during the meeting on funding opportunities under Horizon Europe offered by the European Research Council, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and the European Innovation Council. The importance of widening measures aiming to strengthen Georgia’s research ecosystem capacity has been stressed. A particular attention has been paid as well to the concept of smart specialisation and its importance for a higher impact of research and innovation investments for knowledge-based economic transformation of all regions in Georgia.

This high-level meeting inaugurated a new era in the R&I cooperation between the European Union and Georgia. It has been confirmed that the dialogue between both Parties is strong and open, and Georgia is on a good track working with the EU in reaching the European Research Area objectives.

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International cooperation with Georgia

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Publication date
15 March 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation