Strengthening Collaboration in Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Region

Group of Senior Officials (GSO) on Research and Innovation took place in Barcelona, Spain. The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Maria Cristina Russo, the Director for International Cooperation of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, together with the Secretary-General of the Higher Council for Science & Technology of Jordan, Dr Khaled El-Shuraydeh. The meeting took place under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and gathered participants from the EU Member States, the EU institutions and countries from both shores of the Mediterranean.

The objective of the meeting was to take stock of progress achieved since the signing of the Ministerial Valetta Declaration on Strengthening Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation through Research and Innovation (May 2017). Notably, according to the three pillars of the Valetta Declaration on the BLUEMED initiative, the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), and Migration-related research. Looking to the future, the countries agreed to a set of conclusions emphasising the need to revitalise the GSO Secretariat together with the UfM in order to prepare for a strategic discussion to take place at the next GSO meeting in early 2020 and to ensure follow-up including the possibility of setting up a Working Group on Research and Innovation.