The Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, with the support of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, organised on 21st of October, 2019, in Chișinău, the Eastern Partnership Annual Conference on EU – EaP Research & Innovation Co-operation beyond 2020, dedicated, also to the 10th Anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Liliana NICOLAESCU-ONOFREI; Chairman of the Committee for Education, Culture, Research, Youth, Sport and Mass-Media, Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Adrian LEBEDINSCHI; Deputy Director-General, DG RTD, EU Commission, Signe RATSO; Head of Unit, NEAR.C.2 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus & Eastern Partnership, European Commission, Vassilis MARAGOS; Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova, Peter MICHALKO; and over 100 representatives of national authorities responsible for policies in the fields of research and innovation, agencies for research and innovation, as well as researchers and representatives of private sectors and social society from all six countries of the Eastern Partnership: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine and Republic of Moldova participated at the event.
In her speech, Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Liliana NICOLAESCU-ONOFREI mentioned that the Eastern Partnership allows a closer cooperation between EaP countries and the European Union. In this context, the official listed the main achievements of our country in the fields of research and innovation, particularly the approval both of the National Roadmap for the Integration of the Republic of Moldova in the European Research Area and the National Program for Research and Innovation for 2020-2023; the association to the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, etc.. „A new challenge for us is the association to the next European Framework Program for Research and Innovation – Horizon Europe, which means also our continuous integration in the European Research Area”.
The Director-General, DG RTD, EU Commission, Signe RATSO, stated that the European Research Area focuses on the principle of Open Science and Open Innovation, and EaP offers solutions for societal challenges. The European Framework Program for Research and Innovation – Horizon Europe shall help strengthening the science and technology addressing the main global challenges as health, aging of the population, security, environmental pollution and climate change. „We are aware of the challenges you face, but where is a will, there will be a way, and Republic of Moldova has such a will”.
The Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova, Peter MICHALKO, mentioned in his opening remarks that investments in research are investments in future generations and that Programs as Horizon 2020 are very important, since they allow EaP countries to play in the first league of Research and Innovation.
The Conference highlighted the developments in research and innovation in the EaP countries, the EU programs available to researchers and institutions, and the activities of the EaP Partner countries in research and innovation programs. The Conference was organized in 3 sessions and, namely: Integrate Eastern Partnership and EU research and innovation systems and programs; Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems; EU 10 years of the Eastern Partnership: recent developments in Research and Innovation and future expectations 2020. During the discussion a special attention was paid to the results achieved under EaP „20 Deliverables for 2020”, approved by the EaP Summit in November 2017 and the preliminary evaluation of the Horizon 2020 impact results, as well as transition steps towards the new Framework Program Horizon Europe.
At the same time, bilateral discussions took place between Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Liliana NICOLAESCU-ONOFREI and Director-General, DG RTD, EU Commission, Signe RATSO. During the discussions Minister Liliana NICOLAESCU-ONOFREI, expressed the association intention of the Republic of Moldova to the next European Union Framework Program.
The event was an excellent platform for communication and creation of a sustainable network between partners and participants from different institutions.
Launched in 2009 as a joint policy initiative, the Eastern Partnership aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbors: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
