SFIC OPINION ON INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MID-TERM REVIEW OF HORIZON 2020 AND THE PREPARATION OF THE 9-TH EU FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FOR R&I

         International cooperation in Research and Innovation (INCO) is a key horizontal priority of Horizon 2020.
         
         While Horizon 2020 is open to the whole world, the majority of Europe’s main partners in S&T – emerging and high-revenue countries – are not automatically eligible for EU funding. Among the countries that have implemented a co-funding mechanism, only China, Hong Kong & Macao, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan currently provide funding in most or all parts of Horizon 2020.

         Although many of the co-funding mechanisms are new, statistical evidence so far suggests that there is no mechanical correlation between the existence of matching funds and an increase in participation of entities from a given country. Other factors than funding – such as international visibility, administrative workload, legal implications, etc. – are at play and should be explored in detail to explain the drop in third country participation.
         The statistical information currently available points at a significant drop in participation of third countries in Horizon 2020. At this date, around 2.4% of participations are composed of  entities from outside the EU and its associated countries. This is a steep regression in comparison with the average yearly participation (4.9%) in the Seventh Framework Program for S&T (FP7).
         
         The present opinion of the Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation (SFIC) aims at identifying some of the major shortcomings and proposing corrective measures, both in the perspective of the mid-term review of Horizon 2020 and the preparation of  the 9th FP for R&I (FP9, 2021-2028).
 
         More information: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-1352-2017-INIT/en/pdf