Outcomes of the May Competitiveness Council (space and reseach)

On 29 May 2017 the Competitiveness Council held the 2nd day of its meeting dedicated to research and space. Ministers adopted 1) Council conclusions on „Accelerating knowledge circulation in the EU“ and 2) Council Conclusions on the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Moreover, the Ministers agreed that Research activities carried out under the EURATOM research programme will be extended until the end of 2020. Delegations also exchanged their views on the future of the European space policy, as well as research and innovation in the context of the next EU's multiannual budget.
As for the upcoming research framework programme "Horizon Europe" for 2021-2027, which is due to be presented by the Commission in early June, delegations agreed that in order to maximize the EU added value of investments the synergies between EU funding programmes are needed. A number of delegations supported the continuation of funding EU projects on the basis of excellence, however some of them also outlined the need to better balance the geographical participation in research programmes in the future.
Several other subjects were also mentioned as being key elements to be taken into account during the implementation of the upcoming "Horizon Europe" programme, including:

-better communicate to citizens the results of research,
-support to disruptive innovation,
-making progress in open science and
-the transformation of innovation results into marketable products. 

The public session is available here  and more information as well as the council conclusions can be found here.