P9_TA(2022)0112

Global approach to research and innovation: Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world

European Parliament resolution of 6 April 2022 on a global approach to research and innovation: Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world (2021/3001(RSP))

(2022/C 434/04)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission communication of 18 May 2021 on a global approach to research and innovation: Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world (COM(2021)0252),

— having regard to the Commission communication of 30 September 2020 on a new ERA for Research and Innovation (COM(2020)0628),

— having regard to the Commission communication of 11 December 2019 on the European Green Deal (COM(2019)0640),

— having regard to the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015 entitled ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’,

— having regard to the Paris Agreement adopted under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1),

— having regard to the question to the Commission on a global approach to research and innovation: Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world (O-000013/2022 — B9-0011/2022),

— having regard to Rules 136(5) and 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the motion for a resolution of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy,

A. whereas the strategy for international cooperation in a changing world recognises that current geopolitical power shifts pose challenges to human rights, values and academic freedom;

B. whereas the strategy aims to promote rules based on multilateralism, reciprocal openness, a level playing field, and green, digital, health, social and innovation-based solutions in cooperation with third countries, while upholding respect for fundamental rights and shared values;

C. whereas the strategy will be implemented through initiatives modelled on the Team Europe approach;

D. whereas Horizon Europe will remain open to the world and whereas the Union will work towards a common understanding and implementation of principles such as research ethics and integrity, gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness, open data and open science, academic freedom, standards and evidence-based policymaking;

E. whereas the strategy aims to mobilise science, technology and innovation to accelerate the sustainable and inclusive transition to knowledge-based societies and economies in low- and middle-income countries;

F. whereas pursuing the science diplomacy agenda would strengthen the Union’s partnerships with third countries and help to underpin diplomatic objectives;

G. whereas international cooperation on research and innovation (R&I) is an integral part of the European Research Area;

H. whereas the European Innovation Council and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology will play important roles in supporting innovating start-ups in collaboration initiatives with third countries;

I. whereas international cooperation in R&I in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal is indispensable and necessary to strengthen global health and develop innovative solutions for the just, green and digital transitions, while ensuring that a long-term solution is found to these challenges;

J. whereas the EU should lead by example by protecting EU intellectual property standards and tackling foreign interference;

K. whereas international R&I could play an important role in contributing to the EU hydrogen strategy;

L. whereas the strategy promotes cooperation with industrialised third countries;

1. Welcomes the Commission communication a global approach to research and innovation: Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world, which recognises that science and innovation are part of the same system and that global cooperation needs to account for all aspects of the knowledge value chain;

2. Welcomes the Commission’s objective to make the global approach an endeavour towards which Team Europe will pool its resources;

3. Considers international R&I cooperation an integral part of the renewed European Research Area and calls on the Commission to exploit the potential of the relevant Union actions and programmes to attract talent worldwide;

4. Recalls the need for continuous investment in researchers’ skills and careers, which should include supporting the brain circulation;

5. Calls on the Commission to provide a structured role for relevant European R&I stakeholders and the European Parliament in the European Research Area Forum for Transition;

6. Emphasises the need for the Union to develop rules-based multilateral cooperation to address key global economic, societal and environmental challenges, in which R&I should play a pivotal role;

7. Recalls that association agreements with third countries that fall within the scope of Article 16(1), point (d) of the Horizon Europe Regulation ( 2 ) can only be signed with third countries and territories that are committed to a rules-based open market economy, including fair and equitable dealing with intellectual property rights and respect for human rights, backed by democratic institutions;

8. Regrets the limited role of the Social Sciences and Humanities in disciplines for global cooperation;

9. Stresses the key role that the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and the European Innovation Council can play in fostering international cooperation and unleashing the potential of start-up and scale-up companies through their participation in initiatives with third countries; encourages joint undertakings and other Union R&I partnerships to strengthen international cooperation;

10. Stresses that global R&I cooperation is crucial for Europe’s competitiveness, while noting that this cannot lead to unconditional openness on the part of the Union; supports the general approach characterised by the principle of ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’;

11. Supports the principle of enabling reciprocal access to research programmes, open science and intellectual property protection while requiring partners to respect and match European standards for the protection of intellectual property; welcomes the Commission’s toolkit on Tackling Foreign Interference in R&I while remaining committed to preserving a collaborative and open approach to science and innovation;

12. Supports the use of Article 22(5) of the Horizon Europe Regulation in exceptional cases; urges the Commission, however, to publish a policy for justified exclusions and to initiate a public debate on the proper use of these possibilities;

13. Underlines the need to align the global approach with the Union’s industrial strategy and the European Green Deal as drivers for prosperity and economic and sustainable growth; calls for stronger consideration to be given to industrial cooperation as part of the strategy;

14. Stresses the crucial role of semiconductors in ensuring the digital sovereignty of the Union; welcomes the Commission’s initiatives in this regard and highlights the collaboration on research with third countries associated with existing Union programmes;

15. Highlights the important role of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international cooperation and stresses that SMEs must be given the opportunity to access investment consulting, instruments which would help to increase their innovation capacity, and must have the ability to develop capacities to attract talent worldwide;

16. Emphasises that the EU should ensure that all international cooperation in R&I is undertaken in line with and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, and ultimately ensures the development of innovation and technologies in line with the ‘do no significant harm’ principle;

17. Asks the Commission and the Member States to support and commit to more transfers of crucial environmental and climate-related technologies and solutions to developing countries;

18. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to promote synergies between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; considers that tailored R&I partnerships with third countries need to be developed and embedded in broader economic and development cooperation such as that under the Global Gateway initiative;

19. Is of the opinion that the global approach to R&I should have a strong focus on health, preventive medicine and healthcare and have at its core the principles of open access, data sharing, the management of intellectual property rights and the ‘3 As’ — availability, accessibility and affordability; considers that these principles should apply to research projects that develop medicinal products and technologies to serve the local communities while improving access to health services;

20. Recommends intensifying collaboration with all interested and like-minded countries in order to find a long-term solution to the shortage of raw materials, and that global innovation capacities in materials science and the circular economy be increased while encouraging substitution, in order to reduce the lifecycle environmental footprint of these critical raw materials;

21. Supports the Union’s efforts and initiatives to promote science diplomacy, including the development of a science diplomacy agenda by the Commission and the European External Action Service;

22. Observes with increasing concern the growing pressure and restrictions on academic freedom in the Union and worldwide;

23. Is concerned about the increasing financial dependence of European universities on third countries and the implications for academic freedom;

24. Calls on the Commission to devise a proposal for the legal protection of academic freedom in the Union in the Treaties and to refer to the respect for this freedom in association agreements;

25. Calls on the Commission to report annually and as part of the mid-term review of Horizon Europe on the state of academic freedom in Europe and third countries with which the Union has any association or scientific collaboration agreement;

26. Stresses that the Commission needs to urgently issue practical guidelines to R&I stakeholders on academic freedom in order to ensure the Union’s safety, security, welfare and competitiveness;

27. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to foster actions and set up an EU programme to support academic fellowships or stays for researchers at risk;

28. Stresses that the Union has a key role to play in advancing open science around the world and the sharing of research data, results and infrastructure across borders, while adhering to the FAIR principle (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable); notes, however, that this cannot lead to unconditional openness and supports the general principle of ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’;

29. Believes that a strategic approach to international standardisation is a crucial component of a successful global approach to R&I and looks forward to a European standardisation strategy;

30. Stresses that in its international R&I cooperation, the Union should lead and set high ethical standards and apply a high degree of research integrity in the provision of world-class science, while ensuring that the research and development of new technologies are in line with Article 19 of the Horizon Europe Regulation and do not cause harm to the environment;

31. Highlights the need to promote gender equality with a focus on enhancing competences and the role of female researchers; underlines the need to better integrate the gender dimension in R&I content and the collection of disaggregated data and results, while enhancing the gender balance in R&I teams; asks the Commission to follow up on these aims through dialogue and the exchange of best practice with third countries;

32. Calls on the Council and the Commission to enter into an interinstitutional agreement with Parliament in order to give it a stronger role in the management of association agreements signed under Article 16(1), point (d) of the Horizon Europe Regulation, in light of their deeply political nature and budgetary impact on current and future framework programmes;

33. Highlights the importance of seeking synergies and strengthening cooperation through the Union’s external action programmes, such as the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument, investments in global infrastructure development under the Global Gateway, and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in order to build capacity in partner countries in the field of R&I and higher education, while reinforcing existing partnerships, particularly those with African partners; considers it equally important to build up R&I capacities in EU delegations worldwide to ensure a truly global approach to EU research and innovation;

34. Highlights the need to strengthen R&I in the EU’s cooperation with low- and middle-income countries in key areas such as climate change, health, preparedness for epidemics, digitalisation, food security and nutrition;

35. Notes that the EU hydrogen strategy will require imports of clean hydrogen; highlights that the southern countries in the Mediterranean rim have huge potential for using and exporting clean hydrogen to Europe; recognises, in addition, that this future trading relationship would be best facilitated if all partners were included in the R&I efforts that will underpin the hydrogen strategy; calls on the Commission to assess the possibility of expanding funding of the Union’s R&I partnerships, such as the partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean region (PRIMA), without deviating from their main objectives, in particular developing joint innovative solutions that the Mediterranean urgently needs;

36. Welcomes the renewed political support for deepening transatlantic cooperation through different trade and technological forums and supports the further intensification of EU-US scientific collaboration;

37. Stresses the importance of fostering R&I efforts and strengthening cooperation with the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood countries in order to promote development, peace and geopolitical stability;

38. Strongly condemns the violent invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation; calls on the Commission to develop, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Government, calls for projects in Horizon Europe dedicated to strengthening the Ukrainian scientific sector as well as cooperation between the Union and Ukraine; calls for the Union to cut all science and research cooperation with the Russian Federation, Russian entities and European entities controlled by Russian entities, and to apply the same approach to any country supporting the Russian war efforts;

39. Encourages the development of innovation policy with Georgia and the South Caucasus region as set out in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement;

40. Calls on the governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom and the Commission to re-establish constructive relations as a basis for closer cooperation and potential association to Horizon Europe;

41. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) Council Decision (EU) 2016/1841 of 5 October 2016 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, p. 1).

(2) Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe — the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 1).