roadmaps for international cooperation

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................. 3

2. Roadmap for cooperation between Brazil and the European Union........................................................................................ 5

3. Roadmap for cooperation between Canada and the European Union..................................................................................... 13

4. Roadmap for cooperation between China and the European Union..................................................................................... 21

5. Roadmap for cooperation between India and the European Union..................................................................................... 28

6. Roadmap for cooperation between Japan and the European Union..................................................................................... 34

7. Roadmap for cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the European Union..................................................................................... 41

8. Roadmap for cooperation between Russia and the European Union..................................................................................... 47

9. Roadmap for cooperation between South Africa and the European Union..................................................................................... 52

10................................................... Roadmap for cooperation between the USA and the European Union..................................................................................... 62

11......................................... Roadmap for cooperation between the Eastern Partnership Countries and the European Union................................... 73

12........................... Roadmap for cooperation in research and innovation between the Southern Mediterranean and the European Union..................................................................................... 79

1. Introduction[1]

The Commission Communication 'Enhancing and focusing EU international cooperation in research and innovation: a strategic approach' called for a systematic and coherent identification of priorities for international cooperation with the EU's partner countries and regions, with a view to subsequently implementing these through activities with the necessary scale and scope, in particular in the context of Horizon 2020.

The Communication equally stressed that this strategic priority setting exercise should fully reflect the state of play in the policy dialogues between the EU and its partner countries. To ensure that international cooperation activities are developed on the basis of common interest and mutual benefit and create win-win situations, the Communication offered four criteria for guiding the identification process. International cooperation adds value when:

− Synergies and complementarities can be created as regards research and innovation capacity;

− There are opportunities for access to new or emerging markets;

− The activities contribute to meeting the EU's international commitments, as reflected e.g. in the Millennium Development Goals;

− There are adequate legal and administrative frameworks in place to engage in cooperation, also including lessons learnt from previous cooperation.

The Communication also called on this priority setting process to be reflected in multi-annual roadmaps for international cooperation with its key partner countries and regions.

On the basis of the approach outlined above, the Commission has, since the adoption of the Communication in September 2012 and, in particular, with a view to preparing for the launch of Horizon 2020, engaged in a systematic planning of priorities for cooperation in research and innovation.

The roadmaps for international cooperation which are included in this Staff Working Document provide examples of the outcome of this priority setting exercise. For each of the partner countries and regions, they provide a full overview of the framework governing the cooperation and the current state of play as regards the cooperation, including information on the way this has been addressed in the first Horizon 2020 work programmes. Most importantly, they provide an overview of what are considered to be the priorities for future cooperation (using a medium term perspective) with the partner in question, reflecting the current state of agreement in the policy dialogue.

The outcome of this priority setting exercise, as it is reflected in the Report and this accompanying Commission Staff Working Document, has led to the inclusion of the international cooperation activities in the first Horizon 2020 work programmes 2014-15, as listed in the annexes to each of the roadmaps. It will subsequently feed into the next Strategic Programming cycles for Horizon 2020 and will allow for an earlier identification of areas where there is potential to launch ambitious international cooperation initiatives with appropriate scale and scope and for the inclusion of suitable modes of implementation in the next work programmes, thus resulting in a closer and more strategic integration of international cooperation in Horizon 2020.

2. Roadmap for cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

1. Brazil as a partner of the EU

The relationship between Brazil and the EU is governed by the EU-Brazil framework co-operation agreement (1992). Brazil is a founding member of Mercosur with which the EU signed a Framework Co-operation Agreement in 1995. The Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur was reinforced in Madrid (EU-LAC) in 2010. The EU and Brazil established a Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the first ever EU-Brazil Summit held in July 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal. Central topics of the partnership include effective multilateralism, cooperation on human rights, climate change, sustainable energy, the fight against poverty, Mercosur’s integration process and Latin America’s stability and prosperity.

The cooperation between the EU and Brazil on research and innovation is governed by the Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation[2] (2004, entered into force in 2007 and renewed in 2012 for 5 more years). A Cooperation Arrangement under the existing bilateral Agreement was signed on 24 January 2013 in Brasilia between the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). In the area of Fusion Energy Research, an agreement (under the Euratom Treaty), was concluded in 2009 and entered into force in January 2013. Brazil is one of the first non-ITER parties with which Euratom has signed a bilateral cooperation agreement.

During the last decade Brazil progressed on several indicators related to scientific and technological performance. This is reflected in the increasing number of researchers, in the growth of R&D expenditure, and in the number of postgraduate scholarships, as well as in indicators of scientific publications and, more modestly, patents.

In 2010 R&D intensity was estimated at 1.16% GDP (up from 1.01 % in 2006), the share of private sector R&D (of GERD) was 47.3% (down from 50.1% in 2006) and the share of public sector R&D (of GERD) increased to 52.7% (up from 49.9% in 2006). The total number of scientists and researchers was about 234 000 in 2010, of which over 80% in higher education institutions. In 2009, Brazil published 2.69% of the world's scientific papers[3].

Launched by Brazil in December 2011, Science without Borders (CsF)[4] is a Brazilian programme that aims at internationalising the Brazilian Science & Technology system through a scholarship system for over 100 000 international fellowships for graduate and undergraduate students. After 1 year of operation, about 22 000 scholarships, with an approximate investment of EUR 407 million had been awarded for students going to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Australia and South Korea.

2. Cooperation between Brazil and the EU on research and innovation: state of play

As of February 2014, Brazilian entities participated 211 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 31.3 million. The distribution of the Brazilian participation (by total cost of Brazilian participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below.

With regard to fusion, there are presently about 15 on-going collaborative activities, involving 18 European research institutions and 14 Brazilian entities, and in particular, two specific JET (Joint European Torus, in Culham, UK) related projects. It has been also agreed that Brazilian scientists and PhD researchers can participate in JET activities.

1881 Brazilian researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Brazilian institutions have participated in 187 projects.

There is an on-going FP7 project (BBICE+) which supports the policy dialogue and durable partnerships between the EU and Brazil.

Brazil has been targeted as an important partner for cooperation in the first Horizon 2020 work programme (2014-15), encouraging cooperation with Brazilian researchers included in areas such as biofuels, ICT and marine research. A full list of topics included in the work programme 2014-2015 is provided in Annex.

The scope of direct scientific interactions carried out by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre with partners in Brazil include the areas of disaster prevention and crisis management; sustainable management of natural resources, in particular forests and water; energy with a focus on smart grids; food security; bio-economy; ICT, including geo-information and space applications; nanotechnologies.

Work is on-going to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with Brazil and the activities of the Member States (MS), including through the Strategic Forum for International Cooperation (SFIC). The collection of information carried out through SFIC indicates that the research topics addressed in cooperation with Brazil vary widely. It is noteworthy that a large number of agreements between individual Member States and Brazil do not have a specific thematic field and follow a bottom-up approach. They are often centred on researchers' mobility and, to some extent, access to European research infrastructures.

Finally, cooperation on research and innovation is a core area of the EU Brazil bilateral cooperation and it contributes significantly to the achievement of the EU's external policies. The importance of cooperation on research and innovation in addressing the shared economic, environmental and societal challenges within the context of the overall EU-Brazil relations has been reiterated at the XVth Joint Committee of November 2013 and at the EU-Brazil Summit of February 2014. Research and Innovation features prominently in the EU-Brazil Joint Action Plan on Competitiveness and Investment, which has been welcomed by leaders at the last Summit as a building block for future EU-Brazil cooperation on these themes. Moreover, remarkable synergies are been created between research policy and external action instruments. In some of the areas targeted for research and innovation cooperation, synergies are being built up with the Sector Dialogue Facility for Brazil, a DCI programme that aims at strengthening Sector Dialogues between Brazil and the EU in 33 different areas, among which research and innovation is an important priority.

For the future, in an effort to make research cooperation an integral part of a comprehensive package of external actions, and given the strategic role of Brazil in tackling the global challenges addressed by cooperation in research and innovation, more synergies will be sought with other external instruments, in particular with the Partnership Instrument.

Framework conditions for research cooperation in Brazil have been improving over the last decade. The government adopted two consecutive National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Strategies (most recent 2012-2015) to create a proper Science Technology and Innovation System. An improved innovation regulatory framework, a larger and more accessible funding structure and international cooperation are key elements of this strategy. Increasingly, the federal government and the regions (state governments) identify joint priorities and set the share of resources that each will contribute in the field of innovation. In practice, this implies more opportunities for cooperation (including with the EU) at grass-roots level, while inevitably it increases the complexity of the decision-making and implementation mechanism for research and innovation. Since 2004-2005, the legal framework allows for direct funding of business-led innovation through competitive grants and a wide range of fiscal incentives, particularly in green economy, housing technology and social housing. In the field of intellectual property rights (IPR), progress has been noted in Brazil over the last years regarding protection of IPR, particularly in terms of intensification of public-private cooperation in the fight against IPR infringements. There is, though, still room for improvement as regards the capacity of the registration authorities and the judiciary. Since 2008 an EU-Brazil IPR dialogue provides a forum for discussion of IPR issues of interest to either or both parties[5]. In the areas of standardisation, Brazil has shown interest in strengthening the capacity of its companies, especially of SMEs, as well as laboratories in the area of standardisation and technical rules through increased dialogue and EU-Brazil bilateral initiatives, so as to improve market accessibility from both sides for products and services. As regards the funding of research and innovation and innovation cooperation, the federal government is the main source of funding for universities and other research organisations. Over the past decade, state level research foundations have increased their funding of research. Petrobras (oil sector) is becoming a major source for funding innovation research in universities.

3. Cooperation between Brazil and the EU on research and innovation: priorities for the future

In the framework of the policy dialogue between the EU and Brazil the following priority areas have been agreed for future cooperation with Brazil:

− Marine Research and bio-economy, food security, sustainable agriculture

EU-Brazil cooperation on marine research can greatly contribute to the EU's Blue Growth strategy. It would build on a number of existing bi-lateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks involving Brazil. Likewise, cooperation on bio-economy research and innovation is vital to address global challenges such as food security and sustainable agriculture and Brazil is a leading country in bio-economy research.

Further cooperation with Brazil will be based on the continuation of the EU-Brazil dialogue on marine research including a wide range of areas, such as sustainable Atlantic ecosystem approach, innovative use and conservation of Atlantic/marine biodiversity, seabed critical raw materials and ocean literacy. Interest has also been expressed concerning the sustainable development of aquaculture to support the production of safe seafood products, complying with international standards for trade, in particular through the establishment of a sound scientific basis for the elaboration and implementation of relevant policies (i.e. environmental protection, food safety, animal health and welfare).

In the area of bio-economy, food security and sustainable agriculture, the following topics of mutual interest have been identified through the ongoing dialogues between the EU and Brazil: improvement of agricultural production systems and adaptation to climate change; nutritional aspects of food products; agro-economic areas, ecological intensification, low carbon agriculture, traceability, certification and standards with a view to improve quality and trade conditions.

− Energy

While the EU has a leading position on many advanced biofuel technologies, Brazil has the capacity to turn advanced bio-fuels into commercial reality. Thus the EU and Brazil have a common interest in cooperating in this area.

Decarbonising the transport sector is a major challenge in the global fight against climate change. As such, it is a crucial element in the EU Energy Roadmap 2050 and in the Brazilian National Policy for Climate Change. In the short to medium-term, biofuels are expected to be the main contributors to this de-carbonisation. In order to achieve the EU and Brazil policy targets in this domain, and to address concerns regarding environmental impacts of biofuels, new biofuels using sustainable feedstock need to reach the market. Brazil is an essential partner in this sector: it has outstanding expertise, a well-established and highly competitive first-generation industry, as well as optimal conditions for the development of a second generation biofuel industry.

A coordinated call on advanced (second generation) biofuels will be prepared in the perspective of the second Horizon 2020 work programme. In addition, the Commission and the Brazilian party agreed to explore the potential for cooperation on other renewable areas, such as concentrated solar power, wind and smart grids and to establish a joint working group with this objective.

− Nanotechnology

Nanosafety is a global issue, especially as trade flows involving nano-enabled products are increasingly global. Nano environmental, health and safety (Nano EHS) is of high importance to both the EU and Brazil, who have a shared interest in cooperating in research that supports the development of scientific evidence based regulation in this area.

The EU has an extensive FP7 project portfolio covering nano-safety research, while Brazil has several national research networks involved in nano health and safety research. There is therefore a potential for enhancing cooperation in this area, including through Horizon 2020 nanotechnology and nano-materials calls planned for 2014 and 2015. The focus would be on research for the establishment of scientifically referenced regulation, internationally recognized and internationally compatible. The EU promotes government-level cooperation in the OECD working party on manufactured nano-materials (in particular through the NanoReg initiative, which is an FP7 project with a budget of EUR50 million (of which EUR10 million from FP7); followed by further regulatory research activities in Horizon 2020). Progress is being made to incorporate Brazilian contributions into NanoReg.

− Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

EU-Brazil research cooperation in the area of ICT, including cloud computing, is also regarded as having a crucial strategic value and high societal impact. It has been developing since the launch of the first coordinated call in 2011 and addresses a number of topics dealing with Future Internet, micro-electronics and micro-systems, cloud computing, technologies and applications for a smarter society and e-infrastructures. It is supported by an EU-Brazil Dialogue on Information Society with specific working groups in some areas addressing not only research and innovation matters but also ICT policy and regulatory aspects. As an example, cooperation on cloud computing covers standards, certification mechanisms, safe and fair contracts as well as legislative frameworks, aiming at facilitating the emergence of mutually recognized trusted cloud solutions. The third coordinated call focused on Advanced Cyber Infrastructure and will be launched in 2015. It will address topics on Cloud Computing, especially cloud-centric applications for big data; High Performance Computing applications to societal challenges supporting prediction and simulation of natural disasters, urban development or crisis management, and Experimental Platforms federating network resources in Brazil and Europe building on FIRE (Future Internet) developments. Joint work on the areas above is expected to be continued in the work-programme 2016-17 of Horizon 2020. The importance of ICT entrepreneurship for growth and jobs is reflected in a reinforced cooperation between "Startup Europe" and "Startup Brazil", exploring the mutual benefits of "apps" development by young web-entrepreneurs and SMEs, on top of open and common Future Internet platforms. On ICT infrastructure, the installation of a fibre-optic submarine cable linking Brazil and Europe directly will improve communications between the two continents, facilitate the take-up of broadband, stimulate ICT investments, reduce the interconnectivity costs for our businesses and researchers, enhance the protection of communications and provide better functional characteristics than through the USA or Africa. This cable can be used to implement more effectively public policies such as the bilateral cooperation on research and innovation.

In the area of nuclear fusion (Euratom-Fusion), the current bilateral collaborative activities, and notably those with the Joint European Torus (JET), should be endorsed under the bilateral work programme (see annex) at the first meeting of the Coordinated Committee of the enforced fusion Cooperation Agreement, planned to be held in 2014. This should pave the way for the convergence of programmes (cooperation on the Brazilian Network for fusion) and the sharing of personnel and facilities, in particular of JET, with Euratom fusion associations. Brazil is interested to receive advice form Euratom on the future Brazilian fusion device to be installed at the new National Fusion Laboratory. This may also open possible routes for Brazil's potential involvement in the future operation and exploitation of ITER.

Cooperation in future years (2016 and 2017) will most likely continue to focus on these jointly defined priorities as well as on other areas that will be jointly identified and agreed upon within the existing institutional mechanisms under the ST & I agreement between the EU and Brazil.

At this stage, based on existing cooperation and talks, in relation to health, it is envisaged that Brazil and the EU may continue the cooperation in multilateral initiatives aimed at addressing global health challenges. In particular, Brazil has expressed interest to the EU on the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R).

Transport research cooperation may also lead to more targeted actions in the future:

− Aviation Pioneering: direct Brazilian participation (instead of being subcontractor to DLR) in the Multinational Civil Hypersonics Flagship initiative FP7 HEXAFLY-INT, led by ESA, kicked-off in April 2014 and aiming at a flight test in 2019.

− Aviation Safety: potential Brazilian involvement through Embraer Portugal in the large-scale coordinated research action on Safety (Horizon 2020 2014 call).

− Aviation Environmental-friendly fuels: through Horizon 2020 Energy calls, building upon Brazil-EU flight test joint project FP7 ITAKA and the support action FP7 COOPAIR-LA.

− A coordinated call for 2016+, with a focus on road transport and urban transport, supported by two FP7 coordination and support actions SOLUTIONS and VIAIGO PLUS.

Annex: List of topics encouraging cooperation with Brazil in Horizon 2020 work programme 2014-15[6]

2014 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

NMP 26 (LEIT-NMP) || Joint EU & MS activity on the next phase of research in support of regulation NANOREG II || -

NMP 27 (LEIT-NMP) || Coordination of EU an international efforts in safety of nanotechnology || -

NMP 28 (LEIT-NMP) || Assessment of environmental fate of nanomaterials || -

NMP 29 (LEIT-NMP) || Increasing the capacity to perform nano-safety assessment || -

BG 14 (Challenge 2) || Supporting international cooperation initiatives: Atlantic Ocean Cooperation Research Alliance || 3.50

BG 15 (Challenge 2) || European Polar research cooperation || 2.00

SC5-5 (Challenge 5) || Coordinating and supporting research and innovation for climate action-Climate change mitigation options || -

2015 || H2020-EUB-2015 (LEIT-ICT) || EU-Brazil Research and Development Cooperation in Advanced Cyber Infrastructure || 7

NMP 30 (LEIT-NMP) || Next generation of tools for risk governance of nanomaterials || -

INT 1 (Challenge 6) || Enhancing and focusing research and innovation cooperation with the Union’s key international partner countries || 1.95

ISSI.5.2014.2015 (Science with and for Society) || Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation || 12.00

Euratom Programme complementing Horizon 2020

Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

2014-2015 || Euratom-Brazil Fusion CA First Coordinating Committee || Convergence of programmes and sharing of personnel and facilities || -

Mapping of bilateral collaborative activities || -

3. Roadmap for cooperation between Canada and the European Union

1. Canada as a partner of the EU

Canada is one of the EU's oldest and closest partners. The negotiations of two ground- breaking agreements with Canada: the Strategic Partnership agreement (SPA) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) are being finalised. Once implemented, these two agreements will enhance economic and political relations, and spur cooperation and dialogue across a range of policy areas. The SPA will strengthen foreign policy and sectorial co-operation advancing EU-Canada relations beyond the 1976 Framework Agreement and the 2004 Partnership Agenda, while CETA will enable an ambitious liberalisation of our trade and investment relations. It will generate substantial new trade in goods and services as well as additional opportunities for investment. Once implemented, the agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods and services by 22.9% or €25.7 billion, fostering growth and employment on both sides of the Atlantic. Overall, the EU-Canada agreement could lead to GDP gains for the EU of up to €11.6 billion per year.

The Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Canada and the European Community has been in place since 1996 and is not limited in time. The responsibility for the S&T cooperation dialogue lies with the EU–Canada Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC). The JSTCC meets on a regular basis to review progress and provide new directions for cooperation in the fields of science and technology.

In 2011 R&D intensity was estimated at 1.74% GDP (down from 2.07% in 2004). The share of private sector R&D (of GERD) was 46.5% and the share of public sector R&D (of GERD) 36.1%[7].

The 11th meeting of the EU-Canada JSTCC took place in Brussels on 6 March 2013. It mainly focused on Arctic and Marine related research (Blue Growth) and Research Infrastructures for Marine and Arctic research.

On 24 May 2013, the Galway Statement on transatlantic marine and arctic cooperation[8] was signed by Commissioners Geoghegan-Quinn and Damanaki, on behalf of the EU, and by high level representatives from Canada and the US. The goal of the statement is to work together in order to better understand the Atlantic Ocean and to promote the sustainable management of its resources. This is the starting point for a Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance.

The Canadian research system is organised around three institutional structures: governments (federal and provincial), industry, and higher education. Each level of government is involved in research policy, which means a decentralized research system with varying degrees of overlap and partnering.

Canada’s science and technology governance structure is characterised by a high degree of diversity and is organised around a number of key players, including industry, governments (both federal and provincial and territorial) and universities and colleges. Policy design and implementation is a shared competence between the federal and the provincial and territorial governments. Canada’s provincial and territorial governments seek national and international partnerships and investment in science, research and technology, in parallel as well as in partnership with the Canadian federal government. The provinces and territories provide most of the basic physical infrastructure and operating costs for education and for research in Canada’s universities.

2. Cooperation between Canada and the EU on research and innovation: state of play

As of February 2014, Canadian entities participated 190 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 10.3 million. The distribution of the Canadian participation (by total cost of Canadian participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below.

Canadian researchers also have a high success rate in the People Specific Programme (Marie Curie Actions). As many as 504 Canadian researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Canadian institutions have participated in 145 projects.

There is an on-going FP7 project which supports the policy dialogue on research and innovation between Canada and the EU. ERA-Can Plus will raise awareness of the multiple research and innovation programme opportunities for Canadians in Horizon 2020 and for Europeans in Canada’s research programmes. The ERA-CAN Plus project objectives and its Canadian and European partnership are in line with the new international cooperation strategy for research and innovation. It will support the implementation of our policy dialogue, for example, as follow up to the Galway Statement signed by Canada and the EU. The consortium brings together seven leading associations and organisations for research, innovation and public policy discussions from across Canada and Europe.

Canada has also been targeted as an important partner for cooperation in the first Horizon 2020 work programme (2014-15), with topics encouraging cooperation with Canadian researchers included in areas such as marine and artic research (notably to implement the Galway declaration and the Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance), health research or ICT. A full list of topics included in the work programme is provided in Annex.

Work is also on-going to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with Canada and the activities of the Member States (MS). The involvement of MS will take place at various levels, depending on the area of EU-Canada cooperation. The three most prominent examples are listed below.

− Marine and Arctic research:

ü The Joint Programming Initiative Ocean[9] will be a key partner in these activities.

ü The Seas ERA – NET[10] will be strongly involved in the EU-Canada information sharing exercise and planned coordination actions.

ü The Integrating Activity “INTERACT”[11] includes Research Stations from all Arctic countries including several from Canada.

ü Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project including Canada.

− The Health Research Institute Canada (CIHR) is connected to all relevant Joint Programming Initiatives and very strong coordination with Member States is therefore expected. For example CIHR is:

ü Member of the Joint Programming Initiative -Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND);

ü Member of the Joint Programming Initiative - More Years Better Life (JPIMYBL);

ü Member and co-investor in the Joint Programming Initiative Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR);

ü Negotiating its Membership with the Joint Programming Initiative A Healthy Diet for A Healthy Life (JPIHDHL).

A series of EU-Canada Health Research Roundtables have been organised on jointly identified health priorities. The most recent one took place in October 2012, having as shared themes: Big Data, Open Access and Public Health Data; E-Health; Evidence informed Health Care; Health Research Platforms; and Respiratory, Vascular, Stroke and Imaging. Canada is globally known for its very high quality of health related research and the EU-Canada cooperation can look back on very successful experiences.

Key aspects of this cooperation are:

− Cooperation supports the engagement of the EU to become a permanent observer in the Arctic Council[12].

− Cooperation supports reaching the Millennium goals, notably on:

o Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;

o Ensure environmental sustainability e.g. marine/arctic research

− Cooperation supports the Commission's Atlantic Action Plan with a reference to trans-Atlantic cooperation in research and innovation.

Canada’s innovation performance is estimated as lower in comparison to the EU and the innovation gap is further decreasing[13]. The federal government strongly supports innovation and supports emerging technologies in areas ranging from health to nuclear research. Examples include funding to Genome Canada, climate and atmospheric work through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) or the Canada Brain Research Fund. The Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) supports R&D in aerospace, defence, space and security technologies[14].

Canada provides innovative SMEs access to tax credit related to R&D. Venture Capital assists and finances firms (especially SMEs) from seed to expansion phases. Export Development Canada (EDC) provides private equity capital to assist firms to expand through export guarantee programmes. Canada invests to develop a stronger digital economy and the government supports the take up of ICTs by business through the Industrial Research Assistance Program, and increased student enrolment in digital economy-related disciplines. Canada is spending substantially on higher education. The government has made strategic investments to strengthen Canada’s knowledge advantage such as the new Canada Excellence Research Chairs.

The general framework conditions for EU-Canada cooperation are improving in certain areas and provinces. During the last few years, some provinces have been quite keen to cooperate with the EU directly and have put in place matching funds for their researchers (e.g. Quebec) participating in the Framework programme. Others, notably Alberta, are seriously considering such an option.

Canadian participation in the 7th Framework Programme was as high as during all previous programmes together. Canada has established a good network of Canadian National Contact Points in the main areas for cooperation, so the basic information and conditions for cooperation are well known and disseminated.

Interestingly the Canadian Granting Councils are well aware of the European research landscape and the activities in the European Research Area (ERA). Several ERA-NET activities in our Joint programming initiatives have Canadian members and are well connected to the Canadian research institutions.

3. Cooperation between Canada and the EU on research and innovation: priorities for the future

Three areas have been identified as priority areas for future cooperation during the last JSTCC meeting on 5 March 2013.

− Marine and Arctic Research

This includes the launching of the Transatlantic Research Alliance as agreed new framework for this cooperation. Canada has strong research capabilities and access to important waters/territories (including arctic) with strong research and innovation capacity. In 2013 Canada issued an implementation plan for its marine research approach. Canada's Northern Strategy[15] will help both sides to engage in this specific dialogue on Arctic cooperation issues. Such cooperation can build on existing cooperation in the context of international programs, such as WCRP (World Climate Research Programme), GEO (Group of Earth Observations), GCOS (Global Climate Observing System), SAON[16] (Sustained Arctic Observing Network – Arctic council) and others. Canada is also in the phase of designing the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHAR), which will serve as a hub for science and technology in Canada's North. The above mentioned activities underline the research capacities Canada has in this area which allows Europe to support its external policy in particular in relation to the Arctic Council activities. In the past Arctic research activities have benefited from good EU-Canada relations.

− Research infrastructure cooperation

Research infrastructures (in particular Arctic and Marine) represent one of the most successful areas of cooperation between EU and Canada, with huge progress since the last JSTCC meeting. The scope of cooperation has been extended to cover both arctic and marine infrastructures, which are relevant to major societal challenges and provide opportunities for collaboration in the development, management and use of these extremely costly infrastructures.

A high level symposium on Arctic and Marine Research Infrastructures was organised between Canada-EU-US. The symposium was held in September 2013 in the Canadian Embassy in Rome to discuss and investigate possible future fields of cooperation on research infrastructures with focus on Marine and Arctic.

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is by far the largest Research Infrastructure funding body and has been strongly involved in the EU-Canada cooperation in recent years.

− Health Research

Health represents one of the most successful areas of cooperation between the EU and Canada. It has also been a very active area of cooperation since the last Joint S&T Consultative Committee (JSTCC) meeting in 2011, with Canada being one of the most active third countries in the Health theme of FP7.

The high collaboration is proven by the joint collaboration in all the multilateral research initiatives that the EU has either started or joined. Some of them are the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC[17]) or the Global Alliance Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD[18]). The collaboration is excellent and both Canada and the EU are planning to work together on initiatives that are being established, such as the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R). Moreover, both Canada and the EU are members of the Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP[19]). Canada has also expressed interest to join the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnerships (EDCTP2).

− Bioeconomy

Cooperation with Canada has been carried out in Bioeconomy, in the framework of the international Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) Forum, a multilateral platform with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the EU launched in 2010. Cooperation with Canada on bioeconomy related Research and Innovation should be strengthened in the framework of the International KBBE Forum at programme-level, and by linking with EU Member States efforts within Joint Programming Initiatives and ERA-NETS.

− Transport (including Aeronautics)

Common policy challenges such as aviation safety, environmental impact and standardisation can benefit from more EU-Canada cooperation.

A coordinated call in the field of Aeronautics has been confirmed by both sides for 2015 as follow up to the Canadian Networking Aeronautics Programme for Europe (project finished in 2013) which improved and increased engagement between the aeronautics R&D communities and networks in the EU and in Canada. In addition, Canada has expressed interest in the Clean Sky (II) Joint Technology Initiative. Potential routes for Canadian contribution and participation will be explored.

− Other planned/on-going cooperation initiatives

In the field of energy research, knowledge-sharing and cooperation with Canada are encouraged by the first Horizon 2020 work programme with Canada in the field of carbon capture and storage and shale gas.

The cooperation priorities for the years to come may be in line with the existing ones. Health research and the very close cooperation with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) will be a key area of engagement as in the first years of Horizon 2020. The new area of marine and Artic cooperation is expected to be expanded, in particular on the Arctic Research issues, as it is only in its start-up phase. The type of activities could be more at the support of research mobility and programme level cooperation with the relevant Canadian entities. Nanotechnology, and in particular nano-safety, is an area under mutual investigation for expansion of the EU-Canada cooperation. The EU promotes government-level cooperation in the OECD working party on manufactured nano-materials (in particular through the NanoReg initiative, which is an FP7 project with a budget of EUR50 million (of which EUR10 million from FP7); followed by further regulatory research activities in Horizon 2020).

There could also be a revitalisation of the activities of the Knowledge Based Bio Economy (KBBE) platform in the multilateral framework with Canada which could be translated into opportunities in the calls 2016-2017.

Annex: List of topics encouraging cooperation with Canada in Horizon 2020 work programme 2014-15[20]

Marine and Arctic research

2014 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

BG 8 (Challenge 2) || Developing in-situ Atlantic Ocean Observations for a better management and sustainable exploitation of the maritime resources || 20.00

BG 13 (Challenge 2) || Ocean Literacy – Engaging with society – Social innovation || 3.50

BG 14 (Challenge 2) || European Research Alliance cooperation || 3.50

BG 15 (Challenge 2) || European Polar research cooperation || 2.00

INFRASUPP 6 (Research Infrastructures) || International Cooperation for research infrastructures || 7.00

INFRAIA 1 (Research Infrastructures) || Integrating and opening research infrastructures of European interest (area: “Research infrastructures for terrestrial research in the Arctic.”) || 140.00

2015 || BG 1 (Challenge 2) || Improving the preservation and sustainable exploitation of Atlantic marine Ecosystems || 20.00

BG 7 (Challenge 2) || Response capacities to oil spills and marine pollutions || 6.00

SFS 10 (Challenge 2) || Tackling disease related challenges and threats faced by European farmed aquatic animals || -

Energy research

|| Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

2014-2015 || LCE 15 (Challenge 3) || Enabling decarbonisation of the fossil fuel-based power sector and energy intensive industry through CCS || -

2014 || LCE 16 (Challenge 3) || Understanding, preventing and mitigating the potential environmental impacts and risks of shale gas exploration and exploitation || -

Other areas

2014 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

NMP 26 (LEIT-NMP) || Joint EU & MS activity on the next phase of research in support of regulation NANOREG II || -

NMP 27 (LEIT-NMP) || Coordination of EU an international efforts in safety of nanotechnology || -

NMP 28 (LEIT-NMP) || Assessment of environmental fate of nanomaterials || -

NMP 29 (LEIT-NMP) || Increasing the capacity to perform nano-safety assessment || -

MG 1.4 (Challenge 4) || Coordinated research and innovation actions targeting the highest levels of safety for European aviation || 15.00

SC 5-13 (Challenge 5) || Strategic international dialogues and cooperation on raw materials with technologically advanced countries || 5.00

2015 || ICT 38 (LEIT-ICT) || International partnership building and support to dialogues with high income countries || 3.00

NMP 30 (LEIT-NMP) || Next generation of tools for risk governance of nanomaterials || -

MG1.8 (Challenge 4) || Aeronautics R&I EU-CA Coordinated Call || 16.00

HCO 12 (Challenge 1) || ERA-NET: Antimicrobial resistance || 5.00

SFS 16 (Challenge 2) || Tackling malnutrition in the elderly || -

SC 5-13 (Challenge 5) || Strategic international dialogues and cooperation on raw materials producing countries and industry || 8.00

ISSI.5.2014.2015 (Science with and for Society) || Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation || 12.00

4. Roadmap for cooperation between China and the European Union

1. China as a partner of the EU

Relations between the EU and China have developed fast since diplomatic ties were established in 1975. In particular, the creation of the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2003 has deepened and broadened cooperation in a wide range of areas, and the EU and China have become highly interdependent as a result.

At the 16th EU-China Summit of 21 November 2013, both sides jointly adopted the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation and inaugurated the first High Level Innovation Cooperation Dialogue. The two sides will implement the Strategic Agenda for Cooperation through their annual Summit, which provides strategic guidance to their relationship, through the three pillars directly underpinning the Summit (the annual High Level Strategic Dialogue, the annual High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue, and the bi-annual People-to-People Dialogue) and through their regular meetings of counterparts and their broad range of sectoral dialogues.

EU-China scientific cooperation is governed by a Science & Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in December 1999 and renewed for the second time in November 2009. The Agreement is implemented through a Joint Steering Committee. The last meeting was held in Brussels in June 2014.

In addition, an Agreement between the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the Government of the People's Republic of China for R&D Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (R&D PUNE) is in place since August 2008. China and Euratom are participating in an inter-governmental multilateral agreement on fission-related research, are partners of the ITER multilateral cooperation project on fusion research and participate, within the Generation IV international Forum, in the research and development activities of the Sodium Fast Reactor and the Very-High Temperature Reactor.

The performance of the Chinese research and innovation system has improved noticeably over the past decades. China is now a major player in terms of funding and human resources for research and development (R&D). China ranks first in terms of R&D staff with 2.5 million researchers. Its GERD has more than doubled in just five years (2005-10). R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP reached 1.98 % in 2012 with a target of 2.2% of GDP by 2015 (12th Five-Year Plan) and 2.5% by 2020 (15-year Medium to Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan). The business sector accounts for 72% of GERD (1.30% of GDP). However, performance in terms of patenting remains relatively limited (fifth place in 2012 regarding applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty), and also in terms of knowledge-intensive services and high-technology manufacturing industries.

2. Cooperation between China and the EU on research and innovation: state of play

As of February 2014, Chinese entities participated 334 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 32.9 million. The distribution of the Chinese participation (by total cost of Chinese participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below.

Research cooperation with China is also taking place in the framework of the Euratom-fission programme with two projects worth EUR 1.2 million, and within ITER on fusion research with 49 on-going collaborative activities involving 11 European entities and 13 Chinese research institutions.

3845 Chinese researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Chinese institutions have participated in 315 projects.

There is an on-going FP7 project, the Bilat Dragon Star to support the policy dialogue with China.

China has been targeted as an important partner for cooperation in the first Horizon 2020 work programme (2014-15), with topics encouraging cooperation with Chinese researchers in areas such as Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology, Water, Energy, Information and Communications Technologies, Nanotechnology, Space and Polar research. A full list of topics included in the work programme is provided in Annex[21]. Furthermore, in the Euratom Work Programme (2014-2015) fusion and fission topics include cooperation with China.

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre is pursuing cooperation with China on the topics of air quality, disaster management, remote sensing and land management in line with the overall S&T priorities identified at the latest EU-China Summit and Innovation Cooperation Dialogue.

Work is also on-going to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with China and the activities of the Member States (MS). Within the Strategic Forum for International Cooperation (SFIC), the Commission and the Member States have been working on the identification of common challenges and priorities to be pursued with and vis-à-vis China. The network of EU Member States Science Counsellors in China has produced a series of documents regarding IPR issues, setting up of joint research structures and an overview of EU MS activities.

Research and Innovation features high on the agenda of the EU-China Summits. A strong cooperation with China on research and innovation is one of the milestones of overall EU-China relations and contributes to reaching the objectives of the EU's external policies.

With the High Level Dialogue on Innovation Cooperation the two sides are committed to enhance their mutual understanding of their respective innovation policies and systems, to promote predictable, transparent and effective framework conditions related to innovation and to develop joint and coordinated actions for the development and deployment of innovative solutions.

Framework conditions for cooperation in research and innovation with China have been improving over the last few years, e.g. in adopting international standards and in IP protection and enforcement where China has come a long way in the last decade. However, there is still substantial room for improvement in infrastructures, the legal environment and practices related to IPR, standards, procurement and other framework conditions.

3. Cooperation between China and the EU on research and innovation: priorities for the future

In the framework of the policy dialogue with China the following areas have been identified as priorities for EU-China cooperation:

− Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology

Cooperation in these areas addresses important common challenges such as food security, food safety and healthy diets, animal health, sustainable agriculture and the development of a low-carbon economy. Given the economic weight of China, even small moves to more sustainability in primary production and processing can lead to substantial global benefits for the environment and climate. The opportunity to export sustainable solutions and scale-up the potential of the Chinese market will enhance European innovation and competiveness. China is also the world's largest aquaculture producer and marine related challenges are important for both Europe and China, making these further areas with potential for future cooperation.

Cooperation in this area has been moving towards a strategic partnership, with the signature of a Letter of Intent between the European Commission and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). This new initiative will ensure concrete, substantial and balanced joint research and innovation cooperation activities on selected priorities of common interest to be supported.

− Sustainable Urbanisation

Urbanisation of societies is an issue of crucial importance both for Europe and China, and it features high on the political agenda of both sides. Research and innovation are recognized components of the EU-China Sustainable Urbanisation Partnership as they play a key role in addressing the challenges urbanisation creates. Cooperation opportunities will be pursued in areas such as sustainable urban and peri-urban planning, green transport, clean technology, air quality, sustainable urban energy and disaster management. Effective links with the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe will be sought.

− Aviation

China is a large and growing market for the aeronautics industry and has developed state- of-the-art aeronautics technologies. Cooperation through collaborative research projects under FP7 allowed issues of common interest linked to global environment and safety issues to be tackled. Building on existing policy dialogue and past cooperation, intense preparatory work has been done in developing future joint initiatives on aviation. In consultation with EU and Chinese industry, stakeholders' priorities of common interest are being identified in areas such as environmental aspects of aviation, flow control, advanced materials, numerical simulation and validation methods, and efficient air transport. Cooperation in these areas will be sought through joint and coordinated EU-China calls for collaborative research and innovation projects.

− Environment

The global dimension of Environment and Climate make them a priority for cooperation with China. The areas of water challenges, water for sustainable development and links between environment and urbanisation are considered as particularly important. China has considerable research capacity in this domain, and mutually beneficial cooperation opportunities can be found, particularly in the larger context of urbanisation issues. The importance of EU-China cooperation in the area of water is further underscored by the launch of the China-Europe Water Platform (CEWP) in March 2012 – a Member States' initiative to be implemented within the framework of the EU Water Initiative (EUWI) and China’s framework of cooperation with Europe in the water sector.

− ICT

Rapidly increasing wireless-traffic and applications pose challenges for both Europe and China. International collaborative research in the next 5 to 10 years will be key to developing the next generation of telecommunications. Cooperation involving industry and research institutes on information and communication technology will be enhanced through existing and further mechanisms. Key topics such as the next generation of network and communications infrastructure (5G), smart cities and internet of things will be explored.

− Energy

Cooperation on coal-related technologies such as clean coal and carbon capture and storage (CCS) will continue being supported under Horizon 2020. In addition, EU-China cooperation opportunities are also being explored on renewable energy including in the fields of concentrated solar power and energy storage (batteries).

− Nuclear energy

Euratom and China are increasing exchanges and cooperation on nuclear safety emergency response, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear waste management and nuclear security. Also the strengthening of international non-proliferation regimes and related export control arrangements, as well as fighting against smuggling of nuclear material are matters for further potential cooperation. Education and training programmes oriented to post-doc and PhDs and safety of super critical water reactors (SCWR) are being pursued further.

− Euratom is also strengthening cooperation in the multilateral framework of the ITER project and building up a strategic bilateral partnership on fusion energy research. Furthermore, Euratom foresees bilateral cooperation at the Joint European Torus facility (JET) in support to ITER, where Chinese researchers are contributing in the field of diagnostics. Cooperation on fusion research with China, in particular on JET and on the China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR), will be pursued through regular policy dialogue under the RD-PUNE agreement.

− Health

In addition to the above, health research is an area where the EU and China have a lot to gain from closer cooperation. There is a strong tradition of cooperation on health both in the context of the EU Research Framework Programmes and in multilateral initiatives aimed at addressing global health challenges. These are in particular the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC[22]), the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC[23]) and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD[24]). China has expressed interest in joining the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), on which the EU is currently working. There is scope for reinforcing cooperation with China on global health through Horizon 2020 and in international multi-partner research initiative such as, for example, the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC[25]) or the Initiative for Traumatic Brain Injury Research (InTBIR).

In the field of materials, a coordinated call (which was decided with the National Science Foundation of China) resulted in three jointly financed projects in biomaterials, started in 2013. The outcome of the projects will be used to assess further cooperation opportunities.

In respect of industrial innovation, substantial progress has been made in developing a framework for cooperation to promote closer collaboration in mutual economic and strategic interest between EU and Chinese industrial clusters of businesses, researchers and innovators.

EU-China research and innovation cooperation is also to be strengthened by supporting the EU-China mobility of researchers and strengthening people-to-people contacts, from both the public and private sectors, in strategic research and innovation areas. This will be pursued through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under Horizon 2020, the Erasmus + programme and the new initiative “EU-China Research and Innovation partnership” supporting mobility of EU researchers and innovators to China.

To cope with the growth of on-line collaboration between European and Chinese researchers the e-infrastructure link capacity between the two regions should be strengthened in the future, possibly through a long term arrangement.

Annex: List of topics encouraging cooperation with China in Horizon 2020 work programme 2014-15[26]

2014 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

ICT 14 (LEIT-ICT) || Advanced 5G network infrastructures for the future internet || 122.00

NMP 26 (LEIT-NMP) || Joint EU & MS activity on the next phase of research in support of regulation NANOREG II || -

NMP 27 (LEIT-NMP) || Coordination of EU an international efforts in safety of nanotechnology || -

NMP 28 (LEIT-NMP) || Assessment of environmental fate of nanomaterials || -

NMP 29 (LEIT-NMP) || Increasing the capacity to perform nano-safety assessment || -

SFS 1 (Challenge 2) || Sustainable terrestrial livestock production || 27.00

SFS 3B (Challenge 2) || Practical solutions for native and alien pests affecting plants - EU-China cooperation on IPM in agriculture || -

SFS 4 (Challenge 2) || Soil quality and function || -

LCE 18 (Challenge 3) || Supporting Joint Actions on demonstration and validation of innovative energy solutions || 95.50

BG 15 (Challenge 2) || Polar Research || 2.00

WATER 5 1 (Challenge 5) || Strengthening international R&I cooperation in the field of water-Strategic cooperation partnerships || -

SC5 5 (Challenge 5) || Coordinating and supporting research and innovation for climate action-Climate change mitigation options: a) climate change mitigation options || -

WASTE 2 (Challenge 5) || A systems approach for the reduction, recycling and reuse of food waste || -

INT 1 (Challenge 6) || Enhancing and focusing research and innovation cooperation with the Union's key international partner countries || 1.95

2015 || ICT 25 (LEIT-ICT) || Generic micro- and nano-electronic technologies || 3.00

NMP 30 (LEIT-NMP) || Next generation of tools for risk governance of nanomaterials || -

SFS 13 (Challenge 2) || Biological contamination of crops and the food chain || 10.00

SFS 18 (Challenge 2) || Small farms but global markets: the role of small and family farms in food and nutrition security || 5.00

MG 1-8 (Challenge 4) || International cooperation in aeronautics || 16.00

MG 5-5 (Challenge 4) || Demonstrating and testing innovative solutions for cleaner and better urban transport and mobility || 57.50

WASTE 7 (Challenge 5) || Ensuring sustainable use of agricultural waste, co-products and by-products || -

ISSI.5.2014.2015 (Science with and for Society) || Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation || 12.00

Euratom Programme complementing Horizon 2020

2014-2015 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

Euratom-China R&D-PUNE Agreement FU-2 Subcommittee || Programmating comparison of EU and Chinese fusion roadmaps and strengthening INCO activities in support to ITER || -

Programmating comparison of EU and Chinese fusion roadmaps and strengthening INCO activities in support to ITER || -

Chinese partnership in the JET programme || -

Education & Training schemes at international level || -

5. Roadmap for cooperation between India and the European Union

1. India as a partner of the EU

The EU and India launched a Strategic Partnership in 2004. It builds on the 1994 Cooperation Agreement on Partnership and Development. In this framework, an EU-India Joint Action Plan was adopted in 2005 and revised in 2008. It includes a significant research and innovation dimension. Furthermore, the EU and India hope to increase their trade in both goods and services and investment through the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched in 2007.

Cooperation between the EU and India in research and innovation is governed by the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation which was concluded in 2001. In 2012, the Commission published an independent review of the current agreement. The Agreement for Co-operation between the Government of India and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in the field of Fusion Energy Research was concluded in 2009. India is also a member of ITER. A Joint Declaration on Research and Innovation Cooperation was signed on 10 February 2012 at the EU-India Summit which aims at stepping up the cooperation towards building an Indo-European Research and Innovation Partnership with (i) larger scale, scope and impact, (ii) focus on common societal challenges, and (iii) enhanced synergies between India, the EU and its Member States.

In addition, an EU-India Energy Panel for dialogue and cooperation on energy issues was set up to promote enhanced cooperation on energy between EU and India. It aims at improving energy security, safety, sustainability, access and energy technologies. In the information and communication technology (ICT) area, the EU-India Joint ICT Working Group focuses on regulatory matters (spectrum policy, market access questions and standardisation), internet security, internet governance, and cooperation in ICT research and innovation. The European Business and Technology Centre in India (EBTC) created in 2009 has as objective to facilitate mutual business partnerships and technology transfer between the EU and India in the focal sectors of Environment, Energy, Biotechnology and Transport – and having Climate Change as cross-cutting issue. The EBTC mainly targets EU companies, especially SMEs, and provides services such as market insight, tender support and incubation services. Finally EURAXESS Links India is a networking tool for European researchers working in India and Indian researchers wishing to collaborate and/or pursue a research career in Europe. It provides information about research in Europe, European research policy, opportunities for research funding, for international collaboration and for trans-national mobility.

India is currently spending close to 1% of its GDP on R&D (with a share of 28% from the private sector). During the 11th Plan period (2007-2012), public investment in R&D has grown at 22% per year. It is the government's commitment to increase India’s R&D spending to 2% GDP during the 12th Plan period 2012-2017. The total number of Indian scientific publications almost doubled from 20,514 in 1996 to 40,062 in 2006. This did, however, only marginally increase India's share in the world output of science publications from 2.1% in 2000, to 2.3% in 2005. Over the last few years, the number of scientific publications increased by more than 12% per year against the global average of 4%.

India's developments, such as those in space technology with capabilities to launch commercial satellites and un-manned missions to the moon and to Mars, nuclear technology, pharma research capabilities in drug discovery and commercialization, ICT software, biotechnology in health and agriculture and the emerging capabilities in automotive research and telecommunications, have contributed to the country’s recognition as an important knowledge power in the global economy. India is also attracting attention as a vibrant and versatile source of frugal innovation, a cost-effective and inclusive innovation, leading to affordable products and services without compromising on quality and environment protection standards.

2. Cooperation between India and the EU on research and innovation: state of play

As of February 2014, Indian entities participated 258 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 37.4 million. The distribution of the Indian participation (by total cost of Indian participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below.

India and Euratom co-operate within the ITER project and signed the bilateral Cooperation Agreement on fusion energy research. Under this framework three Indian and seven European research entities are implementing three specific JET projects and another 15 on-going collaborative activities. Under the Euratom FP7 and FP7 + 2, India participated in two fission projects.

1660 Indian researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Indian institutions have participated in 97 projects.

In addition to the above, several EU-India coordinated calls for proposals were successfully implemented in FP7 in the fields of computational materials science, food and nutrition research, solar energy research and water related challenges, with a total budget of EUR 60 million, co-funded by India and the EU.

Work is on-going to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with India and the activities of the Member States (MS). EU and Member States research & innovation cooperation with India shows a diversity of on-going bilateral initiatives, agreements and programmes, including many mobility schemes for students and researchers.

Within the Strategic Forum for International Cooperation (SFIC), the Member States and European Commission have been working since 2009 on an India pilot initiative on water and bio-resources related challenges. This pilot initiative led to a coordinated EU-India co-funded call of EUR 32 million in the field of water and bio-resources related challenges. Pursuant to the EU–India Joint Declaration on Research and Innovation Cooperation, it was agreed to establish a Group of EU/MS-India Senior Officials (GSO). The GSO aims at strengthening the Indo-European Research and Innovation Partnership through enhanced coherence and complementarities between India, the EU and its Member States. The first EU/MS-India GSO meeting took place on 8 October 2013 mobilising 20 Member States and 10 Indian Ministries and Departments. The FP7 projects[27] "Indigo Policy" and "Inno Indigo", were launched in December 2013 following up the successful FP7 "New Indigo" ERA-NET. They will be useful instruments to contribute to the preparation and implementation of coordinated EU/MS-India activities in research and innovation.

India has also been targeted as a partner for cooperation in the first Horizon 2020 work programme (2014-15), with topics encouraging cooperation with Indian researchers included in areas such as water, nanotechnologies or agriculture. A full list of topics included in the work programme 2014-2015 is provided in Annex.

Framework conditions for cooperation in research and innovation between the EU and India are relatively satisfactory, resulting in a fairly stable and reliable climate for cooperation ensuring the overall success of EU-India cooperation in R&I. At the same time, as India is emerging as a preferred R&I partner and destination, its patent regime should be strengthened. Other existing challenges concern the complex legal framework, business transparency, nascent start-up market and venture capital market. Limited physical infrastructure also remains one of the roadblocks for furthering EU-India R&I cooperation. Additionally, procedural delays and capacity constraints in certain Departments inhibit the potential of cooperation in R&I. Indian organisations may face difficulties in accessing national funding when they want to engage with EU partners and such funding is usually not available for private-sector entities. Complex visa formalities and stringent procedure yield very high transaction costs for mobility of researcher and entrepreneurs with a negative impact on knowledge sharing and hence, innovation.

3. Cooperation between India and the EU on research and innovation: priorities for the future

Through the ongoing dialogues with India, the following areas have been identified as priority areas for cooperation between the EU and India:

− Health

India and the EU cooperate in multilateral initiatives aimed at addressing global health challenges, and also research on personalised medicine. One of these is the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC, http://icgc.org/). India is, together with the EU, one of the members of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD, http://www.gacd.org/). Given the high prevalence of diabetes in both EU and India, a stronger collaboration within GACD would help to identify common solutions to tackle this chronic disease. India is also member of the Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP, http://www.hfsp.org/).

− Water

India and Europe face common challenges in the water area such as scarcity, over-abstraction, pollution, wastewater management, water use efficiency or climate change and its impact on water resources. The prime objective of EU-India collaboration in the water sector is to develop and adopt best suitable technologies and practices to tackle these challenges. The following have been identified as key research and innovation areas: integrated wastewater treatment technologies and management; water quality monitoring; water purification for safe drinking; water use efficiency in agriculture; urban water management including water reclamation and reuse; water purification, water quality and health issues; waste water treatment for safe reclamation and reuse; integrated water resources management; flood routing, forecasting and management.

− Bio-economy

Ensuring global food security (inside and outside the EU) needs strengthened and more targeted international cooperation efforts in research and innovation to understand the different dimensions of food security. All these issues are highly relevant for the BRICs countries – including India - with their strong focus on food security research. A promising area for cooperation with India is therefore bio-economy, including food security, sustainable agriculture, and marine research. Topics of particular relevance for cooperation with India are the efficient utilisation of bio-resources, development of biomass crops and the general enhancement of waste utilisation and management in relation to urban development strategies. The optimisation of production systems, as well as the development of improved sustainable agricultural methods aiming at higher yield and crop productivity, are also of crucial importance in this respect.

− Energy

India's independence in coal and gas ended in the 2000s, raising new concerns on energy external dependence, in particular since recent coal power plants were built to use imported coal. While two thirds of India's electricity currently comes from coal, it also has the fifth global wind capacity and exceeded its targets for non-hydro renewables, which are intended to represent one third of Indian power capacity by 2035. As ensuring efficiency and flexibility of coal power plants and developing competitive low-carbon energy are challenges shared by the EU, cooperation can contribute to making local coal resources more accessible and power plants more flexible, as well as supporting Indian efforts to develop low-carbon technologies.

− Fusion energy

ITER constitutes the main benchmark for both Parties. The bilateral work programme (see annex), agreed at the second Coordinating Committee meeting, addresses the sharing of knowledge and will deepen the respective fusion programmes and strategic roadmaps. A specific India-Euratom task force enhances the bilateral partnership in JET (Joint European Torus) programme. Furthermore, cooperation on Education & Training programmes oriented to post-doc and PhDs has been proposed.

Annex: List of topics encouraging cooperation with India in Horizon 2020 work programme 2014-15[28]

2014 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

BG 15 (Challenge 2) || European polar research cooperation || 2.00

SC5 5 (Challenge 5) || Coordinating and supporting research and innovation for climate action-Climate change mitigation options || -

WATER 5 (Challenge 5) || Strengthening international R&I cooperation in the field of water – Strategic cooperation partnerships || -

2015 || ICT 25 (LEIT-ICT) || Generic micro- and nano-electronic technologies || 3.00

SFS 18 (Challenge 2) || Small farms but global markets: the role of small and family farms in food and nutrition security || 5.00

SC5-5 (Challenge 5) || Coordinating and supporting research and innovation for climate action-Climate change mitigation options || -

ISSI.5.2014.2015 (Science with and for Society) || Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation || 12.00

Euratom Programme complementing Horizon 2020

2014-2015 || Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

Euratom India Fusion CA Second Coordinating Committee || Partnership in the JET programme. “Task Force on the JET ELM coils project” || -

European and Indian workshop on selected S&T fusion topics || -

Mapping of bilateral collaborative activities || -

6. Roadmap for cooperation between Japan and the European Union

1. Japan as a Partner of the EU

EU-Japan relations have developed steadily over the past two decades. Sharing many of the same challenges (energy security, access to critical raw materials, ageing populations), and defending a similar approach to key international challenges such as security and climate change, Japan is in many ways one of Europe’s closest partner on the international stage. The 22nd EU-Japan Summit (7 May 2014) entitled “EU and Japan Acting Together for Global Peace and Prosperity” reiterated EU and Japan’s “strong, longstanding relationship founded on the common values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and shared principles such as open markets and a rules-based international system”.

While trade and investment remain the anchor, a wide range of dialogues and cooperation programmes are taking place in other areas. In particular, Japan has developed stronger political cooperation with the EU and is closely aligned with Europe on key issues including regional security (Ukraine, Iran, North Korea, South China Sea, etc.) and development goals (in particular, cooperation with Africa).

At the centre of the EU-Japan agenda are the twin negotiations launched in April 2013 on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and on a wider Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) covering political dialogue, cooperation in addressing regional and global challenges, and sectoral cooperation (including science and technology). As regards the SPA, four rounds of negotiations have taken place, starting from widely different philosophies. While the EU aimed at an ambitious and comprehensive agreement listing concrete cooperation objectives for the medium and long term, Japan’s initial objective, in contrast, was for a more generic and ‘minimalist’ political declaration. Japan also gave top priority to the FTA, resisting the proposed linkage with the SPA. Both sides are now steering towards a middle ground, moving, in particular, towards an agreement to closely link the FTA and the SPA.

Negotiations have proceeded on the FTA, addressing a wide range of issues related to market access for goods, services and investment, procurement (including railways), and non-tariff measures. The May 2014 Summit noted the progress achieved in the area of trade in goods, with remaining issues still to be solved in other areas (procurement, services, FDI). The 6th round of negotiations in July 2014 marked the beginning of a second phase in the negotiations, following the ’one-year-on’ progress review by the EU.

Japan is a global leader in science and technology, as witnessed, inter alia, by ten Nobel Prize winners in the 2001-2012 period. Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) was 3.7% GDP in 2013 and the long–term goal of 4% remains. In addition to significant expenditure by government, industry dominates the Japanese R&D landscape, accounting for over 75% of Japanese R&D investments. However, the last two years have been marked by a decline in government S&T funding, including in the budgets for international cooperation initiatives.

Japan traditionally performs well in innovation rankings, immediately below the US and above the EU average. However, recent scoreboards document a decline in Japan’s macroeconomic indicators for innovation, e.g. the 2013 European Scoreboard on Innovation puts South Korea well ahead of Japan.

Cooperation between the EU and Japan in research and innovation is governed by the 2011 Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The EU-Japan Joint S&T Committee established under this Agreement has met twice (June 2011 and June 2013) to identify priorities for cooperation. Despite the EU’s insistence to keep a yearly rhythm, the next meeting of the Joint Committee is scheduled only for March 2015.

In addition to the Joint S&T Committee, the 21st Summit in November 2013 mandated the setting up of a task force of senior officials to look at concrete ways to bring EU-Japan cooperation in research and innovation to its ‘full potential’. This task force held its first meeting on 15 April 2014 in Tokyo. The joint report of the meeting was submitted, as requested, to the 22nd Summit on 7 May 2014. The work of the task force was formally recognised in the Summit conclusions, which also recommended that this high-level group should continue its work “to explore more effective and efficient mechanisms to enhance future research cooperation’.

In the area of nuclear energy, EU-Japan cooperation in fusion research dates back to 1988 with the signature of the Euratom-Japan Fusion Cooperation Agreement. Further to the ITER agreement of 2006, the ‘Broader Approach’ agreement providing for research and development complementary to ITER was signed in 2007 with the Japanese government. Japan also participates in fission research, together with Euratom, through the ‘Generation IV International Forum’ (GIF) intergovernmental agreement. An agreement between Euratom and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, signed in 1990 and implemented through the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, was amended in 2012 to include activities on nuclear security in addition to research on nuclear safeguards.

Framework Conditions for research and innovation with Japan are good, as could be expected from one of the world’s leading scientific ‘powerhouses’. As a WTO and OECD member, Japan offers a predictable legal framework, in particular regarding IPR protection.

However, despite this framework, non-tariff barriers remain, particularly in the area of public procurement. As underlined by the current FTA negotiations and by a recent report by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, EU companies encounter barriers both for large technology contracts where big Japanese kereitsu have a de facto monopoly (e.g. supercomputers, high speed trains), as well as for smaller contracts. Reasons include: a high degree of diversity in administrative procedures, often specific to individual procuring entities and the types of contract; little or no information in foreign languages; absence of published tender evaluation and negotiation methods. As a result, EU-supplied goods and services only accounted for 2.9% of total procurement value in 2011.

In the area of standards, the Japanese system also tends to favour insiders. Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) are used in tender requirements and have been usually developed by domestic industrial associations. Foreign suppliers are forced to verify separately whether their products meet these standards, thus adding to extra time and costs when preparing a bid. Excessive use of standards, and last minute changes in standards, are also utilised to keep out foreign competition. A closer harmonisation of standards, called for by the EU-Japan Business Round Table, and discussed in the context of the FTA, would no doubt be beneficial for both sides.

2. Cooperation between Japan and the EU in Research and Innovation: State of Play

As of February 2014, Japanese entities participated 108 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 8.9 million. The distribution of the Japanese participation (by total cost of Japanese participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below. To these figures must be added the 17 projects financed through 5 coordinated calls launched between 2011 and 2013 in the areas of energy, aeronautics, materials, and ICT.

416 Japanese researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Japanese institutions have participated in 59 projects.

Compared with other international partner countries, Japan’s performance is relatively modest, ranking only 13th for participations by Japan-based research entities in FP7. However, by contrast, EU-based branches of Japanese companies have participated actively in FP7 (over 160 participations, notably in ICT). These willingly acknowledge the advantages of their involvement in EU programmes: setting up strategic partnerships with leading EU and international companies, faster standardisation processes, development of new applications and products for the global market. A key challenge in Horizon 2020 will be to ensure that Japan increases its overall participation in the Programme’s ‘General Opening’ to a level matching the excellence of its science base and its economic strength.

Cooperation in the framework of the Euratom fission programme is well established with nine projects worth EUR 7.7 million (including Euratom funding of EUR 0.5 million). In fusion research Japan and Euratom have over 150 on-going collaborative activities involving 53 European entities and 35 Japanese research institutions. A number of these activities involve the Joint European Torus (JET) in areas considered critical for ITER.

The Commission’s Joint Research Centre has also developed cooperation with Japanese partner institutions in fields including disaster management, structural engineering codes, standards & metrology and photovoltaïcs as well as in nuclear safety and security. FP7 cooperation with Japan in the field of space research has included ‘Pulsed Chemical Rocket with Green High Performance Propellants’ and ‘High speed Key technologies for future Air Transport Research and Innovation’.

The ‘Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and Technology’ (JEUPISTE) project, funded under FP7, supports the policy dialogue between the EU and Japan and disseminates information on possibilities for cooperation.

Japan has also been targeted as a partner for cooperation in the first Horizon 2020 work programme (2014-2015), with topics encouraging cooperation with Japanese researchers in areas such as Aeronautics, ICT and Materials. Two new coordinated calls have been launched (ICT) or will soon be launched (Aeronautics).

Work is ongoing to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with Japan and the activities of the Member States. Synergies with cooperation at EU level are developed through the Strategic Forum for International Cooperation (SFIC). The successful ERA-Net project CONCERT-Japan provides a good example of alternative approaches to funding EU-Japan projects. In addition to policy and brokerage activities the project launched two joint pilot calls on ‘Natural Hazards & Disaster Management’ and ‘Energy Storage & Distribution’ in close partnership with Member States, generating over EUR 5 million from two Japanese and 15 European participants. Benefitting from exceptionally strong support from Member States and from Japan’s Science and Technology Agency (JST) these two calls financed a dozen separate projects. An additional call in Photonics has just been launched.

3. Cooperation between Japan and the EU: Priorities for the Future

On the basis of the work of the EU-Japan Joint S&T Committee the following areas are considered to be priority areas for future cooperation with Japan:

− Critical Raw Materials

Critical Raw Materials have been one of the most active areas of cooperation between the EU and Japan since 2010. This area is, in many ways, a model for such cooperation both at the policy level (common strategic interest), as well at project level (two successful coordinated calls, participation of Japanese experts in the last evaluation, active organisational involvement and financial support by JST). In addition, Japan has been a key partner in the EU-US-Japan Trilateral Dialogue launched at the initiative of the European Commission, in particular in the organisation of three successive high level conferences in Washington, Tokyo and Brussels.

− Transport research including aviation

Transport research is another strategic area for cooperation with Japan, providing EU industry with opportunities to reinforce links with Japanese industrial partners and improve access to the Japanese market. The EU-Japan Working Group on aeronautics research was launched in June 2013, providing an efficient platform to manage on-going projects, define joint priorities, and prepare future cooperation. A support action in the 2014 work programme with a dedicated coordinated call foreseen for 2015 will support these activities. For future calls further targeted actions in the field of automated vehicles can be expected as an outcome of a trilateral (EU, Japan and US) working group.

− ICT

ICT has long been the most active area of EU-Japan S&T cooperation, both at policy and project level. The EU and Japan have an active ongoing Information Society Dialogue, meeting each year, covering policy and regulatory issues, as well as research. The 20th meeting, on 4-5 December 2013 took stock of the progress achieved and confirmed the key priorities for future cooperation. A second coordinated call has been included in the work-programme 2014-15 of Horizon 2020 supporting joint research and innovation activities on Net Futures i.e. Future Internet, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing. Specific topics include technologies combining big data, internet of things, optical communications, access networks for densely located users and EU-Japan federated test-beds for smart ICT. Joint work on these areas is expected to be continued in the work-programme 2016-17 of Horizon 2020. In addition to these topics Japanese participation is also welcome in mainstream research and innovation dealing with new network infrastructures for Future Internet which includes 5G. : Possible cooperation on specific aspects of manufacturing technologies of micro-electronics. Prospects for further cooperation are also being explored in Cyber Security, Active and Healthy Ageing.

In addition to these three priorities, cooperation is also on-going in a number of other areas, including:

− Energy (non-nuclear)

Cooperation with Japan on non-nuclear energy research and innovation has been well established in key areas such as hydrogen fuel cells, energy storage, carbon capture and storage, electric vehicles, and critical materials for energy. A successful coordinated call on photovoltaics was launched in 2011. However, more R&D cooperation with Japan could have been expected. It is hoped that joint activities will further develop following the adoption of Japan's first Basic energy plan since the Fukushima disaster, under which development of low-carbon energy is a priority. Cooperation in energy and energy research was also one of the issues emphasised by President Barroso at the 22nd EU-JP Summit.

− Space research and innovation

The EU and Japan have an advanced space science and technology sector and a powerful space industry. Fostering a stronger involvement of Japanese scientists in Europe is of mutual benefit.

− Health

Japan and the EU cooperate in multilateral initiatives aimed at addressing global health challenges. These are, in particular, the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC[29]), the International Human Microbiome Consortium (IHMC[30]) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC[31],). These initiatives will continue until at least 2015. Japan is the most significant funder of the Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP[32]) to which the EU will continue to provide an annual contribution of around EUR 4.5 million.

− Security research

There are complementary skills and technologies between EU and Japanese research centres and industry in the area of sensor technologies for security systems. It is intended to establish a joint plan with Japanese research funding institutions, to be implemented on the EU side through the 2016 Horizon 2020 work programme, towards the development and security-related use of advanced sensors and sensing systems.

− Euratom

Exchanges and cooperation are being developed in two main areas. Firstly, tools for the fast and reliable prediction of the progression of severe nuclear accidents as well as for the anticipation of such accidents. Secondly, it includes cooperation on nuclear developments and interaction with society. Euratom and Japan will also continue to strengthen cooperation in the multilateral framework of the ITER project while building up a bilateral partnership on fusion energy research. Euratom is negotiating bilateral cooperation at the JET facility to support ITER and the bilateral fusion work programme is endorsed by the ITER Coordinating Committee.

Annex: List of topics encouraging cooperation with Japan in Horizon 2020

work programme 2014-2015[33]

|| Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

2014 || H2020-EUJ-2014 (LEIT-ICT) || EU-Japan Research and Development Cooperation in Net Futures || 6.00

ICT 14 (LEIT-ICT) || Advanced 5G network infrastructures for the future internet || 122.00

NMP 26 (LEIT-NMP) || Joint EU & MS activity on the next phase of research in support of regulation NANOREG II || -

NMP 27 (LEIT-NMP) || Coordination of EU an international efforts in safety of nanotechnology || -

NMP 28 (LEIT-NMP) || Assessment of environmental fate of nanomaterials || -

NMP 29 (LEIT-NMP) || Increasing the capacity to perform nano-safety assessment || -

MG-1-8 (Challenge 4) || International cooperation in aeronautics || 3.00

SC5-13 (Challenge 5) || Coordinating and supporting raw materials research and innovation-Strategic international dialogues and cooperation on raw materials with technologically advanced countries || 5.00

NFRP 2 (Euratom) || Tool for the fast and reliable prediction of severe accident progression and anticipation of the source term of a nuclear accident || 3.00

NFRP 12 (Euratom) || Nuclear developments and interaction with society || 2.50

2015 || ICT 25 (LEIT-ICT) || Generic micro- and nano-electronic technologies || 3.00

ICT 38 (LEIT-ICT) || International partnership building and support to dialogues with high income countries || 3.00

NMP 23 (LEIT-NMP) || Novel materials by design for substituting critical elements || -

NMP 30 (LEIT-NMP) || Next generation of tools for risk governance of nanomaterials || -

PHC 33 (Challenge 1) || New approaches to improve predictive human safety testing || 30

SFS 10 (Challenge 2) || Tackling disease related challenges and threats faced by European farmed aquatic animals || -

SFS 16 (Challenge 2) || Tackling malnutrition in the elderly || -

BG 15 (Challenge 2) || European polar research cooperation || 2.00

MG 1-8 (Challenge 4) || International cooperation in aeronautics || 16.00

ISSI.5.2014.2015 (Science with and for Society) || Supporting structural change in research organisations to promote Responsible Research and Innovation || 12.00

Euratom Programme complementing Horizon 2020

|| Identifier || Short title || Indicative budget (EUR million)

2014-2015 || Euratom-Japan Fusion Cooperation Agreement Fifth Coordinating Committee || Mapping of bilateral collaborative activities || -

Exploitation of Broader Approach projects beyond 2017 (including “auxiliary arrangements” of post-BA activities) || -

Programmatic comparison of EU and Japanese fusion roadmaps and strengthening INCO activities in support to ITER || -

Potential Japanese partnership in the JET programme || -

7. Roadmap for cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the European Union

1. Korea as a partner of the EU

EU-Korean relations are based on the Framework Agreement (which entered into force on 1June 2014). The Republic of Korea (ROK) is the only country with whom the EU has signed a Framework Agreement (in 2010), a Free Trade Agreement (in 2011) and a Crisis Management Agreement (23 May 2014).

Cooperation between Korea and the EU on research and innovation is governed by the Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, which came into force in 2007. In 2013, the Commission published an independent Review of this S&T Agreement. In fusion research, Euratom and Korea are parties to the ITER International Agreement and have bilateral cooperation agreement on fusion energy, in force since 2006. In fission research, Euratom and Korea are signatories to the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).

In 2013, Korea joined the USA as the most innovative country in the Innovation Union Scoreboard. In 2012, Korea had the 2nd highest gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) globally, at over 4% of GDP. In 2010, 72% of GERD was funded by industry, 27% by government and 0.2% from abroad.

At the 7th EU-ROK Summit in Brussels on 8 November 2013, a Joint Declaration commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations was adopted and the summit set out a vision for future development, with focus on cooperation in research, high education and industry.

2. Cooperation between Korea and the EU on research and innovation: state of play

As of February 2014, Korean entities participated 65 times in FP7 signed grant agreements, receiving a total EU contribution of EUR 1.9 million. The distribution of the Korean participation (by total cost of Korean participants) over the different FP7 subprogrammes is shown below.

153 Korean researchers have been funded through the Marie Curie Actions (2007-2013) and Korean institutions have participated in 14 projects.

A support action FP7 project, KONNECT[34] is helping the coordination of specific activities, such as networking events by thematic area, twinning events, training of National Contact Points (NCPs) and preparation of strategic reports – in synergy with the Joint S&T Committee[35].

Korea has been targeted as a partner for cooperation in the Horizon 2020 work programme 2014-2015, with topics encouraging cooperation with Korean researchers in areas such as 5G network infrastructures, nanosafety, factories of the future and animal health. A full list of topics included in the work programme 2014-2015 is provided in Annex.

Work is on-going to strengthen the synergies between the EU's cooperation with Korea and the activities of the Member States (MS), as MS consider cooperation with Korea as economically important.

In the period of the Euratom FP7 and FP7+2 (i.e. 2007-2013) there have been 5 Korean participations in Fission projects, while the number of bilateral Fusion collaborative activities have reached about 35 collaborative activities.

As regards framework conditions for cooperation, South Korea has strengths in many aspects. These include a sustained technology-based economic development, a national consensus on the importance of science, technology and innovation as drivers of future socioeconomic growth, high levels of GERD and BERD, a highly educated labour force, supportive and improving framework conditions for innovation, large firms that are internationally competitive, capability to produce talent and strong ICT infrastructure[36]. The EU and Korea are important trading partners. European companies are the largest investors in South Korea. South Korea is the EU's tenth largest trade partner and the EU is South Korea's fourth largest export destination (after China, Japan and USA).

Framework conditions for cooperation in research and innovation with Korea have been improving in recent years, particularly since the signing of the FTA with the EU in 2011, which has led to a level playing field in the areas of IPR and market access.

An example of a further positive effect of the FTA is the decreased reports by EU enterprises based in Korea of framework related issues to the EU Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

This improvement of framework conditions builds on the Korean government's increased investment in public R&D budgets since the late 1990s and improved framework conditions for Korean start-ups and tech-based SMEs (such as government-backed venture funds, tax waivers, military service exemptions for researchers).

The Third Science and Technology Basic Plan (2013-2017) aims to increase the contributions of R&D to economic growth from 35.4% to 40% through a 'Creative Economy Strategy' to support cutting edge innovation, including in SMEs and fostering high value services to drive a knowledge-based economy. This comprises enhancement and high efficacy of national R&D investment, including strengthening basic research in Korea; development of national strategic technology; strengthening long-term creative capability; supporting creation of new industry and creation of new jobs.

However, some issues still remain to be improved, such as the access to Public Procurement by European enterprises in South Korea, where calls are often only open for a short period. Also improved access to research and innovation funding calls for EU SMEs based in Korea would increase their R&I activities. Reciprocity of access to such funding calls should be a continued target for these enterprises based in South Korea.

3. Cooperation between Korea and the EU on research and innovation: priorities for the future

As agreed in the 5th Joint S&T Committee (Brussels, June 2013), the following have been identified as priority areas for future cooperation:

− Nanotechnologies:

In this domain, Europe has a strong knowledge-base and Korea has rapid deployment capability. Synergie