Better coordination, closer cooperation and targeted synergies, will help maximise the impact of funding in the Research and Innovation (R&D) sector, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriakos Kokkinos, told his EU counterparts on Friday at an informal meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council, in Prague.
Kokkinos joined other EU Ministers responsible for their countries’ research agenda for an informal meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council in the framework of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The main theme of the policy debate was to exploit the potential for synergies between EU and national initiatives and programmes to promote research and innovation in Europe. Among other things, the competent Ministers presented their countries’ experiences in the context of the 2014-20 programming period, the challenges and difficulties they faced and their expectations for the new 2021-27 period.
In his intervention, Kokkinos, referred to obstacles that Cyprus faced during the previous programming period, such as the overlapping of actions and tools as well as the increased administrative burden of the various time-consuming procedures. He expressed the belief that through better coordination, closer cooperation and targeted synergies, the impact of R&D funding would be maximised.
The informal meeting was chaired by the Czech Republic’s Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Vladimír Balaš, as host. The EU was represented by Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
Source: Cyprus News Agency