Western Balkan Countries
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On 22 January 2020, the European Court of Auditors published a new report on the SME Instrument. The SME Instrument was launched as part of Horizon 2020 in 2014 to support innovation in small and... read more
Becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is the greatest challenge and opportunity of our times. To achieve this, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal, the most... read more
Research infrastructures (RIs) are those facilities, resources and related services that the scientific community use to conduct high-level research. They cover a range of research fields from engineering... read more
Smart specialisation strategies (RIS 3 or S3) are about enabling regions to turn their needs, strengths and competitive advantages into marketable goods and services. S3 aim to prioritise public research... read more
Highlighting the services and opportunities of RIs Research infrastructures (RIs) are the facilities, resources and related services which allow the scientific community to conduct high-level research... read more
On 16 January 2020, ESFRI published the Report of the ESFRI Working Group on Monitoring of Research Infrastructures Performance. The task of the group was to develop a set of Key Performance... read more
The Western Balkans (WB) Steering Platform on Research and Innovation (SP) was organised in Brussels on September 23-24, 2019. The meeting was co-chaired by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation... read more
ESFRI has published the outcomes of its Workshop on the Future of Research Infrastructures in the European Research Area. The event was organised with a view to the next Roadmap of European ... read more
This report seeks to examine how the Smart Specialisation approach was put into practice across European regions and Member States. It builds upon 35 implementation cases, outlining three main types of... read more
On 5 July 2019, Poland welcomed the Heads of Government of the Berlin Process participants, as well as representatives of the European Institutions, International Financial Institutions, OECD, the Regional... read more
The availability of broadband infrastructure has been found to be an important determinant of a country’s economic and social development. In recognition of this, the European Union (EU) adopted a Digital... read more
With this survey, the aim is to draft a gap analysis of the InGRID-2 research infrastructure in the areas relevant to academics and researchers in the fields of poverty and social exclusion in the South... read more
A presentation by Philippe Froissard, Deputy Head of the Research Infrastructure Unit, European Commission –DG Research & Innovation. III RICH Symposium, European Research Infrastructures: from... read more
‘Trieste Declaration on Science’ paves the way for 17 countries in south-east Europe to boost participation in Horizon Europe and strengthen international research cooperation The Ministers of... read more
When it comes to the most effective economic structure for growth, smart specialisation strategies suggest promoting specialisation not in narrowly defined industries but rather in economic activities... read more
The first edition of European Social Survey (ESS) Round 9 data - collected in 19 countries during late 2018 and early 2019 - has been published on 31 October 2019. read more
OpenAIRE has issued some recommendations for solidifying and advancing open science in FP9. FP9 is about carrying out research through mission oriented goals, co-creation and co-design, and is... read more
On 4 December 2019, EARTO, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, published a paper outlining the group's recommendations for European research and innovation policies post... read more
Selected findings from the first seven rounds - European Social Survey A publication that showcases a wide range of articles based on European Social Survey (ESS) data collected over the first seven... read more
A short policy brief has been issued relating to the results of CONCORDi 2019 conference This short article introduces the main challenges, the latest scientific evidence and policy issues, and the... read more
At today's renovation rate of around 1% of buildings per year, a timely transition of the EU building sector towards climate-neutral levels by 2050 cannot be ensured. To accelerate energy efficiency investments... read more
This guidebook on Project Development Assistance published by the Covenant of Mayors focuses on the H2020 Project Development Assistance (PDA), and showcases good examples of how to trigger sustainable... read more
A new policy paper “Regional cooperation in the Western Balkans – is there a civil society pillar?” written by Jelica Minić, Zoran Nechev and Ivan Nikolovski has been released by the SEE Think Net. ... read more
The SME performance review is one of the main tools the European Commission uses to monitor and assess countries' progress in implementing the Small Business Act (SBA) on a yearly basis. With an emphasis... read more
During its co-design process for Horizon Europe, the European Commission carried out an open web consultation on the implementation of Horizon Europe between 31 July 2019 and 4 October 2019. ... read more
Find the newsletter attached. In 2018 the European Commission presented the strategy 'A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans' and, against ... read more
Strengthening the WB Steering Platform on R&I: new activities funded in 2019-2021 The Steering Platform on Research and Innovation for the Western Balkans (SP) is a stable and reliable format for... read more
Check out the updated brochure that provides an overview of EU funded innovation procurements in the ICT domain. Find out how they are bringing ICT based solutions to the market to address challenges ... read more
The EOSC Strategic Implementation Plan presents the activities that will contribute to the implementation of the EOSC for the period 2019-2020. While the document will be made public after final approval... read more
This Biannual Report presents the results of the previous two years of ESFRI’s activity. This report is published for transparent information on the activity of ESFRI to all interested stakeholders and... read more
The ESFRI Roadmap 2021 Guide offers support to proposers preparing a new submission and to the Projects and Landmarks involved in the update procedure. This Guide contains the definitions, models, methods... read more
ENVRIplus project is officially over. And it left a huge amount of results behind. Through an organisation of a very large number of activities, workshops, internal and external consultations, they... read more
Enhancing the innovation potential has been on the policy agenda of the Western Balkan economies for years. Hence, innovation policy-making has led to a number of policy documents and strategies that ... read more
The six Western Balkan economies are facing similar challenges and opportunities in upgrading their tourism sectors. Currently, all six economies are preparing the design and implementation of smart specialization... read more
ALLEA, the All European Academies association, has recently published a statement on "The Need for Intellectual Property Rights Strategies at Academic Institutions". read more
The National ERA Roadmap of Turkey has been made available online in English. The national roadmap was first published in May 2019. read more
To support the European Commission in the preparation of future initiatives fostering the sustainability of strategic supply chains, this study was commissioned to assess bottlenecks in the supply of ... read more
New research on EU macro-regions by ESPON. How can macro-regional strategies benefit from smart specialisation strategies? read more
This paper investigates how and to what extent the Smart Specialisation approach to innovation policy is currently being translated into strategic decisions and policy interventions in Europe. It defines... read more
The operationalization of smart specialization policy has been rather limited because a coherent set of analytical tools to guide the policy directives remains elusive. We propose a policy framework around... read more
This paper argues that e-skills – capabilities associated with the use and development of digital technologies – enhance regions’ ability to draw on existing know-how and create new industrial paths. ... read more
The SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 - Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe provides an important tool to help policy makers design and implement policies... read more
This study was carried out against the background of the ‘EU for Innovation’ project, supported by the European Union and implemented by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH... read more
To strengthen our industrial base, Europe needs to build on its assets. Batteries and cybersecurity are some of the many strategic and future oriented business areas where boosting Europe’s competitive... read more
This publication is a Science for Policy report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. read more
The European Union has long been strongly engaged in the Western Balkans. Since the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, it has supported the future of the region as an integral part of the EU. In 2014, on the... read more
This factsheet includes a timeline of digital connectivity in the Western Balkans, information on the Connectivity Agenda, digital projects in the 2018 Connectivity Package, digital transition in the ... read more
This factsheet includes information on the Connectivity Agenda, expected results of 2019 projects, as well as on using EU grants through the Western Balkans Investment Framework to boost investments 2015... read more
Including an overview of EU - WBC relations, economic potential thereof, key achievements in the last year, as well as main steps to accession. read more
Eurydice Background Report This report contains more than 35 updated structural indicators on education policies for the 2018/19 school/academic year in six policy areas: early childhood education ... read more
Western Balkan Countries Information Platform on Research Technology and Innovation is currently funded by the European Commission through the INT Service Facility for the Support of the Steering Platform on Research and Innovation for Western Balkan Countries (Specific Contract No. 30-CE-0864059/00-47). It builds upon the original platform WBC-INCO.NET.
