The event was hosted by the Ministry of Science of Montenegro and the Minister, H.E. Sanja Vlahovic. It brought several representatives from the European Commission to Budva to speak about Horizon 2020 both in political as well as in practical terms. The EC delegation was led by Wolfgang Burtscher, Deputy Director General of DG Research and Innovation who spoke to the Minister of Education and Sports of Albania (H.E. Lindita Nikolla), the Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (H.E. Sredoje Novic), Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Montenegro (H.E. Aleksandar Vasilevski), Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development (H.E. Tomislav Jovanovic) and Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo* (H.E. Rame Buja).

Moderated by Alan Paic from OECD's Global Relations Secretariat, the ministers welcomed the audience and of course the active participation of the region in Horizon 2020. The importance of association to the programme and - hand in hand - the implementation of the South East Europe 2020 strategy improving both international as well as regional cooperation has been highlighted. Research and Innovation have an important role also in the process towards EU Accession - Minister Vlahovic recalled the closing of the negotiations of "Chapter 25", bringing Montenegro a step closer to the EU and the European Research Area. Raising the investments in R&D was a reoccuring theme in the speeches of the ministers, reporting on past achievements as well as future plans. Among the instruments which as used the opening up bilateral and multilateral relations, establishment of Centers of Excellence and S&T parks, networks with scientific diaspora, promotion of science in the public, promotion of Horizon 2020 to researchers and companies.

The presentations covered:

• background and outline of Horizon 2020 and some key features of the programme (e.g. openness to international cooperation, fast time to grant, SME focus, compared to FP7 the new programme is also "less prescriptive" and more strategic)
• the programme "Societal Challenges" with a specific focus on "Food security and Sustainable Agriculture"
• the programme "Excellent Science" with a specific focus on Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions
• the rules for participation

are available from the following website:

https://h2020-montenegro.teamwork.fr/en/programme