The RCC welcomed the participants and the opportunity to host and co-chair the meeting of the Steering Platform which allowed for exchanging information and discussing possible concrete steps for operationalizing regional cooperation in research and development.

The Commission welcomed the opportunity to meet with all the Western Balkans and relevant stakeholders together which was a valuable and timely occasion to take stock of actions taken and more importantly to steer further the work aiming at strengthening the research and innovation capacity and improving the scientific excellence in the Balkan Region.

Topics that have been presented and discussed during the meeting are related to "Open Access and Open Data" (presented by the Dutch Presidency); "State of affairs in Western Balkans – Presentation on state of development and preparation on ERA" (presented by national representatives/national science ministries) and "Cooperation in R&D in the Western Balkans" (presented by relevant stakeholders such as German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Austrian Academy of Sciences who reported on the 2nd Joint Science Conference of the Berlin Process, WISE, JRC, CEI, different european stekeholders such as ministries in charge for science/research/innovation (Austria, Croatia, Germany, The Netherland, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) and research councils (Malta, Turkey), different initiatives such as PERFORM, PRIMA, Danube-INCO.NET, WBC-RTI.info and others.

Please find the conclusions attached below for more detailed information. Please consult also the presentations held, that are to be find online by following the link below.