Background

Since the adoption of the 'EU – Balkan countries Action Plan in S&T' in 2003 and in every meeting or conference involving S&T policy makers of the Western Balkan countries (WBCs) and of EU Member States, the CARDS Programme has been identified as one of the most important sources that could provide funding for the implementation of the Action Plan and more specifically for the renewal of infrastructure. However, until today such support from CARDS has not occurred. There are several reasons for this situation, among which we can state: the absence of S&T in the priority fields of intervention for CARDS, the timid support from representatives of the EU Member States in the CARDS Committee and, last but not least, the lack of adequate demand from the WBCs for such projects (with the exception of Serbia).
Currently the CARDS Programme for the WBCs is coming to an end and the European Union is finalising a new development aid scheme in line with the European Neighborhood Policy: the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA).

The Instrument for Pre-Accession

The regulations for the new instrument (IPA), which will cover the period 2007–2013, are being finalised. Even if S&T is not among the main objectives of IPA, support to S&T related activities could be envisaged. This significant change is the result of the dynamics that have been created through:

• The adoption of the Action Plan that explicitly makes reference to the necessity to use CARDS as a possible source for the financial support of its goals. Subsequent meetings and conferences consolidated this need.
• The formal request to CARDS from Serbia for S&T related activities and the backing of this request by ministers of EU Member States, who sent support letters.
• The SEE-ERA.NET project that addressed particular attention to this issue and proceeded to specific contacts with officials from the European Commission.

However, even if in principle support for S&T related activities could be envisaged in IPA, the implementation of such activities will mainly depend on the following:
First, formal requests need to be addressed by the country concerned and negotiated with the European Commission. If a WBC does not include S&T related activities in its national priorities, nothing can be done. As mentioned above, Serbia presented a request under CARDS. If a similar request were re-iterated under IPA, there would be significant chances for a positive reply. This could pave the way for equivalent activities in other WBCs.
In addition, it will depend on the understanding of what type of activities could be supported. These could for example include infrastructure renewal (in terms of laboratory equipment and/or construction) and possibly some soft actions (e.g. studies/re-organisation of the research systems), but not support to research itself.
Since environment, sustainable development, trade, etc. will most probably remain among the main goals of IPA, the possibilities for 'dual use' equipments need to be investigated (e.g. a laboratory equipped for environmental measures which can also be used for research purposes). In any case, close contacts with the European Commission services in the WBCs are necessary in order to propose acceptable topics and well-structured projects.

Conclusions / Recommendations

It is reasonable to believe that S&T related activities in the WBCs could be supported through IPA. As this support is in principle accepted from the side of the Commission and of the EU Member States, the main effort and responsibility lies in the hands of the WBCs: the need to formulate relevant requests.
To achieve success, the following steps are important for the S&T policy makers and administrators in the WBCs:
1. Identification of the national authorities and persons who are responsible for the definition of the national priorities towards IPA
2. Formulation and submission of adequate topics to the aforementioned authorities, to be taken into account when proposing and negotiating the activities considered for the country with the Commission services
The SEE-ERA.NET project and moreover the recently launched Steering Platform could be supportive in this process, acting as a forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices among the WBCs as well as through focused and coordinated interventions towards the European Commission services and the EU Member States, wherever necessary.

Article provided in the eJournal summer 06.