On 3 June 2026, the third EU-Serbia Joint Committee meeting under Horizon Europe was held in Brussels, co-chaired by Ms Mina Stareva, Deputy Head of Unit for International Cooperation – Europe and Americas at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), and Ms Aleksandra Šuvaković, State Secretary of Serbia’s Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation.
The meeting reaffirmed the key role of research and innovation in strengthening EU-Serbia cooperation, and the benefits of association to Horizon Europe. Both sides acknowledged Serbia’s commitment to aligning with the European Research Area (ERA) values and principles and its ambition to deepen integration through enhanced collaboration.
Key topics discussed
Discussions focused on new EU initiatives such as the ERA Policy Actions 2025-2027, the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures and the European AI in Science Strategy. Furthermore, the European Commission’s proposal for the next Research and Innovation Framework Programme was presented in more detail.
The Serbian delegation shared updates on the latest national developments in the country’s R&I policy landscape, on the national Science and Innovation Fund and the national Smart Specialisation Strategy. In addition, Serbia updated on national efforts in AI in Science.
Horizon Europe Association
The two sides updated each other on Serbia’s participation in Horizon Europe and exchanged on upcoming funding opportunities, successful Serbian participations in Horizon Europe projects such as the TITAN project as part of support to Research Infrastructures and recent statistics on Serbian involvement in Horizon Europe call. The discussions reaffirmed the mutual benefits of Serbia’s association to Horizon Europe, emphasising the importance of continued collaboration to address shared challenges in research and innovation.
The fourth EU-Serbia Joint Committee Meeting is scheduled to take place in Belgrade in 2027.
