The meeting was co-chaired by Ms. Mina Stareva, Deputy Head of Unit for ‘International cooperation – Europe and Americas’, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and Ms. Adriana Cazacu-Tigaie, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Research in Moldova.
In the introductory remarks, the EU co-chair emphasized the key political directions of European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, focusing on Startups, Research and Innovation, and its impact on the cooperation between the parties. Detailed presentations were given on new EU initiatives such as the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the forthcoming European Research Area Act, the Innovation Act, the European Research Infrastructure Strategy and the European AI in Science Strategy. Furthermore, the EC proposal for the next Research and Innovation Framework Programme was presented in more detail.
The Moldovan side presented the latest updates on the country’s R&I policy landscape, such as progress made under the National Programme of R&I 2024-2027 and the Smart Specialisation Strategy “Smart Moldova”.
Moreover, the two sides took the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the Horizon Europe Association Agreement, such as the implementation of the reciprocity principle and statistics on Moldova’s participation in Horizon Europe calls.
The two parties also reviewed participation under specific Horizon Europe Actions, with a special focus on the European Innovation Council, Widening Actions under Horizon Europe and Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions. In addition, the broad activities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and the COST Association were presented.
The meeting offered a good occasion to acknowledge Moldova’s good progress under Chapter 25 “Science and Research”, focusing on further integration into the European Research Area through commitment to different ERA Policy Actions, the modernization of research infrastructures and enhanced participation in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. During the meeting, both parties discussed how participation of Moldovan stakeholders can be increased, especially in the context of the activities of the Moldovan Horizon Europe Office which is financially supported by the EU in the scope of the M-HERO project.
The next Horizon Europe Joint Committee Meeting is foreseen to take place in Chisinau in 2026.
