Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union and Western Balkans deepen collaboration in Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
Iliana Ivanova, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth engaged with Ministers from the Western Balkans in Skopje in a series of discussions that highlighted the joint actions on implementing the Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
How is the EU fostering innovation in the Western Balkans?
The representatives reaffirmed their dedication to intensifying cooperation for more robust integration of the Western Balkans in the European Education Area, in the European Research Area and the European Innovation Agenda. The EU is seeking to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU and it formed a set of tools and instruments to speed up the region’s convergence. The EU’s latest endeavour, the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans includes support for supporting innovation, the green and digital transitions and delivering further education opportunities to young people.
As far as Research and innovation are concerned, the Ministers discussed the function of the European Research Area and the European Innovation Agenda, which all the Western Balkan partners can fully access, to promote, attract and retain talents via scaling up the skills required for innovation.
In the area of education, Ministerial discussions concentrated on building a strong link between education and innovation. Several critical policy initiatives already contribute to this purpose, including the European Education Area, particularly the European Strategy for Universities, the New European Innovation Agenda and the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.
The Western Balkans Ministerial Platform on Culture, established in 2022, focuses on the cultural and creative sectors in the region. These sectors can fully profit from the opportunities offered by the Creative Europe programme, including the Culture Moves Europe mobility scheme, which funds the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, and the European Capital of Culture.
How will the new growth plan support the western Balkans?
With the Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, the region persists in moving along the path towards closer collaboration with the EU in these policy areas, thus contributing to the growth agenda.
The Growth Plan for Western Balkans seeks to bring the Western Balkans members closer to the EU by offering some of the benefits of EU membership to the area in advance of accession, promoting economic growth and accelerating socio-economic convergence. The Plan is funded by a new performance-based financing instrument, the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans. It operates with up to €6 billion for the period 2024-2027.
