topic Ministry

Cooperation with Central, Eastern and South East Europe

Cooperation with Central, Eastern and South East European countries is aimed towards European integration. This means that the objectives and framework conditions of bilateral cooperation in education and research are also changing. Whereas in the past attention focused on supporting the integration of the accession countries in the EU, it is now a matter of working together to shape the European Education and Research Area. Furthermore, the respective capabilities are to be linked up in research and development projects which are of mutual interest.

Pursuant to the Copenhagen Resolutions of 13 December 2002, the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary were to join the European Union in May 2004, Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Albania are involved in the current EU Process of Stabilization and Association. The prospects of EU accession for these countries were reaffirmed during the Greek Presidency.

This means that there are also changes in the objectives and framework conditions of bilateral cooperation with these countries in the field of education and research. Whereas in the past attention focused on supporting the integration of the accession countries in the field of European cooperation in education and research, it is now a matter of working together to shape the European Education and Research Area. Future key areas of bilateral cooperation are:

• Linking the respective capabilities in research and development projects which are of mutual interest,
• Aligning research and innovation policies whilst at the same time maintaining diversity and competition;
• Stimulating cooperation in European networks to solve urgent problems of bilateral or European significance, such as the creation of bases for growth and employment;
• Intensifying the development and expansion of the European Research Area as a whole.

Key areas of cooperation currently involve the stimulation and networking of regional innovation initiatives along the lines of the BMBF's Inno-Regio Programme and its follow-up programmes, "Innovative regional growth centres" and "Interregional alliances", as well as the wide spectrum of funding measures for innovations in small and medium-sized companies. Apart from holding bi- and multi-lateral meetings of experts, workshops and conferences, the BMBF also supports targeted preparatory measures in order to stimulate cooperation between innovative regions in Germany and the partner countries and to establish interregional cooperation.

Important partners in both bilateral and European cooperation are the EU accession countries Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovakian Republic and Slovenia. Memoranda on the future shaping of cooperation in education and research were signed with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2003. The development of cooperation with Rumania and Bulgaria is also making good progress.

Key areas of bilateral cooperation with the accession countries are in the field of the neurosciences, genomics and proteomics, new materials, the physical and chemical technologies, biotechnology, environmental research and technology, health research, information technologies and production technologies.

Evaluations of the calls for the Fifth European Research Framework Programme have shown that facilities in the accession countries very often conduct joint projects with German partners. Special importance is therefore being attached to measures to prepare cooperation under the current Sixth Research Framework Programme and its specific programmes.

One example of regional cooperation is transport research whose significance is growing against the background of EU expansion. Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Poland and Hungary in the field of transport logistics at the instigation of the BMBF, an international workshop on securing mobility, held in Dresden in September 2003, gave important stimulus to transport research. Research focuses on two areas: "Cross-border problems" of the sustainable development of mobility in the new European regions and "Universal problems of mobility" arising from processes of structural change in towns, regions and conurbations.
Cooperation with Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, FYR Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania focuses on the political, economic and social stabilization of the region and its incipient integration in the European Union; these five South East European countries have the status of potential accession countries. Croatia has already applied to be included in the negotiations for accession to the EU. The Joint Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of the EU Countries and the Western Balkan States was signed at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003. It stresses the special role of science and technology for the region's political and economic stabilization and points out that the future of this area lies within the EU.

The main areas of the BMBF's cooperation with these five states are support for the process of stabilization and leading South East Europe into the European Education and Research Area. Instruments for this purpose are bilateral activities as well as multi-lateral and regional events, such as for example joint workshops, counselling projects and information and cooperation events of a preparatory nature.

Principle fields of work and research are information and communication technologies as well as research and innovation policy. Furthermore, the BMBF supports the efforts of the partner countries in representing their interests with regard to European funding programmes before the EU Commission and playing an active part in such programmes. This establishes important foundations for future bilateral cooperation with partners in South East Europe and for their involvement in European structures.