topic Ministry

Cooperation with Western, Northern and Southern Europe

Cooperation with other European countries is a central issue for Germany and an especially strong factor in the implementation of the BMBF's funding programmes. Bilateral cooperation predominantly takes place within a multilateral framework and is geared towards actively shaping the European Research Area (ERA). Scientific cooperation in the ERA is generally carried out through direct and unrestricted contact between researchers and research institutions, without the need for government-funded measures to establish these contacts.

In this context, the primary goals of bilateral cooperation between the BMBF and its partner countries in Europe are:

• Creating framework conditions that support the strategic positioning of German universities, research institutions and companies within European networks
• Agreeing on joint measures for the establishment and extension of international research alliances
• Helping to solve individual collaboration problems if and when they arise; initiating new initiatives, for example in order to close gaps in cooperation; developing bilateral models for European cooperation.

Bilateral activities are seen as a supplement to European programmes and initiatives, particularly those of the 7th Research Framework Programme, EUREKA, and COST. At the same time, they contribute to the further development of these programmes and to the realization of the Lisbon Strategy.
Bilateral cooperation aims at

• Conducting a dialogue and exchanging ideas with strategically important partners in education, research and innovation policy,
• Networking funding programmes and innovation strategies across Europe and raising them to an international level.
• Creating synergies with European partners for research collaborations with third countries.

Germany maintains close relationships with other Western European countries in the area of vocational training, including France, Austria, the Netherlands, and Norway.
For example, after working for many years to create international equivalence for over 200 vocational qualifications, the German-Austrian working group on vocational training released a joint declaration on the comparability of professional qualifications in 2005. Now, the working group will mainly dedicate itself to publicizing this declaration and bringing existing comparison lists up to date following the modernization of training occupations. A further key area will be agreeing joint positions on European vocational training issues.

Science, research and intermediary organizations play an important role in Germany's bilateral cooperation with Western, Northern, and Southern European Countries. For example, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) conducts Project-Based Personnel Exchange Programmes (PPP) with France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the UK and Greece. The German Research Association (DFG) supports bilateral postgraduate research groups (especially with the Netherlands, France, the UK, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland, but also with Belgium, Italy and Spain). Further research organizations involved in bilateral cooperation include the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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  topic Ministry

  France

  France is Germany's most important partner among the EU member states. Intensive cooperative relations are maintained in numerous fields and at different levels: between the ministries, between scientific and research organizations, and in the form of specific projects.
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  topic Ministry

  The United Kingdom

  Germany and the United Kingdom work together closely, both bilaterally and in international organizations. This is reflected in the large number of contacts and collaborations between British and German actors in the political, scientific, cultural and economic arena.
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  topic Ministry

  The Netherlands

  Germany and the Netherlands maintain friendly and intense neighbourly relations and are close partners, both politically and economically. Cross-border regional cooperation in the Euroregions is a factor that is becoming more and more significant for the partnership.
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  topic Ministry

  Nordic countries

  The Nordic countries make up a substantial part of Northern Europe and form the northernmost border of the Baltic Sea Region. With the exception of Norway, they are all part of the European Union. The Baltic Sea Region is home to approximately 100 million people, which makes it an economically significant area within Europe. All the Nordic countries are Germany's direct neighbours and play an especially important role for the northern German Länder, especially from an economic point of view.
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  topic Ministry

  Turkey

  The BMBF has decided to rank Turkey as a priority country on the basis of its participation in the 6th EU Research Framework Programme and the EU's decision to open accession negotiations with Turkey. In the past, the focus of research cooperation was in the area of water technologies.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/5857.php)