The Commission has published a report from the first interim evaluation of the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA).
PRIMA was established as a public-public partnership under Horizon 2020 in order to make water provision and management, as well as food systems more climate resilient, efficient, cost-effective and environmentally and socially sustainable. It currently has 19 participating states, including 11 EU Member States and five “third
countries”: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco.
PRIMA implements activities in the form of calls for proposals in three sections:
- Section 1 calls are organised by PRIMA and funded exclusively by Horizon 2020
- Section 2 calls are also organised by PRIMA but funded by the Participating States
- Section 3 calls are organised and funded by the Participating States
The European Commission was required to conduct an interim evaluation of PRIMA by the end of 2022. The first interim evaluation of PRIMA is based on an external study and covers the period from its inception in 2017 until March 2022.
This report published by the Commission summarises the main conclusions of the interim evaluation and includes the Commission’s ensuing observations.
Main findings
- PRIMA plays a unique role in the Mediterranean research and innovation ecosystem
and serves objectives not covered by other initiatives. - PRIMA has helped to foster scientific integration across the participating states. In its absence, it would be unlikely they would have cooperated as closely without a clear funding incentive and strategic framework to facilitate cooperation.
- PRIMA allows especially the Southern Mediterranean Participating States to leverage
their research and innovation capacities. - PRIMA contributes to the further completion of the European Research Area (ERA),
notably by overcoming the insufficient cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean
area through the funding of cross-border projects, which can be expected to yield
larger impacts than uni- or bilateral efforts alone. - PRIMA values of co-ownership, mutual interest, shared benefit and the principle of
equal footing were considered particularly relevant to enable cooperation between the EU and its southern Mediterranean neighbours as partners. - The programme can be considered a relevant tool of science diplomacy that helps
to bring closer the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours building a sense of mutual trust and inclusiveness. - PRIMA strengthens the cooperation between the Southern Mediterranean
Participating States notably in the area of research and innovation. - Regarding the future, the PRIMA Implementing Structure has taken steps to coordinate with Horizon Europe initiatives of similar thematic focus, such as the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe” or new partnerships like the European Partnership ‘Water Security for the Planet’ (Water4All). Cooperation with EU Mission “Restore our
Ocean and Waters” is also foreseen in the PRIMA Annual Work Plan 2023 recently
adopted by the Commission. - PRIMA contributes with its thematic focus to various European Green Deal policy
instruments and acts, such as the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change,
the Farm to Fork Strategy (the role in the area of research and innovation and sustainable food), the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Zero pollution Action Plan, and the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).
Recommendations for the future
To strengthen the long-term outcomes of PRIMA, several recommendations are included in the report. These include:
- Further streamlining the implementation of the three PRIMA sections.
- Section 3 seems to receive a different degree of awareness and importance from
Participating States. Therefore, there is a need to increase its effectiveness. - Additional efforts from the PRIMA Implementing Structure and the Participating States are needed to further increase the efficiency of Section 2.
- To fully exploit synergies between the projects and to foster building longer-lasting
communities, the PRIMA Implementing Structure should intensify its efforts to boost the exchange between individual projects. - Participating States and the PRIMA Implementing Structure need to further invest in
outreach activities and capacity building to enable actors from the Southern
Mediterranean Participating States to engage more actively in the initiative.