The six-month Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU will commence on 1 July 2023 and is the first in the so-called Twelfth ‘Presidency Trio’ that also includes Belgium (January-June 2024) and Hungary (July-December 2024).
While the programme of the Presidency Trio is yet to be published, the Spanish Presidency itself will focus on the following four priorities:
- Reindustrialise the EU and ensure its open strategic autonomy
- Advance in the green transition and the environmental adaptation
- Promoting greater social and economic justice
- Strengthening European unity
Research and innovation priorities of the Presidency
The only legislative proposal in the area of research and innovation (R&I) will concern the extension of the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) initiative beyond 2024 to ensure that its annual calls for proposals can still be funded by the EU. The Spanish Presidency will aim to ensure that funding for PRIMA will be provided under Horizon Europe until the end of 2027 to align it with the current long-term budget of the EU.
The non-legislative initiatives of the Presidency include:
- Council Conclusions on strengthening the role and impact of science in public policymaking process in democratic societies, with three main pillars:
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- Science for the public policy process: knowledge to improve lives of citizens and strengthen democracy
- Regional and local innovation ecosystems: Improving cooperation and territorial cohesion through R&I
- A qualitative leap in European R&I policies to improve the competitiveness and welfare: Policy impact of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) on the ERA
- Tenerife Declaration on the global dimension of research infrastructures (see related event in late September below).
R&I-related events and meetings
The following events will be organised under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency:
Ministerial meetings in the Council of the EU
- Informal ministerial meeting on 27-28 July in Santander
- Competitiveness Council (Research) meeting on 8 December in Brussels
High-level conferences related to R&I:
- Science 4 Policy Workshop with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – 21 September in Madrid
- Presidency conference on European research infrastructures– 25-26 September in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Presidency conference on health research – 4-5 October in Valencia
- Next Generation of Innovators in the EU Summit – 10 October in Madrid
- Presidency Conference on Start-up Villages – 23 October in Carmona
- Digital construction, BIM (Building Information Modelling) – 25-26 October in Madrid
- The impact of terrorism and cyberthreats on national security – 26-27 October in Ávila
- Chair’s Conference on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Programme – 14-15 November in Toledo
- Seminars by senior experts on the impact of gamification processes on the dissemination of cybersecurity culture – 15-16 November in Aranjuez
- Workshop seminar on the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the European Entry and Exit Scheme (EES) – 28-29 November in Madrid
- Presidential Conference on Science Diplomacy – 18-19 December in Madrid
Further details of these and other events will be published on the Presidency’s website in the coming weeks.