INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

The eighth EU – Brazil Joint Steering Committee meeting took place in Brussels, on 29 November 2017. The meeting marked the tenth anniversary of the entry in force of the EU – Brazil Science & Technology Agreement that both parties have agreed to renew for 5 more years until 2022.

The large and high level Brazilian delegation was led by H.E. Benedicto Fonseca Filho, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation of the European Commission (EC) was chaired by Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation of the Directorate General for Research & Innovation.

The importance of EU – Brazil cooperation in research and innovation was highlighted and both sides agreed on the need to continuously improve framework conditions for cooperation.

It was acknowledged that the EU Research &Innovation (R&I) Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, is a central vehicle for cooperation and both sides must strive to optimize framework conditions for cooperation. In this regard, the ongoing co-funding mechanism established by eight State Funding Agencies with the support of the CONFAP was praised as well as the good results presented by FAPESP.

The sides will continue to work and look at ways to improve the current co-funding mechanism and how to complement it, by enhancing cooperation opportunities also with the federal funding Agencies, CNPq and FINEP, with the support of the MCTIC.

In this sense, the EC and Brazil agreed to work on mechanisms to support cooperation and to involve all relevant Brazilian actors, at federal and State level, in these discussions. Also, Brazil announced the appointment of two National Contact Points for Health. This appointment was welcome by the EC as another step towards greater support to the research communities of both sides.

The flagship initiatives published in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2018-2020 targeting cooperation with Brazil were positively acknowledged. Both sides agreed to continue to join forces to tackle global challenges, increase the impact of research and promote new
breakthroughs in the main areas for cooperation like marine research, health, information and communication technologies and nanotechnology. It was also agreed to enhance the research policy dialogue in transport, in particular aviation, as well as to start policy dialogues in environmental research (that already counts with several common activities) and space research.

Both sides agreed to continue to work closely in an open and constant dialogue on all priority areas and look forward to the next Joint Steering Committee meeting that will take place in Brazil.