Research and innovation policy in the Finnish era

The Finnish Presidency is looking at a busy 6 months; they will cover the strategic planning of Horizon Europe in an era of change in Parliament and Commission.

As we speak, on first of July, Finland will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (Council). The Finnish Presidency will be marked by change, not only has the new European Parliament just been elected, but the Presidency will also welcome a new President of the European Commission (EC) and a new College of Commissioners, which may give the Commission a new orientation for the next five years. On top of this, the Finnish Presidency will most probably also see Brexit happen at the end of October 2019.

Nevertheless, education, research and innovation policy will be moving ahead in the coming six months, and the agenda is packed. The Finnish Presidency will focus on the linkages between the European Higher Education and the European Research Areas (see SwissCore article) and carry the first implications of Brexit on the new generation of EU knowledge programmes. All this falls into an intense period of strategic planning for Horizon Europe.

The EC will present a first draft of the strategic plan prepared together with Member States for public consultation online at the end of June. This plan will also indicate a first list of co-funded and co-programmed partnerships. The EC welcomes feedback on the plan from everyone interested. The input received over summer will feed into a second draft, which the EC will launch again in public at the European R&I Days from 24 to 26 September in Brussels for discussion in co-creation sessions. Research ministers from EU Member States will be informed on the progress at a flanking Competitiveness Council meeting on 27 September. After work on a third draft together with stakeholder umbrella organisations, the EC is due to present a finalised version of the strategic plan to Member States by the end of the year.

One of the new features in Horizon Europe will also be taking shape in the coming six months, the missions. While five broad areas for missions have been defined already in the legislative package of Horizon Europe finalised under the Romanian Presidency, it is now the time to outline concrete research and innovation missions. The EC has thus launched a call for mission boards, in search for 15 experts in personal capacity for each mission area. At the informal Competitiveness Council meeting organised in Helsinki on 4 -5 July, the chairs of the mission boards will be presented, while research ministers will also have a discussion on the European partnership initiatives. Already on 28 November at the third Competitiveness Council meeting of the Presidency, the mission boards will be asked to present their proposals for research and innovation in concrete missions to ministers. These proposals shall then feed into the final version of the strategic plan too.

The Horizon Europe strategic planning will be flanked by a high number of conferences and seminars on strategic topics with sustainability at their heart. The European Bioeconomy Scene 2019 on 9 July in Helsinki and the European Days for Sustainable Circular Economy on 30 September are just examples of an event agenda packed with topics touching up R&I. For a full list, see the webpage of the Finnish Presidency.

Digital economy, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and an open data economy are drivers for European competitiveness and future economic growth. Horizon Europe will boost digitalisation and can thereby strengthen the deployment of digital technologies in different sectors such as health and mobility. The Finnish Presidency wants to take on actions towards a competitive, human-driven open data economy, which respects the privacy of individuals. In terms of its combat against climate change, the Finnish Presidency has the Arctic region high up on its agenda, because of the region’s large impact on the global climate. This aspired future cooperation also includes more EU research on and in the Arctic region.