The four countries’ ministers responsible for research, development and innovation signed a joint statement on enhanced collaboration among the Visegrád countries within the ERA after a session of coordination, organized by the Hungarian presidency, was completed in Budapest.

At the event, where representatives of the press had also been invited, Minister of State from the Ministry for National Economy stressed that economies of the Visegrád countries are undergoing a change and therefore it is in the best interest of all of them to place an increasingly larger emphasis on research, development and innovation.

He added that investment heading to the region also shows this change, as besides production R&D&I activities are becoming more pronounced. Zoltán Cséfalvay said that at the meeting they studied the present state of the preparations for the EU development period of 2014-2020, including options for smart specialization. He also mentioned that they evaluated possibilities that capital cities, which have a strong R&D basis thanks to universities, may offer although in the coming development period EU funding will be lower.

At the meeting, the participants also assessed options for making headway within the R&D infrastructure and concrete steps will be discussed in the near future by working groups and at conferences, the Minister of State said. Zoltán Cséfalvay pointed out that R&D&I is a globalized field and in order to make this region more visible and attract more R&D activities it must be evaluated how the Visegrád countries can act as a team.

The Minister of State said that Hungary is planning to spend 10 percent of cohesion and structural fund resources channelled to Hungary in 2014-2020 on R&D&I. In the partner countries, he added, this figure is similar or even higher which aptly demonstrates that an R&D competition has begun among the Visegrád countries but, fortunately, there are also some fields of cooperation.

Poland’s Minister for Science and Higher Education Lena Kolarska-Bobinska emphasised that R&D&I is a prioritized field within the European Union. She called it important to have this opportunity utilized as much as possible through enhancing cooperation between the Visegrád countries.

Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport Dusan Caplovic of Slovakia stressed that the Visegrád countries can achieve a better result when joining forces instead of acting on their own in this field. This will be the spirit they will carry on to the Slovakian presidency of the V4, beginning in July.

Minister of Education Dalibor Stys of the Czech Republic underlined the significance of adopting a common stance for the V4 within the Horizon 2020 European research programme, supporting each other and adapting these principles for the utilization of structural funds.

(Ministry for National Economy)