
[ad_1]
Press play to listen to this article
Voiced by artificial intelligence.
BRUSSELS – The European Union must work with its friends on research and innovation to win the geopolitical race to control new technologies, the EU’s ambitious innovation chief Iliana Ivanova has said.
Ivanova is scheduled to address a select group of European Parliament members on Tuesday. The inquiry will determine whether lawmakers accept his nomination by the Bulgarian government and will see him take over from compatriot Maria Gabriel, who left the EU executive branch in May to become the national foreign minister.
“I will focus my efforts on keeping the EU at the forefront of the new technological race and increasing its competitiveness in the face of growing economic competition,” Ivanova said in written answers to questions from lawmakers ahead of the hearing. “Building strong ties with like-minded countries is essential in this challenging geopolitical context” and would “strengthen” the bloc’s economic and technological security, he added.
The European Commission has indicated to use its research budget to support its geopolitical agenda. The bloc has already restricted some funding to strategic and security-related projects and announced in June that it plans to completely cut Chinese telecoms vendors Huawei and ZTE from research programs – a move Reflects a growing disquiet in the Western world to share research and technology with China.
Europe is also aligning its trade and technology policies with the United States within international fora such as the biennial EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC).
If confirmed, Ivanova will oversee the bloc’s flagship research and innovation program Horizon Europe, which has a blockbuster budget of €95 billion and funds projects that help European companies compete globally and fight climate change. helps in
He argued that the EU should harness the power of the world’s “largest public funding program for research and innovation” by ensuring that partners commit themselves to the programme, adding that he would like to encourage openness and international collaboration. wants to find the “right balance” between security and strategic interests of the European Union.
Block is currently negotiating deals with the United Kingdom and Switzerland that will give it access to research funding.
The Bulgarian nominee, herself a former member of the European Parliament, told lawmakers in her written reply that she “hopes”.[s] An agreement with the UK will be signed soon and talks with Switzerland will also be a priority in his new role. The European Union has an interest in bringing non-EU countries on board as such members of the program also contribute financially, Ivanova wrote.
Horizon Europe has struggled in previous years to finance all the proposals that pass its quality checks, with the Commission estimating that it will face a €34 billion gap to finance all eligible proposals in 2021-2022 . Members of the European Parliament described the program as “grossly underfunded” ahead of Tuesday’s hearing.
“The program alone, even being the largest public funding program for research and innovation in the world, cannot bridge the funding gap we have been seeing for many years,” Ivanova said.
Source: www.politico.eu
[ad_2]