Research and Innovation

Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) Main Hall, Villa Bighi- Kalkara, Malta

17 March 2016

Short Summary Report Published on 6 April 2016

PRIMA Impact Assessment Stakeholder Event

Policy Research and Innovation

Purpose of the event

to further disseminating the PRIMA initiative and the ongoing Impact Assessment (IA)

to promote and encourage participation in the online public consultation

to gather some information and evidence which may help to draft the IA report

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Participants

103 participants registered and 86 people finally attended the event

Countries represented: Malta (36%), Egypt (10,5%), Italy (7%), France and Spain (5,8% each), Algeria and Cyprus (4,7% each), Belgium Greece and Jordan (3,5% each), Lebanon Tunisia and Turkey (2,3% each), Germany Lithuania Luxembourg Morocco Portugal Slovenia and Switzerland (1,2 % each)

Typologies of organisations: Public authorities (25,6%), Research Organisations (24,4%), Universities (20,9%), NGOs (9,3%), SMEs (7%), Business Associations and Inter-Governmental Organisations (4,7% each), PRIMA Consortium (2,3%), Individual Citizens (1,2%)

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Welcome and Agenda

Hon. Chris AGIUS, Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport – Malta:

— welcoming participants

— recalling the importance of the PRIMA initiative for the forthcoming Maltese Presidency

Panagiotis BALABANIS, European Commission:

— outlining the agenda and purpose of the meeting

— stressing the importance of the stakeholder consultation activities in the context of the PRIMA Impact Assessment process

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Agenda (am)

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Agenda (pm)

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Setting the scene: the Mediterranean Area (socio-economic context and issues)

Cleopatra KITTI, The Mediterranean Growth Initiative / LITUS AS: “The Mediterranean Growth Initiative”

Natalia POPOVA, International Labour Organization: “Labour Migration in the Mediterranean Area”

Vakur SÜMER, Selçuk University / ORSAM: “The Challenge of Water in MENA Region and its implications on various dimensions of human security”

see presentations in Annex I

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From the PRIMA proposal to the PRIMA Impact Assessment

Prof Angelo RICCABONI, PRIMA Consortium: “PRIMA - An integrated programme on food systems and water resources for the development of inclusive, sustainable and healthy Euro-Mediterranean societies”

Panagiotis BALABANIS, European Commission: “PRIMA – The Impact Assessment Process”

Ken GUY, PRIMA Expert Group: “PRIMA Ex-ante Impact Assessment Expert Group”

see presentations in Annex II

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Questions and Answers

Exchange of views and opinions among speakers and participants on the following issues:

— the policy options outline in the PRIMA Inception Impact Assessment: Baseline scenario, Co-fund action, Article 185 TFEU

— the role and support to innovation in the context of PRIMA

— migration issue in the context of PRIMA

— how PRIMA will build upon the experience of ongoing and already-established R&I cooperation initiatives in the Mediterranean area

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Cooperation in Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area:

state of the art and future perspectives

Claudio BOGLIOTTI, ERANETMED: “ERANETMED: paving the way to PRIMA”

Florence JACQUET, ARIMNet2: “Cooperation in Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area: Lessons learnt from ARIMNet and ARIMNet2”

see presentations in Annex III

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Supporting Innovation and Investments in the Mediterranean Area:

state of the art and future perspectives

Juan CÁNOVAS CUENCA, Institut Méditerranéen de l'Eau: “Supporting Innovation and Investments in the Mediterranean Area”

Rebeca FERNÁNDEZ, FoodDrinkEurope: “Supporting Innovation and Investments in Food Systems: A European Perspective”

Françoise GORGA, Association Nationale des Industries Alimentaires (ANIA) and Maurizio NOTARFONSO, Federalimentare: “Food & Drink industry perspective & examples of cooperation in the Mediterranean Area”

see presentations in Annex IV

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Parallel Discussion Tables

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Discussion Table 1: Problem Definition

TASK: Identify 5 challenges maximum and position them on the graph (difficulty to implement [low to high] / relevance [low to high])

OUTCOME: 5 main challenges (right) and their position on the graph (left)

Challenges for R&I in the field of food production and water resources management in the Mediterranean area

1. Inadequate R&I governance structures and processes to address common and inter-related problems

2. Insufficient implementation of innovative solutions

3. Lack of coordination and cooperation between countries and research organisations and duplication of research efforts

4. Lack of cooperation between academic and non-academic actors (lack of cooperation between institutional actors)

5. Insufficient investments in R&I

The participants decided to base the identification of the above R&I challenges on the text of the questionnaire of the PRIMA online public consultation, which was distributed to them at the beginning of the discussion tables.

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Discussion Table 2: Objectives and R&I Priorities (1/2)

Most relevant R&I priorities to achieve the most relevant objectives for Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean area in the field of food

production and water resources management TASK: Identify a maximum of 3 objectives and 3 R&I priorities and select

the most relevant R&I priorities for each objective

OUTCOME: in the end, the group limited to identifying the 3 most relevant objectives and the 3 most relevant R&I priorities

Most relevant objectives:

1. Innovative solutions for sustainable water and food management (and in order to tackle climate change related challenges)

2. Euro-Mediterranean cooperation between countries, sectors and regions (via common projects)

3. Sharing knowledge and capacity building (via a platform)

4. Quality

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Most relevant R&I priorities to achieve the most relevant objectives for

Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean area in the field of food production and water resources management

TASK: Identify a maximum of 3 objectives and 3 R&I priorities and select the most relevant R&I priorities for each objective

OUTCOME: in the end, the group limited to identifying the 3 most relevant objectives and the 3 most relevant R&I priorities

Most relevant R&I Priorities:

1. Tools for knowledge capitalisation

2. Climate modelling / services for end-users

3. Collaborative projects including different stakeholders

Discussion Table 2: Objectives and R&I Priorities (2/2)

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Discussion Table 3: Actions and Impacts (1/2)

Most relevant actions to achieve the most relevant impacts for Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean area in the field of food production and

water resources management

TASK: Identify a maximum of 3 actions and 3 impacts and select the most relevant action for each impact

OUTCOME: most relevant actions

1. Public sector facilitating private sector’s investments in R&I (corresponding to action no. 2 of the questionnaire of the PRIMA online public consultation)

2. Private sector’s investments in R&I (corresponding to action no. 3 of the questionnaire)

3. Development of pilot projects (corresponding to action no. 5 of the questionnaire)

The participants decided to base the identification of the actions and impacts on the text of the questionnaire of the PRIMA online public consultation, which was distributed to them at the beginning of the discussions tables.

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Discussion Table 3: Actions and Impacts (2/2)

Most relevant actions to achieve the most relevant impacts for Partnership for R&I in the Mediterranean area in the field of food production and

water resources management

TASK: Identify a maximum of 3 actions and 3 impacts and select the most relevant action for each impact

OUTCOME: most relevant impacts

1. Support to economic growth through job creation (corresponding to impact no. 1 of the questionnaire of the PRIMA online public consultation)

2. Improvement of the competitiveness of the SMEs established in the region (corresponding to impact no. 2 of the questionnaire)

3. Introduction and dissemination of innovative products, technologies and production methods adapted to the specific socio-economic conditions of the region (corresponding to impact no. 3 of the questionnaire)

The participants underlined that it is not possible to identify a 1:1 relation between one particular impact and one particular action; most options have multiple impacts (e.g. private sector’s investments in R&I are related to impact no. 1, 2 & 3)

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Discussion Table 4: Policy Options

TASK: Identify maximum 3 policy options, count the pros and the cons for each policy option and provide a ranking list

OUTCOME: provision of a final chart related to the Art. 185 option

Policy options to address the challenges for R&I in the field of food production and water resources management in the Mediterranean area

The Art. 185 option has 3 pros and 3 cons:

PROs

Long-term commitment

Coherence among national and international programmes

Financial contribution from the EU

CONs

Differences among national R&I programmes

Legal issues

Implementation issues

The participants decided to base their discussion on the policy options mentioned in the text of the questionnaire of the PRIMA online public consultation, which was distributed to them at the beginning of the discussion tables.

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Wrapping-up

Panagiotis BALABANIS, European Commission:

— thanking participants for their presence and contribution

— underlining the importance of answering and disseminating the PRIMA Impact Assessment online public consultation: http://ec.europa.eu/research/consultations/prima/consultation_en.htm

— inviting participants to check regularly the webpage dedicated to the PRIMA Impact Assessment: https://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=prima

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Post-event Questionnaire (1/2)

Number of respondents: 13 (15% of the people finally attended the event)

Country: Belgium (2), Cyprus (2), France (2), Spain (2), Tunisia (2), Jordan (1), Lithuania (1), Morocco (1)

Type of organisation: Inter-Governmental Organisations (3), Universities (3), Business Associations (2), and Research Funding Organisations (2), Research Organisations (2), Public authorities (1),

Have you already replied to the PRIMA online consultation? Yes (4/13) / No (9/13)

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Post-event Questionnaire (2/2)

Has the event helped you better understand the following aspects of the PRIMA Impact Assessment?

— Problem definition (Yes 76% / No 16% / No Opinion 8%)

— Core objectives (Yes 100%)

— R&I priorities (Yes 84% / No 16%)

— Actions (Yes 84% / No Opinion 16%)

— Impacts (Yes 84% / No 8% /No Opinion 8%)

— Policy Options (Yes 84% / No 16%)

Comments/suggestions: more time for roundtable discussions and the organisation of more specific topic/task-related panels would have been appreciated

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…with many thanks to the

Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST)

for hosting the event and providing logistical support

For more information: RTD-PRIMA-STAKEHOLDER-CONSULTATION@ec.europa.eu