On 14 June 2018 the Ministry of Education and Science, in cooperation with Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, organized the flagship conference “Financial Instruments Fostering Research and Innovation” at Sofia Tech Park.
More than 300 representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, local and European business organizations, national and regional banks, public research organizations, chambers of commerce and start-ups of innovative companies participated in the conference.
Among the official guests of the event were:
- Jean-Eric Paquet, Director General, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission;
- Roger Havenith, Deputy CEO of the European Investment Fund;
- Jean-David Malo, Director, ‘Open Innovation and Open Science’, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
- Hermann Hauser, Chair of the Independent High-Level Group of Innovators on establishing a European Innovation Council
Special emphasis was placed on the available financial instruments fostering research and innovation in “Horizon 2020” and also on the latest proposals for financial instruments in the future 9th Framework Program “Horizon Europe”.
In addition, ways to improve the interaction between Innovfin, COSME Financial Instruments, European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), European Investment Council as well as regional, national and local level – which help European innovative companies get easier financing, were discussed.
“Horizon Europe is basically a political mission which ensures the effectiveness of funding for research and innovation as well as the achievement of the clearly defined objectives of the program. The European Commission has committed high-level experts to carry out studies, case studies and reports on how the mission-oriented policy approach will work”, Jean-Eric Paquet said.
During the conference a workshop of Bulgarian researchers and innovators was held with Jean-Eric Paquet, in which the following main issues were discussed: “How to achieve a higher degree of involvement of the EU 13 participants in the European Research Area?” and “How to maximize the impact of transnational programs and projects in our countries? “
