EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas attended last Friday in Tunisia the Forum for the Dialogue in the Western Mediterranean, referred to as the “5+5 Dialogue”. With ministers and high level ministerial representatives in charge of research and higher education from the countries participating to this sub-regional forum (Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia), as well as the Secretaries General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), they discussed ways of deepening cooperation in research and innovation.

“Horizon 2020, our research and innovation programme, is open to the world. Researchers or businesses from all over the globe can participate. I want to call on the Western Mediterranean countries to pursue their common objectives through our programme. It’s the best means of addressing the common challenges that we face, such as water provision, agro-food systems, migration flows and climate change,” said Commissioner Moedas.

During his visit, Commissioner Moedas also held high-level bilateral meetings with Slim Khalbous, Tunisian Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, Fadhel Abdelkefi, Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation, and Fatallah Sijilmassi, the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Tunisia is associated to Horizon 2020 since 1 December 2015. Since then, it has been working on strengthening the governance and the performance of its national research and innovation system. Tunisian researchers and organisations have participated in successful EU-funded projects. For example, the University of Sfax participated in the MedSeA project that greatly contributed to our knowledge of the dangers of acidification of the Mediterranean Sea. The EAU4Food project, which included the Tunisian National research Institute of Rural Engineering, Water and Forests (INRGREF), brought agricultural innovation directly to the local population. And supported by an Advanced Grant awarded by the European Research Council, sociologist Alia Gana is assessing the varied results of the Arab Spring in the Tarica project.

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Press release

Horizon 2020

The 5+5 Dialogue