On 15 November 2022, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and Mustafa Varank—Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey—met in Brussels to launch the first high level dialogue on science, research, technology, and innovation. Two leaders agreed to deepen and broaden EU-Turkey collaboration in science and technology, with green and digital transitions to be of utmost priority. The second meeting will take place in Turkey early next year.

                                                                                    Photo Source: @GabrielMariya Twitter

The dialogue focused on topics such as renewable energy, climate-neutral and smart cities, as well as the critical role of digital education and training in the transfer of know-how and good practice. Likewise, the collaboration between academia, industry and SMEs is emphasized as a key driving force for the ongoing digital and green transitions.

The launch of the high-level dialogue in science and research builds on more than 20 years of collaboration between the EU and Turkey. Under Horizon 2020, Turkish participants received ca. EUR 277 million funding between 2014 and 2020. Likewise, Turkish projects received approx. EUR 740 million in the previous Erasmus+ programme. Some successful projects are implemented within this period, MAtchUP (2017-2022), NIMBLE (2016-2019), and TRUSTVEHICLE (2017-2020) to count a few. Subsequently, in October 2021, Turkey obtained the association status to EU programmes—Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps—for the period 2021-2027.  With the initiation of the first high-level dialogue on science and research, the cooperation between the EU and Turkey in research and technology will be strengthened further in the following years.

For more information, see the press release and  EU Commission’s relevant webpage