Third EU-Kosovo Horizon Europe Joint Research and Innovation Committee meeting

The third EU-Kosovo Horizon Europe Joint Research and Innovation Committee meeting took place in Brussels on 6 November 2025. The meeting was co-chaired by Ms. Mina Stareva, Deputy Head of Unit for 'International cooperation - Europe and Americas', DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and by Donikë Kastrati, Adviser to the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Kosovo.

The EU co-chair highlighted the new political guidelines of European Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, focusing on Startups, Research and Innovation, and its impact on the cooperation between the parties, stronger focus on innovation, industrial competitiveness, and knowledge valorisation. These new priorities are reflected under the upcoming Work Programme 2026-27 as well. New initiatives, like the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, the Research Infrastructure Strategy, the upcoming European Research Area Act and Innovation Act, as well as the EC proposal for the next Research and Innovation Framework Programme were presented in more detail.

Partners from Kosovo presented the latest updates on the country's R&I policy landscape, such as the National Science Programme or the upcoming Strategy for Innovation 2030+.

The two sides discussed the implementation of the Horizon Europe association agreement, such as the limited participation of Kosovar researchers and research and innovation entities in the Programme, and how participation could be increased. In addition, the implementation of the reciprocity principle was examined. The two parties reviewed participation opportunities in the upcoming Horizon Europe Work Programmes, with a special focus on the WIDERA programme part, COST actions, programmes of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and the European Innovation Council. Kosovo was encouraged to finalise and adopt its Smart Specialisation Strategy and to provide sufficient data to be measured and analysed by the European Innovation Scoreboard by 2027.

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International cooperation with Kosovo