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An initiative like PRIMA could constitute the instrument to allow an enlargement and deepening of
activities of the Mediterranean oriented ERANets (such as ERANETMED and ARIMNet) and ensure
synergies with others. The latter, in fact, are complementary with some key priorities and macro-
objectives of PRIMA (sustainable management of agricultural water systems, protection of food
production).
Good Practice
ARIMNET and ERANETMED
With the participation of 4 (in ARIMNET) and 6 (in ERANETMED) Mediterranean Partner Countries,
these
two projects are the only ongoing ERANETs having a highest “regional” focus in the Mediterranean area.
They are both excellent examples of synergies and political/financial commitment to ensure the creation
of critical mass on R&I themes of critical importance for the Mediterranean (agriculture, food, water,
energy). The success of ARIMNET and ERANETMED joint calls for proposals, in terms of high number of
proposals submitted and impressive amount of funds requested, shows that
Euro-Mediterranean
research actors and entities are fully capable to team-up and ready for a stronger international
collaboration. However, the impact of these ERANETs is rather limited considering the relatively low rate
of projects retained for funding vs the proposals presented ( 13% for ARIMNet-2011, 7% for ARIMNet2-
2015 and 11% for ERANETMED). This demonstrates that – beyond the strong engagement of EU and non-
EU Mediterranean countries - there is also wide room for implementing a successful long-term joint
programming regional activities on above topics. This will be the goal of PRIMA.
Bridging gaps
ERANETMED and ARIMNET case
The results of ERANETMED first joint call in terms of proposal retained for funding (21 projects)
undoubtedly show the big success of such an initiative (being the first non-thematic ERANET addressed
to the Mediterranean region) but, at the same time, prove the existence of a serious gap to be still filled.
In fact, when looking at the considerable number of eligible proposals which obtained an high score for
scientific excellence but could not be funded due to the lack of sufficient funds, it is rather evident that
an ERANET project might not be enough to support R&I on key societal challenges in the Mediterranean.
In particular, ERANETMED joint call had a budget of 12M Euros, but the total amount requested by
scientifically excellent proposals (having a score comprised between 4 and 5 – 5 being the maximum)
was more than 22M Euros. This resulted into the non-funding of 15 excellent projects in Water, Energy
and their Nexus which would have had an important impact on research, development and innovation
in the Mediterranean. Therefore, an initiative like PRIMA, which could count on a stronger critical mass
in terms of financial commitments of participating countries, could contribute to the maximization of the
potentials of research actors in the Mediterranean scenario.
The same reasoning applies for ARIMNET. The first joint call saw 78 eligible proposals involving 17
countries and 10 projects finally retained for funding. While for the second joint call 146 eligible pre-
proposals were received involving 21 different countries and 10 projects were also selected for funding.
These numbers show that Euro-Mediterranean research actors are increasingly ready and interested in
applying for calls covering agricultural research related issues – but so far the critical mass
built in terms
of joint programming and joint funding is not enough to cope with such a huge request of funds by
valuable trans-national research teams.
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2.2 European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs)
Two EIPs are related to PRIMA thematic scope, namely EIP Agricultural Sustainability and
Productivity and EIP on Water. The first one deals with the following topics of potential interest for
PRIMA: agriculture, resource efficiency, food productivity, nutrition, food chain. The second
includes water reuse and recycling, water and wastewater treatment, risk management. The above
mentioned EIPs have good potential of synergizing with PRIMA since they involve different types of
stakeholders and players, which could complement with the institutional/public profile of PRIMA
partners. Furthermore, EIPs have a strong record of linking research and innovation and of creating
a critical mass to pursue the objectives identified in a participatory manner
. However, according to
an
evaluation
carried out by external experts, EIPs have rather complex governance/management
systems. Furthermore, EIPs have a soft legal structure which is not conducive to tangible and
traceable commitment of the EU Member States involved. Last, EIPs have no openness to Southern
Mediterranean Countries
. To this regard, the implementation of joint activities under PRIMA could
improve the prioritization of objectives, the management of coordinated initiatives and the
commitment of participating countries.
2.3 Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs)
Four JPIs deal with topics of relevance for PRIMA, namely: FACCE (Food Security, Agriculture,
Climate Change), HDHL (Healthy Diet), CLIMATE JPI (Climate), WATER (Water). These initiatives
include in their consortia Israel and Turkey as Associated Countries. It is worth noting that recently
JPI Water and JPI FACCE have launched a pre-announcement of a joint call within ERANET Co-fund
Water Works 2015, including as funding countries two MPCs; namely Egypt and Tunisia.
According to a report of the
High Level Group on Joint Programming
, one of the main constraints of
these initiatives is the lack of will at national level to re-orientate strategies and research
programmes in line with the Strategic Research Agendas (SRAs) of JPIs.
The launch of an Article 185
initiative could pave the way for creating synergies with existing JPIs and ensure that the common
identification of objectives and strategies is followed by a common course of action.
2.4 ENPI-CBC-MED
In the period 2007-2014 the ENPI CBC Med (Cross-border cooperation programme between EU and
non-EU Mediterranean countries of the EU Neighbourhood Policy) instrument has funded
95
projects for a total budget of around
200M Euros. Three calls for proposals have been launched in
this period (two for standard projects and one for strategic projects). Although the programme does
not fund research projects, it funds cooperation between EU and MPC in themes of relevance to
PRIMA. Here follows a short overview on the number of project funded in the three calls:
Call
No. of proposals
No. of projects funded
Total budget (M Eur)
FOCUS: Mediterranean Partner Countries and JPIs
In the frame of FP7 Inco-Net MedSpring project, an analysis has been carried out on the potential
openness of existing JPIs to the participation of Mediterranean Partner Countries. Building on the results
of this analysis, MedSpring has organized the
first meeting between JPIs and representatives of
research/high education Ministries of seven MPCs (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon, Palestine,
Jordan) held in Italy (CIHEAM Bari) in July 2014. In that occasion JPI coordinators and MPCs
representatives have shown high interest in building synergies and opportunities for joint collaboration.
The upcoming joint call of JPI Water and JPI FACCE including Tunisia and Egypt as funding countries
demonstrates the interest of MPCs to participate in cofund actions on PRIMA related topics.