PURPOSE: to renew the Agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

BACKGROUND: the Agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine was signed in Copenhagen on 4 July 2002. Initially concluded until 31 December 2002, the Agreement has been renewed four times: in 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2020. The current Agreement will expire on 8 November 2024.

Cooperation in research and innovation between the EU and Ukraine has grown steadily in recent years, despite Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Cooperation has been very active notably in the fields of advanced/new materials, IT-technology, physics and astronomy, engineering, agricultural technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology and their applications across various sectors such as aviation, energy, and biomedicine, in particular immunotherapies for cancer.

By a letter of 23 May 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed their interest in renewing the agreement. The Government of Ukraine has already started the renewal process on their side.

The renewal of the Agreement will allow the EU and Ukraine to have better access to scientific knowledge produced in the EU and Ukraine respectively and to engage in more cooperation activities leading to additional exchange of knowledge and technologies.

CONTENT: the Commission proposes that the Council approve, on behalf of the Union, and with the consent of the European Parliament, the renewal for a further period of five years (from 8.11.2024 to 8.11.2029) of the Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and Ukraine.

In substance, the proposed decision aims to extend the existing agreement, the content of which will otherwise remain unchanged. The renewed agreement will not create new or additional rights or obligations for either party, but will extend the application of the existing legal regime between the parties in the field of scientific and technological cooperation.

This decision will allow both Parties to enhance the cooperation and develop a more strategic partnership by increasing the scale and scope of existing cooperation, addressing global challenges by promoting reciprocal access to each other’s programmes.

This initiative does not require human or administrative resources.

COM(2024)0438
EUR-Lex