PURPOSE: to allow Lebanon to participate in the
Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area
(PRIMA).
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: Decision
(EU) 2017/1324 of the European Parliament and of the Council
provides for the participation of the Union in the Partnership for
Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area
(PRIMA).
The strategic objective of PRIMA is to build research and innovation capacities and to
develop knowledge and common innovative solutions for agro-food
systems in order to make them sustainable, as well as for an
integrated water supply and management in the Mediterranean
area.
PRIMA will be jointly undertaken by a number of Member
States and third countries with a high level of commitment to
scientific, management and financial integration and under the same
terms and conditions.
Lebanon expressed its wish to join PRIMA as a
Participating State and pledged to commit a financial contribution
of EUR 7 million to the initiative.
The negotiations started on 26 June 2017 and were
successfully completed on 27 July 2017, when the text of the draft
Agreement was initialled by representatives from each of the future
Parties.
In order to ensure that Lebanon participates in PRIMA
on an equal footing with Member States and third countries
associated to Horizon 2020, an International Agreement with the
Union is required to extend the scope of the legal regime
established by Decision (EU) 2017/1324 to Lebanon.
CONTENT: the Commission proposes that the Council
conclude the Agreement for scientific and technological
cooperation between the European Union and Lebanon setting out
the terms and conditions for participation of Lebanon in the
Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area
(PRIMA).
The present initiative will allow Lebanon to become
a Participating State in PRIMA, and thus engaged on an equal
footing with Member States and third countries associated to
Horizon 2020. Lebanese legal entities would be automatically
eligible to apply for EU funding in projects funded from the EU
budget.
In order to ensure the protection of Union
financial interests, particularly the powers of the Commission,
the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors and the PRIMA
Implementation Structure (PRIMA-IS) to carry out audits and
investigations, the Agreement and obliges the Parties to provide
all necessary assistance to ensure their implementation and agree
on detailed arrangements for assistance.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: the impact on expenditure is
estimated at EUR 82 800 for the period 2018-2020.