- Published : 28.07.2023.
Director-Genreal Hrvoje Meštrić participated in the Informal Meeting of Ministers of Research of the European Union in Santander on July 27-28, 2023
Director-general for Science and Technology, Ph.D. Hrvoje Meštrić participated in the Informal Meeting of Ministers of Research of the European union, which was held from July 27 to 28 in Santander, Spain, the first meeting of science ministers organized during the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU.
The overarching theme of the meeting was "Advancing together from knowledge and innovation towards a fairer and more sustainable society".During the meeting, two discussions were held. The topic of the first discussion was Strengthening a common European framework for science, technology and innovation diplomacy, where director Meštrić supported the strengthening of cooperation between science and diplomacy in order to strengthen the global role of the European Union. At the same time, he emphasized that large projects such as IFMIF-DONES and regional initiatives such as PRIMA are powerful tools for strengthening scientific diplomacy.
During working lunch IFMIF-DONES, a global fusion project with European leadership, was presented. On that occasion, director Meštrić additionally emphasized the importance of this project.
The second discussion was held on the topic of the Horizon Europe Strategic Planning 2025-2027, where the main lessons learned from the previous period, and opportunities for improvement were highlighted. Croatia and most other countries emphasized the importance of strengthening the synergies of the Horizon Europe program with other programs as well as the need to reduce the existing innovation gap between member states.