The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report y Paolo BORCHIA (ID, IT) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision (EU) 2017/1324 as regards the continuation of the Union’s participation in the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) under Horizon Europe.
The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:
Enhanced dialogue
PRIMA should operate in a simple, agile, open and transparent way. PRIMA-IS and the Participating States should make dedicated efforts to strengthen dialogue with society, encourage active participation and ensure that the wider public is sufficiently and timely informed about their activities. To that end, PRIMA-IS should set up a reliable communication strategy to facilitate the exchange of information, best practices and research outcomes, with the involvement of academic, scientific and knowledge networks, social and economic partners, the media, industry SMEs and other stakeholders.
Access to results and information on proposals
Members proposed that the PRIMA- IS should provide the Commission access to all information related to the indirect actions it funds. Such information should include contributions and results of beneficiaries participating in indirect actions. The Commission should make such information accessible to the European Parliament where it refers to indirect actions which include beneficiaries established in their respective territories. Such access should be provided only for non-commercial and non-competitive use and subject to applicable confidentiality rules.
Monitoring and evaluation
The amended text stated that the Commission should conduct an interim evaluation of PRIMA by 31 December 2025 and a final evaluation by 31 December 2031. These evaluations should examine the success rates and the absorption rates of the Southern Mediterranean Participating States, as well as how PRIMA fulfils its mission and objectives, cover all its activities and evaluate its European added value, effectiveness, efficiency, including its openness and transparency, the relevance of the activities pursued, including in industry and by SMEs, NGOs and civil society, and their consistency and complementarity with relevant regional, national and Union policies, including synergies with other parts of Horizon Europe, such as other partnerships, missions, clusters and thematic or specific programmes.
In addition, future evaluations of PRIMA should cover the extension of the scope of the partnership’s objectives and a corresponding increase of the financial allocation to PRIMA. In particular, the extension should encompass energy R&I and climate-related R&I, taking into account the impact of new portfolios on other primary resources (namely water, land, and agriculture).