EU/USA agreement for scientific and technological cooperation: extension

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Roland PAKSAS (EFDD, LT) on the draft Council decision concerning the extension of the Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the Government of the United States of America.

The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the extension of the Agreement.

The Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the Government of the United States of America was signed on 5 December 1997 and entered into force on 14 October 1998. Since then, it has been renewed three times, in 2003, 2008 and 2013.

As recalled in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the recommendation, EU-US relations in the field of science, technology and innovation are stronger than with any other country outside Europe.

The United States is by far the most active country in Horizon 2020 in terms of amounts of mutual investment in research and development (R&D), flows of scientists, volumes of cooperative activities and number of co-authored publications and patents.

Global challenges require global joint solutions it is therefore important that the EU and the US work closely together to find them. Therefore, it is in the interest of the European Union to extend the Cooperation Agreement for a further period of five years.