By Caribbean News Global 
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Representatives of the Portuguese presidency of the Council announced January 28, 2021 a provisional political agreement with the negotiators of the European parliament on a package consisting of – amendments to the regulation on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and a decision on the future Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA) of the EIT.
“The key amendments to the existing EIT regulation concern financial sustainability and openness of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), stronger principles for monitoring and evaluation and the role of the member states in the governance of the EIT.
“More specifically, the EIT will establish performance-based mechanisms for the granting of financial contributions to KICs in order to enhance their capacity to attract other investments and to finance their activities independently of the EIT’s contributions. The enforcement of these provisions will be supported by stronger monitoring and evaluation principles: the continuation of existing KICs will be subject to comprehensive assessment, which should include the monitoring of progress towards financial sustainability as well as openness to new members,” said a release.
A group of representatives of member states will be consulted on strategic decisions, such as the extension of partnership agreements with KICs.
The key features of the agreed SIA are the following:
- It requires Knowledge and Innovation Communities to become more open, inclusive and transparent;
- It clarifies the scope of the new pilot that will support the development of entrepreneurial and innovation capacity in higher education institutions;
- It defines eligibility criteria and the budget for activities under the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS), aimed at widening the EIT’s regional activities to modest and moderate innovator countries;
- It provides for a simplified performance-based funding model for the KICs;
- It introduces a continuous monitoring and evaluation system of the KICs, including closer monitoring of their openness;
- It clarifies the EIT’s relations with KICs after the termination of the framework partnership agreement;
- It provides for a streamlined procedure for the launch of a new KIC in 2023 in the field of cultural and creative sectors and industries and of a possible second new KIC in the field of water, marine and maritime sectors in 2026, taking into account the strategic planning process of Horizon Europe.
