CREST working group 'Internationalisation of R&D - Facing the Challenge of Globalisation: Approaches to a Proactive International Policy in S&T' (2007-2008)

The aim of the working group was the analysis of approaches of EU member states and associated countries to cooperation with third countries in research, development and innovation. Moreover, good practice examples and lessons learnt in the area of international research cooperation were collected and national internationalisation strategies and initiatives were discussed. Furthermore, the working group contributed intensively in the discussion regarding the development of a strategic European framework for international science and technology cooperation. The final report 'Policy Approaches towards S&T Cooperation with Third Countries' of the first phase of the working group was published in December 2007.

After the prolongation of the working group's mandate by another year, several reports of the second phase of the working group were published in April 2009:

• General report: "Exploring synergies through coordinating policy measures between the EU Member States, Associated Countries and the European Commission - An element of the 'New Partnership' for ERA governance. Summary of discussions and recommendations"
• Country report Russia: "An Analysis of EU-Russian Cooperation in S&T"
• Country report India: "An Analysis of EU-Indian Cooperation in S&T"
• Country report Brazil: "An Analysis of EU-Brazilian Cooperation in S&T"

The results of the work of the working group were presented to CREST on 3 April 2009.
CREST suggested to the 'Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation' (SFIC) which was newly established by the Council conclusions of 2 December 2008:

• to develop an integrated concept for systematic, efficient information exchange on S&T policies in third countries and on the cooperation activities with third countries,
• to foresee activities for the coordination of marketing activities of the European Community, the Member States and Associated Countries in third countries aiming at promoting the European Research Area,
• to develop reliable and comparable indicators and data collection tools for an impact assessment of policy measures towards the internationalisation of S&T.