Belgium

Political framework for scientific and technical cooperation

In 2009, Belgium invested 1.96% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in research and development (R&D). This puts the country just under the EU average of 2.01%. The proportion of this accounted for by businesses was above 70%, which is relatively high compared with the rest of Europe. The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 puts Belgium in 15th place. According to the overall innovation indicator of the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2010, Belgium is above the EU average in terms of its capacity for innovation, ranking 6th out of the 27 EU states. One of the country's particular strengths is its relatively high proportion of employees in research, development and innovation.

The federal structure of Belgium has a very strong influence on its research policy and the structure of the research system. The communities and regions each have their own extensive expertise in science, research and innovation.

The federal state's powers are limited to issues of overriding national importance (defence, aerospace, polar research) and the implementation of international agreements. It is the individual regions (Flemish region, Brussels region and Walloon region) that are primarily responsible for funding and organising applied (industrial, technological) research and innovation. The communities (Flemish community, French community and German community) are responsible for education and (basic) research in the universities.

Formally, therefore, the country has a series of different institutions responsible for science, research, technology and innovation. This makes the decision-making processes for research and innovation policy complex. At every level of authority, there is an advisory body (science policy advisory board) responsible for the drafting of reports and recommendations for the government. These bodies are made up of public figures from the scientific arena, universities, businesses and the community.

The Federal Science Policy Office coordinates science policy at national and international level. The Interministerial Conference for Science Policy (IMCSP) consists of representatives of the federal state, the regions and the communities and is responsible for cooperation between the different levels. Regarding the highest state level, a group of experts (High Level Group 3% Belgium) presented a report on the research, technology and innovation situation in Belgium in 2006. The report describes the challenges for Belgium in terms of the Lisbon objective (3% R&D percentage of GDP). It refers to the high degree of fragmentation caused by the federal structure and advocates a more strongly integrated research, technology, development and innovation policy ("Belgian Research Area"). The Belgian National Reform Programme for 2008-2010 describes the way for Belgium to achieve the Lisbon objectives.

On the Flemish side (Flemish region and Flemish community) the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) acts as an agency for research funding. It finances basic research at the Flemish community's universities and research institutes. The main remit of the Flemish Agency for Innovation IWT is to provide funding for applied research, support companies with technology transfer and help disseminate technology. The advisory body for science and innovation policy for the Flemish government is the Flemish Council for Science & Innovation Policy (VRWI) founded in April 2009. The White Paper entitled "Flanders: Policy Note 2009-2014; Scientific Research and Innovation" produced in October 2010 provides a political guideline for Flemish research and innovation policy.
The Walloon region and the French community are separate from each other in terms of research policy. The hierarchically superior advisory body for research policy issues is the Walloon Council for Science Policy CPS. The research agency for the Walloon region is the Directorate General operational for Economy, Employment and Research (DGO6). This body ensures the scheduling and implementation of science policy. The equivalent for the French community is DGENORS. The Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) with its associated funds is the key funding organisation for the French community.
The Brussels region also has its own structures, and research is primarily funded by the Institute for the encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels (ISRIB).

Key areas of German-Belgian cooperation

The projects currently being undertaken with Belgian participation in the BMBF specialised programs are generally of a multilateral nature. In 2011, Belgium participated in 19 projects, four of which were run bilaterally. The key areas of cooperation are information and communication technologies and environmental research and technology.
Within projects in the 7th EU Framework Program for Research and Technological Development, the joint projects focus on information and communication technologies as well as the health and transport sector.
A current example of German-Belgian relations in research, innovation and education is the first German-Belgian conference, which took place in Brussels in October 2009. It carried the slogan "Partners in innovation and education". The University of Antwerp has declared 2010-2011 the Year of Germany. Primarily it was intended to systematically intensify scientific and research cooperation.