Joint Programming

Joint Programming - a concept introduced by the European Commission in July 2008 - is one of the five initiatives for implementing the European Research Area (ERA).

The aim of Joint Programming is to increase the value of relevant national and EU R&D funding by concerted and joint planning, implementation and evaluation of national research programmes. Even common financing could be considered in this context.

Within the concept of Joint Programming, Member States shall coordinate national research activities, bundle resources, benefit from complementarities and develop common research agendas, in order to face the grand societal challenges – all in variable geometry and therefore on a voluntary basis. Joint Programming intends to tackle the challenges that cannot be solved solely on the national level and allows Member States to participate in those joint initiatives that seem useful for them.

The Council of the European Union welcomed the concept and the objectives of Joint Programming in its respective Conclusions adopted on 2 December 2008, and called “for the implementation of that process led by the Member States to step up their cooperation in the R&D area in order to better confront major societal challenges of European or worldwide scale, where public research plays a key role”.

To implement this concept, the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC for short, from the French “Groupe de haut niveau pour la Programmation Conjointe") has been established. The group's task is to identify and define the thematic fields for the first Joint Programming Initiatives, and to contribute to the preparation of Council decisions in this matter.

The GPC identified the first themes for Joint Programming Initiatives in November 2009:

• Agriculture, food security and climate change
• A healthy diet for a healthy life (formerly known as "Health, food and prevention of diet-related diseases")
• Cultural heritage & global change (formerly known as "Cultural heritage, climate change and security")

The Council of the EU confirmed these identified JPI themes in its Conclusions of 3 December 2009.

The GPC has already identified a 'second wave' of themes for Joint Programming Initiatives in May 2010:

• Urban Europe
• CliK'EU
• More years, better lives
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Water challenges
• Healthy & productive seas and oceans

  The Council of the EU will confirm this 'second wave' ofJPI themes in its meeting on 26 May 2010.

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