Coordination of efforts among partnerships and across the R&I landscape can take many forms. They may range from a basic exchange of information to a long-term alignment of visions and objectives. Several concepts, such as alignment, synergies and coherence have been in use within the R&I policy landscape.
Alignment has been originally defined as “the strategic approach taken by [EU] Member States to modify their national programmes, priorities or activities as a consequence of the adoption of joint research priorities in the context of Joint Programming, to implement changes to improve the efficiency of investment in research at the level of the Member States and the European Research Area.” Later, the definition was extended to include both research and innovation. Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027 highlights the possibilities for aligning research strategies of stakeholders in the Members States and Associated Countries with the EU Priorities. This may refer to efforts by European Partnerships aimed at alignment with EU-level and national agendas, as well as specific stakeholder groups. Possible benefits of alignment include better coordination, simplified procedures, lower costs, improved performance and impact creation, preventing duplication of efforts and closing gaps.
Synergies occur when the “results or programmes as a whole is greater than that of the sum of their individual impacts”. Synergies emerge through interactions across the different partnerships and their types, between partnerships and other instruments and with different funding sources. Establishing synergies is paramount to achieving the EU's wider goals of green, digital, industrial, and just transitions and increasing the EU’s resilience given current and future crises. The framework for synergy creation in relation to other EU programmes is outlined in Annex IV of the Horizon Europe Regulation, as well as specific parts of regulation such as Annex II (2.4) for EIT KICs. The Horizon Europe 2025-2027 Strategic Plan aims to inform “synergies with other EU programmes and with national research activities and schemes”. Fostering synergies is expected to enable more efficient public spending, more effective implementation, evidence-informed policy making and an accelerated innovation cycle.
The Prague Declaration on Synergies (2022) recognises for European Partnerships to identify and utilise synergies in several ways. Synergies can be achieved through a wide range of activities, including dedicated knowledge sharing, complementary funding and dedicated knowledge sharing, and can serve multiple purposes. Processes aimed at synergy creation and alignment can also prove burdensome on the involved parties and thus require careful judgement on which activities aimed at alignment and synergies need to be prioritized.
The strategic level of synergy creation covers policy processes and the interaction of different instruments. From the perspective of partnerships, it means ensuring that they address strategic orientations and interests of countries reflected in national policy documents or engage with other instruments and actors with a long-term view. Converging, complementing, or overlapping areas across the different national strategies and programme foci are commonly reflected in the Partnerships’ Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs).
At the implementation level, efforts are targeted at national/regional research and innovation programmes, procedures, and rules for participating in such programmes. This should include design, implementation, evaluation of joint activities, and dissemination of results. The timing of funding, participation and funding rules in the different national programmes need to be compatible, for a smooth start and implementation of joint projects and activities.
Synergies can also be created on various levels within the European and global policy landscape, namely with and between:
- Global and international (non-EU) programmes, initiatives, stakeholders.
- European initiatives and programmes.
- National and regional programmes and stakeholders.
- European R&I system pillars and instruments beyond the partnerships.
- Synergies among European partnerships.
The synergy creation process between Partnerships can be bilateral in the case of clear, specific areas and multilateral in areas with considerable scope for multilateral collaboration. It is also possible to distinguish cumulative (bringing together), successive (building on one another) and concurrent (complementing each other) synergies.
