The Committee of Permanent Representatives today endorsed an agreement between the Greek Presidency of the Council and European Parliament representatives on a new generation of public and private partnerships that will allow large-scale, long-term innovation projects to be carried out under the umbrella of Horizon 2020, the EU's next research framework programme.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr Christos Vasilakos, Greece’s Secretary General for Research and Technology, noted that “this package is one of our highest research priorities during our Presidency given the significance of the issues and the multiplying effects that the realization of these initiatives will entail, not only for the Research and Innovation landscape in Europe, but also for enhancing the industrial participation in Horizon 2020 while simultaneously addressing key societal challenges for our citizens. Within a very limited time schedule for our deliberations, we believe that we have reached a good compromise proposal to be transmitted to the European Parliament which will permit the Innovation and Investment Package to be rapidly adopted.”