PRIMA Mediterranean research partnership for research and innovation must simplify operations and address complex funding schemes, states European Commission
The European Commission has released an interim evaluation of the PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean) research and innovation partnership, highlighting the need for streamlining its operations due to the complexity caused by various national funding schemes.
PRIMA, which brings together 19 Mediterranean countries and Germany, aims to enhance research collaboration in water management, agriculture, energy, and food production.
PRIMA Mediterranean research partnership and its objectives
The evaluation report recognises PRIMA as an effective diplomatic tool for engaging with Mediterranean Basin countries and aligning with the European Union’s broader energy and climate objectives.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has repeatedly emphasised the EU’s interest in collaborating closely with southern Mediterranean countries on climate technologies and services.
PRIMA is poised to contribute to these goals.
Progress and funding details for project
Established in 2017, with initial discussions dating back to 2012, the PRIMA partnership has a total budget of €494 million, with €220 million provided by the EU’s Horizon 2020 program and the remaining funds contributed by participating countries.
As of the end of 2021, €353 million has been spent, benefiting primarily Italy, Spain, Tunisia, and France. Notably, none of the projects within the partnership has concluded yet, leading the report to focus more on structural implementation issues rather than project content and impact.
Challenges faced by PRIMA
While the report indicates that PRIMA is functioning smoothly without funding delays or implementation issues, it also highlights low success rates for project applications, some as low as 5%.
Although other parts of the partnership have reported higher success rates ranging from 6.6% in 2018 to 20% in 2021, the oversubscription of applications may discourage high-quality proposals in the future.
To address these challenges, the Commission report suggests that the PRIMA implementing structure should introduce tailored calls and improve application procedures to increase success rates.
Additionally, the report points out the difficulties in managing different administrative processes for funding research and innovation across the 19 participating countries, calling for future streamlining to reduce the time to grant.
Recommendations for future research
The PRIMA partnership encountered several obstacles during its initial years, facing administrative hurdles in Italy and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Some projects had to redirect their grants towards pandemic-related research, while payment delays were experienced in Italy and Lebanon.
The recommendations outlined in the midterm report will serve as the foundation for discussions between the Commission and PRIMA management.
The final proposal calls are scheduled for 2024, funded through Horizon 2020. Still, member states have already expressed interest in continuing the partnership beyond that date. They are exploring ways to synchronise future PRIMA activities with the ongoing EU framework program, Horizon Europe.
