ABSTRACT | The EU’s research and innovation policy (R&I) is to support the development of the competitiveness of Europe and its industries and to promote high-quality research. A key policy initiative is the European Research Area (ERA), which aims to create an internal market for European research, technology, and innovation. The EU promotes the ERA by developing the free movement of researchers and improving their career development by investing in the commercialization of research results to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. In addition, the development of research and technological infrastructures, promotion of equality, and closer cooperation between the public and private sectors are ERA priorities. The intersection between R&I policy and Industrial policy is enshrined in ERA Action 12 (one of 20 ERA Actions of the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024), which targets to accelerate the green and digital transition of Europe’s key industrial ecosystems, thus contributing to the European Green Deal objectives. The lecture offers an understanding of EU R&I policy from the industrial transformation angle. Results of ERA industrial tech roadmaps will be discussed, as analytical outputs of the Commission to promote the objectives of the European Green Deal, whereas data analysis from the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard will be offered to unveil major investment trends and the positioning of the EU in the global tech race. The lecturer will also discuss his career path so far and his motivation to work for the protection of core European democratic values and principles.
BIO | Dr. Evgeni Evgeniev has been working at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation since December 2021. He manages the Global Research and Innovation Analysis (GLORIA) project, which has the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard – one of the EU flagship projects – as its main deliverable. He also supervises Action 12 under the ERA Policy Agenda and oversees the Mutual Learning Exercise on Industrial Decarbonisation. Dr Evgeniev co-authored two ERA industrial technology roadmaps, which the European Commission published in 2022-2023. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as a diplomat (Research & Innovation fields) at the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU in Brussels. As such, he negotiated key EU R&I legislation and policies for the MFF 2021-2027 (e.g., Horizon Europe Framework Programme, EIT regulation, Joint Undertakings, etc.). During 2015-2018, Dr. Evgeniev was the Vice-Rector of VUZF University of Finance, Business, and Entrepreneurship in Sofia (top 4 in the ranking) and advised the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria. He worked as an Economist with the World Bank (Europe and Central Asia Region) for about 10 years and published as author/co-author of over 20 World Bank reports. Dr. Evgeniev has also substantive international academic experience as an Associate Professor in Finance and Economics as he has been affiliated with universities and colleges in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, Türkiye, and the USA. He collaborated with teams in other international organizations, such as IMF, OECD, and UNIDO. Dr. Evgeniev is a graduate of the Central European University (PhD and MA, Political Science Department), College of Parma in Italy, and Varna University of Economics in Bulgaria.