R&I Policy Support for Enlargement Countries - POLICY ENLARGE

Project duration: April 2026 – March 2029

Call/Program/Scheme: HORIZON Europe

Client / Financier: European Commission

Participating institutions:

Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development (RCISD)
Barleti University (UniBa)
Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI)
The University of Sarajevo (UNSA)
The University of Banja Luka (UNIBL)
Georgian Institute for Research and Innovation (GIRI)
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
RIINVEST Institute
National Agency for Research and Development (NARD)
Science and Technology Park Montenegro (STP MNE)
Foundation for Management and Industrial Research (MIR)
FundingBox Accelerator sp. z o.o. (FBA)
Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade (IEN)
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)
State Organization Institute for Economics and Forecasting Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (IEF)

Principal investigator (PI): Béla Kardon, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development

The role of IEN in the project: IEN manages the work task / IEN is a partner institution

IEN project team (manager/coordinator, team members):

Dijana Štrbac, PhD (coordinator of IEN team)
Lazar Živković, PhD

Description:

POLICY ENLARGE aims to strengthen evidence-based R&I policy making, implementation and support in EU enlargement countries. Building on the foundation of POLICY ANSWERS, the new action addresses the wider geographical scope and new strategic needs in the evolving EU Research and Innovation (R&I) landscape.

The project supports structured, inclusive and continuous policy dialogue through high-level ministerial meetings, thematic workshops and peer learning exchanges. It facilitates integration into the European Research Area (ERA), the European Education Area and the European Innovation Agenda. The project aligns with the EU's geopolitical and financial priorities by enhancing resilience, accelerating the green and digital transitions, and preparing candidate countries for closer integration with EU frameworks.

A major innovation is the launch of a new third-party funding scheme with three flexible instruments to foster joint innovation actions, uptake of R&I results and people-to-people cooperation. These FSTP grants will catalyse collaboration across all ten enlargement countries and promote regional cohesion, cross-border cooperation, and bottom-up innovation.

The project activates tailored capacity building in R&I policy reform, technology transfer, digitalisation, and evidence-based decision-making. It supports the implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies, gender equality plans and synergies with national and regional programmes. An upgraded online information hub and targeted dissemination actions will enhance stakeholder engagement, while inclusive actions ensure the participation of underrepresented groups.

POLICY ENLARGE mobilises national and regional institutions, civil society, industry and academia, ensuring durable impact beyond the project's lifetime.

Keywords: R&I policy, enlargement countries, regional cooperation, digitalisation, smart specialisation