Promoted by the European Commission Directorate - General for Research and together with the EU Belgian Presidency and hosted by the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Montenegro, the meeting of the Steering Platform on Research for the Balkans was held in Budva on 11 November 2010.
The gathering aimed at evaluating the progress made in this field in this region since the beginning of the year. Particular attention was paid to how these changes have affected the medium - sized enterprises. Representatives from all the Ministries of Science and Technology of the Region, of other main interested EU countries as well as of some European organisations (firstly, EUREKA) provided detailed analysis, with special focus on the main results regarding the process going from research to technological innovation and to enterprise competitiveness. In evaluating the results of the meeting, CEI Alternate Secretary General expressed full appreciation for the fact that the European Commission submitted the proposal, unanimously approved by the participants, to grant the Central European Initiative a permanent status of Observer in this platform (together with OECD) in view of its achievements in the field of science, transfer of technology and innovation.