At the sitting held on 15 October, the members of the Committee on Science and Technological Development accepted the Bill on the Confirmation of the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Austria, submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Viktor Nedojevic, Assistant Minister of Science and Technological Development, presented the basic tenets of the Bill to the Committee members, stressing that the Agreement is one of a series of scientific cooperation agreements signed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia with European partners this year. Austria is an important factor in multilateral projects and holds the leading position in them. Serbia enjoys important relations and cooperation on scientific projects with Austria, primarily on international projects such as the project of Western Balkans integration into research in Europe. Both sides share a wish, as well as the potential, to improve scientific cooperation, primarily reflected in the Serbian scientific diaspora in Austria and the fact that Austria is the leader in the sphere of scientific cooperation on the European continent. In the realisation of Framework Programme 7, Austria is among the top ten countries, achieving remarkable results evidenced by the fact that the country managed a 150% return of the funds invested from the programme budget. Austria helped Serbia on two occasions, in 2005 and this year, to evaluate the national invitation, when its scientists volunteered assistance in the drafting of the evaluation. The Bill represents a framework for future project cooperation between the two countries.

In the debate on the Bill, the Committee members wanted to know whether the Agreement envisages cooperation between universities allowing Serbian students to attend postgraduate studies in Austria and whether it envisages cooperation between science institutes in Serbia and Austria. The Committee members were pleased at the signing of the Agreement and stressed the importance of cooperation between the two countries in the sphere of science.

Following a short debate, the Committee members unanimously endorsed the Bill on the Confirmation of the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Austria

The sitting was chaired by Srboljub Zivanovic, Committee Chairman.