Funded through Horizon 2020, co-ordinated by the Marine Institute in Galway Ireland and now in its 4th year, the AORAC-SA project (Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Coordination and Support Action) was set up in order to provide scientific, logistical and technical support to the European Commission in developing and implementing trans-Atlantic marine research cooperation between the EU, USA and Canada.
The AORAC-SA support structure, comprising a Secretariat, management team and high-level operational board, is there to assist the Commission with negotiations between the USA and Canada. It also includes representatives of major European marine research programming and funding organisations and has been responsible for organising conferences, workshops and stakeholder meetings related to already identified research priorities such as marine ecosystem-approach, marine biotechnology, aquaculture and ocean literacy to name a few. It is planned to run until 2020 and was given funding in the region of 4.3 Million Euros.