The European Commission wants to double the budget for the next EU flagship research programme that will run between 2028 to 2034. The proposal forms part of the commission’s submission on the bloc’s next long-term funding settlement and is still to be fully negotiated with the European parliament and member states.
While welcoming the potential increased funds, research organisations have also warned that some aspects of the commission’s proposals could see the research programme become too focused on industrial policy objectives.
Horizon Europe, which launched in 2021 and runs until 2027, has a budget of €95.5 billion (£83 billion), making it the world’s largest research funding programme. As the EU prepares to agree its next budget, many groups representing academia and the wider research sector have been calling for a large increase to Horizon’s successor programme, which is currently known as Framework Programme 10 (FP10).
Several groups, including the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and the Initiative for Science in Europe, had called for FP10 to be handed a €200 billion budget and made recommendations for how the programme could complement a new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), which the commission has proposed as a vehicle to support industry and technology. The European University Association (EUA) had also called for a €200 billion budget for FP10, and highlighted the need to simplify the programme’s rules to make it easier for participants to navigate.
On 16 July, the commission outlined its initial plans for the next multiannual financial framework, including a proposed budget for FP10 of €175 billion, and noted that the programme would be ‘tightly connected’ to the ECF. The commission also proposed increasing the budget for Erasmus+ [the EU’s education and training programme] from €26 billion to €40.8 billion for the same period, although the programme would now also support the European Solidarity Corps, which was previously a separate entity.
‘You spoke, we listened,’ said research and innovation commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva. ‘As one of Europe’s strongest brands, Horizon Europe will place research and innovation at the heart of the EU economy and investment strategy.’
Zaharieva added that the commission’s proposals also aim to ‘de-risk and mobilise’ private investment in research and to help push member states closer to the long-standing target of investing 3% of GDP in research.
‘Unnecessary complexity’
The plans have been broadly welcomed by the research community. In a written response to the commission’s announcement, Kurt Deketelaere, secretary general of the LERU, said that the proposals ‘offer a good starting point’. However, Deketelaere also expressed concern about the ‘unnecessary connection’ between FP10 and the ECF. ‘One wonders why such a connection is needed at all – and whether its intended objectives couldn’t simply be achieved through Horizon Europe itself,’ he said. ‘As it stands, it risks creating unnecessary complexity.’
Deketelaere also highlighted that the programme no longer appears to have a clear ‘civilian clause’, raising the question of whether future research funding could be directed towards ‘dual-use’ research with military applications. ‘[We] urge a stronger focus on excellent research and innovation, and a more explicit involvement of excellent researchers and innovators in shaping the future R&I agenda,’ he added. ‘That agenda should not be driven solely by technology and competitiveness.’
In its response to the proposals, the EUA also welcomed news of an increased budget for FP10. However, the group also questioned whether connecting the programme to the ECF would endanger the programme’s autonomy. The EUA also cautioned against a possible introduction of a top-down thematic focus for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowships, arguing that ‘the [current] bottom-up approach is essential for enabling curiosity-driven research’.
‘The proposed increase in Horizon Europe’s budget demonstrates strong support for research and innovation’s essential role in shaping Europe’s future,’ said the organisation’s secretary general, Amanda Crowfoot. ‘For Erasmus+, the picture is less clear. We need more information on how the budget will be allocated across sectors and actions, and how synergies with other EU funding instruments will be implemented.’
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