The European Commission, which has set ambitious goals in the direction of the green deal and the protection of cultural heritage, has not developed a clear action plan. Members of the European Parliament believe that the Horizon Europe programme could contribute to the development of this plan.

For example, according to a European Parliament’s draft opinion, the New European Bauhaus could become a €500 million‘ mission’ funded by the Horizon Europe research programme.

The European Bauhaus initiative was announced back in 2020. The program’s main objective is to protect the cultural heritage of Europe in line with the EU’s net-zero ambitions. The European Commission allocated €85 million for this initiative, €25 million intended for five demonstration projects. But by the start, scheduled for 2023, there is still no clear plan for the implementation of New Bauhaus.

MEP Christian Ehler, co-rapporteur for the file: “While we all welcome the new Bauhaus initiative, most of us would agree that the concept is not yet clear enough. The New European Bauhaus initiative has to be more concrete in order to be successful.» 

Parliament’s culture and research committees have prepared a draft for this initiative in the form of a Horizon Europe mission, a new type of research program introduced last year that gives impetus to innovations tackling pressing societal challenges. This proposal must be submitted to Horizon Europe legislative review no later than 2024. According to the mission draft, the budget will be approximately €500 million.

Looking at the next EU budget, which starts in 2027, the MEPs are set to call for a separate programme for the New European Bauhaus, with its funding and structure. The main concerns are the relocation of the money from other research, education, and cultural programmes.

Marcos Ros Sempere, co-rapporteur on the file: “We want fresh money which doesn’t take away money and resources from other projects.”

Therefore, it is necessary to understand which projects can be considered suitable for the New European Bauhaus project. At the moment, two parliamentary committees are working on developing documentation for the project: Culture and Education and Industry, Research and Energy.

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Source: Goda Naujokaitytė
Picture: Pexels