The next research and innovation Horizon Europe programme with an indicative €94.4 billion budget, suffered an unexpected €5B cut last Friday by the European Council.
Commenting on the issue Mattias Björnmalm, an adviser to CESAER said that “Research and innovation have proven its value again and again during the pandemic and will be crucial for the future recovery and resilience in Europe. These cuts must be reversed.”
All of us have realized the importance of the research and innovation sector in the recovery from the pandemic, as billions of euros have been invested in vaccine and treatment development, and disregarding this will affect badly the EU’s future.
This is a double whammy and blow from the European Council as Horizon Europe had the ambition of having a €100 billion budget but after extensive negotiations it was reduced and has now been reduced again. It appears leaders talk a good game regarding research funding and its importance for the EU’s future prosperity but see it as a soft target in order to trim the overall MFF budget.