The European Commission has proposed a budget of €175 billion (?150 billion) for the successor to Horizon Europe, known as FP10, stating that the research funding programme will be “tightly connected” to the new European Competitiveness Fund.

The figure falls short of the amount hoped for across the European higher education sector: the League of European Research Universities (Leru) and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities are among the umbrella bodies to have called for a budget of at least €200 billion, urging the European Union to more than double the €95.5 billion budget assigned to Horizon Europe between 2021 and 2027.

After a day of delays and last-minute negotiations, commission president Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a proposal for the EU’s next long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, that totalled almost €2 trillion.

The 2028-2034 budget, von der Leyen said, is a “budget for a new era. It is a budget that matches Europe’s ambition, that confronts Europe’s challenges and that strengthens our independence. The budget is larger, it is smarter, and it is sharper”.

色盒直播

The proposed Competitiveness Fund, von der Leyen said, will have a budget of €410 billion. “We think it’s crucial to back the strategic technologies of tomorrow. We really put an emphasis on this competitiveness fund, funding the strategic technologies that we need for the future markets,” she said.

“The Competitiveness Fund includes a doubling of Horizon Europe. It is already a big programme. It’s one of the most renowned programmes we have worldwide, the most renowned scientific research programme. We will double it,” the commission president continued.

色盒直播

While her wording seemed to suggest FP10 would be part of the Competitiveness Fund, a said that the flagship research funder would operate “in close connection” with the new fund.

, the EU said, “The?European Competitiveness fund, tightly connected to?Horizon Europe, will create a seamless investment journey from research to scaling up and manufacturing for beneficiaries of EU funding, to provide for a more focused and simpler set-up.”

Von der Leyen stated in May that Horizon Europe “will stay as a self-standing programme”, quelling growing concern across the sector that it would be absorbed into the European Competitiveness Fund.

Leru and the Guild welcomed the confirmation at the time, but called for “clarity on what?[their] connection entails and how it will be implemented”. ?

色盒直播

?emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com