Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is a planned 7-year European Union scientific research initiative meant to succeed the current Horizon 2020 program. The European Commission drafted and approved a plan for the Horizon Europe to raise EU science spending levels by 50% over the years 2021-2027.

As of April 2019 the Commission proposes €94.1 billion for Horizon Europe – due to launch in 2021 – up from €77 billion for the current Horizon 2020.

Independent observers predict the final approved funding will be much lower after lengthy negotiations with the European Parliament and EU member states are completed.[1] Over the past few years EU commissioner Carlos Moedas, along with many advocacy groups, have tried to push for a more expansive EU science budget. In order to build political support for the budget increase, he intends to use American originated ideas of "moonshots" to focus research efforts and boost the public interest.[2]

Details

The proposal calls for €100 billion in research and innovation spending for years 2021-2027. Of that sum €2.4 billion is earmarked for the Euratom nuclear research program and €3.6 billion is put away for an umbrella investment fund, called InvestEU. After accounting for 2% annual inflation, in 2018 euros the funding for Horizon Europe amounts to €86.6 billion.[3][4]

Wealthier EU members have expressed opposition to the increase in funding, with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte saying the draft budget was "unacceptable".[5]

To pay for the €100 billion science spending, the Commission's plan calls for cuts to agriculture and cohesion funding by 5 per cent. Additionally, the plan seeks to tie funding to adherence to the rule of law in member states, including judicial independence.[5]

References
  1. Brainard, Jeffrey (May 2018). "EU Budget May Rise by 50%". Science. 360: 583 – via Direct Access.
  2. Kelly, Éanna (April 24, 2018). "EU officials pitch 'Horizon Europe' as name for next research programme". Science Business. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  3. Kelly, Eanna (May 8, 2018). "€100B? €86.6B? A Brussels puzzle: How big is the new research budget?". Science Business. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  4. The European Commission. "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions" (PDF).
  5. "Blocking an increase in the research budget would put Europe on a 'loser's path' | Science|Business". sciencebusiness.net. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
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