The Socialists and Democrats led today a vote in the industry, research and energy committee on Europe’s next research and innovation programme for the period 2021-2027, Horizon Europe. The S&Ds called for an ambitious EU budget, of at least €120 billion in 2018 prices, to finance research and innovation and address the challenges European societies and economies are facing.
S&D MEP Dan Nica, Parliament’s negotiator for Horizon Europe and S&D spokesperson on industry, research and energy, said:
“Having an ambitious and properly funded framework programme means investing in the future of Europe.
“We are convinced that through science and innovation, Europe can become more competitive and stay at the forefront of global research and innovation. An ambitious budget is also crucial for funding ground-breaking research and innovation projects and for creating quality jobs.
“We have succeeded to strengthen the European Research Area by addressing the scientific and technological divide while maintaining excellence as a core principle of the programme.
“Enhanced research and innovation are also vital to ensuring a smooth transition to a sustainable social and economic model, in line with the SGDs and the Paris Agreement. To this end, we made sure that at least 35% of the total budget would be allocated to support EU’s climate objectives.
“Horizon Europe needs to be not only ambitious but also simpler, clearer and more accessible to reduce administrative burden and promote fair and objective participation of all research and innovation teams across the EU.”
Soledad Cabezón MEP, S&D spokesperson for the Horizon Europe Specific Programme, said:
“About two thirds of Europe’s growth has been driven by research and innovation. To continue to drive sustainable growth, social impact and benefit societies, we need to adequately fund research and innovation programmes in the EU. Public funding and public return on public investment are crucial and need to be combined with private funds from industry.”
“We have worked very hard to embed a progressive character to the specific program implementing Horizon Europe. The main concerns of the S&D such as the SME Instrument, global challenges, climate change, gender balance and SSH have been covered. This will give a social balance to this proposal that was missing in the European Commission text.”
Note to editors:
Horizon Europe introduces five new features: the European Innovation Council (EIC), new EU-wide research and innovation missions, maximisation of the innovation potential across the EU, more openness, and a new generation of European Partnerships and increased collaboration with other EU programmes.
