Commission welcomes progress made in adopting next EU research and innovation budget

The Commission welcomes the partial general approach reached by the Council on the next EU funding programme for research and innovation Horizon Europe, which will run from 2021 to 2027.

In June this year, the Commission proposed the most ambitious research and innovation programme ever, with a budget of €100 billion. Horizon Europe will build on the achievements and success of the previous research and innovation programme (Horizon 2020) and keep the EU at the forefront of global research and innovation. Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: “Horizon 2020 is one of the EU’s biggest success stories. The new Horizon Europe programme aims even higher. So I am pleased to see progress on our proposal, which will push Europe’s scientific leadership and capacity for ground-breaking innovation even further. I invite the co-legislators to start discussions in order to reach a common position without delay.” The agreement does not cover the budgetary aspects yet, given that the final amounts will depend on the agreement reached on the total EU budget for 2021 to 2027. A number of other issues of a horizontal nature have also been set aside pending progress in related files such as InvestEU or Structural Funds.