The #EUInvestInKnowledge call to seize our common future and strengthen the European Union's (EU) investment in Research and Innovation (R&I) was presented to European leaders by European University Association (EUA) Vice-President Paul Boyle.
The call highlights the vital role that R&I has to play in coping with environmental, social, and economic challenges such as tackling climate change, ensuring citizens’ health, wellbeing and security, boosting economic competitiveness and creating jobs. It urges the EU institutions to set an ambitious budget of at least €120 billion for Horizon Europe, the next EU Programme for R&I which will run from 2021 to 2027.
During the closing ceremony of the European R&I Days, Paul Boyle presented the messages of the statement to an audience including representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. As well as calling for an ambitious budget, he emphasised the need for curiosity driven research, social science and humanities, and international collaboration.
The timing is critical as the negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget from 2021 to 2027 are entering the final stages.
The initiative was launched by CESAER and 14 other university associations and is gathering strong momentum, having already gained the signatures of over 200 organisations. The call for signatories remains open and we encourage all stakeholders to share the link and demonstrate support using the hashtag #EUInvestInKnowledge.
We will continue to collaborate with our partners in order to harness this opportunity to make the united voice of universities heard as loudly as possible.