Universities united for the best Horizon Europe

Fourteen European associations representing universities, including CESAER, have released a joint statement in response to the European Commission’s proposal for the Ninth EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe).

The statement calls for the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to support Horizon Europe and for the following changes in order to ensure that it fulfils the EU’s ambitions:

• Increase the total budget;
• Review the budget allocation;
• Foresee better linkages between research, innovation and education;
• Include a human and societal reflection, as well as options for fundamental research, in all clusters and missions;
• Put the realisation of the European Research Area at the centre of Horizon Europe across all pillars.

The united associations re-emphasise that an increase of the total budget to €160 billion is needed to achieve the ambitions of Horizon Europe, which will impact the daily life of European citizens, European society and the European economy.

Funding for the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions and the European Research Council programmes deserve a more substantial budget increase, while the clusters of global challenges need a more balanced budget distribution.

The statement calls for linkages between research, innovation and education to be improved, including an amplified role of universities in the European Innovation Council and stronger human and societal approaches across the whole programme. The budget increase for “sharing excellence” is welcomed and should be an overarching objective of Horizon Europe.

Read the full statement here.

For more information and enquiries, please contact our Senior Advisor for Research & Innovation.