After a long negotiations between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, a circa €70 billion package has been agreed for Horizon 2020, the latest framework programme for research and innovation. Presidency officials also stated that the European Research Council (ERC) will receive seventeen per cent of the budget.
Even though the initial rate differentiation was rejected by the Council, the agreement is widely seen as a win by the European Parliament, most of whose demands were met including:
On the side of the European Commission, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn welcomed the conclusions of the negotiations on the Horizon 2020 package as “good news for researchers, for universities, for SMEs, and for all other future participants in the programme”. The Commissioner further stated that the new package could provide solutions for societal challenges and strengthening industrial competitiveness.
