The Council of the European Union which represents the executive
governments of the EU's member states did not accept the European Commission's
budget proposal from this summer. What will this mean for the position of
European research?
- The
European Commission wants to spend € 11.1 billion for research and innovation
next year. From this initial amount, the Council wants to slash € 0.5 billion.
Since the start of the program, Horizon 2020's budget has grown on average by
6.5%. If the Council proposal succeeds, the budget will grow by only 2.6% in
2018.
- Each
summer, the European Commission proposes a draft budget for the coming
year. This year the draft budget came out on 30 May. The Council of
the European Union is the first European institution to respond to it, with its
own proposal coming in July. Ultimately, the third body, the European
Parliament, is also expected to disclose its opinion, scheduled for
October 2017. The three European institutions will therefore negotiate on
the budget for 2018 and thus on the Horizon 2020 budget in the coming weeks.
- In
previous years, these three institutions have usually found a compromise
somewhere in the middle.
- However,
this year, the EU Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas is concerned about the
Council's proposal to cut almost half a billion euros out of the Horizon 2020
research programme. He sees the momentum to make an international difference in
research and science. Referring to Donald Trump's statements about his
intention of withdrawing the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change
mitigation, the Commissioner said that the EU can really be a leader because
the other parts of the world do not want to be leaders. He also called on
scientists across Europe to ask their governments to explain the Council’s
proposal to cut the Horizon 2020 budget.
