When discussions on Horizon Europe started in 2018, no one anticipated a world after a pandemic crisis. The tables changed and budget was allocated elsewhere, to fill holes and save situations. Many European programmes saw their budget being cut to almost nothing.
Characteristic examples are the InvestEU programme whose budget was reduced to a staggering 2.1 billion euros and of course the EU4Health programme that was scrapped completely.
On July 21st 2020 and after five days of negotiations on the Horizon Europe budget, the EU seems to have reached a critical point. The EU leaders have agreed to a total budget of 80.9 billion euros. Of course, we notice that this final budget is much lower than the 94.4 billion euros that were put forward by the European Commission in May. The budget for Research and Development has received multiple cuts.
But how did the budget reach that point? Here are some important points during the negotiation period:
On July 17th 2020, six presidents of European research organizations contacted Council President Charles Michel regarding hit new Horizon Europe budget proposal, calling it “incomprehensible” seeing at it did not match Europe’s recovery goals. Before that President Michel suggested a 5 billion cut of the budget suggested in May.
On July 18th 2020, during the EU leader’s summit, the EU Council appeared willing to cut the 13.5 billion euro boost to Horizon Europe that was proposed by the European Commission, in the pandemic recovery fund.
EU council president Charles Michel has also proposed a move of 50 billion euros from grants to loans, 2 billion of which will be cut from the Horizon Europe budget.
The cuts in the budget not just for Horizon Europe but for other programmes such as the InvestEU and the Solvency were, of course, not met positively, seeing as many leaders consider these cuts to be an “attack” on the R&D programmes.
On July 20th 2020, leaders met again to discuss the budget but the negotiations that day were not fruitful and no deal was met. A potential 7 billion euro cut for Horizon Europe was thrown on the table leaving the EU’s biggest research programme “unguarded” unless leaders came to a deal.
Finally, on July 21st 2020, EU leaders reached an agreement. After five days of negotiations, 80.9 billion euros will be allocated to Horizon Europe with a total of 13.5 billion euros cut from the budget proposed in May 2020.
The day after the summit
Opinions are still in the air as many leaders believe that the cuts on the Horizon Europe budget for 2021-2027 will reduce the significance of the programme and will decrease the importance of Research and Development in Europe.
The EU however, after 4 days on negotiations, is positive the final result is worth it. With more than 50% of the EU budget and Next Generation EU will be allocated to support modern policies thus investing in the EU’s future.
Conclusion
The cut made on the Horizon Europe budget and other important EU programmes will not go unnoticed in the next seven years. Now, the European Commission has to take the next important step, approval by the European Parliament.
We will keep you updated with all the latest news and updates. European programmes are not by a long shot losing their value or importance. Some principles, however, will change and it now remains to be seen how the final budget will be formed.
