A plucked chicken named Horizon Europe

Hardly anyone seems to have noticed that at the summit meeting last weekend, the EU states had actually agreed on the new research programme „Horizon Europe“ – which is to come into force at the end of the year. A group of experts had once called for € 160 billion. Later, € 100 billion was mentioned, € 94.4 billion had been proposed by the European Commission in May, and the EU summit’s decision only provides for € 80.9 billion. This means that the negotiated volume for a seven-year term is only at the level of its predecessor „Horizon 2020“.

The bitter conclusion remains: the EU heads of state and government have abandoned their ambitious targets for research funding. Now the last hopes rest on the final negotiations with the European Parliament.

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