Meaningful progress on Horizon Europe urgently needed

In light of today's Competitiveness Council meeting and the upcoming third trilogue on Horizon Europe on 21 February 2019, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) wants to remind the co-legislators that time is running out. Trilogue discussions on Horizon Europe need to speed up to avoid that agreement on the programme is delayed until the autumn, or even until next year. Such a delay would likely result in a funding gap between the current and the next Framework Programme (FP), leading to a decrease of interest from top researchers and innovators who will find funding elsewhere, and hence weaken the success and attractiveness of the FP. It would also lead to a stalling of the preparatory work that the European Commission (EC) needs to undertake, for instance on ‘strategic programming’ or the negotiation of association agreements. 

Time is a precondition for what the EC calls “strategic programming” in the framework of Horizon Europe: the consultation of member states, societal actors and research experts. “Member States and the European Parliament are concerned about having too little influence on the strategic programming process, but by delaying the agreement on Horizon Europe, Council and Parliament risk shooting themselves in the foot,” says Kurt Deketelaere, Secretary-General of LERU: “Too little time will likely lead to no external input for the first Horizon Europe work programmes and calls, leaving these up to the discretion of the EC.” LERU stresses (again) the need for thoroughly involving research experts from different fields, including Social Sciences and Humanities, in strategic programming, in mission boards and in discussions on partnerships. “Instead of catering for their own interest, the EP and Member State representatives should be more concerned about how the EC will identify and consult experts in Horizon Europe”, Deketelaere adds. 

LERU would also like to encourage Council and EP to address the issue of the legal base of Horizon Europe. Solving that issue will likely speed up the trilogue discussions and increase mutual trust between the co-legislators. At the same time, LERU calls upon the Competitiveness Council in particular, to swiftly come up with a position on the Specific Programme and on the remainder of the Horizon Europe Regulation, including important articles such as the one on association to the FP. In that light, LERU reminds the Council of its ‘to do list’ for the Horizon Europe negotiations, published on 6 December 2018. 

‘Widening participation’ was, and still is, one of the major concerns on that list. We strongly restate that closing the EU Research & Innovation (R&I) divide is not, and should not become, a goal of the FP. The R&I divide is indeed problematic, and European Union programmes should, where within scope, stimulate closing this divide. But it is the high quality of the selected projects, focusing first and foremost on excellence, that makes FP funding prestigious and much desired by Member States that currently only have a fractional share of it. Changing the scope of the FP, and its focus on excellence, would weaken the entire programme and make it less attractive for everybody. This is especially (but not only!) the case for the European Research Council (ERC). Excellence should remain the only selection criterion for ERC grants. Sufficient autonomy and flexibility for the Scientific Council and the ERC Executive Agency should be guaranteed by the co-legislators, also in Horizon Europe, in order to continue the ERC’s success story.

On the issue of association to the FP, LERU asks the Council, EC and the EP to be pragmatic and to look for solutions that allow both the UK and Switzerland to fully associate to the FP, and this from the very first day of Horizon Europe. “We know of course that this demand is part of a wider political agreement, but some pragmatism is needed,” Kurt Deketelaere underlines. “The UK and Switzerland are not only strong and reliable partners in the field of research and innovation, they are also undeniably part of the European Research Area. Therefore, future collaboration in the field of research and innovation between EU member states and the UK and Switzerland should be fully encouraged, and not hampered by political games.”

LERU remains open and committed to contributing to Horizon Europe, making it the best possible Framework Programme ever. We hope that it will be precisely this motivation that will drive the co-legislators in their future meetings on the future FP. It should not only motivate them to speed up the negotiations but also to avoid a watering down of the Horizon Europe proposal with unnecessary or unwelcome changes. 

Contact

• Prof. Kurt Deketelaere, LERU Secretary-General, or +32 499 80 89 99 
• Laura Keustermans, Senior Policy Officer, or +32 476 97 73 04 
• Media contact: Bart Valkenaers, Policy Officer, or +32 498 08 43 49