celebrate the launch of Horizon
Europe and allow me to start by thanking the team of the Portuguese Presidency for having organised this important event.
The European Commission has been always focused on delivering a timely start and a robust budget for Horizon Europe.
I am pleased because it is strategic for the future of Europe and also because it rewards the hard work of the wider European research community and the engagement of the co-legislators.
It was negotiated in difficult conditions, with more uncertainties than usual, arising from the COVID pandemics that is hitting hard our societies and our economies, but also from the UK leaving the Union.