Proposed rules to combat foreign influence operations in the EU could ensnare research projects funded from outside the bloc, university and science representatives have warned.
The Spanish presidency has proposed shaving as much as €5.3 billion off Horizon Europe to finance skyrocketing EU recovery fund interest rates, according to a leaked proposal seen by Science|Business. The proposal, sent to the member states last week, outlines three scenarios for cutting EU funding for 2025 - 2027, including one that suggests a cut as high as 13.5%. According to the document, EU ambassadors discussed the document at a Coreper meeting on 23 November.
A special member state task force set up to help shape framework programme 10 (FP10), has compiled the first draft of an opinion that is due by June next year. The documents, seen by Science|Business, set out in broad strokes the member states’ ideas for FP10, including a call for the EU to be a global research and innovation powerhouse by 2034.
Pending Parliament’s approval, Iliana Ivanova will take the reins as commissioner for research, innovation and education later this month. With European elections due in June 2024, interest groups in Brussels now want her to look beyond what will be a short tenure and focus on the first phases of shaping the next EU research framework programme, due to start in 2028.