EU-LIFE urges the European Parliament and the EU Council to push for a strong Horizon Europe

EU-LIFE, the alliance of 13 leading life science research institutes in Europe has announced its reaction to the European Commission´s proposal for Horizon Europe, the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP9) that will run from 2021 to 2027.

The key points are as follows:

• EU-LIFE urges the European Parliament and the EU Council to push for a stronger Horizon Europe by raising its budget as recommended by several reports
• EU-LIFE encourages Horizon Europe to expand the extremely successful programmes it has initiated, namely the ERC grant system and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, in addition to collaborative projects that address technological and environmental challenges facing our society today. These actions attract and foster the best and brightest minds, and encourage ground-breaking research that will ensure Europe’s leadership in technological and biomedical innovation in the future.
• EU-LIFE supports the statement released by 14 university organisations on calling for: increased total budget of Horizon Europe, a review of budget allocation, centring the Programme’s pillars on the realisation of the European Research Area, better integration among research, innovation and education.
• Support for the announced ‘mission’ actions and a recommendation that researchers and innovators are involved in identifying and managing missions  

EU-LIFE’s full statement is available on: https://eu-life.eu/newsroom/news/eu-life-statement-ecs-proposal-horizon-europe

“We believe that the negotiations starting now will raise the potential of Horizon Europe in addressing important challenges faced by European citizens and the world”, says Marta Agostinho, Coordinator of EU-LIFE. “We urge the European Parliament and the European Council to go a step further and raise the priority of Research & Innovation in EU MFF, namely by providing Horizon Europe with a 150 Billion Euro budget.”

“Research & Innovation is a strong pillar under the EU ideal. Few other fields illustrate so clearly the added value of the European Union. The European Research Council, for example, has become one of the most acclaimed success stories of Europe. We must secure this legacy and invest more in its proven contribution to a better world” say Genevieve Almouzni, Chair of EU-LIFE and Scientific Director of Institut Curie, France.

Defining the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe is part of the continuing Brexit negotiations. Since the EU referendum, the Babraham Institute has contributed to governmental inquiries and EU-LIFE position and policy papers to emphasise the importance of collaborative science in protecting the UK’s research capability and standing.

“European research funding has been an important factor in the UK maintaining its global position as a research leader,” says Professor Michael Wakelam, Director of the Babraham Institute. “It’s to the benefit of both the European Research Area and the UK that the UK contributes to the development of Horizon Europe and to agree access to the Programme that strengthens, rather than weakens, our partnership.”

Notes for Editors

About EU-LIFE
EU-LIFE is an alliance of research centres whose mission is to support and strengthen European research excellence. EU-LIFE members are leading research institutes in their countries and internationally renowned for producing excellent research, widely transferring knowledge and nurturing talent.

EU-LIFE Partners
Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG, Spain) | Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC, Czech Republic) | European Institute of Oncology (IEO, Italy) | Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI, Switzerland) | Institut Curie (France) | Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM, Finland) | Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC, Portugal) | Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC, Germany) |  Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM, Austria) | The Netherlands Cancer Institute  (NKI, The Netherlands) | The University of Copenhagen Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC, Denmark) | The Babraham Institute (Babraham, United Kingdom) | Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB, Belgium)
 
About the Horizon Europe (Framework Programme 9)
Horizon Europe, the European Research Programme 9, will run from January 2021 to the end of 2027. It will replace the current Horizon 2020 programme.  The European Commission (EC) published its programme proposal on the 8^th June 2018 and announced a €94.1 billion research budget. A final Horizon Europe programme will be reached upon negotiations among the EC, the European parliament and the European Council.
 
For more information
Marta Agostinho, PhD
EU-LIFE Coordinator
marta.agostinho@eu-life.eu
Phone: +34 9331 60379 / mobile: +34 6195 70820

Related content:

EU-LIFE’s full statement on the EC’s proposal for Horizon Europe

EU-LIFE position paper: EU-LIFE's vision for European R&D Funding Programme (20^th September 2017)

News item: European funding success (19^th April 2017)

EU-LIFE statement: EU-LIFE calls for an increased ERC budget in FP9 (13^th March 2017)

EU-LIFE policy paper: A shared vision for the next European Funding Programme (6^th February 2017)

News item: Institute submits responses to Science and Technology Committee inquiries on Brexit (9^th September 2016)