Brussels was busy in December, from personnel shifts in and out to first policy proposals by the new EC – however, no decision yet on the EU budget.
In case you were expecting a quiet December in Brussels with time for a festive atmosphere, mulled wine and Christmas carols, you were definitely wrong. The last weeks leading up to the end of the year 2019 were as busy as always or even a tick busier.
The past weeks were the first weeks of the von der Leyen Commission, which took office on the 1st of December with full speed ahead and to the sound of moving chairs. With Adina-Ioana Vălean from Romania securing the seat of the EU Commissioner for Transport, there was all of a sudden a vacancy in the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). A successor was found in fellow Romanian Cristian-Silviu Buşoi, member of the European People’s Party (EPP). The Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) also felt the stir. Kurt Vandenberghe, formerly at the helm of the Policy and Programming Centre and driving the strategic plan of the next research and innovation framework programme, Horizon Europe, moved straight to President von der Leyen’s cabinet. It is not entirely clear yet, who will take his role at DG RTD. Another pivotal position in the European Commission (EC) remains yet unoccupied, the one of Secretary General to replace Martin Selmayer. The Commission has launched a search among its higher-ranking employees. It seems that a French person may have good chances, since a French may be seen as a complement to the German EC President.
Meanwhile in Brussels’ Covent Garden building another leader said ‘adieu’. Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council (ERC) retired from his position, which he held for six years. During his time, he grew the ERC as one of the most prestigious funders for basic science in the world and helped to spearhead a large budget increase. The Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel called the ERC a ‘success story for Europe’ in a large farewell event and promised her support for the Horizon Europe budget. From 1 January 2020 onwards, the nanobiologist Mauro Ferrari will head the ERC and will, according to Bourguignon, have many more battles to fight.
December also brought advances on education, research and innovation (ERI) policy files; the Council of the European Union (Council) in its research configuration made progress on some remaining issues of Horizon Europe and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (see SwissCore article). But, the brightest star on the policy sky was definitely the ‘European Green Deal‘, presented by President von der Leyen to the public on 11 December and to the heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states during the European Council meeting on 12 December. It is the first major proposal by the new Commission and sets out to make Europe carbon-neutral by 2050. The Green Deal is a strategy that includes 50 specific policy measures and includes several milestones in a roadmap to reach its ambitious goals. It will touch several sectoral policy areas including education, research and innovation (see SwissCore article). The above mentioned EU Leaders took note of the EC proposal and asked the respective EU ministers to take work forward. With the exception of Poland, all of them endorsed the objective of making the EU carbon-neutral by 2050.
To round it all off (and pay for it), the Finnish Council Presidency presented its proposal for the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), referred to as the ‘negotiation box’ on 5 December. The proposal at 1.07% of EU27 gross national income (GNI) is smaller than the 1.11% originally proposed by the EC, and reconsiders priorities and balances between different programmes. EU Leaders underlined that the MFF will significantly contribute to climate actions and called on their President, Charles Michel, to take negotiations forward. However, the EP and in particular the ITRE Committee fears that the Presidency proposal would jeopardise the Green Deal, innovation and digitalisation and is far from the needs it identified. Criticism was also voiced by the EC President and the negotiations ahead will be tough. The MFF proposal also contains the numbers for the European knowledge programmes. Despite a budget for Horizon Europe only slightly below the EC proposal, the European University Association (EUA) claims that the budget is far from what is truly necessary for the future programme, and EARTO calls for more ambitions for the EU’s research, development and innovation investment. Along the same lines, the EP Culture and Education Committee (CULT Committee) expressed their disappointment with expected cuts to Erasmus+ and the education, culture and youth programmes overall resulting in a budget 20% below the EC proposal.
Elsewhere, on the British Islands, signs are on Brexit happening after the elections on 12 December. The results were received in Brussels almost with relief and the European Union is ready to take the next steps. Clarity on the UK’s position will hopefully also pave the way for the remaining EU countries to swiftly adopt decisions on issues such as association modalities to EU knowledge programmes.
To digest the plethora of information, we definitely all deserve a break now. In that sense, we wish you all the best for the coming holiday season and a great start into 2020.