After the adoption of Horizon Europe, stakeholders call for a budget increase and third country association and welcome co-creation and wide SSH integration.
The month of April saw the formal adoption of the new framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe by the European institutions. After the trilogue phase ended with a compromise at the end of March (see SwissCore article), the Council’s Permanent Representatives’ Committee confirmed the common understanding reached between the Romanian presidency of the Council and the European Parliament (EP) on 27 March and prepared it for adoption by the Council on 8 April. The EP adopted the text with a vote in Plenary on 17 May.
Several stakeholders now voiced their opinions on the adopted text and provided their input for the now forthcoming strategic planning and implementation phase. On 9 April, The Guild of Research Intensive Universities (The Guild) published its recommendations for the implementation of Horizon Europe. It welcomes the strategic planning process initiated by the European Commission (EC) and their approach of co-design with stakeholders and Member States. The Guild emphasizes that the voice of the scientific community has to be heard in the implementation of Horizon Europe. The programme should pioneer sustainable structures for a dialogue between science and policy makers. Such structures can partially consist of the planned mission boards but should also include advisory expert groups on the individual clusters. Further, the Guild’s recommendations call for a more balanced approach between research and innovation in the collaborative parts of the programme. The Guild re-iterates its position on the role of strategic missions in Horizon Europe already published in December 2017. Missions must build on the research excellence in Europe and have a wide-ranging societal and scientific impact, with indicators therein expressed clearly. Through the missions and beyond, Horizon Europe should foster the relationship between science, citizens and decision-makers to reflect concerns and use the created knowledge efficiently. The Guild welcomes the efforts of the European institutions to continue the integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Measures to do so must be reflected in all stages of Horizon Europe’s preparation and implementation and become a structural part of the call design. The Guild’s recommendations urge the European Commission to employ a dedicated expert group on SSH integration.
In its statement from 17 April 2019, Science Europe welcomes the political partial agreement on Horizon Europe. It is especially pleased to see that excellence remains the core principle of the programme and that the budget earmarked for the support of lower R&I performing countries has been raised. Science Europe advises the European Council and the Finance Ministers to increase also the overall budget for Horizon Europe to at least €120bn as requested by the EP already. Through Horizon Europe, the EU institutions should foster collaboration with strong research performers outside the European Union, such as Switzerland and potentially a post-Brexit United Kingdom (UK). Like the Guild, Science Europe asks for a continued collaboration between the EC and the research and innovation community throughout programme design and implementation.
LERU, in an article published just after the conclusion of the trilogue, welcomed the deal on Horizon Europe achieved before the European elections. A fast decision was needed to guarantee a smooth transition between the research and innovation framework programmes. LERU emphasizes the importance of the well-established and successful parts of the programme, such as the European Research Council (ERC), the Marie-Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) and the regular collaborative projects in pillar II. These should be honoured when dividing the budget, and not be lost out of sight in the light of missions, partnerships and the rising European Innovation Council (EIC). In agreement with Science Europe, LERU supports the bid of the EP to raise the total Horizon Europe budget to €120bn and calls for a full association of Switzerland and the UK.
With an even stronger emphasis on the Horizon Europe budget, the European University Alliance (EUA) calls even for a doubling thereof, and welcomes the co-creation process for the strategic planning and the wide integration of SSH as a crosscutting priority. It emphasizes the role that European universities should play in the implementation of missions and suggests to use the missions to attract and develop human talent and thereby strengthen social cohesion. It also sees a role for human development through personnel exchange between academia and industry in the EIC.