EU governments make final push for FP10 deal this month

Cyprus is still hoping to achieve a partial agreement among EU governments on the next Horizon Europe programme before it cedes the presidency of the EU Council at the end of June, after research ministers gathered in Brussels on May 29 to discuss the final sticking points.

Nicodemos Damianou, Cyprus’s deputy minister for research and innovation, opened the meeting by noting “considerable convergence” on most parts of the programme, including sensitive topics such as funding for defence projects in the European Innovation Council. But governments must now accelerate their efforts to reach an overall agreement. 

“Any delay in our timeline risks creating uncertainty for researchers, innovators and industry, and could ultimately weaken Europe’s capacity to compete in an increasingly fast-moving and contested global environment,” Damianou told a press conference following the meeting.

“We cannot afford hesitation,” he went on. “Predictability and continuity must be secured now to safeguard early adoption and ensure a smooth launch of the programme in 2028.”

Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva echoed this sense of urgency. “Time is really of the essence if we want the next Horizon Europe to be up and running from 1 January 2028, and I’m optimistic that we can find a compromise in the weeks to come,” she said.

National governments had initially hoped to reach a partial general approach, meaning a Council position excluding issues such as budget lines that are part of broader negotiations, at last Friday’s meeting. That target proved overly ambitious, but there is no need to panic just yet, as the European Parliament is not expected to be ready for trilogue negotiations until October.

The ministerial debate focused on four politically sensitive issues that the Cypriot presidency identified as requiring further discussion to reach a partial general approach. Those are: strategic priority setting; partnerships; the Widening programme; and bottom-up collaborative research and innovation.

On May 27, seven groups representing universities and research institutes published a joint statement urging EU governments to consider the Parliament’s ideas for Horizon Europe to avoid prolonged interinstitutional negotiations.

When asked by Science|Business whether member states planned to discuss the Parliament’s proposals, Damianou said the focus was on resolving the four issues identified by the presidency. “The reason we need to do it fast, apart from the timely adoption, being ready for a smooth launch in 2028, is also to make sure that we approach the trilogues at the right balance,” he said, referring to upcoming trilateral talks with the European Commission and the Parliament.

Issues to be resolved

When it comes to strategic priority setting, the main question to be resolved concerns the alignment between Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund.

On partnerships, governments raised concerns about the implementation details and plans for their financial management. They also want to ensure they are closely involved in the selection of partnerships. Here, Zaharieva sought to reassure the ministers. “We will be working with you in the portfolio-building, because we want partnerships in which you want to participate,” she said.

However, the commissioner warned against Council plans to include the details of calls in Horizon Europe work programmes, saying this would result in “thousands of pages” of work programmes, as is the case today. “How is this simplification?” she asked.

Further discussions are also needed on Widening measures for countries with less well-developed research systems. Last year, the Danish presidency of the Council bracketed the Widening provisions, meaning they would be discussed as part of broader negotiations on the next EU budget. But, since the last meeting of research ministers in February, the Cypriot presidency has unbracketed parts of the Widening to be debated by research diplomats and ministers.

The representative from Czechia called Widening the “most pressing open issue,” saying it “has delayed negotiations for too long.” During the debate, several countries called for the Council position to take into account the joint position presented in March by 12 Widening countries.

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The Commission has proposed a reform of Widening to create a second category of “transition” countries that have demonstrated progress in research performance, and to limit capacity-building measures to Widening countries that have increased their public R&D expenditure in the previous year.

In response, the joint position calls for Widening and transition countries to retain full access to all instruments under the Widening programme, regardless of public investment in R&D, and questions the Commission’s proposed criteria for dividing countries into Widening and transition groups.

Ministers also discussed an idea from France and Poland to introduce a new type of bottom-up collaborative research funding, which would offer stable, long-term funding to pan-European networks of laboratories working on topics of strategic importance for Europe.

Ireland’s key role 

Friday’s meeting was the final Competitiveness Council before Ireland assumes the EU presidency on July 1. A partial general approach could still be agreed before then, as it does not require approval at ministerial level.

In either case, Ireland will have the difficult task of laying the groundwork for a deal on the size of the EU budget for 2028-34. Any delays in those talks could stall progress on sectoral files including Horizon Europe.

When European affairs ministers met to discuss the budget on May 26, it was the first time there was “political bite” to the debate, with ministers clearly laying out their positions, Ireland’s European affairs minister Thomas Byrne said during an event hosted last week by the Bruegel think tank.

“I think in any negotiation that moment is always needed to move things on,” Byrne said. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have an agreement at the leaders’ level by Christmas.”

Science diplomacy

Also during Friday’s meeting, the Council adopted a recommendation on a new EU framework for science diplomacy, first proposed by the Commission in February.

The text recommends 31 actions that the Commission and EU member states can take to strengthen Europe’s position as a global leader in science and to use scientific cooperation to advance its foreign policy objectives.

These include setting up an “ad hoc contact group” within the European Research Area framework that can be activated to develop a common research and innovation response to geopolitical threats such as military aggressions or democratic backsliding. 

“Today’s adoption sends a clear political signal: Europe will use science and innovation not only to drive competitiveness, but also to support stability, dialogue and rules-based international partnership,” said Damianou.

“Science remains one of the few spaces where global cooperation can thrive in mutual interests, creating channels of collaboration even in times of geopolitical tensions,” said Zaharieva. “Europe is already a magnet for research and innovation, and with this framework, we will use our strengths even more strategically, with a more coherent European voice on the global stage, projecting our values and protecting our technological sovereignty.”