Proposed €400M cut to Horizon Europe would undermine competitiveness, MEPs argue. Member states maintain a ‘prudent’ position
The European Parliament is opposing proposed cuts to the 2025 EU budget, which includes slashing €400 million from Horizon Europe.
The proposal for next year’s EU budget “cannot be accepted,” said Victor Negrescu, rapporteur for the 2025 budget, during a debate in Strasbourg last month.
In September, national governments agreed on a “prudent” budget, which would see €8.17 billion of cuts overall. In addition to the €400 million knocked off Horizon Europe, the Erasmus+ student exchange programme would be cut by €295 million.
Parliament is determined to “restore the numbers and ask for increases” for research and innovation. “We strongly believe these investments are crucial for the competitiveness of the EU,” Negrescu told Science|Business.
National governments don’t see it that way. Hungarian Minister Péter Banai, who is responsible for the budget negotiations, pointed to a risk of stagnation in the EU economy and increasing debt financing costs, in addition to the russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, to justify the cuts. “Member states are now working on serious consolidation of their own national budgets,” Banai told MEPs.
Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of CESAER, an international association of universities, said the proposed cuts are “unacceptable, incomprehensible and highly counterproductive”.
Cuts to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ would “severely limit” European universities’ contribution to breakthrough developments, Björnmalm said. He also warned of a potential brain drain of top researchers from the EU.
Parliament will vote on its own 2025 budget this month. Negotiations with national governments and the Commission are open until November 18, the legal deadline for reaching an agreement.