EU : "FP10 should not be driven by competitiveness" (Christian Ehler)

"FP10 has to be a game changer. [...] Achieving this requires putting Europe’s scientists, researchers and innovators in the driving seat, shaping the programming and selecting the best projects. Centralising the programming in a Competitiveness Fund would achieve the opposite. While FP10 can and will play a crucial role for EU competitiveness, it should not be driven by it", can one read in the draft report of the European Parliament on the assessment of the implementation of Horizon Europe, made public on 14/11/2025.

Christian Ehler, a German MEP from the EPP and former Horizon Europe rapporteur, is leading the report, which features recommendations for the next FP. Among these is a call to have a minimum budget of €220 Bn and to align with the Union’s contribution to 3% of the GDP for R&D target.

"Horizon is too much an instrument for policymakers and not enough a support structure for science, research and innovation in Europe. The FP10 needs to be freed from the hubris of technology development and science planned by policymakers. It needs to rid itself of too many secondary…