Zaharieva: We will "take note" of research ministers' comments about FP10 proposal

Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, has played down suggestions that EU member states are concerned about losing influence over the Union's strategic research priorities.

Speaking at the end of a meeting on EU research ministers in Brussels on 09/12/2025, Zaharieva said that ministers had given a positive response to the Commission's proposal for the next Horizon Europe framework programme for 2028-2034.

She said that she and her team would "take note" of comments made by ministers in a discussion of the proposal, which forms part of the EU's next Multiannual Financial Framework. "We should plan together strategic priorities and technologies," she said.

During a public debate on the 10^th research framework programme (FP10), a large number of ministers called for guarantees that they would have significant influence over its strategic priorities. Spain's Minister, Juan Cruz Cigudosa García, said that his country welcomed efforts by Denmark, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, to "strengthen the role of…