Research committee MEPs call for 25% budget increase for Horizon Europe

The European Parliament's committee in charge of research has said that the budget proposed by the European Commission for the Horizon Europe (HE) research programme for 2028-2034 should be increased by 25% to €220 billion.

On 25/02/2026, the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee gave its opinion on an interim report on the EU's budget for 2028-2034 - the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The report will be approved by the EP's budget committee this spring. The rapporteur for the opinion in the ITRE committee is Borys Budka from the EPP group.

For ITRE MEPs, the €175bn proposed by the Commission for Horizon Europe should be increased to €220bn if the EU is to reach its target of spending 3% of GDP on R&D by 2030.

The MEPs said that funding at the EU level could not replace sustained national public investment in R&D. They also emphasised that increased public and private investment in research and innovation was essential to close the EU's innovation gap with its competitors.

The opinion also states that the amounts allocated to HE should be…