Cyprus chair of EU research council confident of deal on Horizon Europe by May despite "concerns"

Ministers responsible for research in the EU's member states continue to have concerns about how the next Horizon Europe research programme will be managed and how it will connect with the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF). They also want to have a discussion about funding for research activities in countries with a low research performance, so-called widening measures.

Speaking after a meeting of EU research ministers in Brussels on 27/02/2026, Nicodemos Damianou, Cyprus' deputy minister for research, innovation and digital policy, said that his country, which holds the presidency of the EU Council, hoped to reach a "partial agreement" on the European Commission's proposal for Horizon Europe by May 2026.

He said that ministers in the Council meeting had raised the issues of governance and priority setting for the research programme and the connection between Horizon and the ECF. He added that there had been a "strong call" by ministers to discuss widening measures. The presidency is taking these issues into account when drafting a compromise text, he said.

Damianou said that…