Horizon Europe-ECF: negotiations over the EU’s next R&I budget

€175 billion for research and innovation, with or without cuts? The future of the EU budget, and therefore of its Framework Programme for R&I, is currently being negotiated by the Brussels-based institutions. The stakes are high, as the EU relies on research and innovation projects to remain competitive against its US and Chinese rivals.

The European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is the budgetary instrument that sets the EU’s spending ceilings over seven years and enables the planning of political priorities. It also ensures financial stability for European programmes. The MFF for 2028-2034 is currently under negotiation and is strategically significant. In particular, it must balance increasingly pressing priorities, such as competitiveness, the digital transition and technological sovereignty in the face of competitors. The budget must also reflect the EU’s new geopolitical priorities, such as defence.

Horizon Europe 2028-2034, known as FP10 because it is the EU’s tenth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, will succeed the current Horizon Europe…