Following the Letta and Draghi reports, the report created by the Expert group marks the final entry in a slew of reports providing recommendations on the current and next framework programme for R&I. The group was assembled by the European Commission with the goal to provide advice for the current Horizon Europe programme as well as its successor, FP10.
The Guild fully agrees that the framework programme needs to preserve its integrity and necessary distinct features and have an increased ringfenced budget of at least 220 billion euro. It must prioritise effect and impact, thus terminating any instruments with low effectiveness, and increasing investments in successful instruments such as the European Research Council (ERC), the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and the European Innovation Council (EIC).
We welcome the Expert group’s proposal to engage with R&I experts across sectors to advise the Commission and translate the strategic policy agenda into relevant research priorities to enhance Europe’s industrial competitiveness and its response to societal challenges.
We support the report’s approach to strengthen impactful Widening instruments to enhance Europe’s excellence and agree with the report’s call to navigate the risks of collaboration alongside the risks of non-collaboration as Europe is developing new approaches for responsible internationalisation.
The Guild strongly encourages the European Commission to accept this report as the essential foundation on which to build a cohesive, effective and transformative FP10, essential for Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability, and our citizens’ wellbeing.
Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild: "Despite Europe’s chronic underinvestment in research and innovation, past Framework Programmes have ensured that Europe’s relative competitive decline in R&I has not been greater. But we cannot go on as in the past. The HLG emphasizes, rightly, that we are at a critical turning point if European R&I is to be globally competitive. This requires more investment at European and national levels. And it requires an FP10 that strengthens the best instruments of Horizon Europe, while enhancing our capacity for collaborative research and competitive innovation in key areas. The HLG has presented important ideas for how this can be done, and we urge the Commission President and the future College of Commissioners to put R&I at the heart of Europe’s future on the basis of this report".
Related publications:
The Guild's vision for FP10 - Beyond Horizon: creating an ambitious framework programme for Europe's R&I excellence
The Guild's recommendations for Horizon Europe's past, present and future