The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has called for the budget Horizon 2020 to be respected following multiple attacks.
The organisation made the statement as the Council prepares to formally adopt its position on the 2016 EU draft budget. ECOFIN ministers are expected to endorse an agreement by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) that sees cuts of €73.2m to the Horizon 2020 budget in commitment appropriations and €205.2m in payment appropriations. LERU says that it “strongly rejects the ECOFIN´s position” and describes such a move as “unacceptable” for a Union that “prides itself on supporting competitiveness and research”.
The development comes after an agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union that saw €2.2bn drawn from Horizon 2020 for the new European Fund for Strategic Investments.
Commenting, LERU Chair Professor Alain Beretz , said: “The cuts deriving from EFSI are already harmful enough for the Horizon 2020 budget (in 2016 and later) and further cuts would be unacceptable. Policy makers seem oblivious to the fact that with each new attack on the Horizon 2020 budget, they seriously erode the credibility of the EU´s and member states´ commitment to research”.
LERU says it has steadfastly denounced the fact that finance ministers have sought, time and again over the past few years, to cut on research during the annual negotiations of the EU budget, calling such moves as sending “the wrong message” and “standing in stark contrast with the daily rhetoric on the importance – both at national and European level of research”.
During the ongoing budgetary procedure, LERU calls upon the other EU institutions to strongly oppose the cuts in the Horizon 2020 budget for 2016, as suggested by the Council, and to prevent the introduction of further cuts.