More funds should go to smaller countries, says European Parliament

The European Parliament wants the future European Union research funding programme, the follow-up to Framework 7, to tackle “significant and growing inequalities” between European countries and regions.

The Parliament’s response to the European Commission’s Green Paper on future research and innovation funding, adopted on 30 and 31 August, says that although the EU’s research funding has been increasing, the money remains concentrated in countries and areas that already perform well, while weaker ones are under-represented.