Germany’s rectors have expressed dismay that the European Fund for Strategic Investments is to go ahead using Horizon 2020 funds, despite the “partial success” of universities in helping to lower the amount of funding to be diverted from the programme.
On 28 May, the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers reached an agreement on Efsi to set up the fund using €2.2 billion from the Horizon 2020 budget—€500 million less than the Commission originally proposed.
In a statement on the same day, Horst Hippler, the head of the HRK, Germany’s association of rectors, said: “The protests of universities and scientific organisations have indeed been effective, but this reduction in our future ‘raw knowledge’ is nonetheless extremely painful. The Parliament could not prevail in its demand for research and innovation funding to remain untouched. This is bad news for Europe.”
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