
Image: EU2017EE Estonian Presidency [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
Multi-billion-euro proposal would boost Horizon Europe R&D spending through controversial coronavirus recovery fund
Billions of euros for research are at stake as national leaders mull how to respond to the European Commission’s plan for the EU’s 2021-27 budget and its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic at this month’s European Council meeting.
On 27 May the Commission outlined its proposal to channel €94.4 billion in 2018 prices to the next EU R&D programme, Horizon Europe. This is up from an €83.5bn proposal the Council sought to cut when trying and failing to agree a budget in the weeks before the pandemic overtook Europe.