Gabriel’s team ‘doing all our best’ to avoid Horizon Europe delays

MEPs concerned about approval of legislation, as Council and Commission promise no effort spared

The Council of the EU and European Commission have said they are working hard to avoid delays to the start of the EU’s 2021-27 R&D programme, Horizon Europe, after several MEPs expressed concern about the work left to be done and one leading MEP said the European Parliament could postpone its sign-off of the underpinning legislation.

Responding to a question from Research Professional News at a press conference marking the launch of Horizon Europe on 2 February, the EU R&D commissioner Mariya Gabriel (pictured) said the Commission was doing its best to ensure that the political agreement on the legislation underpinning the programme is formally signed off in time to avoid delays to its implementation.