‘Major discussion’ will be had on EU Widening funding

RI Days: MEP and minister disagree over whether scheme should focus on countries or regions

The EU will have a “major discussion” on its funding for reducing research and innovation performance gaps between its leaders and laggards as it designs its next R&I programme, according to a European Commission official.

This scheme, called ‘Widening’ funding, has been allocated a bigger share of the budget of the 2021-27 EU R&I programme, Horizon Europe, to try to reduce the persistent divides. It was the subject of a dedicated session at the Commission’s Research and Innovation Days conference in Brussels on 20 March.