EIC vote cancellation ‘due to concern for fund reputation’

MEP warns European Innovation Council budget freeze might be “put on the table again”

The European Parliament’s decision not to vote last week on whether to hold back part of the budget of the EU’s innovation fund for startups was “motivated by concern for the reputation” of the fund, according to one of the MEPs who had most vocally supported such a freeze.

Some MEPs wanted to hold back part of the 2023 budget of the European Innovation Council (EIC) due to concerns over how it is being managed: the European Commission is shifting control of the fund’s equity-based investments to an external manager, which the MEPs think will hamper its functioning.