Florin Zubașcu

In the new work programme, the European Commission drops plan to spend €32.5M extra on Marie Curie fellowships for researchers travelling to work on international coronavirus projects

In parliament meeting, Mariya Gabriel calls for swift agreement on next EU budget as she informs MEPs of the final steps towards launching Horizon Europe in January 2021

Countries in central and eastern Europe seek to boost the international footprint of their higher education and science

Latest details on the new budget proposal reveal plan to cut 3.2% off most Horizon Europe programmes, while giving a boost from the pandemic R&D fund to the European Innovation Council and applied research in health, digital and climate

Member states agree in principle that Europe needs to make its food supply more resilient to future crises, but ministers are worried about the downside of EU plan to make food production more eco-friendly

The parliament can start negotiations with the council and the commission on the remaining issues as soon as member states reach an agreement on the 2021-2027 EU budget

‘When science and politics meet, it can become quite crunchy,’ director general Stephen Quest tells Science|Business

But critics say proposed budget does not meet ambitions and new strategies are needed to increase biodiversity and boost greener farming - without reducing yields

Decision to postpone is ‘organisational’ but could be read as a signal to member states and national research ministers to agree on the final details of the research programme before the next EU budget comes into force

There’s more in the pot, but MEPs and research lobbies decry ‘mismatch’ between European Commission’s revised research budget and the post-COVID-19 mountains to be scaled