Florin Zubașcu

New law will hand oversight of research institutes to a new agency headed by minister of innovation and technology. Researchers say that limits academic freedom; the government says it will modernise the system

Three EU-funded supercomputers in Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovenia will attract more big science projects, lure back expatriate researchers and help reduce the innovation gap between east and west

The European Commission’s 18th annual innovation scoreboard shows the EU has overtaken the US for the first time, while across Europe, the UK and Luxembourg lose their innovation leader status and Estonia joins the ranks of strong innovators

The proposed EU budget for 2020 also boosts spending for Europe’s satnav system Galileo by 75% and gives €255M to defence-related R&D

The government plans to establish a new body - under its control - to manage the research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, after negotiations over future status come to a halt

Director general Vladimír Šucha says his office is ready to help the new roster of politicians in Brussels understand the “constraints and consequences” of decision making

Buzek, Ehler, Nica and other prominent legislators on the EU R&D programme secure their seats, but committee assignments are yet to be decided

Estonian candidate warns of tough budget talks and the possibility of political interference in research if populists win more seats in the European parliament

In a new series, experts weigh in on the big priorities for the next term of the European Commission and the Parliament. In this first instalment, the focus is on shaping the EU’s new research programme, Horizon Europe

Momentum candidate for the European Parliament says structural funds shouldn’t be used to finance national research projects and calls for a unified vision for R&D policy that acknowledges member states on their own cannot be global innovation players