Research commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva tells Brussels audience that FP10 will keep the Horizon Europe name
Photo credits: Artem Beliaikin / Unsplash
The next Framework Programme for research and innovation, informally known as FP10, looks set to keep the name Horizon Europe, according to comments by research commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva after a speech on June 12.
According to several sources present, Zaharieva said during a question and answer session that the Horizon Europe name would continue in the 2028-34 budget period. Commission spokespeople later refused to confirm her statement, even though it was made at a public event.
Previous Framework Programmes were numbered, up to FP7 in 2007-13, before branding kicked in with Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
The research community is broadly supportive of keeping the name.
“Horizon Europe is a strong and well-regarded name,” said Boštjan Šinkovec, senior EU affairs advisor at the Slovenian Business and Research Association, one of the event organisers. He confirmed that Zaharieva said that FP10 would continue under the Horizon Europe name.
Jan Palmowski, secretary general of the Guild of Research-Intensive Universities, was also present and heard the comment. He pointed out hat this explained the ambiguous phrasing in a recent speech by Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who had said “our Framework Programme Horizon Europe will stay as a self-standing programme.” She also expressed her willingness for “this success story to continue.”
Robert-Jan Smits, former president of the executive board at the Technical University of Eindhoven, was also supportive, saying that the name has become a “well-established” brand. “Furthermore, it is a way to avoid a lot of work and a huge discussion about a new name, whereby you will never be able to make everyone happy.”
He recalled the Boaty McBoatface affair in the UK, when a public poll selected this name for a polar research vessel over entries honouring scientists and explorers. In the end, the vessel was named after the broadcaster David Attenborough, with one of its six autonomous vehicles becoming Boaty.
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“Names do carry weight,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the CESAER university association. “Horizon Europe has built recognition and trust across the continent and internationally, not least among partners in associated countries,” he went on. “Continuity in branding can therefore help reinforce stability and alignment, particularly at a time when there’s so much uncertainty around the programme’s scope and scale.”
Yale Song, network and policy officer at the Korea-EU Research Centre in Brussels, confirmed its standing outside Europe.
“In South Korea, the name Horizon or Horizon Europe is now widely recognised,” he told Science|Business. “For us, maintaining consistency in the programme helps provide a sense of certainty and supports our continued participation in the future.”
But with concerns remaining over the relationship between the next Framework Programme and the EU Competitiveness Fund, Björnmalm warned that selecting a name should not become a distraction. “The real task ahead [is] ensuring Europe’s research and innovation system remains competitive on the global stage,” he said. “So yes, by all means let’s keep the Horizon name if it helps with continuity. But above all, let’s keep the highest ambition.”
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