This live blog is tracking the latest developments in European research and innovation programmes, including the broader debate on the future of R&D policy and funding in the next multiannual budget due to start in 2028. Beyond that, we look at other EU policies with significant research and innovation components in climate, digital, agriculture and regional development. In addition, national governments often come up with new R&D policies, decide to fund new research avenues, and set up international cooperation deals. This blog aims to keep you informed on all of that and more.
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The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) has urged the EU executive to clarify how decision-making related to FP10 will work within the European Competitiveness Fund and how funds will be granted between the different instruments. Consultants also call for transparent rules to be set for the default use of lump sums, as well as more transparency on how grants will be awarded after 2027.
“Transparent governance, efficient instruments, and stable funding will be key to turning this ambition into real impact for researchers, businesses, and society,” said Virginie Robin, board member of the EAIC.
Read the full statement here.
The board of the European University Association (EUA) is calling on all parties to engage in “meaningful, peaceful and constructive dialogue” in efforts to resolve the situation that Serbian universities, which continue to mobilise against the government’s pressure on research, are facing.
Citing the withholding of state funding for operational costs and the recent introduction of a new regulation restricting the amount of time academic staff at institutions can spend on research activities, the EUA pointed to “clear infringements of university autonomy.”
Read the full statement here.
South Korea becomes the first Asian country to associate to Horizon Europe, EU's flagship research and innovation programme.
Korean researchers and organisations will be able to join and lead international research consortia, access funding and collaborate with leading research institutions across Europe and beyond. Korea will also contribute financially to the programme's budget.
Korea has been benefiting from a transitional arrangement that entered into force on 1 January 2025. Korean entities have been able to apply and be evaluated as prospective beneficiaries in Horizon Europe proposals for all calls implementing Pillar II already in the 2025 budget.
More details here.
The 2025 editions of the European Innovation Scoreboard and of the Regional Innovation Scoreboard reveal that the EU innovation performance has declined slightly between 2024 and 2025.
The European Commission says these findings highlight the urgent need to step up implementation of the New European Innovation Agenda, the Startup and Scaleup Strategy, and the forthcoming Innovation Act to close remaining gaps between EU Member States and modernise Europe’s research and innovation systems.
“The 2025 scoreboard confirms our long-term progress, but also highlights the urgent need to do more and to close persistent gaps between the different parts of Europe,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU commissioner for research and innovation.
The proposals for the EU’s next long-term budget and the next research and innovation programme will be “key to driving a more sustainable and competitive Europe in the years ahead,” she said.
European Innovation Scoreboard 2025.
Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025.
More details here.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has launched a €20 million call to support Ukrainian deep-tech startups and SMEs to strengthen Ukraine’s innovation ecosystem. The call targets companies developing technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, cybersecurity and other strategic sectors.
The total funding available for this call is €20 million, and eligible companies can apply for grants of up to €500,000. Interested candidates can apply from August 12 to November 26.
More details here.
The Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) is calling for the EU to substantially increase its investments in defence and security as part of the next long-term budget, in a new position paper.
The paper calls for sector-specific investment envelopes of €100 billion for defence, €50 billion for security, €40-60 billion for space, and €23.5 billion for civil aviation.
The next EU budget should consolidate all security-related instruments, including the current civil security research cluster in Horizon Europe, into a single Securing Europe Facility, to ensure consistency and provide better links between research and deployment, ASD says.
Meanwhile, it recommends a budget of €6 billion for civil aviation, €1.5 billion for deploying digital air traffic management technologies under the Single European Sky initiative, and €5-6 billion for sustainable aviation fuels. Meanwhile, it says 20-25% of support from the Innovation Fund should go towards civil aviation.
The Commission’s proposal for the next EU research framework programme, set to be unveiled on July 16, does not pose major threats to research, said Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureşan, European Parliament’s co-rapporteur for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Speaking alongside co-rapporteur Carla Tavares at a press conference on the Parliament’s budget priorities, Mureşan said legislators should focus on more pressing issues in agriculture and cohesion policy. “We think that for research, given that the Commission has confirmed [FP10] will be a separate programme, the dangers are not fundamental,” he told Science|Business.
“Still, of course, we as a Parliament we'll have to make sure throughout the negotiation process that the research programme will be properly designed,” he added.
As for the funding’s size of FP10, Mureşan said specific figures would only be discussed after reviewing the Commission’s proposal and consulting with researchers and experts.
Watch the Parliament’s press conference here.
A network of six leading European research organisations has called for the EU to adopt an ambitious strategy for AI in science, including support for open infrastructures, talent and international collaboration.
“In order to ensure the effective application of AI across scientific domains to boost scientific competitiveness, the EU must also ensure that it remains at the forefront of AI development itself,” reads the statement from the so-called 6G, which comprises Italy’s CNR, France’s CNRS, Spain’s CSIC, and Germany’s Helmholtz Association, Leibniz Association and Max Planck Society.
The European Commission is due to adopt its AI in science strategy in the second half of the year. This should include significantly increasing funding for fundamental research disciplines that underpin innovation in AI, such as mathematics and computer science, says the G6 statement.
They also call for a mobility scheme to address disparities in expertise across regions and for EU-wide AI research standards, including standardised tools for assessing the environmental impact of AI projects.
EU member states have agreed their position on the 2026 Horizon Europe budget, which would cut €211 million from the European Commission’s initial proposal.
This would bring the programme’s overall annual budget to €12.8 billion, identical to 2025. The Commission had proposed a €211 million increase.
The Council is also proposing to cut the 2026 budget for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the international nuclear fusion research project, by €153 million, and the Euratom Research and Training Programme by almost €4 million.
More details are available here.
The European Commission has launched a call for evidence, inviting all interested stakeholders to contribute to the future European Innovation Act.
As part of the EU Startup and Scaleup strategy, the AI legislation aims to incentivise bringing innovative ideas to the market.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU commissioner for startups, research and innovation, said “we want to hear from innovators, businesses, investors, policymakers, researchers, universities, and all interested parties to build an ambitious and effective innovation framework that will delivers real results.”
The call will remain open until September 30, 2025.
More details can be found here.
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