HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes (archived)

The Portuguese government has set out to boost research spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade, in line with the EU’s ambition to improve research funding across the bloc.  

To reach the goal, over the next eight years, public and private research spending share will have to almost double, from 1.62% of GDP in 2020 to 3% in 2030. 

EU member states renewed the ambition to increase EU research spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade last year as part of the plans to form a single market for research, the European Research Area. 

Austria’s universities will receive €12.3 billion in funding from the government over the next three years, €1.3 billion more than in the previous three-year period. 

With the help of the budget boost the government hopes to hire more staff, attract more students and fund more research. Medical universities are set to secure the biggest boost, with 33% more funding. 

“Despite the corona pandemic and all its follow-up costs, the budget for the universities, above all for the medical universities, was able to be increased significantly. This is an important step for Austria as a location for science and research and its excellent universities,” said Minister Martin Polaschek. 

The European Association for Bioindustries is urging the European Commission to ensure its upcoming update to the EU pharmaceutical strategy reposition the EU as a global leader in cutting-edge health R&D. 

The association argues streamlined, flexible and coherent regulations are needed to increase the EU’s attractiveness in the field and to solve issues stemming from different national pricing and reimbursement policies in member states.  

“In the context of global challenges and accelerated science, the ambition of the pharmaceutical legislative revision should be to transform the EU’s strong research base into breakthrough innovation to better address the health needs of Europeans and to regain EU’s global leadership as a home for R&D and cutting-edge industry,” said Bernard J. Grimm, Healthcare Biotechnology Director. 

The UK's top research universities have reiterated calls for London and Brussels to sign off the UK's association to Horizon Europe. 

Although association was agreed in theory almost a year ago as part of a wider Brexit package, the European Commission has said it will not rubber stamp this deal until wider political issues, like a dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol, are resolved. 

“Almost a year on that association has not been finalised, putting at risk all of the benefits being part of a major international collaboration brings for all of those involved," said Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group in a statement today. 

"Now is the time for all parties to set aside wider disagreements and secure the UK’s association, which would be a win-win for the UK and our collaborators across Europe," he said.

Pan-European health organisations have also added their voices to the call. "Patients mustn’t become collateral damage in EU-UK relations," tweeted the European Health Stakeholder Group. "This is why we are calling for formal association of the UK to the Horizon Europe research programme." 

Universities need additional funds to address the environmental sustainability of their operations, as they are faced with declining levels of public investments in higher education, a survey by the European University Association (EUA) has found.

Meaningful plans for reducing the carbon footprint of university campuses require upfront investments in major infrastructure changes. However, the report says “General underfunding and the lack of specific funding incentives were identified as the two main obstacles in addressing environmental sustainability.”

Many EU governments have not been able to return to pre-2008 investment levels in higher education, while the COVID-19 crisis has further increased the financial strain in the university sector. A total of 20% of the respondents to the EUA survey said they have fewer financial resources because of the pandemic, limiting their ability to plan for investments in greener campuses.

The report is available here.

The League of European Research Intensive Universities (LERU) said an exception that gives EIC inventors “indefinite access rights for exploitation purposes at non-profit legal entities” could be counterproductive.

According to a statement by LERU, the 23 research universities in the lobby group agree that EIC inventors can help exploit research results. However, they fear the provisions “will be counterproductive and will lead to less rather than more valorisation, given the uncertainty they cause,” the research lobby group said in a statement.

The group warns that the scheme is problematic for most universities with well-established technology-transfer offices, as it may clash with internal IP rules. According to the statement, exemptions need to be considered on a case-by-case basis, as institutions hosting several EIC projects would have to deal with a considerable increase in paperwork.  

“LERU is convinced that universities should be stimulated to exploit research results. “Potential income from those results can support investments and activities for which universities otherwise have little to no funding,” the research lobby group said.

The full statement is here.

The European Innovation Council is set to fund 99 companies with a total of €627 million in grants and equity investment in its biggest ever funding round to help bring innovative technologies to the market. 

This is the first tranche of Accelerator funding for start-ups and SMEs to come out from the newest EU fund for innovation under Horizon Europe. It will fund companies in 21 companies developing technologies such as smart reusable packaging, a platform for data-driven drug discovery for cancer patients and glasses enabling the blind to understand the environment and give feedback using sound and impulses. 

Out of the 99 funded companies, 65 asked for equity investment from the EIC, confirming widespread interest in the new form of financing which sees the Commission directly investing in the shares of promising start-ups and SMEs. But the EIC warns the companies face a lengthy wait for the equity investments as the Commission continues the process of re-establishing the EIC Equity Fund under Horizon Europe.

The EIC Accelerator call remains open for submissions, with the next cut-off date for applications expected sometime this year. It was initially planned for January but has been postponed due to the delay in the adoption of the EIC work programme detailing the calls and budgets for 2022. 

The European University Association is urging the next trio presidency of the EU Council – France, Czech Republic and Sweden – to work towards a system transformation for research, education and innovation in the next year and a half.

The demands mirror the goals set in the new European Research Area (ERA) and include shaping a coherent and efficient governance structure for ERA, fostering transnational collaboration, reforming academic careers, protecting university values, ensuring sufficient and sustainable funding for research, education and innovation, facilitating global engagement and promoting university capacity in the digital transformation. 

France will kick off the rotating trio presidency in January, but the programme detailing the changes the three countries want to bring to the EU during their one-and-a-half-year stint heading the Council of member states is yet to be unveiled. Just last week, French president Emmanuel Macron for the first time announced the main goals for the six months of the country’s Council presidency, including a conference that will convene the EU-supported 41 European university alliances in a bid to strengthen the role of universities in Europe.  

The European Parliament has taken the final political step in introducing joint health technology assessments (HTA) in the EU to help speed up the uptake of new medicines. 

Today, each country has its own HTA rules which leads national bodies and industry to duplicating their efforts. Starting in 2025, the new rules will allow countries to jointly assess new drugs and medical devices, determining their value for money and whether they should be prescribed to patients.  

The new rules will especially benefit smaller countries that do not have the capacity to carry out their own HTA and rely on the findings of bigger countries. 

“The new rules will secure inclusiveness and transparency in the assessment process and increase predictability for member states' authorities and for the industry,” said EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides. “Member states will be able to take more timely and evidence-based decisions on patient access to innovative technologies within their healthcare systems. 

The European Commission will host a two-day event on 18 and 19 January presenting the calls and topics that will be explored as part of the the five Horizon Europe missions in 2021.

The missions are a new part of the EU’s research programme aimed at mobilising action to tackle pressing societal challenges, such as restoring ocean and soil health, fighting cancer, adapting to climate change and moving cities towards climate neutrality. Until now, little has been known about how the missions will work in practice, and the event will aim to explain the specifics of the five missions to researchers, innovators and other stakeholders.

The work programme detailing the calls that will launch under the missions is due to be published in the lead up to the event.

The even page can be found here.