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

US and EU officials are preparing for a meeting before summer to discuss ways to expand cooperation in research and innovation – with topics to include collaboration on climate, cleantech, digital, ocean and health.

During the annual Science|Business conference, two senior officials said agendas are being drafted now for the meeting of the so-called Joint Consultative Group meeting.

“We are trying to have it (the meeting)  before summer,” said Maria Cristina Russo, director for global approach and international cooperation in the Commission’s research directorate-general. “We haven’t had this kind of group meeting since 2017. We would like to discuss the framework conditions of our cooperation.”

Reece Smyth, director for science and technology cooperation in the US State Department, confirmed that planning for the meeting is under way. “The Biden-Harris Administration wants to revitalise our relationship with the EU. We’re formulating the agenda right now; we’re open to discussing all topics.” He said joint priorities are expanded cooperation on R&I in oceans, climate change, health and what he called “shared values of democracy.”

Both officials also said they are expecting increased participation by US researchers in the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, due to a revision by the EU in its Model Grant Agreement that sets the terms for programme participation. Russo said the change makes it clear that US researchers who aren’t taking EU funding can join a Horizon project without signing the complex agreement – previously viewed as an obstacle by most US public universities. Smyth said the US government welcomes the change, and also expects to see increased US participation as a result.

Speaking at the February Science|Business conference, Douglas Gregory, senior director, EU Government Affairs Strategy & Excellence, Bristol Myers Squibb said “we should be very optimistic about the future thanks to advancements in medical, data and regulatory sciences.”

However, other panelists warned regulation and ethics must keep up with technology development. “Technology development is progressing at a speed that is increasing almost by the day,” said Ole Petter Ottersen, president, Karolinska Institutet. “If we are able to harness this explosion in new technologies, we have to be proactive when it comes to regulatory and ethical issues.”

Maria Leptin, the president of the European Research Council (ERC) said EU member states should strive to achieve the 3% of GDP spending target for research, to ease the pressure on the ERC budget.

“If that [target] was achieved, then the ERC would be under less pressure from the overwhelming number of applications,” said Leptin.

Detlef Günther, the vice president for research at ETH Zurich said Swiss researchers apply to EU programmes to measure themselves against the European standard. In case of long term exclusion from Horizon Europe “we don't know how our young talents will behave,” he said.

“You see already some offers are made from other universities and that's not what I see as a spirit of Europe in general,” Günther added.

Starting this year, the European Innovation Council (EIC) will make equity investments bigger than €15 million in promising start ups, support more women-led companies and significantly increase its budget for top-down ‘challenge” calls, EIC chief Jean-David Malo told the February Science|Business conference.

The EIC today released its 2022 work programme detailing the calls, the budgets and scope for this year’s calls, revealing the newest features of the EU’s innovation fund.

EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel says the European Commission is preparing guidance on lump sum funding for applicants ahead of 2022 calls.  

“The transition to lump sum requires clear guidance, good communication to remove any uncertainties among applicants, and that’s why the necessary guidance to this end is in the pipeline and will be released in time before the first lump sum calls open in 2022,” Gabriel said in a video interview at the Science|Business annual conference on 9 February. 

The Commission announced plans to extend the lump sum pilot in the Horizon Europe research programme last year, but the announcement was met with skepticism by the research community which called the move ‘premature’.  

Gabriel assured listeners that lump sum funding would not be applied ‘overnight’ but rather progressively to reduce bureaucracy and make the programme more attractive to newcomers and small companies that struggle with the current paperwork-heavy reporting requirements.

The establishment of an European Innovation Area is one of the main political priorities on France’s agenda for its presidency of the Council of the EU.

Speaking at the Horizon Europe conference organised by Science|Business, French research minister Frédérique Vidal said France “will support the construction of an effective innovation area.”

The EU has launched the European Innovation Council (EIC) to help companies across the bloc scale up faster. According to Vidal, an innovation area would ensure that the EIC is synchronized with similar national schemes. “The EIC will only bear fruit if it is linked to national European mechanisms that allow the most innovative companies to scale up,” she said.

French research minister Frédérique Vidal said the Council of the EU is working on conclusions to strengthen transnational cooperation between universities, including the idea to offer joint European degrees.

However, Vidal said the joint degrees will have an European added value, but they will remain national. “Degrees will of course remain national, but the added value of the joint programmes will be highlighted,” she said.

The French presidency will put forward Council conclusions which member states will have to vote on in the coming weeks. “This conclusion will be presented to the Council regarding the degrees and the first question is what can we already achieve with today’s instruments and tools,” said Vidal.

Antoine Petit, chair and chief executive of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said the EU is not punishing the UK and Switzerland by denying them access to Horizon Europe. Instead, the EU is hurting itself. “It’s a punishment for all of us, it’s a punishment for Europe,” said Petit. “If I dare, I could say that it’s a sadomasochistic decision.”

Helga Nowotny, former president of the European Research Council, who is also backing the Stick to Science call, said Europe is caught between China and the US and should prove to the world that it can remain united in Horizon Europe. “We are between two dominant political actors, China and the US, and unless Europe is able to prove to the world and to its citizens that it can act as a continent – and research is the driving force behind it – [we] will fail,” said Nowotny.

Research stakeholders across the EU have issued a joint call for Switzerland and the UK to be included in EU’s €95.5 billion research and innovation programme.

Signatories presented the call at the Science|Business conference today, urging the EU and the Swiss and UK governments to move past political differences and allow researchers to work together in Horizon Europe.

“The whole research and innovation sector is currently alarmed for the future of science in Europe as one year after the start of Horizon Europe, the full association of both the UK and Switzerland are still blocked because of political disagreements,” said Michael Hengartner, president of the board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH). “This situation is extremely unfortunate as advancements in research and innovation is best achieve when all actors can work together across geographical regions.”

Read more about the call here.