After a slow start, the new instrument allowing partners in Widening countries to join a project after it starts is beginning to have an impact – but reservations remain about the way the scheme is being run

Draft documents seen by Science|Business suggest governments want to strike a different balance between basic and applied research, more strategic international cooperation, and better synergy with other funding streams in the next EU research programme

As talks on cooking up the next EU framework programme get underway, the head of France’s largest research organisation shares his wish list for the future of European R&I policy

In the annual budget showdown, member states want to save money. Parliament vows not to let €166M be subtracted from EU research spending and is instead bidding for an extra €140M. Negotiations promise to be tougher than usual

As the first moves are made in shaping the 2028 – 2034 R&D programme, there are informal discussions about shifting the focus of Widening measures away from country level and using this initiative to support all less-advanced regions across the EU

Israeli researchers, some still under rocket fire, have said it was impossible to meet application cut-off points during a state of war. Now the ERC and EIC are pushing back four deadlines for all applicants

A tussle between policy-driven and bottom-up research will shape Framework Programme 10. There are two years to have the debate and strike a balance. ‘This is the beginning of the conversation,’ says Marc Lemaître

Voters go to the polls on 22 October, following which wider talks with Brussels should resume. But with the Commission’s precise negotiating preconditions unclear, it’s doubtful whether association to the research programme can be agreed before EU elections next year

Budget discussions are on for the EU’s next R&I funding programme, due to begin in 2028, and the European Parliament wants more than twice as much as was agreed last time