Innovation clusters could thread multiple EU funding streams together to promote regional development. But those on the ground say fragmented schemes make this impossible, and reforms can’t go ahead until the 2021 – 27 budget is agreed

European Commission president tells MEPs EU needs a bigger budget if it wants to become a ‘world leading research region’

As 16 member states met in Prague to defend cohesion funds, the European Commission’s head of finance cautioned research would pay the price of cuts to overall EU budget

EU leaders remain deadlocked over the union’s next long-term financial plan, but all signs point to a smaller research budget from 2021

An EU-wide coalition of cities and regions urges commissioner-designate Elisa Ferreira to defend cohesion policy

At confirmation hearings, Johannes Hahn told MEPs a ‘compromise’ on agriculture and cohesion is needed to divert funds to research, while proposed new head of energy, Kadri Simson said the EU will not meet carbon targets unless it invests more in R&I

The €170M project will be a testbed for the new cohesion policy programmes for 2021-2027

Cohesion fund is shaping up as direct rival to Horizon Europe in fight for extra spending in the EU’s 2021 - 2027 budget

Decisions over research, farm and other EU budgets postponed to the end of 2019, as EU Council divides over top EU leadership jobs

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn appeals to research chiefs Carlos Moedas and Jean-Eric Paquet to keep R&D programme focused on excellence, rather than even spread of winners