Image: allstars, via Getty Images
Joint statement from flagship EU funders pleads for ringfenced and “substantial” budgets
The EU’s flagship research and innovation funders have said it is “vital” that their budgets are increased, after years of R&I funding shortfalls.
The European Research Council and European Innovation Council published a joint statement on 26 March, arguing that their funding of fundamental research and of technology development are EU “strengths and should be reinforced”.
“It is…vital that the budgets for the EIC and the ERC be increased to ensure substantial, attractive funding and more reasonable success rates for applicants,” the statement says.
At present, the ERC can fund only about 60 per cent of the top-quality proposals it receives, despite it not having increased the size of its grants to account for inflation.
This shortfall reflects the overall situation for the EU R&I programme, which the ERC and EIC are part of. The European Commission has said it intends to strengthen and expand the two funders, but has yet to provide details.
‘Autonomy must be maintained’
The statement also says the budget of the version of the EU R&I programme that is due to start in 2028 “must be ringfenced…even if included in an envisaged competitiveness fund”.
The Commission is contemplating folding parts or all of the R&I programme into a planned European Competitiveness Fund, which the sector and ERC president Maria Leptin have warned could hamper the functioning of instruments like the ERC and EIC.
The statement also calls for the autonomy of the funders to be protected in light of the Commission plans. Both are semi-autonomous entities at present, with independent governing boards.
“It is…vital for both the ERC and the EIC to have a clear mandate, independence and agility in governance and operations to maintain the highest standards of tailored support to Europe’s deep-tech startups and excellent researchers,” it says.
‘Necessary for competitiveness’
More generally, the statement says the funders are “delighted” that a broad political consensus has emerged that R&I are central to European competitiveness, such as in the political guidelines of the Commission’s current five-year term.
It says European competitiveness depends on ensuring “that excellent, ground-breaking scientific discoveries translate into marketable and impactful innovations”.
The statement comes shortly after the ERC confirmed it would double the funding it offers to researchers to entice them to move to the EU, following discussions with the Commission and in the context of the turmoil in the US research sector.
Several R&I sector leaders and organisations welcomed the statement, with for example the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities saying it “fully supports” it.
View this article on Research Professional