Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedThe implementation of Horizon Europe shaped by overlapping crises, from the climate emergency to the COVID-19 pandemic, and from inflation to the energy insecurity triggered by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. While Horizon Europe admirably adapted to these crises, its emphasis on short-term fixes has come at the cost of deeper, more visionary research and by extension at the expense of Europe’s sustainable competitiveness.

RemovedIf Europe intends to achieve sustainable competitiveness through innovation, it needs to put R&I at the heart of its economy and society, and it needs to do so on the terms of R&I. R&I is the foundation for Europe’s sustainable competitiveness because we cannot outcompete our global competitors on prices. We can only maintain our competitiveness and sovereignty by leading the world in scientific knowledge and technology development.

RemovedThis must begin with a European Framework Programme that fosters the best science, research and innovation in the world. Based on the results of the Programme and the feedback from stakeholders, we need to conclude that Horizon Europe is not fit for this purpose.

RemovedHorizon Europe is an excellent programme which supports some of the best science in the world through the ERC, accelerates the large scale development of strategic technologies – e.g. through the Quantum Flagship –, successfully leverages private R&D investment in sectoral technology development – e.g. the JU CleanAviation -, and has created the largest VC investment effort in DeepTech startups in Europe through the EIC. Horizon is an indispensable part of the European R&D system.

RemovedYet, it has to play its part better. Some parts of Horizon are not attractive enough for the best and the brightest. It is too complex, and calls are not relevant enough. Horizon is too much an instrument for policy makers and not enough a support structure for science, research and innovation in Europe.

RemovedThis conclusion means that FP10 has to be a game changer. It needs to be freed from the hubris of technology development and science planned by policy makers. It needs to rid itself of too many secondary and tertiary objectives, which go beyond the primary objective: excellent science, research and innovation. It needs to focus on funding science, research and innovation projects at the frontiers of knowledge and technology. It needs to fund science and innovation that goes beyond the wildest imaginations of policy makers, and that creates solutions we never thought of for problems we have not yet identified. Achieving this requires putting Europe’s scientists, researchers and innovators in the driving seat, shaping the programming and selecting the best projects. Centralising the programming in a Competitiveness Fund would achieve the opposite. While FP10 can and will play a crucial role for EU competitiveness, it should not be driven by it, it should be driven by science, research and deep-tech entrepreneurs.

RemovedThe European Framework Programme is a central feature of our European Research Area. It is the Union’s contribution to achieving the target of 3% of GDP being spend on R&D. It helps to attract and retain talent for Europe. Unfortunately, high oversubscription makes its contribution suboptimal. Therefore, it is vital for European competitiveness that FP10 receives a budget of at least EUR 220 billion, in line with the Union’s share towards the 3% target and to ensure oversubscription reaches acceptable levels.

RemovedWithout this reform agenda for FP10, any agenda on long-term, sustainable competitiveness lacks any foundation. Only if we put R&I in the lead can we expect it to contribute to our competitiveness – R&I is a long-term precondition for competitiveness, not a short-term fix. Given the strict character limit on Draft Reports, this Draft Report only reflects key points of this reform agenda. The Rapporteur will further enrich the report through targeted amendments.