Horizon Europe evaluation experts warn against EU research budget cuts 13/10/2026

The expert group behind the 2024 interim evaluation of Horizon Europe has written an open letter to the Presidents of the European Council, Parliament and Commission regarding the next research framework programme (2028-2034). The Irish Presidency proposes around €158 billion, below both the Cypriot Negotiating Box and the Commission’s €175 billion proposal. The group continues to recommend €220 billion. According to the Ehler-Repasi joint statement of October 10, 2026, the proposed cut would cost the EU around €9 billion in GDP by 2045. Read the letter below:

The President of the European Council, António Costa
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen

The recent Irish Presidency’s proposal for the EU budget proposes around €158 billion (current prices) for the next European Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon Europe - FP 10 (2028-2034), representing a cut of about €10 billion to the previous Cypriot Negotiating Box, which itself cut the Commission’s proposed 175-billion-euro budget. Both moves are in a totally wrong direction, and this letter is a wake-up call for Europe.

Our analysis of October 2024 recommended at least €220 billion for FP10 (in current prices), in close agreement with Mario Draghi`s recommendation for the European Research and Innovation Framework Programme budget to be doubled to at least €200 billion. This was before the breakthroughs connected to the successful massive investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) both in the US and in China.

Our detailed analyses pointed to a budget for FP10 to catch up with our main global competitors. Europe needs to become a relevant research, technology and innovation player creating and commercialising technologies that are world leading and create value.  

According to the recent Ehler-Repasi joint statement of October 10, 2026, the cut proposed by the Irish Presidency will cost Europe around €9 billion in GDP by 2045.

Safeguarding and strengthening the unique added value of European Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) was the main purpose of our report of October 2024, (“Align, Act, Accelerate Research, Technology and Innovation to boost European Competitiveness”). With the European Research and Innovation Framework Programme, the EU has an established, proven and internationally envied instrument for supporting science, technological development and innovation.

Outputs show substantial return on investment and generated added value to national programmes, resulting from the capacity to perform high-gain projects that no individual EU Member State can take up. The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union clearly spells out the purpose of EU research and innovation policy and frames our analysis. In the new environment, it has become an essential pillar to make Europe able to face the new challenges posed by AI.

Our report of October 2024 also takes into account the significant and daunting uncertainties and unique challenges of our time: climate change, escalating conflicts and evolving forms of war, changing demographics, increasing inequality, pandemics, the erosion of democracy and basic rights, increasing global strategic competition, changes in the labour market, fake news and science denial, to name just a few. Science, technology and innovation are the critical currency in addressing these challenges. Europe’s global position is slipping as other countries invest more in research and innovation – we urgently need to step up our investments.

Research and Innovation are, and will be, strong drivers of our economy, employment and happiness. We owe it to current and future generations to invest strongly in research and innovation to increase our competitiveness, resilience, security and the European way of life. No cuts should be made to the Horizon Europe (FP10) budget: our original proposal of 220 billion euros (in current prices) was well researched, evidenced and argued and still stands. Cutting Horizon Europe would mean cutting investment in Europe’s future at precisely the time when we need to invest more, not less.

The members of the European Commission Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe, 2024 (The “Heitor Group”), and authors of the Report “Align, Act, Accelerate Research, Technology and Innovation to boost European Competitiveness”, European Commission, October 2024:
 
Conny AERTS
Anders BJARKLEV
Annelien BREDENOORD 
Maria Chiara CARROZZA 
Dessislava DIMITROVA 
Heinz FASSMANN
Mark FERGUSON (Rapporteur and lead author)
Manuel HEITOR (Chair and lead author)
Agrita KIOPA 
Kaia PALM 
Adam PIOTROWSKI
Isabelle RYL 
Georg SCHÜTTE 
Sylvia SCHWAAG SERGER (Rapporteur and lead author)
Antti VASARA