Just before the summer holidays, around 800 European universities were up in arms about the funding settlement. They were outraged that less money was being allocated to European science than initially foreseen.

In May, the European Council proposed a budget of €94.4 billion for the next seven years for the EU’s research and innovation programme (Horizon Europe), including €13.5 billion from the EU’s Pandemic Recovery Fund. That was already far lower than the amount of €120 billion proposed by the European Parliament.

Horizon programme

But even that amount proved overly ambitious. Certain member states, including the Netherlands, were opposed. The final allocation has been reduced by several billion to €76 billion for Horizon Europe, plus €5 billion from the recovery fund (rather than the €13.5 billion originally proposed).

Board President Robert-Jan Smits, who formerly held responsibility for the previous Horizon 2020 program when he used to work in Brussels, argued <https://www.cursor.tue.nl/nieuws/2020/mei/week-4/cvb-voorzitter-smits-komt-op-voor-horizon-europe/> back at the end of May for maintaining the budget of 94 billion. Smits said, “This crisis, like past events, makes it clear once again that politicians can only make decisions based on data and information provided by scientists.” At that time, Smits also pointed out that TU/e is one of the strongest Dutch participants in the European research programs. "So a large budget for Horizon Europe is also in our own interest." But to no avail.

GroenLinks was keen to learn from the minister why the cabinet has adopted this position. She replied that the EU budget has to be financially sustainable.

Moreover, the current funding still exceeds the previous budget, the minister emphasized. When you exclude the United Kingdom, €66 billion was allocated to the EU research programme over the previous seven years.

More ambitious

According to the cabinet, then, the budget for Horizon Europe has not been reduced. “The Netherlands would have liked to see a more ambitious outcome, but is satisfied with the final settlement.”

Dutch researchers perform relatively well in applications for European science funding: 17.4 percent of Dutch applicants manage to secure funds, the minister writes, compared to an average of 12.7 percent across all applicants.

Last week, European rectors expressed their dismay at the outcome of the negotiations