The European Union is also planning to cut funding for research and innovation. Next year, the budget will be reduced by 130 million euros, with an additional 2 billion euros likely to be slashed over the following two years. This comes despite economists urging for increased investment in these areas.

This week, national leaders and the European Parliament agreed on the budget for 2025. Lean years lie ahead for the sciences: the European Union is cutting funding for the Horizon Europe program, which supports research and innovation. The European Research Council (ERC), a key part of the Horizon program and a significant source of funding for Dutch scientists, will also face reductions.

Horizon Europe will lose 130 million euros – a small drop of just 1% in its annual budget of nearly 13 billion euros – but a striking one given Brussels’ desire to increase research investment.

These cuts stem from a decision made over a year ago when EU leaders sought to allocate more funding to defense, removing 2.1 billion euros from Horizon Europe’s budget for the next three years.

Reversing the cuts

In recent months, there has been hope in Brussels that the cuts might be reversed. In July, Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected as EU President with a pledge to prioritize research and innovation. Additionally, former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi emphasised in a September report the need for significantly higher investments in these areas.

The ‘Draghi report’ in particular has been getting a lot of attention. If Europe is to remain economically relevant, Draghi argues, it needs to increase annual investment by 100 billion euros, requiring a joint commitment from industry, national governments and the EU. If it were up to Draghi, the ERC’s budget would be doubled.

Erasmus+

While the European Parliament pushed to increase the Horizon budget, government leaders pulled in the opposite direction, proposing to cut it by almost half a billion euros. Negotiations resulted in a compromise: a reduction of 130 million euros. This is only a small part of the 2.1 billion euros Horizon is set to lose over the next three years. Barring any dramatic policy changes, the programme will need to cut almost 1 billion euros per year in 2026 and 2027.

The 2025 budget does reserve additional funding for Erasmus+, an EU programme that supports student exchanges and internships abroad. It also supports teachers who want to gain experience working in another European country. Erasmus+ will receive an additional 180 million euros.

Translated by: Taalcentrum-VU