27 Nov 2024
EARTO publishes reaction to EP Draft Report on implementation of HEU and recommendations for FP10
EARTO, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, has published a reaction to the European Parliament’s 'Draft Report on the Assessment of the Implementation of Horizon Europe & Recommendations for FP10'.
In its reaction, which was released on 27 November 2024, EARTO appreciates the draft report and its emphasis on the EU’s sustainable competitiveness and sovereignty which hinges on Europe’s maintained leadership in scientific knowledge and technology development. With regard to the EP Draft Report's recommendations, EARTO supports the call for simplification reduction of lumpsum funding, streamlined programme management, discontinuation of the Missions, a redesigned and fit-for-purpose governance structure, and a focus on excellence, independent of short-term political agendas.
EARTO states that FP10 must be the key instrument to put Europe at the frontier of knowledge and innovation in the global technology race and highlights the fact that reaching the 3% GDP spending target for RD&I in Europe requires substantially higher investments, notably through FP10. However, EARTO regards the recommendation to allocate 50% of the FP10 budget to the ERC and the EIC as "arbitrary", saying this overlooks the crucial role of pre-competitive collaborative and applied research as well as of public-private partnerships under Horizon Europe. According to EARTO, the current Pillar II is complex and can be improved, but highlights its added value which lies in enhancing the absorptive capacities of industry, including SMEs, since Pillar II accounts for 74% of overall industrial involvement in Horizon Europe.
Amongst other issues, EARTO points out Pillar II PPPs and linked RD&I projects foster close, mutually beneficial collaboration between RD&I actors and industries, which is essential for technology scale-up as much as for addressing our socio-economic challenges. EARTO calls for a substantial budget as a prerequisite to reinforce the added value of pre-competitive collaborative RD&I and European public-private partnerships.
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