06 May 2025
EUA calls for education, innovation and research to be high priorities under next MFF
The European University Association (EUA) is advocating for education, innovation and research to be high priorities within the next generation of EU funding programmes. In a statement published on 6 May 2025, EUA points out that it has done so in a series of inputs to public consultations on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) and its ability to respond to current challenges.
EUA has responded to the consultations related to EU funding for competitiveness, cross-border education and training, the single market and cooperation between national authorities, as well as the consultation on the performance of the EU budget. In its inputs, EUA focuses on cross-cutting issues for higher education, research and innovation. For example, the Association stresses the importance of further investment in R&I, education and skills as an essential contribution to the EU’s long-term competitiveness, as well as its green and social resilience and sustainability.
According to the association, the design of the next MFF must give priority to the establishment of a fifth freedom, allowing the free movement of research, innovation and education to genuinely lay the foundations for a strengthened single market. Moreover, to effectively support European R&I, the EU budget should strive to strike a balance between flexibility to rapidly adapt to new needs, and stability to ensure predictability and long-term continuity, EUA claims. The association also addresses the simplification of rules of participation and synergies between the EU’s funding instruments. EUA remains committed to safeguarding independent programmes under the next MFF, with stable funding that maximise universities’ contribution to ensuring a sustainable, inclusive, secure and equitable Europe.
The European Commission will submit its proposals for the post-2027 MFF in July 2025. Following this, the Commission will publish proposals outlining the architecture of future EU policy programmes, including the successors to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+.
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