LERU and YERUN provide recommendations on future EU R&I policy in open letter to Commission President

LERU, the League of European Research Universities, and YERUN, the association of Young European Research Universities, have written a joint letter to Commission President-designate Ursula von der Leyen. The letter was published on 29 October 2024. In their letter, LERU and YERUN welcome the idea of developing a policy-based Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and find the concept of a European Competitiveness Fund interesting, but also see some challenges and provide recommendations on the new approach to the MFF, and the future of EU R&I funding in that approach.

The two associations are concerned about the future of the Framework Programme, and strongly underline the need to keep "one strong and autonomous FP" as well as the Erasmus programme in the next MFF period. The letter also calls for R&I investment to be increased, repeating the call from the Draghi report and the report of the High-Level Expert Group on FP10, and for providing a dedicated budget of at least €200 billion for FP10. LERU and YERUN also strongly support the call to double the funding for the ERC and for guaranteeing keeping the ERC's bottom-up character.

The two associations emphasise the importance of "safeguarding the budget of EU programmes like Horizon Europe and Erasmus+, from being tapped annually to fund new initiatives, cover unexpected costs, or reduce overall EU spending" and strongly recommend a ring-fenced budget for FP10. They also suggest that the new MFF incorporates at least one flexible budget line to address unforeseen costs and fund emerging initiatives.

LERU and YERUN are concerned about the idea of moving FP10 or part of it into a European Competitiveness Fund, saying this would likely lead to more and overall top-down steering, with less opportunities for the very needed creative, novel approaches or complete bottom-up funding without topic prioritisation. They stress the importance of undirected, bottom-up research for the EU's competitiveness, therefore open programmes such as ERC, MSCA or EIC Pathfinder Open should be continued. They welcome experimentation on smaller scales before completely overhauling the FP and the MFF and call for "full co-creation through structured engagement of stakeholders".

LERU and YERUN open letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen