LERU reiterates call for self-standing FP10

LERU, the League of European Research Universities, welcomes the adoption of the ITRE Horizon Europe and FP10 report by the European Parliament and the signing of the Warsaw Declaration by the Council on 11 March 2025, which both call for a self-standing, adequately funded 2028–2034 Framework Programme for R&I (FP10), and reject the idea of absorbing EU R&I policy and funding into a European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).

In LERU's statement, LERU Secretary-General Kurt Deketelaere states that the Commission has entirely ignored discussions about a new Framework Programme for R&I, and that when research is mentioned, it is only in the context of applied research, with a focus on innovation, startups, and scaleups, and disregarding basic research.

LERU regards this as contradicting President von der Leyen’s July 2024 political guidelines, which pledged to put R&I at the centre of the new Commission’s policies, and sees Commissioner Zaharieva and the EC's DG RTD, as being "sidelined in key discussions on competitiveness". The Letta, Draghi, and Heitor reports advocated a balanced approach that includes basic research, applied research, and innovation, while also pushing for massive reductions in bureaucracy. LERU now sees stakeholder organisations supported by the EP and the Competitiveness Council, highlighting the efforts of MEP Christian Ehler and the Polish EU Council Presidency in this context and finding "a clear stakeholder-EP-Council alliance pushing for a standalone FP10, in direct opposition to the EC’s current stance".

LERU concludes that there are now two possible scenarios: The EC could proceed with "absorbing R&I policy and funding into the future ECF" and risk a "full-scale institutional confrontation between the EU institutions". Alternatively, the EC could and enter into consultations with the Parliament, Member States, and stakeholder organisations to develop a balanced, standalone FP10.

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