Science|Business: Zaharieva hopes for a Horizon Europe deal in 2026

Science|Business article by Florin Zubașcu, 24 Aug 2026

In a wide-ranging interview, the EU research commissioner sets out her hopes for speedy negotiations and an expanding role for Europe in global science

Ekaterina Zaharieva hopes the European Parliament and EU Council will reach a deal on the next Horizon Europe by the end of 2026, warning that a delayed political decision would have a knock-on effect on the first calls for proposals, due to be published in early 2028. 

“If we want to have the programme up and running on the first of January 2028, we have to have a deal by the end of this year,” the European commissioner responsible for research told Science|Business.

The Council reached a partial agreement on the programme in June, with EU governments pushing for a greater say in setting priorities in the next Horizon Europe programme. However, the Parliament has at least two more months of deliberation before it can put the file to a plenary vote at the end of October. From then on, the Council, Parliament and European Commission will enter trilateral talks, which Zaharieva hopes will be smooth. 

While the Council agreement does not steer too much away from the Commission’s proposal, the Parliament’s rapporteurs in the industry and research committee have amassed hundreds of amendments, which will first be negotiated internally, then voted in the committee, then taken to a plenary vote. 

Some of their proposals could be pared back, but chances are that the Parliament will enter the trilogues with demands that are radically different from what the Commission and Council want. For example, German MEP Christian Ehler, the Parliament’s lead rapporteur on the next Horizon Europe and co-rapporteur on the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), wants to move programming decisions to new expert councils and to ensure that future industrial policies implemented through the ECF will not “dictate” research priorities. 

The Commission stands by its proposal, but at a recent event organised by the German academy of sciences Leopoldina and the European Research Council (ERC), Ehler said that a compromise was still possible. 

According to Zaharieva, the Commission is “happy” with plans by the Irish presidency of the Council to push for a deal on Horizon Europe legislation by the end of the year. Reaching an agreement by then will be “very, very difficult, but not impossible,” she said. On the other hand, any delay could be damaging, since the Commission will need “time to prepare the systems, to start working, otherwise we are going to have a gap, and that's not fair to our scientists.”

Budget woes

Zaharieva made the comments on the Horizon Europe negotiation timeline just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for cuts to the European Commission’s proposal for the next long-term EU budget “across all areas,” totalling “several hundred billion euros.” 

Last summer, the Commission put forward its proposal for a 2028-34 EU budget of €1.76 trillion in 2025 prices adjusted for inflation. In June, the Cypriot presidency of the EU Council published the first figures for negotiations between EU governments, proposing an overall budget of €1.73 trillion, or a cut of almost 2%. 

The Cypriot figures included a 4% cut to Horizon Europe, from €154.9 billion to €148.6 billion. But with a number of countries, including Germany, pushing for even deeper cuts to the overall budget, Horizon Europe may come under further pressure.

When asked whether she believes member states understand the significance of investments in the EU research and innovation programme, Zaharieva said research organisations across the bloc should be “a bit more vocal” in telling their stories, not just in front of finance ministers, but also in front of citizens. “This will help when we negotiate the budget,” she said.

Merz said that Germany will also oppose plans to hire more people in the Commission, but as certain programmes, such as the European Innovation Council and the European Research Council are slated to triple and double in budget starting 2028, the EU executive will need to hire more people to manage the additional workload. The Commission will need more staff to deliver on the promise of bigger funding allocations, shorter times to grant and experimenting with novel funding schemes. 

Re-association in 2028 

The Commission has recently advanced a string of association deals as more countries around the world are interested in getting involved in Horizon Europe. Japan is the latest to sign a deal, but the Commission is also in advanced talks with India and has already reached deals with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Korea. 

However, the deals only cover the current iteration of Horizon Europe, which will end in December 2027, and the Commission is getting ready to re-start talks with governments that wish to continue after January 2028. 

Zaharieva said that while the process will not be a simple formality, all countries could re-associate to the next Horizon Europe by the end of 2028. “[Associated countries] really want this to go smooth, as fast as possible without interruption, and we can do it, it’s much faster negotiations.”

In the interview, Zaharieva also responded to concerns expressed by university groups from countries associated to Horizon Europe that they could be locked out of sensitive calls and governance debates, as the EU might choose to focus on immediate technological needs, particularly in defence. 

Currently, associated countries send observers to the meetings where research calls in Horizon Europe are decided. Although they don’t get a vote, they do get a chance to express an opinion. Zaharieva said this system should carry on to the next Horizon Europe and associated countries will not get a vote.

Countries currently associated to Horizon Europe will have to negotiate separate deals to join the ECF, despite overlapping priorities. Zaharieva said. “Of course, coordination should happen in the Commission and it will happen, but Horizon Europe is a self-standing programme with a separate regulation, and separate budget, the same of ECF, so there are separate negotiations,” she said.

Some international stakeholders worry that in the case of the ECF, which is supposed to boost funding across strategic technology sectors, the number of exceptions related to sensitive technologies might be bigger than in Horizon Europe. “They may presume this, but let's not pre-empt,” Zaharieva said. 

Getting popular

Horizon Europe is becoming increasingly popular around the world and more countries could join after January 2028, but Zaharieva did not want to say which might be next in line. She visited Vietnam this spring, and in June Sayasat Nurbek, the research minister of Kazakhstan, visited her in Brussels. 

In the case of Vietnam, Zaharieva noted that the south-east Asian country is interested in strengthening trade, technology and science ties with the EU, but an association deal is not on the table at the moment, although the door is open for future talks after 2028.

It’s the case of Kazakhstan, Nurbek’s pitch to Brussels was much bolder and transactional. He claimed that his country’s association to Horizon Europe would help create the mutually beneficial partnership needed if the EU wants to continue benefiting from Kazakhstan’s rich stock of resources. 

As for Zaharieva, she understands that the world of science diplomacy has moved slightly from open cooperation to more transactional deals. “We want Horizon [Europe] to remain as open as possible, and we will continue to do so, but at the same time, when it's really necessary, we have to defend our interests,” she said. 

The Commission is looking to strengthen ties with Kazakhstan but does not plan to start negotiations for association, Zaharieva said. Until now, 23 countries have associated to Horizon Europe, representing one third of the global GDP. “It’s a good club, so I understand why more and more countries want to be part of that club,” she said. But for now, the focus is on closing talks with India and Australia so they can join officially by January.

A bigger role on the global stage

Meanwhile, Zaharieva said, the EU can and should play a bigger role in plugging global science gaps left behind by the Trump administration. 

Decisions by the US government to withdraw from international research collaborations on climate, health and ocean observation were “regrettable,” she said, but the EU can use some of its budget to plug some of those holes and knit closer ties with like-minded partners. 

“We are looking at where we can use the resources that we have, as limited as they are at the end of the programme, to increase our contribution [to global initiatives],” she added. 

Earlier this year, the Commission announced €90 million in funding for OceanEye, an effort by the EU to provide 35% of the global ocean observation system by 2035. Similar efforts could be replicated in other fields such as health, climate change and wildfires. “We have also to unite our efforts, because I believe that no country in the world can tackle these challenges alone,” Zaharieva said.

Editor’s note: The interview took place on July 30 in Brussels. 

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