The Guild sees EC proposal for post-2027 MFF as promising first step towards next Horizon Europe

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities has reacted to the European Commission's proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) by calling it 'a promising first step towards the next Horizon Europe'. In its reaction statement, The Guild

• urges the European Parliament and the Council to agree on the proposed Horizon Europe budget of € 175 billion, or on a higher financial envelope.
• welcomes the safeguarding of the ERC and MSCA programmes, the proposal to significantly increase their budgets, and to maintain their focus on scientific excellence. It also calls for maintaining the programmes' bottom-up nature and the autonomy of the ERC Scientific Council.  
• also welcomes the fact that the EIC Pathfinder and Transition instruments should be maintained, and the recognition of the need to strike a balance between open and challenge calls. The association also stresses that it is important that universities remain eligible for these instruments. 
• states that the European Commission also safeguarded the integrity of Horizon Europe by including collaborative and challenge-oriented R&I in the next Horizon Europe, and has put in place relevant instruments to leverage researchers’ creativity in collaborative R&I: balance in terms of technology readiness levels and less prescriptive calls. The European Commission also acknowledges the need to support, in a bottom-up manner, collaborative research to address societal global challenges.
• urges the Council and Parliament to further reinforce the budget for R&I on global societal challenges and to ensure that Horizon Europe is synergistically connected to the European Competitiveness Fund and not subdue to it.  
• With regard to collaboration with non-EU partners, including associated countries, the Guild stresses that it is important that the proposed provisions on knowledge security enable international collaboration in the new geopolitical context instead of preventing or limiting it.

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ERA Portal Austria collection of position papers and reactions to the EC's FP10 proposal