The next flagship EU research and innovation programme, FP10, can be both stand-alone and part of the European Commission’s planned politically controlled megafund in the next long-term budget, Commissioner for Startups, Research and innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva said this week.
Zaharieva appears to have given up on preserving a fully independent and civilian FP10 of hundreds of billions from the Commission’s power grab, putting all R&I and strategic funding into a single European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).
In March, Euractiv reported that internal notes said Zaharieva was facing an uphill battle within the Commission, but both Council and Parliament adopted calls in support of independent FP10.
This week, Zaharieva said the R&I programme can be “stand-alone within the competitiveness fund.”
“We can have both,” she said.
The Commission will table their proposal for the 2028-2034 EU Budget in July, which will then be negotiated with Council and parliament.
[EPD]
