FP10: draft European Parliament reports set out important baselines for Horizon Europe governance and funding

The reports are authored by MEP Christian Ehler on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation to establish the programme and MEP René Repasi on the proposal for a Council of the EU decision on establishing the Specific Programme implementing Horizon Europe. As such, they mark the beginning of the European Parliament’s process to formulate its position on the European Commission’s proposal for the Horizon Europe programme for the period 2028-2024, i.e. the EU’s tenth framework programme for R&I (FP10), published in July 2025.

EUA is encouraged by the overall direction of the reports and notes that many of the proposed orientations are closely aligned with recommendations put forward by universities and research institutes, including proposed amendments jointly formulated by the Association and six partner organisations in December 2025. More broadly, many of the elements put forward in the draft reports resonate with recommendations made in recent high-level policy discussions on Europe’s competitiveness and research landscape, including the reports by Enrico Letta, Mario Draghi, Manuel Heitor and Sauli Niinistö.

In particular, EUA strongly welcomes the clear message that Horizon Europe should remain a fully self-standing programme with its own independent governance and programming. Maintaining the autonomy of the programme is essential to ensure that European research and innovation policy continues to support scientific excellence, long-term collaboration and knowledge creation across Europe.

In this context, the reports’ call to restore Horizon Europe’s governance within the programme itself, rather than within the European Competitiveness Fund, represents an important step towards safeguarding its coherence and strategic focus.

EUA also welcomes the ambition expressed in the reports regarding the scale of future investment in research and innovation. The proposed budget of €220 billion for FP10, in line with the recommendation of the expert group chaired by Manuel Heitor, would send a strong signal of Europe’s commitment to strengthening its global leadership in science, research and innovation.

The Association further welcomes the strong emphasis placed on preserving the bottom-up nature of research funding and safeguarding the autonomy of the European Research Council (ERC), which remain central to Europe’s ability to support scientific excellence and breakthrough discoveries.

In addition, the reports highlight the importance of simplifying participation rules for beneficiaries and propose strengthening the role of experts in shaping research priorities, including through an expert-led approach to Pillar II. Such proposals reflect longstanding calls from the research community to ensure that Horizon Europe remains both accessible and strategically guided by scientific expertise.

Next steps

The draft reports will be presented in the ITRE Committee on 24 March. Following this presentation, Members of the European Parliament will have the opportunity to table amendments before the reports proceed to a vote in the ITRE Committee and subsequently in plenary. Once adopted, the European Parliament will have its official mandate to enter into interinstitutional negotiations with the Council and the European Commission, ahead of the programme’s envisaged start on 1 January 2028.

Looking ahead, EUA remains committed to supporting the European Parliament in advancing this important legislative process and stands ready to contribute its expertise as discussions on the future of Horizon Europe continue.