Brussels, 11/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - There is still a long way to go before an agreement is reached on the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 (MMF), but it now seems clear that major cuts will be made compared to the initial European Commission proposal. Policies for growth and employment, which include the budget for the future framework programme for research and innovation “Horizon 2020”, could lose up to €24 billion out of the €164 billion proposed by the Commission, according to the latest proposals. In a context such as this, France has sought make its mark by trying to safeguard the research and innovation budget by setting a minimum limit, in the face of pressure to reduce all MMF sections.
The French minister for higher education and research, Geneviève Fioraso, who was at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday 9 January, told a small group of journalists that the French government had decided to set a “red line” in talks on the Horizon 2020 budget. “It is felt that, if we fall below the €70 billion mark, we shall not be at the right level” (our translation), she said, thus underlining that Paris would be ready to agree to a maximum reduction of €10 billion compared to what the Commission has proposed. It is a “red line” that can vary no more than two or three billion in either direction, she added.
Answering questions put by Agence Europe, other states were more cautious. Poland took the view that it is first and foremost essential to protect Cohesion Policy and the CAP, and does not plan to “sacrifice itself” for Horizon 2020. Britain refuses to fix any limit to cuts. Nonetheless, the British prime minister, David Cameron, speaking during question time at the House of Commons after the November European summit, gave his assurance that cuts would be made “without fundamentally changing that budget heading” (i.e. Horizon 2020). The European Parliament does not plan to yield on this. There will be no acceptable agreement if the budget is not €100 billion, the chairman for the committee on industry, research and energy at the European Parliament, Amalia Sartori (EPP, Italy), told Agence Europe on Friday 11 January. (JK/transl.jl)