On Tuesday 1 September German Research Minister Anja Karliczek presented MEPs on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) with the dossiers to which the German EU Council Presidency intends to give priority over the next 4 months.
At the heart of the discussions: the Union's research and innovation programme for 2021-2027, Horizon Europe. The latter, which is supposed to take effect on 1 January, has not yet been finally adopted, however, as the decision to start interinstitutional negotiations was only recently announced in plenary.
Romanian MEP Dan Nica, S&D coordinator and European Parliament rapporteur on this dossier, insisted that "we want to start the trilogues", stressing "the impatience of MEPs". The German minister assured the meeting that she hoped to see the negotiations concluded by the end of September, adding that the question of the "distribution" of the Horizon Europe budget was still open.
Tough negotiation. "We all agree that this will be the toughest negotiation", she said, agreeing that a wide variety of essential programs will need to be funded.
The various groups, for their part, expressed their concerns about the budget cuts in research and innovation (down €13.5 billion) agreed by the Heads of State or Government in July (see EUROPE 12532/6).
The EPP has expressed its concern that these cuts should be compensated for by a recovery plan, the details of which remain unclear. The S&D, for its part, denounced a "bad sign", even though a second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic is threatening and the time has now come to develop a vaccine.
"We should be satisfied that we have reached an agreement so that we can launch the programmes in 2021", Anja Karliczek countered, stressing the importance of implementing Horizon Europe on time.
Deadlines. The Minister also indicated that the negotiations on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) were progressing well and that Berlin hoped to conclude this dossier by December.
She also confirmed the adoption, at the next Research Council, of conclusions on the European Research Area (see EUROPE 12533/12).
Space sector. Finally, Ms Karliczek was questioned by Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe, France) on the Presidency's recent proposals on the EU space programme.
In particular, the MEP insisted on Article 25 on the protection of essential European interests and the autonomy of European industry, trying to better understand the reasons that led the Presidency to unravel the Commission's proposal (see EUROPE 12548/8).
Ms Karliczek, equivocating, explained that the EU's strategic autonomy was of the utmost importance and that it was important for Berlin to produce and develop technologies in Europe. Before insisting on the need for "good interdependence", by emphasising the principle of specialisation of States and regions, and thus implicitly validating the principle of opening up the market in the space sector. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki and Pascal Hansens)