Ursula von der Leyen answered an outstanding question at the Annual EU Budget Conference, on Tuesday 20 May: the “framework programme Horizon Europe will stay as a self-standing programme”.
The President of the European Commission explained that the programme will “of course be connected to the Competitiveness Fund, to ensure a smooth transition from fundamental research to market innovation”.
A one-stop shop. Competitiveness was at the centre of discussions on the post-2027 MFF, on Tuesday 20 May. It is closely linked to the third principle that should guide it, according to Ms von der Leyen: simplicity - the first two being flexibility and competition.
Because obtaining European funds is “too complex, too slow, too bureaucratic”, the EU “needs a one-stop shop with standardised rules”, Ursula von der Leyen recommended. A single European Competitiveness Fund “with simple and transparent rules” should meet these expectations. As revealed in a Commission working paper on 15 May (see EUROPE 13641/8), this fund “will concentrate investment in strategic sectors: artificial intelligence, space, clean technologies, biotechnologies, etc.”. This one-stop shop will “offer support for the investment journey of a project, from an idea to the market”.
Creating a communal fund. Guests at the round table on the future of European competitiveness argued for the added value of a common EU approach based on priorities. “We need to talk about interconnection, transport and energy. But also defence and security capabilities...”, stated the Spanish Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo Caballero. In his view, once the objectives have been set, joint funding for several Member States could be envisaged. “We need a common approach to projects that provide public goods”, he summarised.
Matthieu Louvot, Airbus Executive Vice-President in charge of strategy, also defended the principle of “continent-wide” investment in public goods such as “climate financing and connectivity”. The pooling of investments is a facilitator, he believes.
This “more extensive and aggregated” financing at the EU level must be carried out “in the same spirit as the Recovery and Resilience Facility”, the Spanish minister argued, in order to “issue debt and introduce an element of solidarity”.
What resources? The mayor of Espoo, Finland, Kai Mykkänen, argued that any loan would have to be “carefully thought through”, and that “continuity” would have to ensure “clarity for all those involved”. The invitees felt that a larger budget would be needed to deal with the political priorities and repayment of NextGenerationEU.
Investments were discussed at length. In addition to investments and the adoption of new own resources, the EU will have to develop public-private partnerships, the experts said. Kinga Stanisławska, of venture capital fund Experior, pointed to a “chronic lack of liquidity” in the EU.
In her view, if we want to attract investors, “we have to give them revenues, returns”, because they “can’t always wait 15-20 years before getting their money back”. The Competitiveness Fund should take inspiration from the European Innovation Council, because this initiative has attracted investment from private funds. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)