Vice-President Katainen and DG Smits outline EC priorities for MFF and FP9 at Science|Business conference
At the Science|Business Conference "New world order: Science, technology and trade: Shaping the next Framework Programme“, which took place in Brussels on 27 June 2017, European Commission (EC) Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, outlined the EC's priorities for the EU's next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
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Mr. Katainen called for a new structure for the MFF and an increase of the share allocated to research and innovation, and also for defence, in the EU budget, money which should be redirected e.g. from the Structural Funds or the Common Agricultural Policy. He announced that the EC would publish a "reflection paper" on the future EU budget shortly.
Science|Business has published a detailed report on Mr. Katainen's keynote speech and the following discussion: Science|Business article: Commission vice president calls for EU to spend more on research
Speaking at the same event, EC Director-General for Research and Innovation Robert-Jan Smits underlined the importance of an increase of the R&I budget in the next MFF, so that FP9 would have a larger budget than Horizon 2020. He outlined the ongoing preparations for the European Innovation Council (EIC), in order to build future investment in "disruptive innovation" and entrepreneurship. Mr. Smits also sees great potential in a European programme for defence research, but whether it will be part of a future FP9 is a political decision. He stressed that for FP9, the EC would define several "missions" within the grand societal challenges in order to promote innovation in certain areas, and that excellence would continue to be the decisive driver also of the next Framework Programme.
A detailed report on Mr. Smits' conference contribution is provided by Science|Business: Focus will shift to security and greening the economy in last three years of Horizon 2020