Seize our Common Future: Joint Call for an Ambitious Horizon Europe Budget

CLUSTER has joined efforts with more than a dozen European organizations to call for an ambitious Horizon Europe budget that would invest in excellent, cross-border research and innovation (R&I). This investment is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to build a prosperous future for European society.

The 15 associations call on the EU Institutions and national policy makers to strengthen R&I investment at European level (see attached document). They urge them to raise the budget of the next EU Program for R&I (2021-2027), Horizon Europe, to at least €120 billion. Even though a greater amount would be needed to solve the big challenges mentioned above and match the program’s ambitions, this commitment would give the right signal to boost public and private R&I investment in Europe.

The joint effort must be reinforced to achieve the transformation that Europe needs, in order to build a prosperous, safe, inclusive and sustainable future for the next generations. The EU Leaders have recognised this necessity during the Sibiu Summit, committing to stay united and build a Union fit for the future with the means to match these ambitions.

The Call is open to receive support by organizations at national and European levels. We believe that the more organizations and institutions would adhere to these principles, the more likely our leaders at EU-level and in national contexts will be in a strong position to promote a higher budget for R&I.

CLUSTER highly encourages its members to sign the Call and to further disseminate it in their community of contacts to gather as many supporting organizations as possible to achieve an adequate budget for R&I.