Author: Science|Business

The first half of 2025 saw Brussels consumed by a debate over the future of the EU’s research and innovation programme, which ended with a legislative proposal that quenched long-running rumours of Horizon Europe’s demise.Speculation centred over the role of the European Competitiveness Fund, envisioned as an umbrella mechanism for industrial and innovation policy that could have absorbed Horizon Europe in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Leaked documents and mixed messages from the European Commission heightened concerns. The controversy was largely resolved when the Commission’s budget proposal included a standalone €175 billion successor to Horizon Europe, though a significant portion…

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