European R&D Budget Lower Than Expected

After hours of negotiations, European leaders on Feb. 8 agreed on a seven-year budget that sets R&D funding in the region at 71 billion euros ($95 billion), some 9 billion euros ($12 billion) short of the funds requested by the administrative arm of the European Union. The region’s total budget for 2014–20 came in at 908 billion euros ($1.2 trillion), which is about 3% less than that for the current seven-year period. These figures are not yet set in stone, however. European Parliament must still vote to approve the budget. That process may not go smoothly. For example, a group of parliamentarians has released a statement saying it cannot accept the budget deal as it is. Although the research budget could have undergone even more drastic cuts, the current reduction is a particular letdown to those who had lobbied heavily last fall for full funding of the region’s R&D portfolio, called Horizon 2020. Lobbyists had launched a petition against potential cuts, which received more than 150,000 signatures and included the support of 44 Nobel Laureates.