4 July 2024, in the shaping of the next European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10), we, the undersigned 110 European associations representing key European RD&I stakeholders, hereby urge the EU Institutions to significantly increase the current budget in view of FP10 and to make pan-European collaborative research the cornerstone of FP10, answering industrial needs by excellence.
While the global technology race accelerates, the EU significantly lags behind in terms of investments in RD&I compared to its global competitors. This is in particular true for private investments. This shortfall hampers the EU’s ability to fully capitalise on its scientific and technological potential. For the sake of its long-term competitiveness, the EU needs to do more to attract and retain private RD&I investments in Europe.
In this regard, the EU Framework Programme plays an important role. Public RD&I investments enabled through the EU Framework Programme are crucial to alleviate market failures and to stimulate private RD&I investments by lowering the risks that such investments represent for the industry. By pooling resources and expertise through the EU Framework Programme, Member States and the EEA countries, industry, RTOs and academia aim to tackle complex challenges collectively, accelerating the pace of technology maturation and innovation and supporting the EU positioning in today’s technology race which is currently under duress (See EU Innovation Score Board 2023).
For the Joint Statement, please see here.