MEPs to vote on research budget today

A new European Union multi-billion euro research and innovation plan will be voted on by MEPs in Strasbourg later today.

Horizon 2020 is a new programme that sees some €80bn of the EU’s budget ringfenced. It is a 30 per cent increase on the previous research and innovation plan. It runs from next year until 2020.

Dublin has indicated its aim is to secure €1 billion from the scheme. EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has said this is an “ambitious but achievable target”.

“The vote by the European Parliament was a vote for a modern, future-oriented budget that puts more emphasis than ever on research and innovation,” she said.

“The budget increase of 30 per cent for Horizon 2020 over the previous programme is a vote of confidence in the power of EU research and innovation funding.

“This means we can provide more grants for fundamental research, for instance through the European Research Council.

“We can support more innovative businesses in bringing good ideas and we can do more to tackle global challenges like climate change and public health.

“Ireland has set itself the target of achieving 1 billion euro in funding from Horizon 2020. This is ambitious, but achievable given the wealth of opportunities the programme will offer.”