Funding for Horizon 2020 is potentially under threat from the European Commission, which wants to create a strategic investment fund that will likely use money from existing programmes.
Science Europe warned that any cuts to Horizon 2020 would have a “severe negative impact” on development.
The new president of the EC, Jean-Claude Juncker has called for the creation of a European Fund for Strategic Investment to boost public and private investment in the continent’s economy over the next three years.
It is likely that the funding from this will come from a raid on the budgets of existing programmes, including Horizon 2020, according to Science Europe, an association of European research funding organisations.
Science Europe has warned that economic growth is dependent on knowledge and it would be “counter-productive” to cut funding for research that creates it.
“The damage caused by reducing funding for research, including basic research, will have a severe negative impact on future development, and private investment cannot compensate for this,” it said.
“In contrast, spending on research now will help to make Europe globally competitive and resilient to crises. Investment in fundamental research is a vital and indispensable investment in the future of Europe,” it added.
