The European Commission's proposal risks weakening Europe’s innovation capacity
To compete globally, the EU needs a robust budget for research and innovation and a clear strategy that promotes research excellence and collaboration across academia, industry, and society, write the presidents of Karolinska Institutet, KTH, and Stockholm University in a Swedish op-ed published in Dagens industri.
Annika Östman Wernerson, president of Karolinska Institutet, Anders Söderholm, president of KTH, Hans Adolfsson, president of Stockholm University,
Europe faces major societal challenges, from climate change and digitalization to health and security. At the same time, global competition is intensifying, with the US and China leading the way in breakthrough technologies such as AI and quantum technology.
To strengthen Europe’s position, the European Commission has proposed that the next EU framework programme for research and innovation, FP10 (2028–2034), be reinforced with a budget of €175 billion. This is welcome, but not sufficient.
Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank and one of the architects behind the EU’s competitiveness plan, has recommended a budget of €200 billion. Manuel Heitor, the chair of the Commission Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe, has stated that for Europe to become a research, technology and innovation leader the budget needs to be at least €220 billion.
A significantly increased budget is important for Sweden. As one of the world's most export-dependent and high-tech countries, our development is directly linked to research collaborations, innovation and cutting-edge expertise. We therefore welcome the government's positive stance on an ambitious research budget within the EU. Through the University Alliance Stockholm Trio, Karolinska Institutet, KTH, and Stockholm University collaborate to improve the conditions for research and education and to strengthen Sweden’s participation in the EU framework programme for research and innovation.
Sweden is a net contributor to the EU, but a major recipient of EU research funding; every euro we contribute to the framework programme gives us more back in the form of project funding. Since the launch of Horizon Europe in 2021, Sweden has received 1.66 billion euros, making the framework programme the second largest source of funding for research and innovation in Sweden after the Swedish Research Council. More importantly it also opens doors to world-leading networks, research infrastructures and collaborations that no single country can build on its own.
But for investments in research to strengthen Europe’s capacity for innovation, the right conditions are required. We are therefore concerned about the European Commission’s proposal to move control of a central part of the Framework Programme, Pillar 2, which promotes collaboration across the entire research and innovation system, universities, research institutes, companies, and the public sector, to a European Competitiveness Fund focusing on more market-oriented projects.
This would be a strategic mistake that risks weakening the important link between research and innovation, especially in areas where industry is highly dependent on early collaboration with universities, such as pharmaceutical development, advanced materials and manufacturing industries, where companies cannot shoulder the costs and risks of basic research on their own.
Investments in scaling up businesses and market introduction are needed in Europe, but they should not come at the expense of collaboration in the early stages of the innovation chain, where researchers, companies, and other stakeholders develop new solutions and share risk. Then we risk losing a unique arena where Europe’s leading researchers and companies jointly build the knowledge base that enables innovation and opens up new market opportunities.
A competitive industry depends not only on support at the end of the development chain but also in the early stages, where competing companies work together to develop new methods, data, and technologies that entire industries and societies can use as a foundation for innovation. World-leading research environments are crucial to Europe's competitiveness.
The decisions now being made about FP10 will shape Europe’s innovation capacity for decades to come — Sweden must be a clear voice for science and strengthened collaboration.
We therefore urge the government and Swedish members of the European Parliament to:
- Advocate for a €220 billion FP10 budget. Significantly greater resources are necessary for the EU to meet global competition. The funds should be earmarked for research so that they are not at risk of being reallocated to other policy areas.
- Emphasise the importance of strengthening collaboration between academia, industry, and society in FP10. We need to strengthen cooperation in the early stages of the innovation chain, where knowledge sharing lays the foundation for innovation.
Annika Östman Wernerson, President, Karolinska Institutet
Anders Söderholm, President, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Hans Adolfsson, President, Stockholm University