Boost for Research Funding in Adopted 2023 EU Budget

European Parliament votes to approve 2023 EU Budget.

Following the 15 November dealbetween the European Parliament, Council of Member States and the European Commission, the Parliament has adopted the 2023 EU budget with 492 votes to 66 and 46 abstentions. The total budget for 2023 is €186.6 billion in commitments, with payments set at €168.7 billion.

Horizon Europe will have a revised budget of €12.4 billion budget in 2023, reversing the €663 million cut previously proposed by member states, with an additional €10 million for energy and climate-related research. Erasmus+ will receive an extra €120 million for Erasmus+ to support students and teachers from Ukraine, and the environment and climate action LIFE programme will have its budget increased by €30 million.

Other increased budgets include the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), (+€103.5 million), Creative Europe (+€7.5 million), and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), (+€41.4 million).

The budget for the European Space Programme will remain at €2 billion, with the nuclear fission and fusion research programme Euratom receiving €276.5 million. Invest EU, which including financing for industrial research, innovation and development projects, also remains static with a €340.7 million budget for 2023.

Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, BE), Chair of the Committee on Budgets said: “Besides the necessary and obviously urgent spending on the consequences of the war in Ukraine, we are also investing through the 2023 budget in areas where the EU can make a real difference. Looking beyond our negotiating success, I would also like to see a budget that is more focused than fragmented, one that shows our ambition to make Europe a leader in research, development and innovation.”

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)