Study on Preparing FP9

The European Parliament has published a study on “Preparing FP9- Designing the successor to the Horizon 2020  research and innovation framework programme”. The report summarises evaluation of previous FPs and studies that have led to the preparation of FP9, and presents expected novelties, namely European Innovation Council (EIC) and missions. It also reveals 10 key aspects where the positions of various stakeholders vary:

• Budget for research and innovation in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with proposals ranging between €120 and €160 billion,
• The right balance between two conflicting dimensions: Excellence and cohesion,
• EU added value and the required balance between collaborative and mono-beneficiary instruments,
• Streamlining and simplification to make FP9 user-friendly,
• The role of the Member States in the governance and implementationof the FP9,
• Innovations: European Innovation Council and missions,
• The role of citizens in co-design and co-creation,
• The interactions between research, innovation and higher education,
• The modalities of International cooperation to increase participation,
• Research programme in defence.

The report concludes that the main tensions underlying the preparation for FP9 are due to the fact that framework programmes are seen as an EU instrument to fill two gaps: a) the external research and innovation gap between the EU as a whole and its global competitors; b) the internal EU research and innovation gap between the countries and regions considered innovation leaders and those which remain modest innovators.

The study is available here.