Discussions over the EU’s budget for the next seven years threaten to see cuts to the budget allocation to research and innovation. With certain EU countries unwilling to pay more into the general EU budget and others unwilling to see decreases in the budgets for cohesion or agriculture, there is a growing risk that funding for EU science and innovation may be cut. Member of the European Parliament Christian Ehler, one of the rapporteurs for Horizon Europe, has warned that the framework programme could face a cut of some €12 billion. Decreases in Horizon Europe would in turn impact the budgets for the European Research Centre (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), a platform of European Learned Societies and Research Organisations, has launched a campaign aimed to collect the signatures of scientists to demonstrate to national governments and to the EU institutions the vital role science, research and innovation can play in tackling the challenges we face today. EuChemS has given its support to the campaign and actively encourages everyone to find out more and to sign up. You can find out more about the campaign here, and sign up directly here.