LERU Office
Schapenstraat 34
3000 Leuven, Belgium
Horizon 2020: vital investment for
Europe’s growth and competitiveness
When the Heads of State and Government meet later this week to discuss the global EU budget 2014-2020,
the Rectors of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) urge them to take the hard decisions
needed to secure Europe’s future economic prosperity and competitiveness against an extremely
challenging internal and external environment.
Above all, this means continued substantial investment in European research and innovation capabilities.
These are fundamental to the vibrant knowledge economy that Europe needs to drive private sector
investment, human capital formation, employment and sustainable growth in a rapidly changing global
economic and political landscape and in the face of the multiple challenges that confront all our societies
in the years to come.
Europe’s future prosperity and well-being depend on world-class research and innovation. Even a small
increase in R&D has the potential to translate into per capita growth and have significant and long term
effect on employment. The rate of return for publicly funded R&D usually exceeds 30 percent
1
and there
are significant benefits to cross-European programmes that complement significant national investments
in excellent research and innovation. In particular, EU funding enables the best researchers in Europe to
work with each other, resulting in higher quality of research as evidenced by its citation impact. So
investing in excellent research and innovation at the EU level should be a top priority for all who want
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The Rectors of LERU recognise, of course, that this is a time of economic difficulty, fiscal austerity and
slow growth across the EU. However, this is precisely why LERU very strongly supports the R&I budget of
€80 billion proposed by the European Commission in 2011 for Horizon 2020, to enable research-intensive
universities within Europe to undertake the kind of cutting-edge research that will underpin economic
prosperity and sustainable growth. Furthermore, LERU welcomes the European Parliament’s efforts to
assure a satisfactory budget on Horizon 2020 and urges them to work for an outcome that safeguards
outstanding research and innovation across Europe. It is particularly important that no decision will be
taken on Horizon 2020 funding in advance or independently of a settlement of the overall EU budget for
2014-2020.
Transparency of the EU research and innovation budget is also crucial. This budget should continue to
focus on the three proposed pillars of Horizon 2020: excellent science (with ERC and Marie Curie as crucial
flagships), industrial leadership and grand societal challenges. No new topics or budget lines (e.g. large
research infrastructure projects) should be added to the final research and innovation budget, unless the
budget is increased accordingly.
1
Commission Staff Working Paper, Impact Assessment Accompanying the Communication from the
Commission'Horizon 2020 - The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation', Brussels, 30.11.2011
SEC(2011) 1427 final
University of Amsterdam • Universitat de Barcelona • University of Cambridge • University of Edinburgh •
University of Freiburg • Université de Genève • Universität Heidelberg • University of
Helsinki •Universiteit Leiden • KU Leuven • Imperial College London • University College London • Lund
University • University of Milan • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München • University of Oxford • Pierre & Marie Curie
University • Université Paris-Sud • University of Strasbourg • Universiteit Utrecht • University of Zurich