Health and research funding programmes

The report outlines the Parliament's priorities for the next MFF and includes specific figures for each of the sector-specific programmes as well as changes to the Commission’s proposals.

Key elements & Analysis

Please note that the amounts included in this report are in current prices, which means that they include the effect of price inflation (2% annual inflation adjustment).

a. European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)

In the sectoral proposal for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) published on 30 May, the Commission merges several funds and programmes, with which the Commission intends to enhance flexibility and simplicity. The EU Health programme has therefore been integrated into the ESF+ under the new MFF proposal. The above mentioned figures show that the Commission has reduced funding for health policies as part of the ESF+ as € 0,449 billion are dedicated to health under the current MFF.

b. Horizon Europe (FP9)

The FP9 is named “Horizon Europe” and covers the period 2021-2027. The Framework Programme is the Union’s flagship programme to support research and innovation (R&I) from concept to market uptake. It aims to complement national and regional funding, to strengthen science and technology, to foster industrial competitiveness, and to implement sustainable development goals in the EU. Horizon Europe will introduce new features such as the European Innovation Council, missions to promote research results, and new forms of partnerships.

c. InvestEU Fund

The InvestEU Fund is part of the InvestEU Programme that will bring together under one roof diverse EU financial instruments[1] and expand the model of the Investment Plan for Europe, namely the Juncker Plan (i.e. using guarantees from the EU budget to crowd-in other investors).

d. Digital Europe Programme

The proposal for the Digital Europe Programme for 2021-2027 was published by the Commission on 6 June. The Programme has been initiated to increase the EU's international competitiveness, as well as develop and reinforce Europe's strategic digital capacities in 5 spheres, by businesses and the public sector alike. In this context, the said programme goes hand in hand with Horizon Europe.

e. Total MFF budget for 2021-2027

The Commission proposed a budget of € 1.279,408 billion in commitments over the period 2021-2027, equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27 gross national income. Considering that it is the first post-Brexit budget, the proposed budget seems higher than the 2014-2020 MFF of € 1.087billion (commitment appropriations). However, the European Parliament underlines in its interim report that the Commission’s proposal represents a reduction in real terms compared to the current MFF. According to the Parliament, the 2021-2027 MFF should represent 1.3% of the EU-27 gross national income allowing a total budget of € 1.493,701 billion.  

Next steps

The Council is still to issue a common position on the Commission’s proposal, following which negotiations between the co-legislators can start.

To foster progress in Council, the Parliament suggested to set up regular meetings between the Parliament negotiators and the future Council presidencies.

While the Parliament expects an agreement being reached before the 2019 EU elections in May, to avoid setbacks for the launch of new programmes, this scenario seems very unlikely.

[1] Among others, European Fund for Strategic Investments, the Connecting Europe Facility instruments, specific facilities under the COSME Programme (Europe’s programme for small and medium-sized enterprises), as well as specific guarantees and facilities under Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)