EUA publishes analysis on EU Investment Plan

The European University Association (EUA) has published an analysis of the EU Investment Plan’s potential impact on universities.

The association said the policy brief underlines that the sector is unlikely to benefit from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), given the loan-financing mechanism the fund is built upon, and makes specific proposals to shift cuts away from Horizon 2020 to avoid damage to Europe’s long term research capacities.

The EUA said it “argues against creating a worrying precedent whereby research funds can be diverted for other purposes, disregarding previous formal commitments made to the Horizon 2020 programme”.

The EUA said it will welcome European Commissioner for Research Carlos Moedas at its annual conference on 16 April. The association added: “This conference will be an important occasion for the university sector to illustrate its role in research and innovation, express the main challenges and concerns, and thus reiterate to policy makers that, if Europe wants to be competitive in the long run, research budgets are not the place to take money from.”