Geoghegan-Quinn demands EU budget deal

The European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science has described the situation as “disastrous” if there is no agreement on the EU budget by the end of the Irish EU Presidency.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn made the comments to Irish national broadcaster RTÉ during a visit to the Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Irish Parliament. She said that investment in research and innovation was key to the EU’s economic growth, adding that such a move was being increasingly supported by other key industrial figures. The budget for Horizon 2020 is currently being debated by the European Parliament, which originally envisaged a €100bn budget for the framework programme.

“I think what the European Parliament is now building in flexibility,” Geoghegan-Quinn told RTÉ. “If you don’t have a budgetary agreement by the end of the Irish Presidency, than that will mean that various policy areas, including mine, but also others, will not be able to start in 2014 and you will have this gap.

“That gap will be disastrous for researchers and scientists – their funding comes to an end in FP7 at the end of this year, the funding for Horizon 2020 will not start at the beginning of next year. So for me it’s vitally important that we get agreement,” the Commissioner stressed.

Geoghegan-Quinn has also indicated that Irish scientists are well placed to substantially benefit from Horizon 2020 funding.

Lithuania will formally take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July 2013.