Horizon Europe will have its €95.5 billion budget cut by €2.1 billion, with €1.5 billion diverted to defence research, following an agreement by EU heads of state at a meeting in Brussels today.
The raid on the research programme’s funding is part of a €64.6 billion rejig of the EU’s multiannual budget, to accommodate the growing costs of supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The bulk of that amount, €50 billion, will go to Ukraine, but the EU also needs additional money for migration and border management, foreign aid to other neighbouring countries, and €1.5 billion in additional cash for the European Defence Fund (EDF), the EU’s main fund for military technology R&D.
20240201-special-euco-conclusions-mff-ukraine-en.pdf (europa.eu)